Colin Kaepernick is a Better Quarterback, and a Better American, Than Most of the Starters in Week 1 of the NFL

Artist depiction of the quality of quarterback play in the NFL

I was going to start off this week like I did last week with an instant reaction to the first week of the NFL season. I had some takes, but there is one take that has to take up my entire blog today.

The quarterback play that I watched this Thursday, Sunday and, presumably, tonight, was absolutely atrocious. It was so dreadfully awful. I had to work in the morning on Sunday, but I was home in time for all the late afternoon games, and I saw the end of some of the early games. The QB play, at least on the Patriots side, Thursday night was pretty awful as well. Tom Brady played horrendous football on Thursday night. His bad play wasn't a call to arms for me though. He has been great since 2001, so he can have a bad game here and there. He is 40, and that is to be expected.

What I didn't expect was Alex Smith to outplay him by that much. This was the first time in Smith's career where he actually looked like the number one overall pick. He was throwing beautiful deep balls and hitting receivers in stride. You have to remember too, the Chiefs traded all the way up to number 10 in the most recent draft to take Patrick Malholmes, and many people, myself included, assumed that was the end of the Alex Smith era in Kansas City. Well, he squashed any talk of that for at least one week.

So the opening game of the season started very odd, with Alex Smith looking all world and Tom Brady looking awful. Then, I arrived home, turned on "Red Zone Network", and saw all the horrific QB play in the NFL. The first one that really popped out to me was Tom Savage and the Houston Texans. He got absolutely owned by the Jaguars. The Jacksonville Jaguars. They sacked him 10 times and scored a defensive TD. He looked so much worse than the other terrible QB on the same field that day, Blake Bortles. Don't get me wrong, Bortles was awful too, completing less than 50 percent of his passes, but the Jaguars relied on Leonard Fournette and their defense. And, due to the terrible play of Savage, they ran away with the victory. In fact, the only TD the Texans scored was when Deshaun Watson stepped in and threw a dart to DeAndre Hopkins. The time is now for Watson to be the Texans QB. That much should be clear.

Throughout the rest of the early afternoon games there were some veteran QB's that were just as bad as Savage. Two that come to mind for me are Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton. Between the 2 of them, they had 1 TD and 7 interceptions. Both of their teams got beaten easily too. The Ravens shut out the Bengals and the Lions came back and beat the Cardinals by 2 scores. Both Dalton and Palmer looked old and past their prime. Palmer probably is, but Dalton is still young, but he has only gotten worse every year he has been in the league. Kirk Cousins, betting on himself for the third straight year, looked pretty inconsistent with a whole new group of receivers. He was over and under throwing balls all day and missed an easy TD that could have turned the tide of the game. Not a great start to a season where Cousins expects to get paid big time money.

Then came the late afternoon games. Everyone else in the early games was either fine, or average. I was pumped for the Seahawks-Packers game, and both QB's let me down. Rodgers looked flushed and hurried all game. The only TD he threw was on a busted play where he caught the Seahawks off guard. He looked very average yesterday. Russell Wilson looked even worse. His O-line cannot protect him, and he was running for his life all game against a revamped Packers defense. He was also missing throws and throwing the ball away more often than not. He did not look like the MVP that some writers, not me, predicted him to be this season.

The 2 main horrific QB's I watched were in the late afternoon games though. Scott Tolzien and Brian Hoyer were hot messes yesterday. The fact that Brian Hoyer is still in the NFL is astounding. He wasn't even that good in college. He is, at best, a third stringer in the NFL. But, he keeps finding starting jobs somehow. He was horrendous yesterday. He was sailing balls, missing open guys and getting sacked left and right. He looked timid and frightened every time he stepped back to pass. People need to stop giving Brian Hoyer contracts and starting jobs. He is so bad. I didn't think it couldget much worse than Brian Hoyer, but then I saw the "highlights" of Scott Tolzien. My god is he terrible. He made Jared Goff look like the second coming of Joe Montana. Tolzien has no business setting foot on a professional football field. Hell, I wouldn't even let him quarterback a high school team. He has no leadership of the team. He has no control of the huddle and he puts no fear in the opposing defense at all. Scott Tolzien is the worst QB in the NFL. The fact that he started a game yesterday is an absolute abomination and a total indictment of how poor the NFL is right now.

While watching this shit show, I took to Facebook and Twitter to write a simple 2 word status update. I wrote, "Can someone please explain to me why Scott Tolzien and Brian Hoyer are starting NFL games today, yet Colin Kaepernick remains unsinged? What a joke". That was it. I just put it out in the ether. Of course I got responses, most of them agreeing with my statement. But, there were a few people who said things like, "if he had a QBR of 125, it wouldn't matter. He is no good, that is why he isn't playing". And my favorite, "he is the most unpatriotic person ever".

Lets unpack the, "he's no good" comment first. Colin Kaepernick has been to a Super Bowl. He has won multiple playoff games. Hell, he was okay last year when he got to play, playing on an awful 49ers team. Colin Kapernick is better than at least 10 guys that started yesterday. I would much rather have him than Tom Savage, Carson Palmer, Andy Dalton, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins, Tyrod Taylor, Josh Mccown, Brian Hoyer, or god help me, Scott freaking Tolzien. He is so much better than any one of these guys. He has achieved more than anyone of those guys too. He has had more success than anyone of those guys. He is a better football player than all of those guys. He belongs on a team, especially more so than the players I just mentioned.

Now for the "unpatriotic" comment. Colin Kaepernick is more patriotic than these morons that claim he is "unpatriotic". Him kneeling for the national anthem is his way of protesting, which is encouraged by most American's because it is a great way to use our freedom of speech. I do not care one bit that he chose to kneel for the anthem. I love the reasons why he chose to kneel. I fully agree with him in fact. The police in the US, not all of them, but most, are cruel individuals who try and get away with more than anyone else. They are power hungry morons that have let what little power they have make their heads explode. They are trigger happy psychopaths that terrify more people than they put at ease.

Secondly, not only does Kaepernick use his freedom of speech to near perfection, he puts his money where his mouth is. He has donated millions of dollars and clothes and food and anything and everything to the certain charities he donates to. He is a good person doing great things in the name of freedom of speech. He is out there doing so much more than anyone who claims to be "patriotic". The people who claim to be "patriotic" are mostly arm chair patriots. They do what I did yesterday. They post some dumb, "I love America", bull shit on their Facebook page, then chastise people like me who think Colin Kaepernick deserves a job in the NFL.

I probably should have kept that thought to myself until today, for my blog, but what I saw yesterday made me angry. People like armchair "patriots", Roger Goodell, and the majority of NFL owners are making me hate a sport that I once loved. I look so much more forward to Saturday's for football than Sunday's now. The NFL is becoming an absolute joke. The powers that be would rather sign and play guys that hit women, Ezekial Elliot, or children, Adrian Peterson, or bully teammates to the point of the contemplating suicide, Richie Incognito, then sign a guy that doesn't want to stand for the stupid ass national anthem. Colin Kaepernick is a much better person than the three people I named, and he is more patriotic than anyone that calls him "unpatriotic". And for those of you that didn't care for my status update yesterday, get used to me stepping up for Kaepernick all season long until he gets his much deserved roster spot on an NFL team. Also, I do not stand for the national anthem anymore too, because I agree with Kaepernick. This country is a mess, and he is one of the good people left.

Thank you for all you do Mr. Kaepernick. You are truly a hero.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is also going to sit for the Canadian Anthem. He will give up that protest when the stop selling those delicious Kit Kats we can not get in the States. How dare they have better candy.

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Ty Watches Week One of the 2017 College Football Season

With the Tennessee Volunteers coming up with a double overtime victory over Georgia Tech last night, the first official weekend of the 2017 NCAA football season is done, and I have some quick initial reactions.

First off, Tennessee got lucky. That play that the Yellow Jackets ran last night was not the best play, and it took away from what they had done all night that was successful. It was a great game that ended on a so so play call.

As far as other top 25 action, there is a decent amount to unpack. Texas is not there yet. I know a ton of people thought they were going to roll over Maryland, but Maryland had other plans. While they let the Longhorns back into the game, letting them get as close as 3 points, they scored 51 on them. Fourteen of those came from a backup true freshman QB too. Maryland had their way with a very bad Texas defense. Tom Hermann has quite a job ahead of him. The rest of the Big 12 did what everyone thought they would do, with one exception. Oklahoma, and more importantly, Baker Mayfield, looked dynamite, albeit it was against UTEP. Kansas State crushed their opponent. Oklahoma State did the same. Baylor was the lone exception. I was so very, very, very happy to see that Liberty beat them and hung 43 on them in the process. I wish nothing but bad things for the Baylor football program.

The Pac 12 was very blah this past weekend. USC struggled early, then ran away from Western Michigan. Stanford destroyed Rice the weekend before. Washington struggled at first with Rutgers, but they won. Their win, and play, was very uninspired though. Oregon cruised past their opponent in Willie Taggert's first game. And UCLA spotted Texas A&M a 34 point lead, but managed to come all the way back and win by a point. Other than that, no real big time Pac 12 matchups.

In the Big 10, The University of Ohio State looked sluggish in the first half against Indiana, but woke up and slaughtered them in the second half. That being said, I do not think JT Barrett is one of the front runners for the Heisman anymore though. He looked very average. Their defense and run game is what won that game for them. Wisconsin and Penn State opened up against 2 over matched schools and did exactly what you would expect them to. Both of them cruised, giving up a combined 10 points. Michigan State came out of the gates slow, but pulled away from an overmatched Bowling Green team. Northwestern struggled, but pulled away very late against Nevada. And my guys, Michigan, left me feeling the same as I did before the start of the season. Their defense looked very good, but Florida is atrocious on offense. They also had 10 guys suspended for the game. Michigan's defense was the fastest I have ever seen in my time watching them though. The offense, more importantly, the O-line and Wilton Speight, still frustrate me to no end. Speight was way too over hyped in the first half. That second straight pick 6 made me want to punch a hole in my wall. He rebounded in the second half, but the run game and the defense were the reasons why Michigan won so comfortably.

The SEC looked pretty good. LSU shut out a pretty decent BYU team. Derius Guice looks like the real deal too. If LSU can find a passing game, they could cause trouble at the top of the conference. Auburn cruised against a lesser opponent. Georgia won, but lost their starting QB for what looks like it could be awhile. They have a great run game though. Missouri scored 72 points, but they gave up 43 to Missouri State. A bunch of people are telling Michigan fans to calm down after they beat Florida, but I live in Saint Louis, and Missouri fans around here think they are going to play offense like that all year. Maybe they need to calm down a bit. Missouri State is not even up to Kentucky's level in football. I already mentioned Tennessee. Kentucky won, but barely over Southern Miss. For my thoughts on Florida, see above. Again though, their offense is horrid. The big win for the SEC was Alabama once again proving they are the most dominant team in college football. Sure their offense didn't look any better than last year, but that defense, my goodness are they great. Yeah they lost 2 linebackers, but I'm sure they have 2 more who are just as good as the other guys and they will step in and not miss a beat. Also, FSU has a very solid defense, but more on them later. Alabama is not only the cream of the crop in the SEC, but the best team in the nation, and it is not even close.

Then we have the ACC. Miami pulled away early in the second half. Clemson trounced their opponent. Georgia Tech should have won last night but blew it. Louisville got a great performance out of Lamar Jackson, but they struggled to pull away from Purdue, only winning the game by a single touchdown. The biggest mess though was FSU. As I said, their defense is great. Easily a top 10 defense in the country. But, they lost their starting QB, and my preseason Heisman winner, Deondre Francois. He tore his patellar tendon muscle and he is done for the year. That is a tremendous, possibly season altering injury. I'm sure they have a solid backup, but Francois was the heart and soul of that offense. The other players fed off of him, and now, he is gone. This is a kid who takes so many hits too, I expected him to bounce right back up. After he sat on the ground for awhile, I knew something was wrong. He was getting shellacked all night, and it finally caught up to him and FSU. Cam Akers will have to take on a much bigger role, and he looked pretty good at times against the best defense in college football, but he is 18 years old. He was playing high schoolers at this time last year. FSU can still win the ACC, and even make the playoff, but to lose Francois for the year in the first game is brutal. I'll have a new Heisman winner when I do my mid season checkup, but if I had to pick someone right now, after one full weekend of NCAA football, I'd have to choose between Baker Mayfield, RD's pick or Derius Guice. I'll go with Guice right now because he played a much better team than Mayfield played.

As far as none "power 5" teams, Notre Dame won pretty handily over Temple this weekend, and got back in the top 25. We will see how they do against Georgia this weekend, but they got a break with Eason going down. South Florida won, but it took them a very long time to pull away from a very inferior opponent. And I know I didn't even mention them in my preseason stuff, but good for Howard, a 45 point underdog, to come out to UNLV, get paid 500,000 dollars for going there, and, not only cover the spread, but win the game. According to point spread history, that was the biggest upset of all time.

Nothing else truly jumped out to me. I saw Iowa shut down Josh Allen, the presumed number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft, so good for them. Washington State scored a ton, as many predicted. But, for the most part, everything went according to plan this weekend, with Texas being the only outlier.

I am so stoked that college football is back, and I wanted to give some gut reactions to week one. Saturday's cannot come fast enough now. Football is back, and I am so thrilled.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His wall is doing ok since the Wolverines did not throw three pick sixes. If that happens, Ty may need a whole new home.

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Stop it Cavs. You Already Won the Kyrie Trade

Last week I was so focused on football, I did write about the Kyrie Irving to Boston trade, but now that I have gotten to stew in it, and with the newer news of the Cavs possibly looking for further compensation due to Isaish Thomas' hip injury, I have some more thoughts about the deal.

First off, I think the deal is going to get done no matter what. I do not see anyway that Irving is not wearing a Celtics jersey in October, and same for Thomas and Crowder in a Cavs jersey. There are far too many fractured relationships with players and teams now. Thomas was hurt by Boston. They just offloaded him like nothing. This was a prime example of sports being a business. Crowder is probably happy to be gone since his name was ALWAYS brought up in trade rumors for the past couple seasons. I don't know how he ever felt comfortable playing there the past couple years. Irving wanted out of Cleveland, and he wanted out bad.

Second off, while playing the best basketball of his career the past three seasons, he never really seemed happy playing sidekick to LeBron. He wanted out and he wanted to be "the man". I'm sure he was sick of always being publicly called out by LeBron and he probably feels like Kevin Durant did last year. He wants to get out, find a change of scenery, and he has won a title in Cleveland already. What else does he have to prove there? Why should he still play second fiddle to the best player in the game right now? Why can't he leave like so many other players do all the time? Why does he get chastised more than KD did last year? Irving didn't go to the Warriors, he got traded to the Celtics. He didn't go to a front runner, even though the Celtics were the top seed last year in the East. I'm pretty sure everyone would put the Celtics as maybe the fourth or fifth best team in the NBA. And if you aren't the Warriors or Cavs, you won't really matter for the next year or two. So no, I hold no ill will towards Irving wanting out. I think it is insane because he will not be making long, deep playoff runs anymore, but so be it. He wants to run a team, and as soon as this trade gets finalized, he will get his wish.

Speaking of the deal getting finalized, the Cavs knew about Thomas' hip injury. The Celtics were very forward about this injury prior to making the deal. The Cavs already fleeced the Celtics once, by getting them to give up the Nets pick, Thomas, Crowder and Zizic, but now they want Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown to complete the deal? Get out of here. I do like the Celtics coming back and saying that they will not part with another player, especially one of their younger players, instead only offering a second round pick. That should be more than enough for the Cavs to make the deal. What would they do with a Tatum or Brown if they got one of them? They already have a solid starting 5, and better veterans coming off the bench. If Brown or Tatum were to be traded to the Cavs, they would relegated to the end of the bench. They'd be lucky to get 10 minutes a game. That is not good for their development, and I feel like they would become journeyman players that play for a bunch of teams. Going to the Cavs would stunt their development. LeBron has made it very widely known over the past three years that he doesn't like playing with rookies or second year players. This may have been a demand due to the possibility of LeBron leaving, but it would waste a year of growth for one of these guys. This is most likely LeBron's last year in Cleveland, so why do they want a Tatum or a Brown? As I have already stated, they have a solid starting 5 with Thomas taking over the point guard duties from Kyrie, JR Smith at the 2, Crowder at the 3, LeBron at the 4 and either Love or Tristan Thompson at the 5. Then, coming off the bench, lets say Thompson starts, they have Love, Kyle Korver, Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert, if they keep him. I'm sure the Cavs are also making some calls around to see if they can get another veteran to come aboard. So add either a Brown or Tatum to this team and they are, at best, the 9th guy on the bench. The Cavs don't need that, and neither do Brown and Tatum. The Cavs are getting a bit too cocky by asking for these guys. I think they should just take the deal as is, but if they want more, take the second round pick. Or, ask for a Terry Rozier or the French kid they took last year in the late first round. Don't ask for the past 2 number 3 overall picks. That is way too much, especially when they already acquired a ton in the first deal.

The trade as is still sits strongly in the Cavs favor. I'm sure that Thomas may miss a little time at the start of the year, but that will not affect the Cavs much, if at all. LeBron will still run the team, as he has for the past 3 years. Crowder makes them so much better defensively too. The Nets pick gives them leverage and an asset for a trade, or they can keep it if LeBron does leave, and use that as the building block for next year. The Cavs already won this trade once, they don't need to rub it in by asking for 2 young players that have tremendous potential. Just take the deal as is and be happy with how much better the team will be with Thomas and Crowder and by offloading an unhappy guy that doesn't want to be there. There is no reason the Celtics need to give up one of those young guys, and the Cavs asking for one of them is a baller move, but it is also a bit too cocky from there side as well. We will have to see what happens.

But as I said at the top, I think this deal will get done by taking the first offer, or getting the second round pick along with their original haul, and just being happy with that. Either way, Irving will be a Celtic and Thomas and Crowder will be Cavs when the season starts in October. You can count on that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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The SeedSing 2017 College Football Preview

Before I get into my 2017 NCAA football preview, please try and do anything and everything you can to help out the people in Houston. What is going on there right now is horrifying and terrible and the people of that city need our help. You can donate at many websites, text 90999 and write HARVEY or, if you are in the area and safe, try and help others. I hope this all ends soon because this is catastrophic. No one deserves what is happening in Houston now. Go out and do whatever you can to help.

Okay, now lets get to my preview.

My 2017 NCAA football preview is going to be like my other ones. I will break down the "power 5" schools, mention some non "power 5" schools, pick the playoff, the championship and the Heisman winner. I'll pick the winner of each conference too. Okay, here goes.

I'm going to start with the Big 12. The Big 12 is about the 2 Oklahoma schools. Oklahoma is going to be good. They still have Baker Mayfield, and they recruit with the best schools in the country, and they get some of the best players. However, they lost Dede Westbrook and Semajie Perine. Those departures will be enormous. Baker Mayfield is a legit Heisman contender, but he has an entire new crew of skill players. They also lost Bob Stoops to retirement. That was bizarre. I wrote about how weird his retirement was about 2 months ago, and I am still confused as to why he walked away this year. But, Oklahoma doesn't rebuild, they reload. They will still be very good. Oklahoma State is going to be absolutely lethal on offense. Mason Rudolph is going to put up incredible numbers. This year will be Oklahoma State's best chance to knock off Oklahoma. They have a stacked offense. Their defense is kind of suspect, but in the Big 12, defense is sometimes optional. I have seen some websites and other publications say that maybe TCU can compete, but that all depends on Kenny Hill. If he looks good, they could be a 10 win team. If he falters, they will be lucky to be .500. They also have a very shoddy defense, which used to be their calling card. Texas is welcoming Tom Hermann as their new head coach, and I think some people have a bit too much optimism. I'm a little more pessimistic. They have a lot of newer starters that need to learn an entire new offense. I don't doubt that Hermann can turn it around, I just think it may take 2 or 3 years to get his type player. Their defense is atrocious too. Baylor is about to get hammered, as they should, with NCAA sanctions. That school's football program is filled with scumbags. They deserve all the bad things that are coming their way. Kansas may win 4 games this year, which would be a massive improvement, but they are a basketball school. That much is obvious. Iowa State is very mediocre. Texas Tech will score a lot of points, but they will give up more. I think that the honeymoon with Kliff Kingsbury is over. He is firmly on the hot seat. Kansas State will play hard, but they just don't have the talent to be hyper competitive. West Virginia may surprise some teams, but they are the epitome of a 7-5 team. They always start out hot too, but flame out. Expect that this year too. I'm going to go ahead and give Oklahoma State the nod in the Big 12 this year. Oklahoma has too much to replace, and they play a few good teams outside of their conference schedule. They also, inexplicably, lost their head coach. This is Oklahoma State's best shot to win the Big 12.

Lets now move to the very overrated SEC. As long as Alabama is in this conference, and they keep getting the best recruits, I'm going to go with them. They are the preseason number one. I know that they lost some guys on offense and defense, but they always do. They always have some blue chippers ready to take over for some first round draft pick. They lost that monster D-lineman to the draft, they have D'Shawn Hand to replace him. They lost OJ Howard, but they have Steven Ridley and some 5 stars ready to step in at tight end. They also get Jalen Hurts back. That kid was great last year as a true freshman. He looked so poised and composed. He is going to make a tremendous leap. Look, I hate Alabama, but I cannot deny their greatness. LSU should be good, but this is the first full year under Ed Orgeron. I now they looked different at the end of last year when he took over for Les Miles, but teams now have an entire offseason to prepare for him. They do have Derius Guice, and he looked awesome in his playing time behind Leonard Fournette last year. He filled in great for him when he got hurt. LSU also has a very stout defense, as always. The question marks for them are all the same. How will their QB play? Can they utilize their receivers properly? Will they choke in big games? Time will tell. I think they will be better than last year, but I still think Alabama is better. Auburn is back to being an 8 or 9 win team. They run the ball exceptionally, but they have no passing game whatsoever. Their defense is fine, but just fine. Gus Malzahn may not be the great head coach that they thought they got a few years back at Auburn. Georgia has some great running backs, mainly Nick Chubb, but their QB situation is not ideal. They had a 5 star kid start last year, and he looked like a freshman more than a star. They signed some other 5 star kid this offseason, and they are in a battle still to see who is going to be the starter. I'd stick with the kid from last year, but the fact that he is in a battle is a bad sign. They do have a decent defense, and Kirby Smart will turn them into a top 15 overall defense soon. Georgia may be looking at another 8 win year, but look out for them in a year or 2. Ole Miss is a mess due to their creep of a former head coach. They are going to get crushed by the NCAA. I'm sick of all the Tennessee hype every year. I do not believe one thing I hear from that team during the offseason anymore. Their coach should have been let go last year. Florida has a great defense, but that offense leaves a ton to be desired. They did get Malik Zaire to transfer there, and he could help them a lot, but he hasn't had a ton of time on campus. Their defense will keep them in every game, but they need that offense to get up to speed. Arkansas will be highly pumped up during the offseason, blow some games and finish 7-5 or 6-6 again. That is the Bret Biliema way. Texas A&M is wildly inconsistent, and they just lost Myles Garrett. They will most likely win 7 games again. Then there are the mid level to bottom feeders. The Missouri's, Vanderbilt's, Mississippi State's, South Carolina's and Kentucky's of the SEC. They may all be .500, but that is because they will schedule 3 cupcakes, and then beat up on each other. The upper tier SEC teams will hammer these teams. Obviously I have Alabama, no matter who they play in the SEC title game, to win the SEC.

The Pac 12 is down. The Pac 12 may be worse than the ACC now. Sure, Washington, USC and Stanford are highly rated. Hell, I have seen some people pick USC to win it all. But, I remember the last time USC had all this hype. They finished 7-6. This USC team will be better though. Sam Darnold is legit. He is very, very good. He is all around solid, even exceptional. They have some good skill guys too, and a pretty good defense. But, I'm always wary of a team that was going to fire their coach early during the last season, then playing really well down the stretch, then getting all the offseason accolades. Those teams never seem to live up to the hype. Washington was in the playoff, but we all saw what they looked liked against real competition. Alabama destroyed them. That game wasn't even close. They have an incredibly easy out of conference schedule, and they will win double digit wins, but when they have to face the big teams, they just can't match up. Their QB is back, and he will put numbers, but not against the top teams. I really like Stanford, and they completely dominated a much worse Rice team this past Saturday. They ran up and down the field on them and they stopped everything Rice tried to do. Stanford is going to be very good, but when will they have that one game when they blow it? It has happened for the past couple years. But, David Shaw might be one of the most underrated coaches in football. He is great. I do not know what happened to Oregon last year. They cleaned house, and I do like the hiring of Willie Taggert, but this team is playing a ton of new players. They might not be the hyper fast offense that we have all become accustomed to. And their defense might be worse than most of the defenses in the Big 12. Utah is solid, but they will only win 7 or 8 games. They have to replace a lot. They are kind of like the Kansas State of the Pac 12. They play hard, but they just aren't as talented as the upper echelon teams in their conference. UCLA is average. Josh Rosen is not the next great QB. They don't really have hyper athletic skilled players. Their defense is average. This is a 7 win team at best. Jim Mora Jr may be gone after this year. California is the Texas Tech of the Pac 12, but they give up more points. Arizona is learning that Rich Rod may not be the great coach he was when he was at West Virginia. This team has really faded in the last 2 years after climbing into the top 15 in Rich Rod's first year. Washington State might surprise some people. They have a tremendous offense, and their defense, if they need to, can make plays. Mike Leach is an odd dude, but he is an offensive mastermind. Washington State could win double digit game this year. And if they don't, they will be in every game. Colorado played very well last year, making it to the Pac 12 title game, and I expect them to continue being a competitive team in the Pac 12. They are on the up swing, but they need to break in a new QB and other new skill players. Arizona State's time as a "perennial top 25 team" never really came, and they are just a run of the mill team that has some wild uniforms. They will continue to be a 6 or 7 win team. I also despise their coach. Oregon State has gotten better the past 2 years, but they are still a ways away from being at the top of the conference. USC will get all the talk, but I like Stanford to win the Pac 12 this year. They need to replace a guy like McCaffery, but that should benefit them, as they won't be so reliant on one player. They will be a full team, as opposed to one guy being the focal point. I also really like David Shaw. He is, by far, the best coach in the conference.

The ACC is going to be much better than it has been in a long time. Clemson will take a step back, but they are the defending national champs. They have to replace a ton of production, but they have some good players ready to step in. They will not win the national title again, let alone the ACC. But, they will compete. Florida State looks like the team to beat. They have so much talent coming back. Sure, the lost Dalvin Cook, but they have Deondre Francois back, and that kid is amazing. They also have some pretty great skill guys. FSU is also stacked on defense. On paper, this team looks incredible. We will find out a lot about them this Saturday night when they open the season against Alabama. That is going to be an epic game. At least it should be. Miami is another team I like in the ACC. Mark Richt is a good head coach, and he is turning that program back to being relevant. They won't be the Miami from the early 2000's, but they are going to be very good this year. I could definitely see them win double digit games this year, and be a force in the ACC. Virginia Tech is another team on the up swing. They have a very good defense, and I know they lost their QB, but they will be able to plug and play some new kid, as long as he can manage a game. This team wins by stopping the other guys and ball control. And they have the talent to do that this year. Louisville returns Heisman winner Lamar Jackson, so you cannot count them out. Jackson kind of fell off at the end of last year, but he still won the Heisman as a 19 year old. He is a very good QB. They don't have a ton of talent on defense, but they can still manage to get stops. This team is all about Lamar Jackson, and in college football, that is just fine. Georgia Tech will be a headache, they run that triple option, and I could see them winning a few games they shouldn't. Pitt is atrocious on defense, and they lost their excellent running back, James Connor, to the NFL. They might take a step back this year. Duke is fun to watch at times, but they don't have the guys to make any real noise. Same thing with UNC. They play a fun style of offense, but they just can't matchup with the top 25 teams. NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College and Syracuse are also rans. NC State may win a game they shouldn't here and there, but they will not matter in the end. Boston College will have a very stout defense, but they will lose so many games with scores like 7-0, 10-7 or 6-3. They just can't score. FSU is the clear favorite to win the ACC, and I am not going against the pack on this one. FSU will win the ACC.

The last of the "power 5" conferences is the Big 10. I am a Michigan fan. Duh. I'm very curious/excited/nervous to see what this team will look like in 5 days. A BUNCH of people are expecting them to take a major step back. They have to replace 17 starters. That is a lot. But, all the kids there now are Harbaugh's recruits. These are the type of players he wants at Michigan. I want to see how they perform. I want to see if Harbaugh is the great coach that he has been ordained to be. Most publications pick them to finish fourth overall in the Big 10 and third in their division. I have seen their win totals range from 8-11. I would be very disappointed if they only won 8 games and finished third in their division. I think they will be better than most people are saying. I think they can win double digit games. I love that they open with Florida and that they have a tough conference schedule. But, they get Ohio State at home this year and Florida has suspended, the last I checked, 7 players for this opener. I think Michigan will be better than 8 wins. I think they should win at least 10 games. Most of the hype in the Big 10 is being placed on the University of Ohio State and Penn State, and rightfully so. Both these teams appear to be loaded. Both these teams ended the regular season strong. But, both lost their bowl games. I have much more faith in the University of Ohio State living up to the expectations than Penn State because they always have high expectations. The University of Ohio State will be fine, if they beat Oklahoma at the beginning of the year. Penn State hasn't been in the spotlight, at least not for something good, and neither has James Franklin, in a very long time. The way they ended last year seemed very, very fluky to me. Like I said, they have a very talented team, but this is a team that got scored on a ton against a very mediocre Pitt team last year. This is a team that was floating in obscurity until the University of Ohio State played their worst game all year. This was a team that got Wisconsin on their worst defensive performance of the year in the Big 10 title last year. They got a lot of breaks last year. Let's see how they do with the bulls eye on them now. Wisconsin will be very good once again. They will run the ball a ton, control the clock and let their stacked defense get stops for them when they need to. They will most definitely be a major factor in the Big 10 all year long. After those teams, it gets very murky. Who knows how good Minnesota will be with PJ Fleck as the head guy. They could be very good, they have a good run game, but how will their passing offense look and how will that defense play? Don't forget, they let Rutgers stay in, and almost win, the game they played last year. Northwestern is on a lot of "sleepers" lists, but aren't they every year? They have a good run game, but I do not buy Clayton Thorson as a legit QB threat. They also have a very mediocre defense. Pat Fitzgerald might be the most overrated coach in all of college sports. But, people seem to think this Northwestern team can make noise. I am not one of those people. Maryland has a good defense, but their offense is abysmal. They have zero play makers and they will struggle with the top teams in the Big 10. Indiana is going through a coaching change, and they need to break in a new QB. But, they always have a very good run game, and they need one because that defense cannot stop anyone ever. Nebraska is okay, but I cannot figure out what to make of this team and Mike Riley. Does he want to run the ball like he did at Oregon State, or is he going to use the spread game? Who is going to be his QB? Who is going to be their bell cow running back? How is their defense going to look? This team is a mystery. Iowa will always be one of the tougher teams to play at home. But, they have no real QB or receiver threat. They do have some good running backs, but with teams loading the box, that won't matter. Their defense will be good though because it always is. This team has 7 wins written all over them. Michigan State will not be as bad as they were last year, but they won't be much better. They do not have that crushing defense from a few years back and they have no real identity on offense. Mark Dantonio may be coaching for his job this year. If they get 7 wins, which I think they can, he should be fine, but if they slip to 5 or 4 wins, he may be looking elsewhere for work next season. Then we have Purdue, Illinois and Rutgers. This is the bottom of the barrel in the Big 10. Rutgers will be lucky to win 2 games. Purdue is going through yet another coaching change. And poor Lovie Smith, Illinois is bad. As much as I loathe and am disgusted by this team, god damn University of Ohio State will probably win the conference. JT Barrett is a really good college QB and their defense is stout. Penn State may make it tough on them, so will Wisconsin, and Michigan, while young, should be in the race all season long.

As far as non "power 5" teams, South Florida and Boise State are about the only ones worth talking about. Notre Dame also bears mentioning, but they need to fire Brian Kelly right away, especially if that team comes out the way they did last year. They only won 4 games last year. That is unacceptable. Boise State bears a mention because they have earned it. They are always playing tough teams, beating them sometimes, and then running away with their conference. And South Florida is the Western Michigan of this year. They may go undefeated, but playing in such a poor conference and playing a weak out of conference schedule will leave them outside the top 10 all year. They are a very, very good football team though. But, no one outside of the "power 5" will make the playoff.

Which leads me to the playoff. My four teams, in order are FSU, the University of Ohio State, Alabama and USC. I think FSU will beat Alabama this weekend, take over the one spot and never relinquish it. The University of Ohio State will get in by beating Oklahoma early in the season and winning every game from there on out. I already have 2 undefeated teams in my playoff. Alabama will lose to FSU then crush everyone else on their way to another SEC title on a revenge style run. And even though I'm pessimistic about teams getting major accolades after starting out a season very bad, then finishing hot, and even though I picked Stanford to win the Pac 12, I think USC will get the nod with only one loss, where I think Stanford could have 2 losses, but still be in, and win, the Pac 12 title game. That would match up FSU and USC and Alabama and the University of Ohio State. I have FSU in a walk over USC and I have Alabama going to their second straight title game in a very close game over the University of Ohio State. And in the rematch I have FSU coming out on top once again. FSU is so very, very talented, and I think they will be your 2017-18 NCAA football champs. As far as the Heisman goes, I have Deondre Francois winning it. He will have his signature game this Saturday, and he will continue to play better and better every week of the year and run away with the Heisman.

I'll do a mid season check up, but this is what I see heading into the real opening week of college football. I cannot wait.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I am no where near the college football expert that Ty is, but I am still going to give my thoughts. The SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12 are very bad conferences with one or two very good teams. That means Alabama, USC, and Oklahoma will easily get into the playoff because they will bowl through their conferences and have one loss each at the very most. The fourth team should come from the Big 10, the best conference in college football, but eventual champ Wisconsin will have two or more losses. Urban Meyer will "suffer" through a 10 win season, lose to Michigan, and then retire due to "health concerns". Urban wants to run far away from Michigan in 2018 when they become an Alabama type power. That leaves the fourth playoff spot to a two loss FSU team (Alabama and a random conference game will be losses). #4 FSU will play #1 Alabama in the first round, the real national championship game. FSU will get revenge, then they will crush USC in the National Championship.

Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma will win the Heisman. Great name, premier program, and he will put up sick numbers in a the defense desert of the Big 12.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is a big man to not talk up his favorite team like he should. The Head Editor is not a big man, he will talk up the Wolverines for Ty.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The SeedSing 2017 NFL Predictions and Picks

For the past 8 days I have given my 2017 NFL countdown. I have ranked the teams from worst to best, in my opinion. Today I'm going to give my playoff predictions and award winners. I'm also going to throw something new into my predictions. This year, not only will you get my MVP, Coach of the Year, etc., I am also going to throw in a player or coach in the "worst" category. For example, I will give out an LVP, or Least Valuable Player award this year. Same with coach and the other awards I will hand out. And for those of you waiting and asking for my 2017 NCAA football preview, I have a big, enormous piece coming next Monday where I will break down the upcoming college season. I know there are some games this Saturday, but I checked the schedule, and only USF will be mentioned on Monday. So for all my college football fans, come back for that on Monday. Anyway, lets get to who I see in the NFL postseason this upcoming season.

I'll start with the AFC first. The AFC East will be easily won by the Patriots. This is the easiest decision by far of my predictions. They have the best QB, coach, players that fit their system, hell, they will even avoid one of those late season losses to Miami because Jay Cutler will find a way to screw that up. Patriots are the East champs by a million miles. Watch out for the Jets to go 0-16 from this division too. It might happen. Buffalo is going to be really bad too.

Some think the AFC West is a bit harder to choose. Not me. I think the Raiders will win this division going away. They have the best offense by far. The Chiefs will put up a fight because their defense is so stout. Same thing for the Broncos. But, the Chiefs offense will not be able to score with the Raiders and the Broncos are starting Trevor Siemian at QB, enough said. Some people think the Chargers are a "dark horse". Not me. I'd be shocked if they finish at .500. The Raiders will win the West with one of the best offenses in football.

If the Steelers do not win the AFC North something really bad has happened. Either they would lose more than half their offense, or some other ridiculous outcome occurs. They are the best team in this division by far. The Bengals might put up a fight, but I lost faith in that team a long long time ago. Like I said, they are the Clippers of the NFL. They are bound to choke. The Browns may be trotting out either Deshone Kizer, or god help them, Brock Osweiler week 1. They are still in the "rebuilding process". And the Ravens are too old and too reliant on a mediocre QB. The Steelers should be heavy favorites to win the North.

The AFC South is about 2 teams, the Titans and the Texans. I'm ready to jump on the Titans bandwagon. I really like what they are doing in Nashville right now and I think Marcus Mariota is ready to take that next step. But, the Texans have a great defense. That will keep them around all year. But, they will wait too long to put Deshaun Watson in at QB, and that will cost them the division. The Jags and the Colts stink, but for different reasons. The Colts have no one besides Andrew Luck, who is still hurt, and T.Y. Hilton. The Jags have no QB. Both these teams will be lucky to win 5 games.

So that leaves my 4 division champs as follows, the Patriots, Raiders, Steelers and Titans. As far as seeding, Patriots 1, Steelers 2, Raiders 3 and Titans 4. My two Wild Card teams are the Texans as the 5 seed and the Chiefs as the 6th. The AFC title game will come down to the Patriots and the Raiders, I think the Raiders will beat the Steelers in a shootout, and the Patriots will return to the Super Bowl for the 4th time in 5 years. They are just too damn good to be stopped.

As far as the NFC goes, it looks to be a bit more open to some. Not to me. The NFC East will be a battle to 10 wins for the title. All these teams have a shot to win the division. I'd love to pick the Eagles, but I think they are still one, maybe 2 years away from taking over the division. Washington will hang around for awhile, but this is the season where I see all of the chances Kirk Cousins and his agent have taken on himself will backfire and they will finish under .500. So it comes down to the Cowboys and the Giants. The Cowboys may seem like the obvious pick. But, when I went through and did my rankings, I found a lot of holes in this team. They will not be as good as they were on defense last year, and I want to see how Prescott handles being the focal point of the offense. The Giants have a great receiving core, a very good defense and that will be enough to push them to be the division winner. It will come down to the end of the season, but the Giants will find a way.

The NFC West is going to be won by the Seahawks. They may be getting a bit older, and relying way too much on Russell Wilson, but the division is pretty porous and their defense is still top 5. The Rams are a dumpster fire. The 49ers are even worse. The Cardinals could make it interesting, but I have zero faith in Carson Palmer. Seattle will win this weak division once again.

The NFC North will once again go to the Packers. They have the best offense in the division, and their defense will be better. Aaron Rodgers is the most reliable QB in the NFL. The Lions limped their way to the playoffs last year, and that "run" will end this season. Minnesota's horrific offense will waste a year of one of the NFL's best defenses. And the Bears are horrible. Remember, they traded away future picks to move up one spot to draft Mitch Trubisky. Never forget that Bears fans. Packers in the North fairly easily.

The NFC South may be the best division in football now. It used to be one of the worst, but things have changed. The Saints may end up in last place in the division with 8 or 9 wins. The Panthers will bounce back, but Cam Newton's shoulder injury scares me a bit. The Buccaneers are going to be dynamite on offense, and they have a pretty decent, young defense. The Falcons were in the Super Bowl last year, return all of their key players and they signed Dontari Poe to help out their defense. But, will they have the Super Bowl hangover? Will they regret hiring Steve Sarkisian? Time will tell. For now though, I'm going to stick with the Falcons. They are too loaded to screw it up, at least in the division. It may take 12 or 13 wins, but they will win the division. Also, don't be surprised if the Falcons, Bucs and Panthers all have double digit wins. This division is really good.

So, the 4 NFC division winners are as follows, the Giants, Seahawks, Packers and Falcons. As far as seeding, I have the Packers 1, Falcons 2, Seahawks 3 and Giants 4. For my 2 wild cards, I legitimately thought about putting both Bucs and Panthers in there, but ultimately I decided on the Bucs as the 5th seed and the Cardinals as the 6th seed. Maybe I just like the Cardinals, and David Johnson, and I want them to prove me wrong. As far as the NFC winner, I'll take the Packers, with ease I might add, over the Falcons. A little revenge from last year's NFC title game. This time it will be at Lambeau though.  

That would pit the Patriots versus the Packers in Super Bowl 52. I'm going with my guys, the Packers. I love what they can be, if they stay healthy, on offense this year. They have so many options. The game will be close, but Rodgers will lead a game winning drive to get his second ring. Go Pack Go. I hope my faith in them will outweigh whatever terrible decisions Mike McCarthy is bound to make this year.

As far as award winners go, lets jump right to the MVP. Some may think I'd pick Rodgers or Brady with the way I talked about the 2 of them in my countdown. Nope. I'm going to go way out on a limb here and pick David Johnson. Not many running backs win this award, but Johnson is so critical and the Cardinals rely on him so much, I feel like he is going to explode this year. He is so awesome. He is the best modern running back playing right now. He will double his awards this season, also winning Offensive player of the Year. The Defensive Player of the Year will go to Jadaveon Clowney. He is going to have a massive year as well, and soon he will be the face of the Texans defense. No more bull shit from JJ Watt, Clowney is going to be the anchor for that very good defense in Houston. Offensive Rookie of the Year will be Dalvin Cook. He is the only good thing the Vikings have going for them on offense. He will get a ton of carries and touches out of the back field, and he is so explosive, he will make some highlight plays. I wanted to pick Leonard Fournette so bad for this, but he is stuck in a horrible situation in Jacksonville. He may get hurt by week 9 because of such a high usage rate. Defensive Rookie of the Year will be Soloman Thomas. He is on a really bad team in San Francisco, but he is the first step in the right direction. I think he will wreak havoc on opposing back fields. Coach of the Year is going to be Dirk Koetter. The Bucs are going to make that Raiders esque leap from last year, and the voters can't get enough of that stuff. The Super Bowl MVP will be Aaron Rodgers, due to that game winning drive I predicted.

Now, for the awards no one wants to win. The 2017 Jets will go down as one of the worst NFL teams ever, and Christian Hackenberg will be a big, big reason why. He is atrocious. He can't even break huddles properly and his press conference skills are terrible. He may be a worse QB than Blake Bortles. He is your 2017 least valuable player. The biggest reach, which will make this guy the worst offensive rookie is the Bengals taking Joe Mixon. What the hell were they thinking? How long until he gets suspended for hitting a woman? He does not deserve to be playing professional sports. No one should ever put their hands on a woman, ever. This also applies to the worst defensive rookie, Jourdan Lewis. He broke my heart when that story came out that hehit his ex girlfriend. I know the charges were dropped, but the damage had already been done. I'm done rooting for Jourdan Lewis. The worst coach of the year was tough. I feel bad for Todd Bowles because he didn't ask for this from the Jets. Doug Marrone is going to have a rough go in Jacksonville, but he won me over when he said he didn't want the game to be in his QB's hands, and he was going to give Fournette the ball 300 plus times. That was some serious shade thrown at Bortles. No, those guys are in poor situations. The worst coach of the year will be Jason Garrett. Technically, he is usually one of the worst coaches, but that will be magnified this year due to the Elliot suspension. He cannot call a game properly and he is emotionless on the sidelines. Garrett has had more than his shot and he has done absolutely nothing but blow it for that team.

Well, there you have it, my entire 9 day 2017 NFL preview. Tell me in the comments why I'm wrong or tell me on Twitter or anywhere else you can find me. Thanks.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I have no real disagreement with Ty on the playoff teams. Because I am a pathetic homer, I do think the Bengals will get in the playoffs, and get blown out in the first round again. I am also putting the Vikings in, but they will miss an extra point to lose their Wild Card playoff game. Oakland and Tennessee are on the verge of being great, but the Patriots will find a way (maybe not legal) to win the AFC. The NFC will find some random team to be the underdog to the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I am going with a 9-7 or 10-6 New York Giants team led by Eli Manning and his 30 interceptions.

The Giants will win the game 8-7 after two fourth quarter field goals and a safety in the final seconds. We will live in a world where Eli Manning has three rings.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His lack of faith in the Bengals maybe be logical, but where is the fun in that.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Yes, The Empire Strikes Back is Still the Best" Edition

Today is the final day of my countdown. I have my top 4 teams for you. Tomorrow I will do a whole postseason, playoff, Super Bowl and award winners piece, but today, I have the best of the best that I think the NFL will have to offer. These are my 4 true contenders. All 4 of these teams, given the perfect chance and with some luck, can win the Super Bowl. Some have flaws, some don't. But, I feel like these are, far and away, the top 4 teams for the upcoming 2017 NFL season.

Lets get to it. At number 4, I have the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are absolutely loaded on offense. They may have the best offense in the league. I know that Ben Roesthielberger talked about retirement, but no one believed him. He wasn't going to leave behind a team this stacked. I despise him, but he can play QB. I think he is wildly overrated, and one of his Super Bowl wins is definitely tainted, but the dude produces. I actively and openly root against him, but he can still play and he is still hard to take down with one tackler. Although, I love when he gets smacked by multiple defenders on a sack. It brings me so much joy. The group of receivers that they have is incredible. Antonio Brown is probably the second best receiver in the league, behind only Julio Jones.  Brown is nearly impossible to cover and he puts up big time stats. Martavis Bryant is back, and he will open things up even more for this offense. He is s good wide out. Jesse James has stepped into that Heath Miller role with ease. He is very, very tall too, making him a hard cover. LeVeon Bell may love weed, but he is also a tremendous runner. He is so good at waiting for holes to open and then taking the ball through that hole and getting 5, 6, or 7 yards every time. I know he hasn't shown up to camp yet, but he will be fine. He doesn't need camp. The O-Line is very good too. They can protect and run block. Where the Steelers fall off a bit is their defense. Sure, they still have guys like Ryan Shazier, who is extra dirty, James Harrison, who is old, but still in tremendous shape and Alvin Dupree, who really started to show flashes at the end of last year. But, the rest of the D is kind of blah. Names like Sean Davis, Stephon Tuitt, Mike Mitchell, Cameron Hayward and William Gay fill out the rest of the roster. Those names are not that threatening. They won't make offenses think twice about stuff. The Steelers offense is going to be the reason this team makes the playoffs and has a possible deep run. They will score a ton of points and teams will have a hard time stopping them. They are lethal on that side of the ball.

At number 3, I have the Oakland Raiders. This is another team that is going to score, score again, then score one more time. They are as stacked as the Steelers, except the Raiders are younger everywhere on that side of the ball. The O-line proved they can be good last year. They protected Derek Carr very well, until week 16, when his leg looked like it was broke in half. We will see how Carr recovers from that, I think he will be fine. He is a very good, young QB. I already think he is better than guys like Andrew Luck, Eli Manning, Alex Smith and Ben Roesthilberger. He is becoming a top level NFL QB. He has a very good arm and a great sense of the game. He also has guys like Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper to throw to. Crabtree is still a very solid receiver. He has kind of had a rebirth in Oakland. Cooper is looking like he will be the next in a line of very good Alabama receivers. Last year he really broke out and the Raiders benefited from his awesome performances. I also think that signing Cordarelle Patterson is going to be a big get for both parties. He is going to love playing in Oakland. The Raiders also got Marshawn Lynch to come out of retirement to play for them. I know he is in his 30's and took a year off, but he is still big, fast and bruising. He is also playing in his hometown, which I love. And Jalen Richardson is a fine second option at running back. The Raiders do have a similar problem that the Steelers have. Their defense is very suspect. Khalil Mack is awesome. When he is on the field, this defense has a leader, and he gets the most out of his teammates. Mack is tremendous. But, after him, it is a bit murky. Gareon Conley might be good, but he has a big time injury past. Bruce Irvin is solid, but he is not the same player he was in Seattle. The D-line is very average. They do not get much pressure. The secondary is young, but has a chance to be decent. The Raiders will score a ton. That has been established. They need everyone on that offense to stay healthy though. They will be in a ton of shoot outs, make the playoffs, but that defense will be the key to how far they go, and may be the deciding factor in a possible Super Bowl run.

At number 2 I have the defending Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots. The Patriots return the majority of their super powered offense.  Tom Brady is still there, and he is the GOAT of all QB's. As long as he is the starting QB, the Patriots will always be contenders. He and Belichek, even though they like douchey, horrible people, are 2 of the best to ever play and coach. In fact, they are the 2 best ever at their respected spots. They still have Gronk, and if he can stay healthy, he is the best tight end in the league. By far. He is unstoppable. He is big, fast and has great hands. Julian Edelman is probably the best slot receiver in the NFL. He is getting too many concussions, which is problematic. But, he is still very productive. Danny Amendola has been very good since signing with the Patriots. They also got Brandin Cooks this offseason. He is going to thrive in this offense. They have a stable of running backs that play the exact way the Patriots want them to play. Guys like Dion Lewis and James White are the perfect for what the Patriots want to do. Their defense lost some guys, Logan Ryan for example, but they replaced him with some super talents. Stephon Gilmore is awesome. He is going to be a great addition. Malcolm Butler is playing for a contract, so he is going to ball out. Donta' Hightower is hurt, but he will be fine, and he will produce. Kony Ealy was another great addition for the line. Alan Branch is a stout D-lineman. Trey Flowers is an okay lineman. The Patriots are the type of team that can plug in and play anyone and they will produce. They don't need stars. They need players, and they get players. Players that want to win. The Patriots are great, and will continue to be as long as Belichek is the coach. They could win another Super Bowl this year and I wouldn't be surprised.

My final team, my number 1 team, my beloved Green Bay Packers. I may be seeing this through rose color glasses, but I think they are the best team in the league. They have the best offense, if they can stay healthy, in the league. Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the league right now. That's right I think he is better than Tom Brady. He has a tremendous arm, laser accuracy, can run and leads the offense to perfection. Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams are all very good, solid options at wide out. They can really spread the field out too. They also have Richard Rodgers and they signed Martellus Bennett. That is a lethal combo at tight end. Rodgers is enormous and Bennett is all around excellent. The run game is suspect, but I think Ty Montgomery is going to be good. He will be a threat to run the ball and catch it out of the backfield. He will add a totally new dimension to this offense. The O-line lost some guys, but this team also plugs and plays guys, and they produce. The defense is going to be better this year too. Clay Matthews and Jake Ryan make for a very solid linebacking duo. Matthews can rush and Ryan is a tackling machine. Quentin Rollins is a solid corner. HaHa Clinton Dix is fast becoming an elite safety. Kevin King was a great pick at corner. Nick Perry has his moments. The defense is going to produce and play a hell of a lot better than last year. The only thing that scares me is Mike McCarthy. He is a horrendous coach. But, this group of players should more than cover up for his shortcomings. The Packers are going to be awesome this year. I hate to put so much shine on my favorite team, but I have a great feeling about this team, and I'm ready to say that they could, and should, win the Super Bowl this year. They are loaded.

There you have it, my 2017 NFL countdown. Tell me who I was wrong about and why in the comment section, but this is the order I see the teams finishing this year. Let's play some football.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His love of the Packers blinds him to the absolute awesomeness of the Sam Bradford led Vikings. That is the most pathetic thing the head editor has ever written on this website. I am going to go to my shame corner now.

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Now that Kyrie has been Traded, Who Will Lose to the Warriors Next Season?

Last night, on my way to play basketball, the news rang out on my phone that Kyrie Irving had been traded. Since I was driving, I didn't check until I got to the gym who he was traded to. I figured it was either the Knicks or the Spurs since those are the only 2 teams I had really heard anything from since Kyrie demanded a trade. When I parked, I stopped to look at my phone and saw he had been traded to the Celtics.

I was shocked. I didn't even think they were a serious contender for Kyrie. I heard people say this as a possibility, but most people brushed it off saying that the Celtics would have to give up too much to get Kyrie. I agreed with those people. But, he was traded to the Celtics.

So, I clicked on the story to see what the Celtics had to give up. I didn't know who it was going to be, but I was almost certain that the name Isaish Thomas wasn't going to be included. He had become a folk hero of sorts for that team last year. Everyone in Boston loved him, and he loved them in return. Remember, he was openly recruiting guys to come play there. So, I assumed it was going to be the young Celtics and some picks. I figured a Nets pick and guys like Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum.

Well, the Nets pick was in the trade, unprotected I might add. Then I saw the other names. The Celtics gave up Ante Zizic, okay, Jae Crowder, he has been mentioned in trades for a couple year snow, and much to my surprise, Isaish Thomas. I was floored. I could not believe what the Celtics gave up to get Kyrie, and I was floored that they gave up Thomas. Zizic, Crowder and the pick, fine. That's expected. But, to give up Thomas, man, sports are brutal. It is amazing how brutal sports can be. Thomas was the best player for the number one seed in the East last year. He played hurt, hard, with a heavy heart and he put up tremendous numbers every night. And the Celtics just up and traded him for Kyrie Irving. Again, I was floored.

Then, after a couple hours of basketball, a nights sleep and thinking about it this morning and this afternoon, I looked more into the basketball aspect of the trade. I've got to say, after a little less than 24 hours of contemplating the trade, I feel like the Cavs won the deal, and they won big. Yes, Kyrie Irving is a tremendous, often dazzling scorer, but that is all he brings to Boston. That, and his very popular shoes. But what the Celtics had to give up was just astonishing. I'll get to that in a minute. I started to think about this new Celtics team, and they lost about 60 to 70 percent of their core from a 50 plus win, Eastern Conference Finals appearance last year. Yeah they still have Al Horford, but the other four starters, Amir Johnson, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Isaish Thomas, all of them are gone. They have to replace 80 percent of their starting 5. And I know that Amir Johnson was not great, but they also lost Kelly Olynk this offseason and replaced him with Aron Baynes. The Celtics are going to look totally different. Also, we will finally see how Brad Stevens does with a super star that wants to shoot and shoot and shoot. Stevens has kind of been given carte blanche because no one expected much from this team, and then they started to win. Now, he has big egos and big contracts to deal with. They will trot out a starting five of Kyrie, probably Baynes or the Morris twin they got, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford. I like the first starting five I mentioned much more. And for the people who think this will push them past Cleveland, slow your roll. The Cavs still have LeBron, and they got 2 of the Celtics five starters.

In fact, lets now look at exactly why I think the Cavs won this trade big. They had to give up Kyrie, and while that stinks, he was disgruntled, sick of being the little brother to LeBron and wanted to be the focal point of a team. If they had kept him, he would have been unhappy, and that could have affected his play. They don't have to worry about that now. The fact that they got Isaish Thomas is flat out amazing to me. He can replace a big, big chunk of the scoring that Irving will leave behind. He is also much better off the ball. Thomas can move off screens and float around the perimeter and hit open shots and get to the basket. I feel like he is going to love playing basketball with LeBron James. Also, he won't take any of the passive aggressive bull shit that LeBron always trots out there. If LeBron tries to subtweet him or say something about the "team", but it is really about Thomas, he will call him out. LeBron has never really had a teammate that would stand up to him but Thomas will, and I think it will benefit both players. Then we have Crowder. Sure, he isn't the defender that he was a couple years ago, but he is a hell of a lot better than anyone that the Cavs have, except for LeBron. Crowder will at least make opposing small forwards think about some shots that they freely got against other Cavs small forwards last year. He can also play small ball 4 if need be. He can also hit open threes. He is a much better Channing Frye, and Frye has been pretty decent since being traded to Cleveland. Crowder is also a much better option than Kyle Korver in big playoff games. Where Korver looked scared to shoot in the Finals last year, Crowder won't have that hesistation. Zizic is a salary dump I assume, so no need to talk about him. The Nets pick, which I say again is unprotected, can be used for a lot of things. If the Cavs think they can keep LeBron, they can trade it for a vet or someone that fits their system. If he does leave, it looks like he is halfway out the door, they can keep it and rebuild with a top ten pick in next year's draft. It is a win win. So, while the Celtics got a big name in a big market, the Cavs added depth and some much needed defense to their team.

To finish this all out, this trade will have no real affect in the outcome of next year unless the Warriors have a catastrophic injury. They are still the best team by a wide margin in the NBA. They will most likely face the Cavs in the finals again, and if that happens, maybe this trade makes it go 6, but still probably 5 or, even more likely, a sweep. While Crowder and James can play defense, they will not be nearly enough to stop the Warriors. Love, Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Derrick Rose, Thomas and anyone else they throw out there will get torched by the Warriors. And, if the Celtics somehow magically get to the Finals against the Warriors, that will definitely be a sweep. No one on the Celtics now can stop anyone on the Warriors. They are not even close to the same level as the Warriors.

The big deal happened, and I think the Cavs won it by a mile, but the Warriors will still be, barring any major injury, your 2017-18 NBA champs, and it won't even be close. At least the NBA is giving us some great stories during the boring time between the NBA Finals and football kicking off though. I am very grateful for that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Rogue One Final Scene" Edition

We are now on day 7 of my 2017 NFL countdown. There are only 2 days left worth of teams. This is the best of the best. These are teams that have few flaws and could really make some noise in the postseason. These teams all have something great going for them, and if any one of them makes it to the Super Bowl I would not be shocked. Lets go.

At number 8 I have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This team is loaded on offense. They are really, really lethal. A lot of people have been comparing them to the Raiders, a la, a team that makes a very big jump this year. I see that, but I see a lot more of the Falcons in this team. As I already stated, they are lethal offensively. Jameis Winston, for as much as I may not like him, he is turning into a very, very good NFL QB. He is using his arm more, he is becoming a leader, and he is just having fun out there. As long as he can cut down on the turnovers, which I think he will, he is going to jump into that upper echelon of NFL QB's. He is really, really good. They have some of the best wide outs for Winston to throw to also. Mike Evans is amazing. He is tall, fast, can get separation and has excellent hands. The guy is un-guardable at times. He is the Bucs version of Julio Jones. They also went out and signed Desean Jackson this offseason. That was one of the better additions that I have seen in awhile. He is going to stretch the field for the Bucs, and he will also make it nearly impossible to double Evans. Jackson was a tremendous pickup. They also drafted OJ Howard late in the first round, and he was great in college. Go watch last year's title game and he was one of the best players on a field filled with great players. That was a hell of a pick. Doug Martin started to look like the Doug Martin from 2 years ago at the end of last year. If he can be 80 percent of that guy, that will open up things even more for this offense. They also have Jacquizz Rodgers, and he is an excellent change of pace back. The O-Line is legit too. The Bucs also have a decent, albeit inexperienced defense. I love Gerald McCoy. He is a tremendous run stopper and pass rusher. He is also the only reason to watch "Hard Knocks" too. He is great. Vernon Hargreaves can become a decent NFL corner. I know Brent Grimes got a slight injury in preseason, but he will be fine for the start of the year, and he is a solid veteran. Noah Spence has gotten better every year in the league, and now he looks like a legit pass rush specialist. Lavonte David is a solid linebacker. This team is pretty good everywhere, with the exception being the kicking game. The fact that I have to mention it should cause concern. They cut Roberto Aguayo, the guy they moved up to pick in the second round last year, and his replacement, Nick Folk, has not looked consistent at all. That could cost them a game or 2, and that would be brutal. I like this Bucs team, but they need to shore up that kicking game to be a real threat.

At number 7 I have the New York Giants. Odell Beckham Jr is a headache, but he is so talented, he is worth the headache. I know he had a scare in a recent preseason game due to a very dirty hit, but he is going to be okay. He is one of the top 3 or 4 receivers in the league. He is so good with the ball in his hands, and he makes some of the most amazing catches ever. Beckham is great. They also signed Brandon Marshall. I love this almost as much as the Jackson to the Bucs deal. Marshall is as solid as they come, and he will make it impossible for team to double him and Beckham. This was a very good move by both parties. Hell, even Sterling Shepard showed flashes last year. This receiving corps is good. They unfortunately have Eli Manning throwing the ball to them. Yes, he was the QB of 2 Super Bowl champs, but if this team had a solid star QB, they could have won 4 or 5 rings by now. Eli is way too inconsistent and throws way too many picks. He is fine, but these receivers deserve better. The running game is very bland. Shane Vereen is okay, but he is much better at catching the ball out of the backfield and making something happen. The Giants don't want to do that. Paul Perkins is another option, but he didn't do much with his shot last year. I like the pick of Evan Engram, but if they want him to be more than just a glorified tight end, he has excellent hands, but cannot block, they need to coach him up big time. The O-Line is fine. Where the Giants excel is defense. They have a stout defense. People are still joking about what Jason Pierre Paul did to his hand 2 years ago, but that guy is an excellent D-lineman. He is really good. Olivier Vernon is also a very good defensive end. The D-line is good. The secondary is better. Landon Collins is the consummate pro. The guy does everything right, and sometimes, he does it spectacularly. Janoris Jenkins, with all the off field stuff, is a very solid cover corner. Dominique Rodgers Cromartie is great too. Eli Apple is decent. Johnathan Casillas is a pretty good linebacker. Same with BJ Goodson. This defense is good. They can stop teams. What holds the Giants back is Eli and their head coach. They should have beaten Green Bay last year, but the Giants coach got outcoached by Mike McCarthy. That is insane. And Eli, how much does he have left? I don't know. The Giants receivers and defense will be enough o push them towards the playoffs.

At number 6 I have the Kansas City Chiefs. Okay, they do have a QB problem, but give Patrick Mahomes time. He seems like he will be a quality starter in the NFL. And until he is ready, they have Alex Smith. Smith may not be the best QB in the league, but he can manage a game and he will not blow many games for you. He has done that his entire tenure in Kansas City. Sure, they lost Jamaal Charles and Jeremy Maclin this offseason, but those departures will not sting so much. Charles couldn't stay healthy, and Maclin hasn't been the same since his rookie year. They do have Tyreek Hill. Hill is explosive, fast and can catch the ball. He does have off field issues and hopefully that won't rear its head this season because he is their best play maker. They also have Travis Kelce. He is a wannabe Gronk, but he is still solid. He is not Gronk, but he makes plays and is a reliable option at tight end. Don't sleep on Chris Conley either. He was awesome at Georgia, and now, he will get a full chance to start. Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware are more than capable of replacing Charles at running back. They can both run hard and get tough yards. The O-line is solid too. Where the Chiefs are dominant is their defense. Eric Berry is one of the best safeties in football, and one of the best stories too. He came back from cancer and was still an All Pro. That's amazing. Marcus Peters is one of the best young corners in the league. As far as their linebackers, 2 names, Justin Houston and Derrick Johnson. Those 2 guys are incredibly talented and they produce and can be counted on for doing a little bit of everything. Tamba Hali is also pretty good too. The D-line did lose Dontari Poe, but they will be okay. Also, with that line backing core, the D-line doesn't have to be too disruptive. The linebackers can clean up the mess. The Chiefs are a great defensive team and an average offensive team. What separates them from a similar team, the Vikings, their offense is much better. The Chiefs will win double digit games, but that division is really tough.

The final team for today, at number 5, the Atlanta Falcons. The Super Bowl runner uppers. They should have won that game. They led by 25 points in third quarter. What a heart wrenching defeat. How will they recover? I do not know. What I do know, they have a very solid team. Matt Ryan, the MVP last season, is back. He was amazing last year. He will not replicate the numbers he put up last year, but he is still a very, very good QB. He is near that elite level. The still have Julio Jones, the best receiver in the NFL. He is so much better than whoever may be considered the second best receiver. He has been better than advertised. He is so great. And Taylor Gabriel and Mohammed Sanu round out a pretty decent group of receivers. Devonta Freeman is a great running back. I still firmly believe that if they just kept feeding him the ball, they would have easily won the Super Bowl. Tevin Coleman is a solid second option at running back. And this is the type of offense where you could plug in anyone at tight end and they would deliver. The O-line is very good too. They can pass protect and run block. They are solid. The Falcons defense is good too. The secondary is decent, led by Desmond Trufant. The linebackers are stout, led by Deion Jones. The strength of the defense is the line. Adrian Clayborne has been reborn since he signed with the Falcons. He is awesome. I love the Takkarist McKinley pick. He is young and will come at you non stop all game long. Vic Beasley has proved almost everyone wrong and has been great since he was picked. They also got Dontari Poe on a one year deal. He is going to ball out for them this year. The major question is how they respond after last year's Super Bowl loss. That was brutal. Also, they replaced their offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan who left for the 49ers head coach job, with Steve Sarkisian. That may not be as smooth a transition as some expect. The Falcons should be good. Lets hope they don't have the typical Super Bowl hangover.

That's is for today, come back tomorrow for my final four teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once lost a game of Madden when he had a 48 point lead going into the 4th quarter. The head editor had the right cheat code that day.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "A New Hope" Edition

Day 6 of my 2017 NFL countdown today. We are getting to the thick of it now. These teams are good. These teams have what it takes to make it to the playoffs, and perhaps have a decent playoff push. We will hit the top ten today, and from here on out, these are good teams with a chance to be great. Here we go.

At number 12 I have the Carolina Panthers. I expect this team to bounce back in a big way. I know that Cam Newton is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, but by all accounts he was out there yesterday doing everything. He is going to be fine because he is a great QB. Cam Newton gives defenses nightmares. He is big, fast and has a laser for an arm. He throws one of the better deep balls that I have ever seen. He is an amazing talent to watch at the QB position. I know he had a rough year last year, but he was targeted, hit illegally, and he still did the best he could with what he had. Cam Newton is great. I still like Kelvin Benjamin too. I know he showed up to camp out of shape, but isn't that what camp is for, to get back into shape. Also, you can't coach size, and Benjamin has it. He also has good hands too. Once he gets back into playing shape, he will be just fine. Some people have given up on Devin Funchess, but I haven't. He was good as a rookie, regressed a bit last year, but I think he could have a big season and be a major threat for the Panthers offense. He was all Michigan had his three years there, and he wasn't playing with anyone that was nearly as good as Newton. He is going to figure it out. Greg Olsen is about as reliable as they come. The dude plays all the time, makes catches and is the perfect security receiver for Newton. He's great. Johnathan Stewart is still in the backfield, and while he is older, he is the veteran presence this team needs. I love the pick of Christian McCaffery here though. He is the future of the running back position for the Panthers. He is going to help open up a lot of things for the offense due to his versatility. And even though I hate the University of Ohio State, Curtis Samuel will do the same. Those were both quality picks by the Panthers. The Panthers D is good too, they just can't stay healthy. Luke Kuechly is one of the best linebackers in the game. The guy gets so many tackles and is all over the field. The problem with Kuechly is the amount of concussions is starting to become alarmingly high. That is scary. Thomas Davis is all around awesome. The dude is a perfect fit in their system and he plays some great football. Charles Johnson is a very good rush end. Captain Munnerlyn is a pretty decent corner. He replaced Josh Norman pretty well in fact. Kawann Short is a really good interior D-Lineman. This team has playmakers on both sides of the ball. The toughest thing for Carolina is their division. Atlanta was just in the Super Bowl and Tampa will be heard from in a day or 2 on my countdown. Hell, even the Saints pose a problem. I like Carolina to bounce back, but being in such a tough division, they may win 10 games and still miss the playoffs. But, this team will be much better this year.

At number 11 I have the Tennessee Titans. I, just like a ton of other people, think the Titans will be in the playoffs this year. I do think they are a better team than the Texans, and I think they will win their division. Part of that is their crappy division, but also, they have a good team. Marcus Mariota, if he can stay healthy, is going to make that leap. He is a very good, young QB. He has taken to the speed of the NFL pretty well, and if he can get some better protection, he will put up numbers. He has a great, unheralded tight end in Delani Walker. This dude was my guy for fantasy football last year. He is so productive, and with Mariota getting better, his number will rise even higher than before. Many people think they reached a bit too early for Corey Davis, I am one of those people, but they do need to upgrade the receiver position, so why not take a shot on a kid that broke multiple NCAA records. They also signed Eric Decker after he was released by the Jets. I don't know how much he will help Mariota, but he has put up numbers in his career. And Harry Douglass is okay for a big play here and there, but not much else. But, this team wants to control tempo and clock, which means they like to run, and they have some good running backs. After a misplaced year in Philly, DeMarco Murray played excellently for the Titans last year. I expect that again. They have Derrick Henry, who was a Heisman winner, and I can see him in a Mark Ingram role for the Titans now. Those 2 will make for a great duo in the backfield. Their defense got quietly good over the past couple years. Jurrell Casey is a decent run stopper. Brian Orakpo is a fantastic linebacker. They signed Logan Ryan away from the Patriots, and he was a key contributor for a Super Bowl wining defense. Wesley Woodyard is a competent linebacker. They drafted Adoree Jackson, and I think he will be a great fit for them. This team has some good, albeit young, players. They are becoming a quality NFL team, and from this season on out, they will be a playoff contender as long as Mariota is still the franchise QB.

At number 10 I have the Dallas Cowboys. Man do I hate the Cowboys. Man do I hate the fact that Ezekial Elliot will not missing many, if any, games for hitting a woman because Goodell doesn't know how to handle domestic violence. It is easy Roger, kick the criminals out of the league. Man do I think their receivers and tight end are overrated. And man do I think their defense is suspect. But with all that being said, they have the best O-Line in football, and Dak Prescott looks to be the real deal. We will see how good he really is if Elliot misses some games, but I have bought into his hype. Prescott looked like a veteran last year, and it seems the Cowboys have their next QB. As far as their run game, it's great. Elliot looked really good when he was on the field last year. Some people even said he should have been the MVP. But, let us not forget that he hit a woman. That is unacceptable. They do have Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris to step in to any games he may miss, and while those guys aren't great, they are still good. McFadden is big and fast, and Morris can churn out 3 or 4 yards a carry, especially behind this O-Line. Dez Bryant is good, but he is not on Julio Jones, Odell Beckham or Mike Evans level. He gets hyped like he is, but that is just because he has a Cowboys uniform on. Other than him, the other receivers are wannabe Patriots. They are all small, fast guys that go over the middle. They are not even worth mentioning. And, is there a more overrated tight end than Jason Witten? Everyone seems to love him, but I just don't get it. Just because he is buddies with Tony Romo, that doesn't make him one of the best to ever play. He is fine, but he is not elite. The defense played out of their heads last year, and they will come crashing back to Earth this year. They don't have anyone that jumps out as great. I love the pick of Taco Charlton, but only because he went to Michigan and I watched him get better for four straight years. He is still a rookie. Some other guys though, guys like Jaylon Smith, Sean Lee, Damien Wilson, Byron Jones, Justin Durant, Damontre Moore, are they really as good as they showed last year? No way. The defense will turn back into a problem. The reason the Cowboys are so high on my list is because of that O-Line and Prescott. They will be able to control tempo and keep that suspect defense off the field. But, expect this team to regress back to a 9 or 10 win squad. No way are they winning 13 games again, especially with Jason Garrett as the head coach.

The final team for today, at number 9, the Seattle Seahawks. Again, I loathe this team, but they have an incredible defense. Michael Bennett is as disruptive as ever. Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, that is an exceptional secondary. Cliff Avril and KJ Wright are great linebackers. Even guys like Frank Clark and Malik McDowell, who do stupid stuff all the time, when they are on the field, they are good. This defense is not the "Legion of Boom", again, a horrible nickname, but they still win games for this team. The offense I have always been suspect of. I do not think Russell Wilson is one of the top 5, or even top 10 QB's in the league, at least not yet. He may have put up big numbers last year, but he rubs people the wrong way, and the Seahawks need their defense and run game, not Russell Wilson, to be great to be contenders. Their run game is kind of a mystery. Thomas Rawls was supposed to step up and be the guy last year, then his leg exploded. Who knows how he comes back from that. CJ Procise has speed and can catch the ball out of the backfield, but the Seahawks like that bruising running game. They signed Eddie Lacy this offseason, but I watched, and stuck up for him for three years in Green Bay, and he regressed every year. I don't know what to make of the run game. The O-Line is dreadfully bad too. The receivers are average at best. Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett and Jermaine Kearse are all fine third or fourth options, but they will not make any team fear them. This team also does not know how to use Jimmy Graham. He is a shell of his New Orleans self. Seattle is still decent, and they will easily win a very porous division, but this team has taken big steps back from a team that won the Super Bowl 4 years ago, and made the Super Bowl 3 years ago. They are getting worse, but they still have a defense that will continue to put them in the playoff picture.

Come back tomorrow for my next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He may hate the Cowboys and Seahawks, but he is professional first and a hater second. That is why he is the best damn writer on all the internets.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The Anticipation for "The Last Jedi" Edition

New week, same 2017 NFL countdown here at SeedSing. This week we will finally get to the cream of the crop. The teams I will talk about this week all have a legit shot to make the playoffs, and about 60 to 70 percent of them could make a real case for going to, and winning, the Super Bowl. Lets go.

At number 16 I have Washington. I will not say or write the team name because it is offensive, so henceforth they will only be known as Washington. Washington has a QB problem. They cannot decide what to do with Kirk Cousins. Cousins is not a bad QB, but a 20 million plus a year QB? No way. He is not nearly that good. Off the top of my head there are many other QB's I'd want before Cousins name would even come up. Give me Brady, Rodgers, Newton, Wilson, Matt Ryan, hell, I'd even take Ryan Tannehill before Cousins. But, Washington is, by mistake I believe, doing the smart thing in franchising him. Make him continue to prove himself, then let someone like the Browns or 49ers throw way, way too much money at him when he has already played his best football for you. They have done it ass backwards, but it has been the "smart" move. The skill players are fine, but they did lose Desean Jackson this offseason. That is going to hurt, and hurt a lot. He was their deep threat. They do have Jordan Reed, and when he is healthy, he is good. They signed Terelle Pryor, and if last season is any indication, he is becoming a legit NFL wide out, just not a number one receiver. I like Josh Doctson, but he was seemingly injured all last season. Jamison Crowder is okay. That is the best way to describe the receivers, okay. Matt Jones was a revelation for the first half of last year, but then the NFL figured him out. Same thing can be said of Robert Kelly. Big runner, but can't really separate, and even though he is big, he gets tackled fairly easily. Their O-Line is rarely talked about, but that is good. That means they are doing their jobs. Washington's defense is, quietly, kind of good. Ryan Kerrigan is a very good pass rusher. Josh Norman, who kind of took a step back last year, is still a very good corner. He guarded the best receiver on the opposition every game last year, expect for the Giants games. That was very much publicized. Trent Williams is a very good defensive tackle. Su'a Cravens seems to be coming along nice. And Junior Gallette is still producing. Washington has a pretty decent defense that can stop teams. Their offense is what keeps them back I feel. They rely on Cousins, and he just isn't elite. He is more Joe Flacco than Aaron Rodgers, and he will continue to take them to the first round of the playoffs, and get beaten like a drum.

Coming in at number 15 I have the Houston Texans. Okay, Houston has the best defense in the NFL right now. Better than Denver, Seattle, anyone, in my opinion. They are so good on that side of the ball. JJ Watt, even though he never gets any criticism for some weird reason, is great. He is awesome, when he is healthy. I just wished he got the same judgement for his celebrations like Cam Newton gets. Jadeveon Clowney is awesome, but he is another guy that cannot stay healthy. But, when he is out there, he is great. Brian Cushing, who loves his steroids, is a tackling machine. As long as he isn't suspended for violating the NFL's drug policy, he produces. They lost AJ Bouye, but they have guys that can step in. Johnathan Joseph immediately comes to mind. Oh, I forgot about Whitney Mercilus on the D-Line. He is inconsistent, but when he is on he is dominant. This defense is awesome. Now, we must address the offense. First thing, I love that they moved up to take Deshaun Watson. I think he is going to be great and I think he can be the franchise guy they are looking for. I also love how they fleeced both Brock Osweiler and the Browns. Both brilliant moves by their front office. I also really like DeAndre Hopkins. He may be the most underrated receiver in the NFL. He is a legit number one. After that though, the Texans offense kind of falls off. Will Fuller, Braxton Miller and Jaelen Strong are not top level guys. At running back they have Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue. Miller was supposed to be Arian Foster's replacement, but he never really played out last year. And when Blue got his shot, he wasn't much better. The O-Line is okay, but not great. The tight ends are old school tight ends, and that doesn't work in the modern NFL. Houston is helped out by their atrocious division and their incredible defense. If Watson is the player I think he can be, this team could be a real threat. But that means counting on a rookie in the NFL. That is a scary proposition. The Texans will be in the playoffs, but the development of Watson throughout the year will be the factor in how far they go.

At number 14 I have the Philadelphia Eagles. Some may think this is too high, but I think the Eagles will surprise a lot of people this year. They could beat out both the Cowboys and the Giants in their division this year. I think a lot of people are sleeping on this offense. I think Carson Wentz is a decent QB. He is a hell of a lot better than Jared Goff, the guy taken before him last year. He performed much better than I expected last year. Add the fact that he has a legit receiver now in Alshon Jeffrey, and I think he will make the leap this year. Nelson Agholor is also an underrated, decent receiver. Don't sleep on the Torrey Smith signing either. He may have looked bad last year, but the 49ers offense was a mess. He will look much better this year. Zach Ertz is like a poor man's Greg Olsen or Martellus Bennett. He's a decent blocker but a much better pass catcher. He is reliable. I know they cut Ryan Matthews, but they still have Darren Sproles, and this is his last season. He has said he is done after this year. I feel like he is going to completely ball out. They also signed Legarette Blount. This backfield is filled with experience and winning. I like this backfield. Also, I forgot to mention the signing of Chris Long on defense. He has been great everywhere he has played. And Brandon Graham, a Michigan man, has gotten better every year. The Eagles are a good football team. They can, and probably will, surprise a lot of people. I know most people are penciling in the Cowboys in that division, but do not sleep on the Eagles. I like this team.

The final team for today, number 13, is the Denver Broncos. Last year many people thought was an aberration. I do not agree with that. The Broncos still have an incredible defense. Von Miller may be the best linebacker since LT. I'm not kidding. This guy is amazing. He recently said that he thinks 30 sacks in one season is attainable, and I bought it. He is the one guy that can do it. Aqib Talib, even with all the headaches he brings, is one of the better corners in the league, and if he gets his hands on the ball, he is housing it. Brandon Marshall is an incredible linebacker. One of the best in the league. Chris Harris Jr is lockdown as the other corner. Bradley Robey and TJ Ward are amazing safeties. Their D-Line is very good too. The defense is not the problem. The problem is the offense, and more importantly, it is the QB. Trevor Siemian is not a starting NFL QB. He was barely a Big Ten starting caliber QB in college. Paxton Lynch looks scared and slow out there. He may be a career backup. Those are guys they are counting on to run the offense. That is unsettling. Demayrius Thomas may have already played his best football. He is still good, but he hasn't been the same the past 2 years. He drops way too many easy passes too. I like Thomas, but I feel like he may not be an elite receiver anymore. Emmanuel Sanders is a great receiver that will go over the middle of the field, but that looks to be taking its toll on him. He is still a legit deep threat, but with Siemian and Lynch throwing the ball to him, does his downfield speed really matter? I don't think so. The Broncos do have a lot of options at running back, but none of them are great. CJ Anderson was supposed to take a big step last year, he did not. He barely got 3 yards a carry. Devontae Booker may be the future, but he doesn't get enough touches. They signed Jamaal Charles, but can he stay healthy and will he even be on the team when the season starts? Both are reasonable questions. The Broncos have an incredible defense, but the offense is very far behind due to the lack of a quality QB. They also play in a very, very good division. Wins will be hard to come by, but the defense will keep them in every single game.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He enjoyed being on the path of totality for the great eclipse of 2017. He thought his regular sunglasses would be sufficient to see the show. He is now unable to read this sick burn. (Just kidding, he watched it all through his homemade space toy).

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Return of the Jedi" Edition

Day 4 of my 2017 NFL countdown has some teams that have been great recently and playoff teams as recent as last year. The reason they fall here on my list is either due to the age of their stars, how far I feel they will fall off due to departures and, honestly, I just don't see in them what I may have seen a year or 2 ago. All 4 of these teams could make me look very dumb, they all could win 10 plus games, but I think they will all fall right around .500 or lower. Lets go.

Coming in at number 20, I have the Baltimore Ravens. Right off the bat, why did they not sign Colin Kapernick? If you all are sick of me talking about Kaerpernick, get used to it until he is rightfully on an NFL roster. With the injury to the highly overrated Joe Flacco, this team needs a backup. Pardon me, a reliable backup QB. Ryan Mallett is not reliable. He hasn't been good since college. And Flacco, I feel like he is a worse version of Phillip Rivers. You may say, "he won a Super Bowl Ty", so did Trent Dilfer. They were both the benefit of a great Ravens defense. Joe Flacco has done nothing to prove to me that he deserves to be paid what he is currently getting paid. Their starting receivers are guys that are better suited as backups, second or third options, or guys that had one good season and cashed in. Mike Williams, Breshad Perriman and Jeremy Maclin all fall into one of those categories. At running back, they have Danny Woodhead, Kenneth Dixon and Terrance West. Very blah. Also, why is Danny Woodhead still in the league and Kaepernick can't get a job? That is a shame. As far as their O-Line, who cares. They are middle of the road and will continue to be with the guys they have. The Ravens defense has always been their strength, but they are getting old. I love Terrell Suggs, but his best days are far behind him. He is still good, but he was great at one point. Jimmy Smith is a fine corner, but he is not a lock down corner. Eric Weddle is a hard hitting safety, but he can't really cover. CJ Mosley is one of the younger guys, but he is inconsistent. Brandon Williams is an okay defensive lineman, but just okay. They don't really have anyone that jumps off the paper to me. I think John Harbaugh is a good NFL head coach, but he has done all he can do with this Ravens team. They may fight their way to 7 or 8 wins, but that's it.

At number 19 I have the Detroit Lions. Matthew Stafford is about to become the highest paid NFL player ever. Does he really deserve it? Do Lions fans even think he deserves it? This team walked ass backwards in the playoffs last year, and an undermanned, super injured Seahawks team crushed them. They were not prepared at all. A lot of that has to do with the staff, although I do think Jim Caldwell gets an unfair shake sometimes, but some of that is on their franchise QB. Stafford is a fine starter, but he will never lead any team far in the playoffs. While I think Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah are okay running backs, they each has glaring weaknesses. Riddick is a decent fantasy player, but he is not worthy of starter status. Abdullah has blazing speed and decent hands out of the backfield, but he fumbles way, way too much. Eric Ebron is an okay tight end, but he doesn't strike fear like some other tight ends do. Golden Tate is a worse version of T.Y. Hilton. He should not be the number one option on any team. Marvin Jones was the third guy in Cincinnati, and now he is the second guy in Detroit. Yeesh. The O-Line is fine. Their defense is mediocre. Ezekial Ansah finally showed flashes of his potential last year, and I think bigger things will be coming from him. A'Shawn Robinson has potential on the D-Line. I love Haloti Ngata, but his best days were with the Ravens. Their secondary is going to be relying on Teez Tabor, and he is a rookie. That is frightening. The Lions had their magical run last year, but I feel like they will come crashing back to Earth this season. Sorry to my family that are Lions fans, but this team is going to take a step back this season.

At number 18 I have the Arizona Cardinals. I struggled mightily with where to put the Cardinals. Two years ago they were the talk of the NFC, and someone around here thought they were going to the Super Bowl. Then last season happened. Carson Palmer reverted back to his Oakland days, either playing very average, or getting hurt. I don't know which Palmer we will get this year, but I tend to lean towards the one we saw last year. He is only getting older and older. Larry Fitzgerald is still there though, and he is still producing. I feel like he may be my generation's Jerry Rice. He is reliable, usually healthy and produces every year. He is an all timer. Other outside guys they have, John Brown, JJ Nelson and Jermaine Gresham, I like, but they don't really move the needle either way for the Cardinals. Their O-Line does their job. They keep Palmer up, and open up holes for their best player, and one of the best players in the NFL, David Johnson. Johnson is the modern day Marshall Faulk. That is not a hot take, that is truth. This guy does anything and everything for this team. He is a great running back, going for 1,000 plus yards the past 2 years. He puts the ball in the end zone too. He is also exceptional at catching passes out of the backfield. David Johnson does it all, and he could single handidly win games for the Cardinals this year. The Cardinals defense is good too, but not great. Chandler Jones, Tyrann Mathieu, the best corner in the league Patrick Patterson, Robert Nkemdiche, Karlos Dansby and their first round pick Hasson Reddick are all very good. They should, and could, be better. Mathieu always gets hurt, Dansby has bounced around a bit too much and Reddick is a rookie, Nkemdiche is in only his second season and Chandler Jones is wildly inconsistent. Patterson, in my opinion, is the best corner in the league right now, and he is the most consistent guy they have on defense. As I said, I could be very wrong on Arizona, but I feel like they may rely a bit too heavily on Johnson, and I think Palmer is in the twilight of his inconsistent career. Prove me wrong Arizona.

My final team for the day, coming in at number 17, I have RD's team, the Minnesota Vikings. Their defense is awesome. One of the best in the league without question. They are incredibly talented on that side of the ball. Xavier Rhodes, Harrison Smith, Shariff Floyd, Erick Kendricks, Everson Griffen, Andrew Sendejo and Marcus Sherels are some of the most underrated players in the league. This unit produces and does their job every week. They are awesome. What holds this team back is their extremely inept offense. The O-Line does the best they can, but when they have to protect for Sam Bradford, nothing is ever enough. I remember last year when they started 5-0 and people thought it was due to Bradford's "resurgence", I laughed. It was due to the defense, and after that 5-0 start, they crumbled because of the lack of any type of offensive production. Bradford is the king of the check down pass, and he is most definitely a bust in my opinion. They lost Adrian Peterson, no big deal, but the backups and new guys aren't world beaters at all. Bishop Sankey, Latavius Murray and rookie Dalvin Cook are next in line. Cook is, by far, the best option. He may be the only threat they have on offense this year. Murray had his best days in Oakland, and he got replaced, and Sankey, he hasn't been good since day one in the NFL. Their receivers are average due to talent and Sam Bradford. Laquon Treadwell was a beast in college, in his rookie year, he was hardly heard from. Kyle Rudolph is Bradford's favorite target, but he is an average tight end. They signed Michael Floyd, but I would be more worried about his ability to stay on the field, what with all the drunk driving. Stefon Diggs is fine, but he is a third option at best. The Vikings have an incredible defense, but it is not like the Broncos of recent, the Ravens of the early 2000's or the 85 Bears. Not even close. And their offense, oof, it is rough. This team should win 10 or 11 games, but with Bradford at QB, they will be .500 at best.

Come back next week when we get to the cream of the crop.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is once again mistaken on his picks today. The Minnesota Vikings will be the darlings of the NFL. 19-0. Nothing is impossible.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Revenge of the Sith" Edition

On to day 3 of my 2017 NFL countdown. We are still talking about some miserable teams, but it is getting better. In fact, none of the teams I talk about this week will be playoff teams, unless they have incredibly magical seasons, but I promise, next week, we will get to the good teams. You've got to suffer through the worst to get to the best. Enough preamble, lets get to it.

At number 24 I have the Los Angeles Chargers. Again, I almost wrote San Diego. The fact that LA has 2 pro football, basketball and a million baseball teams is just crazy to me. But, that's commerce for you I suppose. Anyway, some people seem to think that the Chargers will be a sleeper this year. That is nuts to me. I do not know what these "experts" see that I don't see. I think the Chargers would play way over their heads if they won 7 games this year. First off, they still have Phillip Rivers as their QB. How long does his career have to go before we see him as the player he truly is, which is average. Rivers has never struck me as a QB that you can build around. He is fine. He goes for 4,000 yards a year and 25 to 30 touchdowns, but what has he done to earn his "big time" status? Why is he talked about as one of the top QB's? I don't see it. The Chargers do have a few decent skill players. I like Melvin Gordon. He really rebounded after a tough rookie year and was great last year. He looks like the guy that the Chargers should build around, not Phillip Rivers. Antonio Gates is still there, and he is still consistent. He is getting old though. Keenan Allen is back, and he is a good receiver, but he can never stay healthy. He has been more injured than healthy his whole career. Their first round pick, Mike Williams, is also already hurt. As far as their O-Line, they are okay. Not great, but not bad. The defense seems to be the reason that the "experts" think they will be better, but I still don't see it. Yes, Joey Bosa is good, but he is no JJ Watt or Gerald McCoy or really any of the other top tier pass rushers. He could reach that status, but he is not there yet. They have okay corners, led by Jason Verrett. The linebacker core is just okay as well. I like Melvin Ingram and Denzel Perryman, but they don't really jump out as super stars. Their D-Line, again, is just okay. Not great, okay. I don't get all the talk about this team being a sleeper. I just don't see it, especially since they still have Phillip Rivers as their QB and cornerstone.

At number 23 I have the New Orleans Saints. This team just cannot put it together enough on defense to get back to that contender level. Their defense is atrocious. When your big free agent signings are Manti Teo and Nick Fairley that does not make for a great turnaround for that side of the ball. They can't cover anyone, they can't get to the QB, they struggle to stop the run, they are flat out bad. What makes them a team worth watching is their offense. Drew Brees is still there and he is still slinging 5,000 yards a year and 35 touchdowns. He is still putting up video game numbers, even at his advanced age. They lost Brandin Cooks, which will hurt, but they have some decent, young receivers. Michael Thomas is good. Willie Snead can get yards. Coby Fleener is a great option at tight end. And if anyone can make Ted Ginn Jr look good, it is Drew Brees. They also have Mark Ingram and they signed Adrian Peterson. First off, Peterson is done as an elite runner, and that will be even more glaring behind a porous O-Line. He will either get hurt or not gain many yards because of the need to split time between himself and Ingram. I like Mark Ingram, but he is not a top tier running back. He is good at grinding out yards, and has some decent hands out of the backfield. Ingram is a fine third down back in the NFL. And while you night think that the signing of Peterson may help the line, due to play action, I don't think it will matter. I think Peterson will make zero difference for the Saints. The Saints will score a ton of points and be in games late against good competition, but their defense is so bad, that will be their downfall. I feel like 6 or 7 wins is the ceiling.

At number 22 I have the Cincinnati Bengals. Look, the Bengals are the Clippers of the NFL. This team has done nothing of note since the late 80's, yet they feel like an entitled bunch. They also keep rolling out the same team and they expect different results. Again, just like the Clippers. How much longer does Marvin Lewis have as a head coach? If he were anywhere else, he would be gone by now. But, with the Bengals franchise, I wouldn't be surprised if they gave him another extension this season. Andy Dalton is still the QB there. Andy Dalton is mediocre at best. This has to be league wide knowledge by now. He is never going to win a Super Bowl, and probably not even a playoff game. AJ Green is incredible, but he is stuck in a purgatory of sorts, playing for the Bengals and having Andy Dalton throw him the ball. He, much like Todd Gurley and LeSean McCoy, deserves much, much better. Jeremy Hill and Giovanni Bernard were supposed to be one of the better duos at running back last year. That didn't happen. They were both incredibly average. This team also went out and drafted Joe Mixon, who hits women, so I have no respect for that at all. Tyler Eifert is only getting older, and he seems to get hurt more often now than he ever did. This offense is below average, with Green being the exception. The defense shoots themselves in the foot so often, it is not even funny anymore. Guys like Vontaze Burfit, Adam Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick are awesome, but they are constantly doing things to get penalties that are crushing. And for the most part, the penalties are self inflicted. They would have won a playoff game 2 years ago if not for Burfict and Jones being selfish. The defense should be one of the better ones in the league, but the constant penalties are a nuisance that keeps holding them back. I do like the pick of John Ross, but I don't think it will matter when Andy Dalton is throwing the ball to him. Sorry RD, but the Bengals are fading back into the mediocrity that I grew up watching in the late 90's and early 2000's.

The final team for today, at number 21, I have the Indianapolis Colts. This team is the definition of average. They are going to win 7 or 8 games. You can write that in pen. They are so average. Andrew Luck is a fine QB, but he is not the world beater that many expected, myself included, when he was taken first overall in his draft. He also gets hurt a whole lot. Some of that is due to his terrible O-Line, constructed by an awful front office, and some of that is his fault. He does hold the ball too much, and he does run it a bit too much. At running back they are still counting on Frank Gore. Bless Frank Gore, I like Frank Gore, but he is well past his prime. He never really had the wheels, and being a grinder, his specialty, that is going away too. That is what happens to running backs when they get "older". I like T.Y. Hilton, but he should not be a number one option on a contender. He is great, but think of how great he'd be if he were teamed up with an AJ Green. That would be an amazing duo. That is what Hilton should be, a second option. I like Phillip Dorsett, but he is a third or fourth option at best. And they still have Adam Vinatieri. He is a good kicker, but when your kicker is one of your most important players, that is rough. The Colts defense may be as bad as the Saints. They have no one, and I mean no one of any consequence. Looking at their roster, names like Malik Hooker, Clayton Geathers, Vontae Davis,  and David Parry show up. These guys are not big names, and they will strike zero fear in opposing offenses. They cannot stop anything, and that is a problem. The Colts are the AFC's version of the Saints, except Drew Brees is much better than Andrew Luck. Like I said, they play in a horrific division, so they will get some cheap wins, and they will end somewhere between 5-11 or 8-8. Put it down in pen.

That's it for today. Come back for the next 4 teams tomorrow.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He does not understand the awesomeness that the Bengals will bring to the NFL this year. Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton have been hustling the league for years, and now they are going to show their real face. 19-0. This looks like destiny.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Phantom Menance" Edition

Continuing my 2017 NFL countdown I have my next 4 teams. These teams still are pretty awful, but not as bad as the teams I did yesterday. Lets get to it.

Coming in at number 28 I have the Los Angeles Rams. I accidentally almost wrote Saint Louis. I am still a little annoyed that Kroenke moved the team. Regardless, this team is still pretty awful. What they do have is a great defense, especially if they can get Aaron Donald to end his holdout.(they need to pay the man) They have a very good pass rush and D-Line. Their secondary, while young, can make plays here and there. And their linebackers, they are just fine. The defense is good enough to keep this team in, if they are stout enough, 6 games. They will most definitely play Seattle tough, they always do. What holds this team back is their atrocious offense. They have a great, otherworldly running back in Todd Gurley. But, he has no O-Line to open holes for him. The receiving corps, even with the addition of Sammy Watkins, is truly bad. Maybe second only to the Jets as the worst in the league. And their QB, Jared Goff, is a bust. I am already saying it. I know they have said that he has been "lights out" in camp, but everyone has, with the exception of Christian Hackenberg. Goff is not a good QB. He isn't even a starting QB in my opinion. The Rams have a new head coach too. He is younger than me. He is supposed to be some QB guru, but I don't think anyone can work with Goff. Unfortunately, at least for the Rams defense, this team will continue to be a 4 or 5 win team. Todd Gurley deserves better than this.

At number 27 I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. Again, this team has a something that looks like a real NFL defense. They have made some big free agent signings, and I really like Jalen Ramsey as their top corner, but they need a better D-Line and some accountable linebackers. They can be great, but right now, they are average. This is another team where the problem lies with the offense. They have good receivers. Allen Robinson is good. Allen Hurns is good. Hell, Dede Westbrook may even be able to contribute right away. They took my favorite player in the draft, Leonard Fournette, but he is already injured. Hopefully they play it safe with him. But, they do have Chris Ivory, who stunk last year, but I think that has to do with a mediocre line. He could have a bounce back year. They also still have TJ Yeldon too. They have some backs. The problem here is with Blake Bortles. He is bad. I mean, real bad. He is the worst garbage time QB I have ever watched. He doesn't win games for this team, but he sure as hell loses them. Bortles is done, toast, finito. They need to get rid of him. I know their backup is Chad Henne, but at least he has been on decent teams before. Blake Bortles is the second worst starter in the entire NFL, behind only Hackenberg, and he will continue to hold this team back from winning anything of importance.

At number 26 I have the Miami Dolphins. Some may see that and think that is way too far down for this team. They were in the playoffs last year. They have a good run game, good D-Line and some good receivers. Why are they so low on your list? Well, one name, Jay Cutler. The Dolphins would have been in the early teens on my list if Ryan Tannehill didn't get hurt. He did, and instead of reaching out to Tony Romo or giving Colin Kaepernick his much due contract, they went out and signed Jay god damn Cutler. I hope Miami fans like to watch a guy that will throw crushing pick sixes, then walk to the sideline like he did nothing wrong. I hope they like watching a guy that will quit on them the moment he gets one knick or bruise or hit. I hope they enjoy watching a guy that doesn't even want to be there. He is going to be a nightmare. He is going to waste a year of Jarvis Landry, Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker. He is going to waste a year of Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake. He is going to yell at, and waste a year of a pretty decent O-Line. And Jay god damn Cutler is going to waste a defense with guys like Ndamukong Suh, Cameron Wake, Kiko Alonso and Michael Thomas because he just doesn't give a damn. The Dolphins should have stuck with Matt Moore, as I wrote awhile back, but no, they signed Jay Cutler. What a waste. That is the best word I can use to describe this upcoming year for the Dolphins, waste.

My final team for today, coming in at number 25, I have the Buffalo Bills. This is the same team that just traded their best receiver, and I know that Watkins gets hurt a lot, but he was their best outside threat. This team is also over using LeSean McCoy. They make him carry and catch the ball way too much, and it is catching up with him. As much as I might like Tyrod Taylor, he just isn't a viable starter in the NFL. He tucks and runs too much. He is a tremendous athlete, but he needs to throw more. Their O-Line is good, but I actively root against them because they signed Richie Incognito, and that guy is the worst. I despise him and everything he stands for. And now that they traded Watkins, they do not have any wide receiver threats. Do guys like Charles Clay, Andre Holmes, Zay Jones(he's a rookie) and Rashard Ross really strike fear into any opposing secondary? No way. Besides McCoy, none of the backup running backs are any good. But, the Bills do have a pretty stout defense. Marcell Dareus as been as good as advertised. Shaq Lawson is coming along fine. Reggie Ragland is a good linebacker. They did lose Stephon Gilmore, and while Micah Hyde may not be as good as Gilmore is, it helps cushion the blow a bit. The Bills do have a defense that will not only keep them in games, but could even win them a game or 2. Still, the Bills will lucky to win 6 games this year. Their offense is so far behind. As I said with Gurley, I will say with McCoy, he deserves better.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for my next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will be happy once we get past the teams that are only watchable on the Red Zone channel. Just  few more days.

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Ty Ranks the 2017 NFL Teams: The "Attack of the Clones" Edition

Football is almost here. We are about 2 and a half weeks from the college football season and about 3 weeks from the NFL kickoff to the 2017 season. The next 2 weeks are going to be all football from me. I did my politics yesterday and I will still do mini recaps of "Bar Rescue", and any movie or music I may hear the next couple weeks, but for the most part, it is going to be football all day, everyday. As I did last year, I'm going to count down the teams from 32-1. I will give a few sentences as to why I put the teams where I put them, and move on to the next one. At the end of my countdown, I will do predictions and award winners. The next day, I will do my NCAA football preview. Alright, lets get to it.

Coming in at number 32, the worst team in the NFL will be the New York Jets. The Jets are an absolute train wreck, and it has nothing to do with Todd Bowles. I actually think he is a decent coach, but that front office has left him with nothing to work with. They let Eric Decker, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, David Harris, Darelle Revis and Brandon Marshall leave and got nothing in return. Their receiving core is a joke. They have no one of any importance. Bilal Powell is a good running back, but when teams load the box every down, he will be lucky to average 3 yards a carry. The line is older, and worse. Their QB is Christian Hackenberg. That should strike fear in all Jets fans across the country. As far as all accounts from preseason training camps, where everyone is supposedly doing great, he couldn't even break a huddle properly. The 7 year olds I coach in flag football know how to break a huddle. He is going to stink. As far as their defense, they still have Sheldon Richardson, but he may get suspended like he has the past 2 years, and I don't think he is 100 percent engaged in football. They got rid of David Harris, their mainstay middle linebacker, without telling the coach. Their secondary is a joke too. This team is a disaster. I wouldn't be surprised if they go 0-16.

Coming in at number 31, I have the Chicago Bears. How can a team that finally got rid of Jay Cutler get worse? They can trade a bunch of picks to move up one spot and take Mitch Trubisky. Also, enough of this, "he looked great in their preseason opener against Denver". Denver was playing fourth string guys and were running completely vanilla coverages. Blake Bortles did this same thing as a rookie in preseason. Anyone still on the Blake Bortles bandwagon? I didn't think so. The Bears also went out and gave Mike Glennon a 3 year 45 million dollar contract. That was not a typo, you read that right. Oh, and they also signed Mark Sanchez. Yeesh. As far as the O Line, does it really matter with this team. They are going to be awful no matter what. They let Alshon Jeffrey walk, and their "top" receiver, Kevin White, has played in maybe 4 or 5 total games his NFL career. They have a decent run game with Jordan Howard and Jeremy Langford, but how much good will that do when they are always playing from behind. The run game will be moot. Their defense is not much better. They can't stop the run or the pass. You need to be able to stop both of those to win a good amount of football games. This once great franchise is at a very low point right now, and I don't think Trubisky or Glennon or Sanchez are the guys to dig them out. They will be cellar dwellers for awhile.

Coming in at number 30, I have the San Francisco 49ers. This is the team that fleeced the Bears, hence why they are one spot ahead of them in my countdown. Look, I actually like their defense a little bit. They made a great pick, when they had to move down one spot, and got Soloman Thomas. He is a great D-Lineman to build their run stop and pass rush around. They also have decent, young players in the secondary and at linebacker. The problem with this team is their offense. I think Carlos Hyde is one of the more overrated players in the NFL. People always mention him as a good fantasy player, or as a sleeper that can have a big year. I don't buy it. Their line is weak. Their receivers are worse than what the Rams have. And they wouldn't even try and resign Colin Kaepernick, who led them to a Super Bowl. They instead decided to sign Brian Hoyer. Why does Brian Hoyer keep getting jobs? He is not that good of a QB. I wouldn't even want him as a backup. They also hired Kyle Shanahan as their head coach after letting Chip Kelly go. Shanahan is a great coordinator, but how will he do as the top guy, and how will he recover from that epic collapse in the Super Bowl? Time will tell. And if they give Kirk Cousins an enormous contract after this season I will lose my god damn mind. Cousins is not some great QB that people, including Kyle Shanahan, keep saying he is. The 49ers are in the midst of a deep rebuilding project. At least they got one over on the Bears at the draft. That may be their biggest win of the 2017 season.

Coming in at number 29 I have the Cleveland Browns. I really can't grasp what this team is trying to do. They went out and signed some good O-Lineman this offseason, but does it really matter when Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler or Deshone Kizer are the QB? Also, who is their running back? I have no idea. That is not a good sign. They also let Terelle Pryor walk, and he was their best receiving threat since Josh Gordon. I cannot figure out what they are trying to establish as their identity on offense. It is maddening, and I do not even like this team. And on defense, I know they gave former Patriot, who was traded in the middle of the season, Jamie Collins big time money, but is he really a cornerstone for any defense? They also reached big time for Jabrill Peppers in the late first round. I love Peppers, he was electrifying for Michigan, but I do not see how that translates to the pros. He is too small to play linebacker and not a good enough cover to play corner. I hope he proves me wrong because I want all Michigan players to succeed, but I do not see it yet. As far as their D-Line, it is very ho hum. They do not have any single pass rusher or run stopper that really excels. Same thing for their secondary. It is incredibly average. Hue Jackson deserves better than this, but he willingly took this job. The Browns will continue to be irrelevant until they get some competent players.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for my next 4 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will always root for a former Wolverine int he NFL, unless they play for the Rams. Screw that team and their terrible owner.

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Jay Cutler Signing with the Dolphins is Terrible on Every Level

Artist depiction of the 2017 Miami Dolphins season

I'm going to be doing a very big, 2 week long NFL and college football preview, but that is all starting next week. Today though, I will be talking about the NFL. I need to address the signing of Jay Cutler by the Dolphins at 1 year, 10 million dollars.

WHAT THE HELL ARE THE DOLPHINS THINKING?!

This signing is absolutely ludicrous. This may be the worst free agent signing I have ever seen in my time as a sports fan. I'm not joking or trying to put a hot take out there either. I have sat and thought about that very thing since I heard the news yesterday at around noon. I cannot think of a more atrocious signing.

Honestly.

I looked back at basketball and the best comparison I could come up with was what the Lakers gave Timofey Mozgov last year, and I still think Cutler is worse. Mozgov is not great, but he is a better basketball player than Cutler is a football player, and it is not even close. Mozgov, while barely playing, does at least have a ring, and was a minimal part in the Cavs getting there. Other NBA signings I thought of were Evan Tuner to Portland, Al Horford to Boston, Reggie Jackson getting a max contract in Detroit and Greg Monroe to the Bucks, but none of those sniff the terribleness that is the Cutler signing. Hell, I think both Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah to the Knicks were "better" decisions than this one.

I then thought about baseball, and the best I could come up with is David Price's current Red Sox contract. He is a choker in the playoffs, just like Cutler, but he is lights out in the regular season. Cutler is dreadful all season long. Jacoby Ellsbury to the Yankees a few years back was another, but he was a multiple World Series winner, and he is still a contributor there.

Then I started to scour other NFL signings. Darelle Revis going back to the Jets immediately popped into my head, but he had one decent season with them before he declined. He has also had a pretty good career in the NFL. Much better than Cutler's for sure. Tavon Austin got a decent contract recently from the Rams, but he is still considered a "threat" by some as a returner and slot receiver. Wes Welker to the Broncos was pretty bad, but he was still productive when he was able to play. Darren McFadden to the Cowboys struck me as bad, but he may become a whole hell of a lot more important to that team as a backup now, what with the news that Ezekial Elliot may have destroyed evidence in his current assault case. Even when the Patriots gave Chad Johnson a chance, it wasn't deemed as bad as this signing. People legitimately thought that the Patriots could turn him into a useful player. When they realized he didn't have it anymore, they cut him. The Dolphins will not do that to Cutler.

As I thought more and more about it, and I even had a chat with a buddy of mine that is a Dolphins fan prior to this signing, we both think that Matt Moore would have been perfectly serviceable as the main guy this year. First off, the Patriots are going to win that division. Write that down in pen. But, Moore could lead that team to a Wild Card spot pretty easily. He was pretty good in his 5 starts last year, winning 3 of them. He even helped the Dolphins hang around until he got exploded by a hit from a Steelers defender. Besides Jimmy Garroppolo, Matt Moore is the only other backup QB I could name. I had to look up the Packers backup, and that is my team. The Dolphins have a very fine backup, and they just shit all over him by signing that dipshit Jay Cutler.

Which brings me to my final thought on this signing. Why did they pick Cutler over Colin Kaepernick? In fact, why is Kaepernick still unsigned? Don't feed me that, "he would be a locker room problem and we don't want the media circus that comes with him" nonsense either. He is ten times the QB that Cutler is. He is a more mobile Ryan Tannehill in fact. He would have fit into the Dolphins system with ease. He is friends with the skill players on that team already. He is younger. He cares more. He has been to a Super Bowl. He wants to win. He wants to play. I do not care, in fact I fully agree with him that America is a screwed up place, especially when talking about the police. He spoke his mind, and now he is paying for it. That is insane. People need to look at his ability. Like I said, he is a more mobile Tannehill. He has great arm strength. Sure, his passer rating and interception to TD ratio was out of whack last year, but I don't think anyone, save for maybe Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton or Tom Brady, could have played any better for the dreadful 49ers.

I didn't want to say it, but I now fully believe that Colin Kaeprnick is being blackballed by the NFL and Roger Goodell. By all accounts from last year, he was a great teammate and not a distraction. But, anytime I turn on ESPN and they talk about Kaepernick, or I listen to one of the any NFL podcasts I listen to, they all say that he would be a problem for the front office and any team that may sign him. Some say it is due to deteriorated play, others say it is due to his outspoken nature. To all those people I say, bull shit. Colin Kaepernick belongs on an NFL roster more than a lot of current QB's, and much, much more than Jay Cutler belongs anywhere.

This is going to be a disaster for the Dolphins, and they are going to waste a season where they could have made the playoffs with Matt Moore. Jay Cutler is TERRIBLE, and they whiffed big time on not signing Colin Kaepernick. What a bunch of bozos.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is very impressed with the NFL's stand against free thought. Maybe the league can start to tackle minor issues facing the league like domestic violence and brain injuries.

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Sorry Jordan, LeBron is Way Better than Kobe

This past week Michael Jordan has been talking a whole lot to the media. Over the last week, Jordan has talked to the media more than he did for the majority of his professional career. I've got to say, I love that he is finally being outspoken, especially when it comes to all things basketball. He is the GOAT, so his knowledge and criticism and "hot takes" on the game, I believe and agree with mostly.

For instance, that dumbass Lavar Ball being the typical blowhard that he is, claimed he could beat MJ in one on one. He has said this about other former players, most notable Charles Barkley, and of course he is extremely out of his lane. If he thinks he could score one single point against Jordan, he is clearly crazy. I love that Jordan came back and said that he could beat him one legged. I would go so far as to say that Jordan could beat him even if he had no use in his legs, had his right arm tied behind his back and he gave Ball a 10-0 advantage in a game to 11. Jordan would not only beat him, he would physically and emotionally hurt him. It would be a massacre. And for Ball to say that he and his son Lonzo could beat Jordan and one of his sons in 2 on 2, again I say, shut your god damn mouth. Jordan would again own the elder Ball, and because they are Michael Jordan's kids, they have that killer instinct, and while they may not be as talented as Lonzo, they would get in his and his father's head, and they would win easily. As Omar said, "you come at the king, you best not miss". Michael Jordan would own him, and I'm glad he let that be known to the world.

Jordan did say something else this week that I have to say, I disagree with him. This is a very rare thing for me, because, as I stated earlier, I agree with pretty much everything MJ does and says. He was asked in some interview earlier this week if he thought Kobe Bryant was a better player than LeBron James. He thought about it and said that he thinks Kobe is the better player because, "there is something about 5 rings compared to 3".

Now, right off the bat, I disagreed with him. If we are going strictly off championships, and I have been on record many, many times saying that I think Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever, and one of the greatest athletes ever, then that makes Bill Russell the best basketball player ever. He has 11 titles. No one is even close to that, including Jordan. Also, again going on rings, that would mean that Robert Horry is just as good as Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Now, I love Bill Russell, and he is maybe the 3rd or 4th greatest player ever, but he is nowhere near the player that Jordan was, and I think, if they played in the same era, Jordan would have smoked him. And with Robert Horry, come on. He is a great clutch shooter, the best in my opinion, but he is not even on Kobe or even guys like Russ, KD and Kawhi's level. But, he has those rings.

Looking at other sports too, does Jordan's comments mean that he thinks Eli Manning and Peyton Manning are better QB's because they have 2 Super Bowl rings as opposed to Aaron Rodgers one? Or, is Trent Dilfer a better QB than Dan Marino because he has a ring and Marino doesn't? Does this mean that Paul O'Neill is a better baseball player than Chipper Jones? Does this make David Freese better than Adrian Beltre? You cannot compare championships to how good a player is. I'd much rather have MJ than any other basketball player. I'll take Aaron Rodgers any day over any QB, including Tom Brady. Give me Chipper Jones and Adrian Beltre if I'm going to start a baseball team with those players in their primes.

Going back to the main reason for this blog, lets compare Bryant to James. For me, LeBron is the far superior player in every facet of the game. LeBron, while being uncoachable at times, and a hard guy to play with, when you gain his trust, he believes in you no matter what. This is a dude that will put his full faith in someone with championships on the line. He doesn't always have to be the reason the team is a winner. The same cannot be said about Bryant. It always had to be about him. The Lakers were only good when he was good if you ask him. Never mind how badly he crippled that team 3 years ago, he still felt that he was great, even though his game clearly deteriorated. As a distributor and "point guard" of the team and focal point of the offense, again, James by a landslide. He is so good at finding the open player, attacking the rim and running the offense. The only thing Kobe has on LeBron here is a jump shot, but I'd rather have a 6'9 280 lb force attacking the rim than a 6'6 200 lb pound jump shooter any day. The only players that I think "see" the game the way LeBron does is Jordan and Magic. As far as defense, LeBron is way, way, way better on that end of the floor. He is one of the better chase down shot blockers ever, and he usually guards the opponents best player, or at least their best offensive player. Kobe Bryant was a fake All Defense performer. They just put him on the team to pet his ego. He is, in my opinion, one of the most overrated defenders to ever play in the NBA. LeBron, when locked in, is one of the better defensive players in the NBA. Finally, when it comes to durability, LeBron wins this one again by a landslide. He NEVER gets hurt. It is amazing how healthy he has ben his whole career. He has never, ever had a horrible injury. Some say it may be PED's, I just think he keeps himself in tremendous shape. We all saw how Kobe Bryant's career ended. Two torn ACL's, and many ankle sprains and bruised ego's throughout his whole career.

When you really break it all down, LeBron James is far and away the better player between the 2. I think Jordan is the greatest ever, obviously. LeBron is somewhere in my top 5, possibly top 3. Bryant, he is outside my personal top 10. He is very far behind MJ, LeBron, and even guys like Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon. I also think guys like KD, Steph, Kawhi, Russ and even someone like Giannis Antentekoumpo are going to surpass him in the very near future. So while MJ is right on almost everything, he is wrong about the Kobe vs LeBron debate. LeBron is much, much better.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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We Need to Continue and Celebrate Adrian Beltre's 3000th Hit

This one, plus 2999 more, makes for a lot of balls hit off Beltre's bats

This past week, Adrian Beltre got his 3,000 hit as a Major League Baseball player. There was some fanfare, he had a little coverage on ESPN and I think the MLB Network aired his 3,000th hit live. He got some TV time that night, and maybe a day or 2 afterward, but since then, not much else has been said about him. That is not right.

Let us not forget that 3,000 hits is an incredible milestone. Only 31 players, in the history of the MLB, have done this. Most of the names on the list are big time, Hall of Fame players. And the more recent players that have reached 3,000 hits, the coverage usually lasts for about a week. I remember when it was a big deal that Rafeal Palmiero got 3,000 hits. ESPN and the like were all over it. Then it was found out that he was/is a cheater, and everyone forgot. When Ichiro Suzuki got 3,000, after getting about 2,500 in Japan, ESPN covered it for what seemed like a month, which was well deserved. When most players do finally get to 3,000, they are covered so much more than Beltre was.

I have always been a fan of Adrian Beltre's. I'm not a big baseball fan, but something about Beltre has always made me like him. He is like a more lively Vlad Guerreo, and Vlad is one of my all time favorite players. Beltre had the same type of approach at the plate, and while he is not the hitter that Vlad was, he still can hold his own. I even remember when he first got into the majors, at 19 years old, and being shocked at how great he was, at such a young age, the moment he stepped on a baseball field. He was awesome while he was in LA. He won a Silver Slugger award and was the NL's homerun champ in 2004, his last year in LA. He left after 7 seasons, and signed a very big deal with Seattle. He was one of the many signings that was going to turn around Seattle. While Seattle was never great, Beltre was. He became an excellent defensive third baseman, winning 2 Gold Gloves while playing there. He was part of the All World Baseball Classic team in 2006. He was constantly in the top 10 or 20 in batting average, homeruns and RBI's each and every year. He then had a little sojourn in Boston before moving on to his current team, the Texas Rangers. He has been nothing short of exceptional since signing on with the Rangers. He's added 3 more Gold Glove awards. He's made the All Star team 4 times. He was the AL hits leader in 2013. And he's won 3 more Silver Slugger awards.

Beltre has been an all around excellent baseball player, yet no one brings his name up when talking about current greats. That is ridiculous to me. I remember in 2011, when the Cardinals faced the Rangers in the World Series, the one guy that made me nervous whenever he stepped to the plate was Beltre. He could always come away with a big hit, or even a soul crushing homerun. He has always been a threat at the plate, but to turn himself into an awesome third baseman, that is amazing. The fact that he had the hitting down, then focused on fielding, so much so that he became a multiple Gold Glove winner, shows me that he is the consummate professional. He would work on something until he had it down to perfection, and then he would work on some other holes in his game. That is the type of player I would take on my team any day. He was always trying to find a way to make himself better. He is also a hot tempered, passionate player. I love that. I love that he hates to have his head touched, and when players do touch his head, he loses his god damn mind. His mind and head are so into his profession, that if anyone even touches him, he loses his shit. I want a team full of players who are that obsessed with their craft.

The point is that Adrian Beltre is an amazing baseball player, who I think may be one of the most underrated players to ever play in the MLB. Like I already said, when people talk about all time greats, or current greats, his name never comes up. But, he has a career batting average of .286, has surpassed 3,000 hits, has 460 homeruns, 1,600 plus RBI's and over 100 stolen bases. If that doesn't scream first ballot Hall of Famer, I do not know what does. He has also been to a World Series and had multiple playoff runs. Adrian Beltre is remarkable and I am stoked that he got his 3,000th hit. It was well deserved for such a great baseball player, and I could not be happier for him. Hopefully he sticks around longer and gets near 3,500 hits, because, when I do watch baseball, he is the type of player I want to see. Congrats Adrian Beltre. Keep up the great work.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He recorded his 30,000 wiffle ball hit last weekend joining an elite list of 100,000 Midwest dads who have reached such a milestone.

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The Derrick Rose "Bidding War" is the Dumbest Story of the NBA Offseason

With the Kyrie Irving news last Friday, I wasn't able to comment on the supposed "bidding war" for Derrick Rose between the Cavs and Lakers. Well that changes today. I need to talk about this, and I want to talk about this.

The fact that people have said that there is a "bidding war" for Derrick Rose literally shocked me. Why on Earth would anyone want to fight over Derrick Rose? I'm not going to sugar coat it today. Derrick Rose is washed up. He is not the "great" player he once was. In fact, I never thought he was great, I thought he was a whirling diversh and a ton of fun to watch, but I never considered him great. I thought he was good, just not great. His MVP trophy was just so they didn't have to give it to LeBron once again, even though both he and Dwight Howard, yes that same Dwight Howard, had a much better season the year he won it. The Bulls just played way over their heads, and the voters figured they'd better give it to someone that was on a one seed. LeBron should have won it that year.

Also, while in Chicago, yes he was fine, but stories already started to come out about his attitude, his penchant for hogging the ball, his willingness to ice teammates out on the floor and he was seemingly becoming un coachable. He was like Russell Westbrook, except Russell Westbrook is a better player than Derrick Rose, by far. He also had much better teammates than Westbrook had last year. And in that MVP year, Rose and the Bulls got their asses kicked by LeBron, as we all expected.

Then the injuries started. The very next season Rose tore his ACL and missed the majority of the year. The next season he rushed himself back too soon and tore his other ACL. He was becoming incredibly injury prone due to his style of play. That is the thing with Rose. He was very good at getting to the rim, but he could never ever shoot and he is a horrific defender. Great rim attacker, but everything else, very mediocre.

While the injuries piled up in Chicago, everyone who watches basketball could see that he was either unhappy or uninterested in being in Chicago, or even playing basketball for that matter. He looked truly miserable. He was probably tired of being the face of the city, he is a Chicago kid. He does seem like the kind of player that is better suited at being a second or third option. I do not think he was ever comfortable being "the man" on an NBA team. He may have never said it, but that has always been the vibe I have gotten from Derrick Rose.

Then we had last year's offseason. Rose finally got moved. The Bulls decided to finally pull the plug, much to both theirs and Rose's delight. The Bulls traded him and his one year left on his monster contract to the New York Knicks. This was supposed to be one of Phil Jackson's best moves early on as a GM. When he was traded to the Knicks and then Joakim Noah signed there, I vividly remember many people, RD included, saying this Knicks team could go to the playoffs. Hell, Derrick Rose said in his introductory press conference that the Knicks and the Warriors were both "super teams". I didn't buy any of that. This team on paper looked truly awful to me. While the Knicks should have started the youth movement and build around Porzingis, they decided to sign 2 oft injured vets and let go of a true center in Robin Lopez.

Well, we all saw how the Knicks, and Derrick Rose, played last year. Sure, he averaged 18 ppg and about 4 or 5 rebounds a game. But, he was non existent on defense, and he seemed to be more of a ball hog than Carmelo Anthony. His fit was a total disaster. When he was on the court, he either bricked jumpers, iced out Porzingis and Carmelo and it seemed like if Carmelo did a good thing on offense, Rose felt he had to do something better. He rarely ever did something better.

Let us not forget that he also just disappeared in the middle of the year. He was just gone without any explanation. Everyone seems to have just forgotten this. That he just up and left the team without any notice. He was gone, and when he came back, he acted like he did nothing wrong. He acted like the media made up some stories about him. That whole situation was completely bizarre, and just reaffirmed that he is not a franchise player.

Rose also told reporters after his "leave of absence", that he expected a max contract this offseason. That shit was laughable. How god damn full of himself. He is nowhere near a max player. And what team is going to give an oft injured player that comes and goes as they please a max deal. Not even the Kings or 76ers would do some dumb shit like that.

And then we got the report last week of the "bidding war".First off, the most money the Cavs can offer him is 2 million a year, or the veteran minimum. They could clear a bit more space if they move Irving, but it is still not that much more. The Lakers can give him a lot more money, but they are clearly going youthful, and they are clearly handing the keys to the team to Lonzo Ball. Does Derrick Rose really want to go and be a rookie's backup? How in the hell would he handle something like that? Not very well I would imagine. Also, if he signs with Cleveland, and they keep Kyrie, he is going to most assuredly be the backup point guard there. How does he handle that? Will he be happy playing the Deron Williams role from this past season? He is a better player than Williams, but not that much better. Then there is the Kyrie Irving trade scenario. If the Cavs do find someone to trade for Irving, depending on the return, how will LeBron feel having Derrick Rose as his starting point guard as opposed to Irving? He may say he likes it better, but Rose is more of a ball hog than Irving will ever be. Rose will also want to take many more big shots than Irving did, and that LeBron should. I just don't like his fit with either team.

Rose still thinks he is a great player, I never thought he was, so he should go to a team that will give him the keys. The problem with Rose being "the guy", he would have to go to a team that has no future at all. Rose is at a turning point in his career. He needs to decide if he wants money or a chance at titles. If I had to guess, he will take the money because he thinks he is still great. He is not. If I were a GM of any team, I'd stay very, very far away from Derrick Rose. I'd rather have a player like Kay Felder or Vander Blue than Derrick Rose. That is how far Rose has fallen off.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Where Should Kyrie Irving Play Next Season?

I was going to write about the supposed "bidding war" going on between the Cavs and Lakers for Derrick Rose today, but some bigger NBA news just showed up on my phone. Apparently Kyrie Irving is "displeased with his role on the Cavs", and "doesn't like playing with LeBron James".

This news may shock a lot of people, but for some odd reasons, I find it not shocking at all. Kyrie Irving is a ball dominant guard that wants to score 25-27 points per game. He cannot do that type of stuff when he is on the same team with the best player in the world. He also apparently said that he wants to "go to a team where he can be the focal point". I get this as well.

Irving is the type of player that should, and might be able to be, the alpha dog. I do not think that team would be a contender, but I think Irving would be a ton of fun to watch on a sub .500 team as the alpha. He had a chance, albeit very early in his career, to be the man in Cleveland. His first couple of years there, when LeBron was using his talents in South Beach, he was the new guy that the Cavs were going to build around. We all saw how that turned out. While he put up great stats offensively, the Cavs were atrocious. Sure, the roster was dreadful around him, but he was the leader, and if he wants to be a LeBron type leader, those Cavs teams would have at least been a lower seeded playoff team. They were lucky to win 30 games back then.

Then LeBron came back home, got Kevin Love to come there, and for all intents and purposes, LeBron was the GM and coach, as expected. Kyrie Irving should have known what he was getting into. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh molded and changed their games to fit around LeBron, so why now does Kyrie come out and complain and say he wants to be traded? He has been to 3 straight Finals. They won one on his shot and his tremendous efforts in games 4,5, 6 and 7 2 years ago. He was decent in the Finals last year. What is the problem?

Well, as I said earlier, he is sick of being second fiddle to LeBron. He is clearly the second guy, but that is not what Kyrie wants to be. He wants to be "the guy". Now, I just read on my phone that one of his preferred teams to go to is the Spurs. That would not work out for him like he wants it to. One, he does not seem like a Spurs type player. Those guys leave their egos at the door and play system basketball. Kyrie is not a system guy and he has no interest in playing defense. This would be almost exactly like LaMarcus Aldridge's time in San Antonio so far. Kyrie is more of a make something out of nothing player. The Spurs like to whip the ball around for the best possible shot. Also, the Spurs already have an alpha. Kawhi Leonard is clearly the new face of the Spurs. He is the perfect Spur and the perfect guy to be the face of that team for the next decade plus. If Kyrie were to go to San Antonio, it would be nearly the same as playing for the Cavs. Popppovich will not change his offense to tailor to Kyrie. I'm sure he is working on more stuff for Kawhi right now as I write this. He is moving forward with Kawhi as the focal point.

So about 20 minutes after hearing this story, and immediately eschewing the Spurs idea, I started to think of some teams he could go to that would benefit both him and the Cavs. Lets get this straight right off the bat, the Cavs will not give up Kyrie for a bag of beans, a la the Paul George to OKC trade. I first thought about some contenders. He wants out of Cleveland, Golden State is set, I already mentioned all the problems with the Spurs, the Rockets have Harden and Paul, the Celtics have Isaish Thomas and a great group of young players, the Raptors have Lowry and DeRozan and the Timberwolves have Butler and Jeff Teague. All those teams are off the table in my opinion.

I dug a little deeper. I thought about Miami. I think he would hate it there. They have a point guard in Goran Dragic, and they just gave Dion Waiters big time money. He has already played with Waiters and that was a train wreck. Memphis came to mind, but then I remembered they have an awesome point guard in Mike Conley Jr, and he just got a max contract. Philly popped into my mind, but I feel like he would be a disaster with that young roster, and I want them to build around Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz.

We are now left with basically the bottom of the barrel. He can go to Chicago and be the guy, but that team is not going anywhere anytime soon. Brooklyn needs a point guard, but that team also needs a 2 guard, a couple of good forwards and a modern big man. They also need a bench. Phoenix was my next thought, but they are another one of the teams going to the youth movement. They don't need Kyrie. New Orleans was another team, but they would have to give up Boogie, and they just gave Jrue Holiday a ton of money.

When I sat down, right before writing this, the one team that I thought this would maybe work out best for is the Knicks. But, they would have to give up Porzingis for this to fully work. The Cavs would take that, and then Kyrie would definitely be the man in one of the biggest markets. The Knicks would still be atrocious, but Kyrie would get his wish, and ESPN and TNT would put them on all the time. It is almost too perfect because of how terrible it would be.

Kyrie should stay in Cleveland if he values titles. But, he has one already, and maybe he just wants to get his now. Maybe he doesn't care so much about being one of the greatest point guards ever. Maybe he just wants to get paid. Whatever in may be, the Cavs should grant him his wish as long as they get a proper return. LeBron may say that he is "blindsided" by this, but imagine how happy he would be if he got to play with Porzingis, or his lifetime buddy Carmelo. I'm pretty sure he'd get over it rather quick.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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It is Time for the St. Louis Cardinals to Move on from the Mike Matheny Era

Time for the Cards to dust off the plate.

I've been sitting on today's topic for while, and I'm ready to put it out there. I think the time is right for the Cardinals to let Mike Matheny go.

Now don't get me wrong, he has been a very good to great coach for Saint Louis. He's been to the World Series, the playoffs and always seems to have this team in contention late into the season. But, the Cardinals have been, at least for them, pretty bad this year. They are a game below .500 right now, and if they lose to the Mets this afternoon, they will be even worse.

The current St. Louis baseball squad, while it doesn't have the star power of past Cardinals teams, does not have anyone that truly strikes fear into the heart of their opponents. They have names, Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina and Dexter Fowler to name a few, but those guys are either washed up, Wainwright, old, Molina and have not lived up to the potential, Fowler. In my mind though, a lot of that has to do with coaching. I feel like the coaches, and mostly Matheny, have just thought that the big time players would continue to be big time players. But, father time always wins. I love Molina and Wainwright, but they are not the players they once were. That is a fact. Dexter Fowler is my new favorite baseball player, but he has had a very inconsistent year, and he's been hurt a lot. But that lineup, other than those guys, is littered with names like Matt Carpenter, Stephen Piscotty, Kolten Wong, hell, that is all I can think of. That is part front office, part manager putting together this team. Yes the front office hasn't done much, but I don't think Matheny has really pushed to add big time, good players. Josh Donaldson's name has popped up in trade rumors for the Cardinals, but I feel like it is just talk. I would bet a lot of money that Matheny still believes he can win with Matt Carpenter playing third base. They can't. I'd do much rather have Donaldson at third. He is a better hitter and fielder. He is just an all around better baseball player.

It doesn't stop with the current squad. The Cardinals have had chances to add David Price, keep Jason Heyward, trade for Chris Sale, keep Carlos Beltran, get good young up and coming players for older vets, but John Mozeliak, the GM, and Matheny have said no. They didn't want to pay for or give up young prospects for proven veterans. That is the "Cardinal way", but it is getting pretty tedious to keep believing in the "Cardinal way". So many wasted chances to add top players because they don't want to pay them is very, very frustrating.

I know this is a front office thing, but I would be willing to say that Matheny doesn't know how to deal with stars. He's never had anyone bigger to manage than Molina, to the best of my knowledge, and Molina is a very subdued super star. I don't think he thinks he can deal with a big ego, even if that ego would help them win. That is a big problem for me. Other than that, he is too forgiving to his pitching staff. It seems like Wainwright, Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn have been the core of the Cardinals rotation. Why in the hell did it take until this season to put Carlos Martinez in the starting rotation? Personally, I think that he is the best pitcher the Cardinals have. Sure he can be inconsistent, but he throws heat and has a very live arm. With young pitchers you should expect things like that. What I didn't expect was the amount of time in took for Matheny to finally put Martinez in the rotation. I'm sick of watching Wainwright get older and worse. Wacha had his moment, then fell apart against the Red Sox in the World Series and when I'm shocked to see Lance Lynn get a win, that is a big problem.

Beyond the pitching though, this team cannot hit and cannot score runs. They seem to get beat 3-2 or 2-1 or 3-0 all the time. I will look at the stats, I do not watch the game, and see that the Cardinals got 0 runs on 3 or 4 hits. That is atrocious. They either need to find a new hitting coach, or a whole new staff. Same thing for the pitching coaches staff.

Look, I am actually all in favor of trashing the whole coaching staff except for Jose Oquendo. He is the only coach I rely on, and he deserves his shot to be the head coach of the Cardinals. He has paid his dues, the current players love him and I think he would be a lot more willing and able to take chances with the lineups and on acquiring big time stars. If the front office were to fire Matheny and hire Oquendo, there would be no big hub bub. As I said, the players already love him, and I'd let him hire his own staff.

Mike Matheny has done all he could do with his time with the Cardinals. He is toast. Give Jose Oquendo the chance he rightfully deserves. Do the right thing Saint Louis.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He dreams of the days when Oquendo is the head man, and Willie McGee is the hitting coach. Could we somehow get Vince Coleman to come in and be the third base coach?

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