News. Sports. Arts & Entertainment. Politics
Find out who’s going to make the transition from Saturdays to Sundays with our picks below. We know the NFL mock draft is long so there’s plenty of eye candy pictures and relevant, fun links to check out as you scroll through it. Team needs were taken account into this mock and the order was determined by looking at recent NFL power rankings
Follow paulmbanks
Four Illinois Fighting Illini were drafted in the first rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft. All of them were taken ahead of anyone from Nebraska, Penn State, Ohio State or Michigan. Yes, Illinois had four while those four traditional powerhouses had a combined goose egg. Devon Still from PSU and Lavonte David from the Huskers were taken later in the second round.
Former Illinois OT Jeff Allen was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 44th overall pick in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Allen was followed at No. 48 overall by defensive back Tavon Wilson by the New England Patriots. Following Whitney Mercilus and AJ Jenkins in the first round last night, this is the first time Illinois has had four players drafted in the top two rounds.
Follow paulmbanks
Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz, the longest tenured in the Big Ten, reiterated Wednesday his long-term plans to remain the head coach in Iowa City.
Apparently, his boy Scott Pioli wasn’t able to lure him away to the Kansas City Chiefs, like early speculation indicated. Now, if it were the New England Patriots who knows?
Anyways Ferentz released a statement:
Follow paulmbanks
Now that Todd Haley has been canned by the Kansas City Chiefs front office, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel wil serve as Head Coach in the interim. His first game will be versus the undefeated Green Bay Packers- have fun with that.
So who replaces Haley in the long term? Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli has reportedly told people that Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz is the leading candidate.
How much money will it take to get Ferentz to leave the Hawkeyes program?
Follow paulmbanks
Multiple sources are reporting that the Kansas City Chiefs have claimed former Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton off of waivers. So it appears Captain Neckbeard, waived yesterday by Denver, will stay in the AFC West Division.
Since the Chicago Bears missed out on Orton, they settled for Josh McCown, signing him for a one year deal.
Follow paulmbanks
Fans in Kansas City and Minneapolis will have to start attending the games with paper bags over their heads. Both clubs have been examples of extreme futility so far this fall. The two clubs are headed nowhere fast because throughout the history of the NFL, only three percent of teams that have started in this manner (0-3) have reached the playoffs.
Follow paulmbanks
With the NFL lockout finally behind us, football fans can finally turn our attention from the courtrooms and onto the field, where it belongs. In the coming weeks, I will rank the fantasy studs, duds and sleepers for each division. Today, the AFC West goes under the microscope.
Follow paulmbanks
Heading into last season it looked like the AFC West would be one of the weaker divisions in the NFL, but once the league got going that was far from the case. The Kansas City Chiefs were one of the biggest surprises and they never really looked back after jumping out of the gate to a 3-0 start.
They won the division with a 10-6 record and made the playoffs with the NFL’s best rushing offense. The young defense wasn’t bad either and the Chiefs will probably be favored to win the division next season. However, they made an early exit in the playoffs after being humbled 30-7 by Baltimore in the wild card round.
The Chiefs have some fine players in Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster, Derrick Johnson, Javier Arenas, and Tamba Hali, but need a push from their draft picks to get over the hump and go further into the playoffs next season.
The club’s 2011 picks could be the answer they’re looking for as they landed a good mix of players with character, production and an up-side to them.
Follow paulmbanks
