2013 Offseason Update, Week 13

Murphy Holloway is leaving basketball for the NFL, hoping to follow in the
footsteps of other tight ends like Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham.
Photo credit to baltimoreravens.com.

Unless you are interested in a list of draft picks that signed contracts last week, there wasn’t a whole lot going on in the NFL last week. Still, I skimmed through the news to put together a few topics of interest.

Ravens Searching for Diamonds

Baltimore’s defense stood out even from Joe Flacco’s 11-0 TD:INT ratio in the playoffs, but the Ravens have lost a lot of players on that side of the ball. In an attempt to build the unit back up in as little time as possible, Baltimore hired Steve Spagnuolo on Friday to be their Senior Defensive Consultant. His association with the New Orleans Saints’ defense in 2012, the worst in NFL history in at least one category, may hurt his chances of becoming a coordinator for a while, but he still has a very good defensive mind and is a very good addition to Baltimore’s staff.

He isn’t the only possible ‘diamond in the rough’ the Ravens landed last week. Murphy Holloway, a power forward from Ole Miss who was integral in helping the Rebels advance to the 2^nd round as a #12 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, signed with the Ravens as a tight end. Murphy averaged 14.5 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game and helped Ole Miss win 27 games this year, tying a school record.

AP Says No Jokes about 2,500

Shortly after the Vikings’ week 17 game against the Packers ended, and halted Adrian Peterson’s rushing total for the season just 9 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s record, Peterson announced that he would come back even stronger in 2013. His goal? 2,500 yards, a total that would smash Dickerson’s record by nearly 400 yards.

On Wednesday, Peterson told the media that his goal was no joke, saying, “Enjoy this last year because the record’s going down, with ease.”

2,000 yards has been the goal standard for running backs for a long time, and is even more so today as 2-back teams are in the majority across the league. Peterson is hoping the set the bar even higher.

Dolphins to Move?

I really doubt there’s anything to this story. However, a bill that would help the Dolphins with stadium renovations was shot down over the weekend, and it will significantly hurt their bid to host Super Bowl L, a game many stadiums are vying to host.

Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross said that there will be no renovations without help from public funds and of course the media immediately took that to mean that a move is possible, or even likely, in the Miami Dolphins’ future.

Like I said, there is little chance the Dolphins’ will move, and certainly nothing that has happened that suggests that it is likely. Still, the Los Angeles Dolphins has a certain, odd ring to it.

Brian Banks Fighting for Roster Spot

Some of you may still not know him by name, but you all know the story of the young man who had a bright future in football but was wrongly accused of rape while in high school. He lost several years of his life but has an attitude and a focus that even the biggest hater has to admire.

The Falcons picked him up, and they insist it wasn’t charity. The 27-year-old rookie is on the roster as a linebacker and ran the defense from the middle during Atlanta’s rookie minicamp.

Of the experience, Banks said, “It was real good today to get out there. I’ve been in film the last two weeks, so to get a chance to get out there and put all the knowledge that we’ve been putting on paper out onto the field was a really good experience for the first time. It was really fast-paced. I made a lot of really good moves, made a lot of mistakes, so adjustments will be made.”

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

Ryan too Complex for Saints?

Rob Ryan was fired as the Cowboys' DC in early January. He
will fill the same role for the New Orleans Saints in 2013.
Photo credit to AOL Sporting News.

The Dallas Cowboys executive vice president said this week that Rob Ryan was fired for using too many schemes in his defense, putting aside any scapegoat theories many of us had.

Complexity on defense is generally thought to be a good thing. If you have more looks to throw at the other team than their quarterback and coaches can handle, you often have the upper hand and a better chance of winning the game.

But how much is too much? When the Cowboys were at full strength defensively, they were among the best units in the NFC. But as injuries piled up, with seven important players ultimately being hurt, their younger players struggled.

You could even argue that Tony Romo was trying to do too much as the defense faltered, but I won’t get into that here.

Now Rob Ryan is out in Dallas. He said he would be out of work for five minutes. A week or so later, he was about to sign with the Rams when a few details fell through. Instead, Ryan signed on with the Saints as their defensive coordinator.

The Saints had a decent amount of success under Gregg Williams before the bounty scandal struck New Orleans. Last year, under Steve Spagnuolo, the Saints had one of the worst defenses in NFL history; probably the worst, in fact.

The addition of Rob Ryan to their coaching staff immediately turned some heads and is leading to high expectations for their defensive unit in 2013. But will his defensive schemes be too many and too complex?

The team has lost many of the veterans they had during their Super Bowl run and other strong years with Williams. They had a decent front seven, but their secondary is among the weakest in the league, regardless of who their coach is.

Simplicity may be a better route for New Orleans, at least for the first year or so, as they add talent to the roster and their younger players gain experience.

I’m anxious to see how Ryan leads their defense and their players respond to whatever he throws at them. Regardless of what he does, I can’t imagine the Saints’ defense being any worse next year.

Check out my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl, to stay updated on new posts as I publish them throughout the offseason. If you would like to hear my take on any piece(s) of offseason news, let me know and I’ll either write back directly or maybe even write a blog post about it.