SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL STUFF

March 29th, 2008 9:37pm PST


Sunday Night Football Stuff

This Weekend's Talk

The Big Talk is a longer season....
Apparently some folks just can't get enough football, so the league's commissioner is pitching to the owners a plan to extend the regular season to as many as 18 games. I will certainly not disagree with more football, but in all honesty I do think the season is already long enough. 16 games can be tough on NFL players and extremely grueling because of the physical nature of the game. I would argue, that while many of us would prefer to see less preseason games, because many of these games exclude some of the more popular and talented players, putting these same players through an 18-game schedule could make for a very difficult challenge for many to maneuver through injury-free. I would have to ask the question, what would make more sense, having preseason games that star players miss or post-season games without star players?

I am just like the next fanatical football fan and would love more games, but I also understand and see what these players go through in the current set up. Four games seems like many, but if these games were structured more to be safe for the big names (quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers) although there may be less contact we could see more of the players we'd like. That's just my thought.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Who's going Number One?...
If you've been following many of the football sites as I have over the past couple of weeks, you're probably as confused as I am about who is projected to go number one in the 2009 NFL Draft. The Lions sit atop the draft totem pole and coming off an 0-16 record last season, they need all the help they can get. Many of the mock drafts I have seen have the Lions all over the board, but barring any last minute block-buster trades Georgia's quarterback Matthew Stafford appears to be the popular choice as the overall number one.

The unanimous argument is the Lions are in full rebuild-mode and the team will need to start at the quarterback position. Considering the options they currently have available (Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton) it only makes sense, especially with the talent of Stafford. His development will be a work in progress, but so will the entire team's.

Two other prospects coming into consideration are OT Jason Smith out of Baylor and LB Aaron Curry from Wake Forest. Both players are a world of talent at their respective positions and like Stafford make sensible selections for a team in great need. With the quarterback being such a critical position and having the most impact, it would be hard to imagine seeing the Lions passing on the opportunity to select the kid many scouts are so high on.

(Photo by John Bazemore/AP)

Stafford clearly a favorite to go number one is considered to have a strong arm, and at 6'3" and 235-lbs he has great size. He's shown athletic ability and has good leadership, but the Lions staff will have to work very hard to improve his decision making and turnover tendency.

Certainly there are no guarantees in the draft, but Detroit fans will be very hopeful on draft day that they could be looking at another Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco.

Check back every Monday for the "Monday Morning Huddle!"