Art Monk: Just One Part of the Redskin's Dynamic Trio

By: William Calvin
Football Review Daily

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was a trio of NFL wide receivers like no other, The Posse was their name, consisting of recent Hall of Fame inductee Art Monk, small in stature but big in heart Gary Clark, and speedster/Super Bowl record breaker Ricky Sanders. While Clark’s and Sanders’ statistical achievements were not head and shoulders above other NFL receivers, the three combined wreaked havoc on opposing defenses with their sure-handedness and lighting fast speed.

Art Monk, easily the most known of the three receivers, frequently rested among the NFL’s elite in various receiving categories. Known to most as “Quiet Man” or sometimes even “#81” because of his humble nature, Art Monk was one of the most reliable receivers to ever lace ‘em up. With his precise route running and sure hands he was able to eclipse 900 receptions, the first receiver in history to do so. With 940 receptions, over 12,000 career yards, and 68 touchdowns, Art seemed to be a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Yet it took the famed receiver almost 9 years to achieve what lesser receivers had already done. On February 2nd, 2008, the 1980 All Rookie winner, 3-time All Pro, 3-time Pro Bowler, and one time #1 receiver in NFL history was finally enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Gary Clark, one time USFL player, was well respected for his ability to play big while being only 5’9” 180 lbs. In 1985, Clark was signed by the Washington Redskins and went on to have an amazing rookie campaign consisting of 72 receptions, nearly 1000 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Consistently a 1000 yard per season receiver, Clark still holds a Redskins Monday Night Football receiving record of 11 receptions, 241 yards, and 1 touchdown. A 4-time Pro Bowler, Redskins’ Ring of Honor inductee, and one of Washington’s 70 Greatest Redskins, Gary Clark was a huge cog in this trio of miracle working receivers.

Ricky Sanders, while not the most popular member of The Posse, Sanders was easily the fastest and most electrifying on the trio. In Super Bowl XXII, Sanders had one of the greatest games in Super Bowl history. With 9 passes for 193 yards and 2 touchdowns, Sanders was able to haul in 168 of those yards in one quarter along with 2 touchdowns, all while tying a touchdown receiving record of 80 yards on one play. After a brief run in with the law in 1991, Ricky Sanders was eventually released in 1993 and signed by the Dolphins where he never played another down.

With nearly 35,000 receiving yards, 2100 receptions, and roughly 190 touchdowns combined, The Posse will forever go down in NFL history as one of the toughest trio of receivers to cover, as most teams did not have 3 top cornerbacks to do so.

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New Set of NFL Head Coaches Looking to Make Their Mark

By: Mo Noorali
Football Review Daily

Every year there is always a huge focus on which players have switched teams, and how each team has changed their personnel during the off-season. People are always looking to see which guy will make the biggest impact on his new team. When these conversations come up though, the names of the people that end up making the biggest impact are rarely discussed. As you can tell by the title, I am referring to the Head Coach. This year we have four teams that have a different Head Coach from the one they had last year. Unlike most years when we look at this list, all of the new Head Coaches this year are exactly that, new, in that all of them are first time Head Coaches in the NFL. It is refreshing to see some fresh faces getting a chance to prove what they are made of, instead of the same old faces being recycled and re-used throughout the league. Since most people are not familiar with these guys yet, here is a closer look at them, and what should be expected of them this year, and for years to come:

John Harbaugh – Baltimore Ravens

Harbaugh is coming over from the Philadelphia Eagles, where he served as the Special Teams coordinator for seven years and as the Defensive Backs coach last year. Expect him to bring over to Baltimore the same philosophy as his mentor, Jim Johnson, and turn the Ravens into a blitz-happy defense. He has already made a great hire for his offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron, and most people would agree that even though Cameron did not work out as a Head Coach, his knowledge of the offensive side is something that will definitely help a Ravens offense that has been struggling for the better part of a decade now.

Expect Harbaugh to be similar to his younger brother, Jim, as far as his coaching style is concerned. He will speak his mind, and wear his emotions on his sleeve. Harbaugh is exactly what the Ravens needed, a young energetic coach that will put some life back into a Ravens team that looked very lethargic last year. Sure we all remember how passionately they played against the Patriots, but the other 15 games, their effort was not at the level that it needed to be at.

Under Harbaugh the Ravens should win around 9 to 10 games, and possibly challenge for a playoff spot in the AFC via the wild card. If the Ravens are patient, Harbaugh could continue to be their head man for many years to come, as he has the knowledge and passion for the game that is needed in every coach.

Tony Sparano – Miami Dolphins

Sparano is probably most famous for being featured in Kenny Mayne’s Mayne Event late last year. In Dallas, he gained a reputation for being a very good coach. He got his chance under Bill Parcells, who gave him offensive play-calling duties in 2006 after Sean Payton left to coach the Saints. His official position with the Cowboys for the last five years was listed as the Offensive Line Coach, and he did a great job turning them into a formidable bunch to protect Tony Romo and open up holes in the running game. He comes to Miami via Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland, who also came over from the Dallas Cowboys. It has been speculated the Parcells “owed him one” after Parcells held Sparano back from joining Sean Payton with the Saints as Payton’s offensive coordinator. Instead, Sparano stayed with Parcells, and has since been labeled a “Parcells Guy.”

Sparano should immediately improve a Dolphins offense that struggled mightily last year. It’s fitting that a former offensive linemen brought in an offensive linemen as the first overall pick in the draft. Jake Long’s development will be accelerated because he has a Head Coach that emphasizes the offensive line, and realizes its importance. While Dan Henning will most likely be doing the play calling for the Dolphins, expect Sparano to have a lot of input throughout the week in the team’s strategy week in and week out. Expect the Dolphins to improve this year from the dismal year they had last year. They will probably be able to win 5-6 games and start on the right path to rebuilding.

Unlike Harbaugh though, Sparano does not fit the mold of an ideal NFL Head Coach. He is a guy that will stand on the sidelines with his glasses on, and not be much of a yeller and screamer. It seems as though those types of Head Coaches are far from the trend now-a-days. Though we still do have guys like Andy Reid in Philadelphia and Mike Holmgren in Seattle, they are the exception, not the rule. Sparano will probably be given a chance for two or three years, but unless the Dolphins show a vast improvement, I expect to be writing about their new coach in 2011.

Mike Smith – Atlanta Falcons

Of the four new coaches hired this year, Mike Smith probably has the best track record. Though many people had not heard his name mentioned on a national level until he was hired by the Falcons, most everyone is familiar with his work. He was the Linebackers coach of arguably one of the best linebacking groups in NFL history, with the Ravens from 1999-2002. The guys that played under him from most of that stretch were Ray Lewis, Adalius Thomas, Jamie Sharper, and Peter Boulware. Due to his successes as the Linebackers coach in Baltimore, he was hired as the Jaguars Defensive Coordinator in 2003. Since then, the Jaguars have become known as one of toughest and hardest hitting defenses in the league.

Smith is going to bring that same smash mouth attitude to the Atlanta Falcons. His hiring will help guys like Keith Brooking and John Abraham elevate their game to an even higher level. Expect both of those guys to have career years this year, as well as for 2007 first-round pick Jamaal Anderson to show a lot of improvement in his game. Similar to Harbaugh, Smith has also gone out and got himself a very capable offensive coordinator to take care of the offense in Mike Mularkey. This will let Smith focus on rebuilding the defense, and gaining from the team what Bobby Petrino never did: respect.

Under Mike Smith, the Falcons will improve, but their record might not show it. They will not win more than 5 games just because the talent is not there. This year, he will build the foundation to succeed: revamp his defense, and slowly bring around his young QB Matt Ryan. If Arthur Blank is patient, he may have found his coach of the future. Blank should learn from the other teams in his division and try to stick to one coach over a long period of time and establish some stability in the organization. His demeanor is similar to that of John Fox, and like Fox has done with the Panthers, Mike Smith will make the Falcons a respectable franchise once again.

Jim Zorn – Washington Redskins

Zorn has built up his reputation with the work he has done with Matt Hasselbeck throughout Hasselbeck’s career in Seattle. He served as the Seattle Seahawks Quarterbacks coach from 2001-2007. Zorn also played in the NFL on and off for 11 years. Most people know that this hiring was made mostly to help with the development of Jason Campbell. The team showed in the draft that they are fully committed to giving Campbell every opportunity to succeed. Zorn’s coaching career, however long it lasts will be measured by Campbell’s success, and they are now forever linked together in their careers.

Zorn is going to bring his experience of being around a consistent offense with him to the Redskins, who have shown flashes of brilliance over the last couple of years, but never seem to find consistency. Unlike Sparano and Smith (and Harbaugh to a lesser degree), Zorn will be expected to win right away in the toughest division in football. His job is simple, turn Campbell into one of the top QBs in the game, and don’t mess anything else up. They want the defense to keep playing the way they did towards the end of the season, seen in the hiring of Greg Blache from within the organization.

There is no doubt that Zorn will help out Jason Campbell, but the fact that he has never even been an offensive coordinator has to concern Redskins fans. He was brought in initially to be the Offensive Coordinator, which is a natural move from being a Quarterbacks Coach, but will the jump to Head Coach be too much to handle? Looking at the situation, it’s seems like the answer to that question will be yes. The expectations along with the pressure that will be put on him by Daniel Snyder is going to prove to be too much for Jim Zorn. He will leave the offense better than he found it, but the next coach will reap the benefits, expect Jim Zorn to put up 2-3 years of 9-7, and be shown the door soon thereafter.

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Which new coach will enjoy the greatest success in 2008? Let Football Review Daily know in this article's comment section.

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Who Will It Be This Year?

By: Mo Noorali
Football Review Daily

Since the 1998 NFL Draft, a team that finished with a record in the bottom 10 of the league the previous season, and had a pick in the top 10 has gone on to make the playoffs the season after being in the bottom 10. Some people do not believe in the concept of parity that has been thrown around by NFL analysts for the better part of the last decade, but this stat shows that parity does indeed exist. Let’s take a look at the last 10 occurrences of this phenomenon, followed by a look at who will be able to pull it off this year, and continue the trend.

1998 – Arizona Cardinals, Andre Wadsworth, DE (3rd Overall Pick)

1999 – Indianapolis Colts, Edgerrin James, RB (4th Overall Pick), St. Louis Rams, Torry Holt, WR (6th Overall Pick), Detroit Lions, Chris Claiborne, LB (9th Overall Pick) …The Redskins also took Champ Bailey with the 7th Overall Pick (and made the playoffs), but they had the 11th worst record the year prior, and traded up to the 7th Pick.

2000 – Philadelphia Eagles, Corey Simon, DT (6th Overall Pick) …The Ravens also made the playoffs that year, and had two top picks (Jamal Lewis and Travis Taylor), but similar to the Redskins, they finished with the 15th worst record the year before, and acquired the top 10 picks through trades.

2001 – New England Patriots, Richard Seymour, DT (6th Overall Pick), San Francisco 49ers, Andre Carter, DE (7th Overall Pick*), Chicago Bears, David Terrell, WR (8th Overall Pick)

2002 – Indianapolis Colts, Dwight Freeney, DE (11th Overall Pick**)

2003 – Dallas Cowboys, Terrence Newman, CB (5th Overall Pick), Carolina Panthers, Jordan Gross, OT (8th Overall Pick), Baltimore Ravens, Terrell Suggs, LB (10th Overall Pick)

2004 – Atlanta Falcons, DeAngelo Hall, CB (8th Overall Pick)

2005 – Chicago Bears, Cedric Benson, RB (4th Overall Pick), Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cadillac Williams, RB (5th Overall Pick), Washington Redskins, Carlos Rodgers, CB (9th Overall Pick)

2006 – New Orleans Saints, Reggie Bush, RB (2nd Overall Pick), New York Jets, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, OT (4th Overall Pick)

2007 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gaines Adams, DE (4th Overall Pick), Washington Redskins, LaRon Landry S (6th Overall Pick

[Note]

*The 49ers originally had the 9th worst record before making the Andre Carter pick, and they traded up to the 7th pick.

**Dwight Freeney was the 11th pick, but the year before the Colts did have one of the 10 worst records in the NFL, but received the 11th pick in the draft because the expansion Houston Texans received the 1st overall pick.

***Looking to 2008***
It seems like this is more than a coincidence. It looks like this trend will continue for years and years, and it is definitely good for the game, as fans from all over the country have hope that their team can go from a seller dweller to a team in contention in just one years time.

2008 NFL Draft Top 10 Picks

1) Miami Dolphins, Jake Long, OT
2) St. Louis Rams, Chris Long, DE
3) Atlanta Falcons, Matt Ryan, QB
4) Oakland Raiders, Darren McFadden, RB
5) Kansas City Chiefs, Glenn Dorsey, DT
6) New York Jets, Vernon Gholston, DE/LB
7) New Orleans Saints, Sedrick Ellis, DT
8) Jacksonville Jaguars, Derrick Harvey, DE
9) Cincinnati Bengals, Keith Rivers, LB
10) New England Patriots, Jerod Mayo, LB

First of all, New England and Jacksonville don’t qualify, since both of them made the playoffs last year. It looks like the New Orleans Saints will be the team that continues the trend this year. They had a number of injuries last year that derailed their season, and got off to a very slow start. Look for them to recover this year, as Sedrick Ellis will fill a big need for them at defensive tackle and be a starter from day one. The Chiefs and Jets will also be very much improved, but they may find it harder to make the playoffs in the more competitive AFC, whereas the Saints will be guaranteed a playoff spot with 10 wins, and could possibly sneak in with 9.

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News and Links from Around the Net

Three links of note to chew on...

• Stewart Mandel's Power Rankings via SI.com
• Redskins' Antwaan Randle El's knee surgery update via SI.com
• The Cooley Zone's Newest Post via Yahoo! Sports' Shutdown Corner

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