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The NFL offseason seems to last longer than any other sport, but it is packed with plenty of activity. All of the offseason activity centers around the NFL combine and the draft. The combine is now underway, with exams, tests, interviews, and all sorts of prodding and poking of future NFL players. After just a few days of drills, we are starting to see some movement on the draft boards. Here’s a quick update on who’s stock is going up before the draft:

Running Back – Knile Davis (Arkansas). Knile dominated the running back group at the combine. He ran the second fastest 40 yard dash, but he’s no little speedster. This running back has NFL size at 6 feet tall and a whopping 227 pounds (picture Adrian Peterson’s size with close to Chris Johnson’s speed). Injuries cut his collegiate career short, but he’s got to be awfully intriguing to a team that is looking for a running back.

Quarterback – Geno Smith (West Virginia). Geno pretty much crushed the other quarterbacks in the combine. His speed and athleticism have NFL executives optimistic that he will develop into the next RG3 or Russell Wilson. No one questions his passing ability, but the jury is still out on whether or not he can run an NFL offense. We’ll find out in the upcoming seasons, as Geno Smith is probably the first QB off the board, and almost certain to be drafted in the first round.

Wide receiver – While Cordarrelle Patterson (Tennessee) is widely recognized as the best receiver in the draft, Marquise Goodwin (Texas) is quickly becoming a household name. His football skills are legit, but it’s not just his football ability that has people buzzing. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Marquise represented the track team in the long jump. He qualified for the finals, leading many to realize what a rare athlete he is. He ran a 4.27 40 yard dash, which puts him in rare air as the fastest of the combine, and one of the fastest 40 times ever recorded. In addition, he’s got great hands, and runs excellent routes. Now, a receiver who only caught 26 passes last year with Texas has vaulted up the board, and it is only a question of how high he will be drafted in the first round.

Linemen – The draft may be light with stud running backs and quarterbacks, but it is definitely heavy in linemen. The discussion starts and ends with Luke Joeckel (Texas A&M). Luke is widely projected to be the top overall pick in the draft. A dominating tackle who rates up there with Jake Long, Ryan Clady and other top NFL tackles. The combine is a great venue for small team players like Terron Armstead (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) to showcase their skills. While it is rare for linemen to run sub 5 second 40 yard dash times, Terron set a big man record at 4.71! He was in the top tier of all linemen for the measurables and probably just earned himself a few extra million dollars on his rookie contract.

Whichever team you root for, make sure to follow the draft April 25-27. Check in with us for new player jerseys, NFL draft hats, and other gear to update your collection.

Little Things from the NFL’s 2009 Season:

88 players in the NFL had at least one carry of 25 yards or more, including New York Jets punter Steve Weatherford. Not among the 88: Philadelphia Eagles RB Brian Westbrook and Indianapolis Colts RB Joseph Addai.

Eight RB’s finished with at least 1250 rushing yards, including the St. Louis Rams Steven Jackson, who was 2nd in the NFL in rushing yards despite being on a 1-15 team.

Two Carolina Panthers RB’s, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart rushed for at least 1100 yards.

Jerome Harrison of the Cleveland Browns averaged 143 yards rushing in the four games in which he carried the ball more than 16 times, including 286 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15.

Adrian Peterson finished 5th in the league in rushing yards with 1383, despite only topping 100 yards in a game three times during the season.

Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans topped 2000 yards rushing on the year; he is only the 6th RB in NFL history to do so.

Johnson averaged 5.6 yards per rushing attempt on the season. Jamaal Charles averaged 5.9.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson both averaged 3.3 yards per attempt.

Reggie Wayne caught 100 passes on the year. 73 of them were for first downs.

The Top 21 players in the NFL in receiving yards include three tight ends: Antonio Gates, Dallas Clark, and Jason Witten. All 21 had at least 11 receptions of 20 yards or more, except Wes Welker, who led the league in catches, 123, and was second in yards, 1348. He had eight plays for more than 20 yards.

The Blind Side book/movie subject Michael Oher, rookie RT for the Baltimore Ravens, had the fewest yards receiving in the NFL in 2009 with -8.

Oakland Raiders rookie WR Darius Heyward-Bey, 7th pick overall, played in 11 games, caught 9 passes for 124 yards and scored one TD.

San Francisco 49ers rookie WR Michael Crabtree, 10th pick overall, held out until after Week 5, then played in 11 games, caught 48 passes for 625 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Austin Collie, 4th round pick of the Colts, and Percy Harvin, 1st round pick of the Minnesota Vikings, led all rookie WR’s in receptions with 60. Harvin and New York Giants WR Hakeem Nicks led rookies in receiving yards with 790.

Ten QB’s threw for over 4000 yards this season. Seven of them are in the playoffs. Kurt Warner, the 8th playoff QB, threw for 3753 yards.

41 QB’s completed at least one pass of more than 45 yards. Kurt Warner did not.

155 players in the NFL caught a pass of at least 35 yards. Larry Fitzgerald did not.

14 QB’s threw at least 500 passes. Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler led them (and all other QB’s) in interceptions with 26. Peyton Manning was 2nd with 16. Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers had the fewest at 7.

Jon Ryan, punter of the Seattle Seahawks, completed the longest pass by a non-QB, 42 yards. He finished the year with a 118.8 QB rating.

The Cleveland Browns won four games in a row after going 1-11 in their first twelve.

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost five games in a row after winning five in a row.

The Denver Broncos won six in a row to start the year and lost four in a row to end the year to finish 8-8.

The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints started the season 14-0 and 13-0, respectively. The Colts lost their last two and the Saints lost their last three.

The San Diego Chargers started the year 2-3 and then won their last 11.

The Tennessee Titans went 0-6 to start the year. They went 8-2 after that to finish 8-8.

BLACK MONDAY

Coaches are cleaning out their lockers today. So far Jim Zorn, who was for all intent and purposes relieved of his duties with the Washington Redskins somewhere around Week 6 or so, and the remainder of the Buffalo Bills coaching staff and have been told their services are no longer needed, wanted, or welcomed.

There is talk that Wade Phillips needs to win a playoff game to keep his job. Apparently an 11-5 season, the third playoff seed, a home playoff game, and a shutout to win the division in the season’s last game is not enough in Dallas to feel any sense of job security.

The expectations are different for Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers. In Houston, Gary Kubiak will retain his position after the organizations first winning season, going 9-7 and being a loss by either the Ravens or Jets on the season’s final day away from making the playoffs. Plus Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson led the league in yards at their respective positions.

The Carolina Panthers are keeping John Fox around… maybe? Because in Carolina, a winning season every other year is good enough. I think it is probably safe to say though that the John Fox-Jake Delhomme duo has reached its end. Delhomme threw for 8 TD’s and was picked off 18 times on the season, while backup Matt Moore started the last five games for the Panthers and threw for 8 TD’s and only 1 interception.

There are a lot of rumors flying around about Raheem Morris losing his job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay was horrible, but Morris is a first year coach brought in to turn around a terrible team. You have to give the guy more than a year or two to do his job – unless of course you have Bill Cowher, his chin, and his mustache on the radar.

Maybe one case where it makes sense to fire a first year coach is in Oakland, where ironically nothing makes sense. Tom Cable allegedly hit a co-worker. That behavior is generally frowned upon. And Al Davis is Al Davis, so he may bring in a shuffleboard buddy of his who won a fantasy football league last season to coach the team.

PLAYOFFS

The Dallas Cowboys threw a donut at the Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFC East. With a win, the Eagles would have had a first round bye and a home playoff game. With the loss, they’ll travel to Dallas and play the Cowboys again this weekend. Donovan McNabb to DeSean Jackson and Tony Romo to Miles Austin are two of the more dangerous big play QB to WR combos in the league.

And speaking dangerous QB to WR combos, Chad Ochocinco/Johnson would like me to mention his and Carson Palmer’s names right now, but if I’m playing the Cincinnati Bengals I’m more concerned about Cedric Benson. Maybe the New York Jets backed into a playoff spot and maybe they didn’t, but Mark Sanchez is in the post-season and will do a very nice job of handing the ball off until he is absolutely required to throw it. Thomas Jones, get ready to see nine guys in the box against Cincinnati this weekend. Jets fans can mail cards to the Colts and Bengals thanking them for mailing it in in Weeks 16 and 17.

Following Philly/Dallas and New York/Cincy, the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers will square off in the third rematch of a Week 17 game this weekend. The Packers rolled over the Cardinals who had nothing to play for and did most of the rolling over all by themselves. There are some health concerns for Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, Anquan Boldin, and Charles Woodson going into this game.

Baltimore travels to New England to play the Wes Welker-less Patriots. Welker tore up most of the _CL’s in his knee on Sunday. Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Ray Lewis and company will look to put to rest Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and the Pats. Should that happen, the media will surely spark up the “Has Belichick lost it?” debate. For that reason alone, I’ll root for the Pats.

Brett Favre may or may not be on a tractor in Kiln, Mississippi this week. The Vikings can thank the Cowboys for beating the Eagles and getting them a first round bye. Favre loved Sidney Rice this season to the tune of 1312 yards and 8 TD’s. I don’t know what that tune sounds like, but it works for the Minnesota offense.

The New Orleans Saints are also waiting around for somebody to play football against. Drew Brees and his band of guys who can run fast and catch the ball will not have won in nearly a month when they take the field next.

The Colts are planning a really intense bye week in Indy. Somewhere Jim Caldwell is sitting with no expression on his face. The San Diego Chargers are taking it easy in a sunnier place where Philip Rivers can frolic on the beach and wait around for somebody to fly west to play a game.

THE NHL WINTER CLASSIC

The Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in OT at Fenway Park in the NHL’s 2010 Winter Classic. Check out all our Winter Classic gear in this week’s items of the week!

It’s been an interesting week in the sports world. The boxing match we’ve eagerly awaited, Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., finally looks set. The return of “The Answer” is no longer in question. And the best athlete at his position in the world made headlines for a vehicular incident…

Shame on you, Adrian Peterson, for driving 109 mph in a 55-mph zone.

What? You thought I was going somewhere else with that…

And now, a look ahead to a glorious weekend of sports.

Conference Championship Saturday

The only championship games in college football’s Football Bowl Subdivision* that actually make sense began Thursday with the Civil War and hit full stride Saturday.

*I wrote that out instead of typing its initials (FBS) purely for you to see how ridiculous-sounding that name is.

BCS berths are still at-large for many conferences. But that doesn’t mean these games will be close. Georgia Tech, Cincinnati and Texas are all expected to hoist trophies without a fight.

Meanwhile, the rest of college football looks ahead to the match-up fans and experts have anticipated all season…

Wisconsin vs. Hawaii.

What? That doesn’t excite you? Fine.

How about the first time we’ve seen the no. 1 and 2 ranked BCS teams match-up outside the BCS championship?

Florida vs. Alabama serves as a de facto semifinal (barring unforeseen computer calculations). The winner most certainly stakes its claim as the favorite to exit the Rose Bowl, January 7th, as champion.

Will Tim Tebow leave another footprint in his quest to be the greatest quarterback in college football history? Can RB Mark Ingram make his final case for the Heisman? Who wins the Urban Meyer and Nick Saban coaching battle? What measures will CBS take to protect against a potential Verne Lundquist head explosion after Tebow scores his second touchdown?

Some answers I can wait for. But others – or other – leave me giddy.

NFL Week 13

A number of match-ups this week have significant playoff implications…and here are my thoughts:

I’m interested to see how the banged-up Atlanta Falcons (sans Matt Ryan and Michael Turner) host an Eagles team missing two big-play weapons of their own (DeSean Jackson and Brian Westbrook).

Speaking of which…has anyone noticed how seemingly contagious concussions have become? It’s nearly reached Swine Flu status.

Will Chris Johnson’s prediction (from 0-6 to 10-6) hold against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts? The Tennessee Titans have run off five straight wins since inserting Vince Young. And CJ remains on pace to break a historic record (Eric Dickerson’s 2,105 single-season rush yards) as quietly as anyone…ever.

Houston Texans v. Jacksonville Jaguars. Ehh.

The Dallas Cowboys look to avenge an early season embarrassment against the current embarrassment that is the New York Giants. Winners of one of their previous six, this is the Giants last chance to resurrect their season. The players and teams hate each other – no really – they actually don’t like each other. And as a Cowboys fan, I hate the Giants. So it should be exciting. For me at least.

At 5-6, the Miami Dolphins are playing for their playoff lives against a suddenly-human New England Patriots. The Pats ‘cloak of invisibility’ is long gone – especially on the defensive side of the ball. So why is it still so hard for me to pick against them? They even go out-flexed this week…

…by the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals. Two forty-something quarterbacks may go head-to-head this week. (I realize Kurt Warner isn’t 40 yet, but you’ve heard of “dog years?” I propose for every concussion sustained, a year is added to your age in “NFL-years”…making Warner somewhere around 52).

Anyways, this is the week the Vikings go down. Why? Because they play a legit team. Consider this: the combined record of the nine teams they’ve defeated is 39-71. Pretty staggering. It’s not that I don’t think they are good. I just don’t think they are that good.

So there are some appetizers for your football platter this weekend. And remember, with the holidays coming up, if you fall in love with the player’s wear on the sidelines, you can always buy that stuff here – at FansEdge.

What? I still have to pay the bills.

I’ve been to Wrigley Field for opening day. I witnessed game six of the 2003 ALCS at Yankee Stadium. Fenway Park, you’re next on the list.

As a triumvirate – they are the Mecca’s of baseball.

But baseball season is over…almost. I’m ready for some football. And unlike baseball, there is only one Mecca in the NFL.

It’s name – Lambeau Field.

I’ve been dying to cross this off my “bucket list.” I grew up in the Midwest – Des Moines, represent – and I spent four years at the University of Wisconsin. Still, no Lambeau visit.

Until last weekend.

A month ago I received a phone call from my father.

“Ariel, what are you doing November 1st?” he asked.

“Umm…I dunno,” I responded.

“Would you like to go see the Vikings and Packers at Lambeau?”

“Umm…YES!”

I mean…this was to be the most anticipated game of the year! Maybe even the decade! Brett Favre against his former team. A town’s once-beloved son returns home, only this time as the red-headed stepchild! Exclamation marks!

Thus began a month of anticipation, eagerness and excitement. Finally, it came. After a few short hours of not-so-clear-headed sleep (thanks a lot Halloween) a friend and I hit the road to meet my dad in Milwaukee for the trip to Green Bay.

A few hours later, we passed over the Fox River – and there it was – Lambeau Field.

We quickly found a parking spot (and dealt with some playful rousing by the locals towards my father, the Vikings fan) and walked towards the stadium. From the moment I stepped onto Oneida Street and viewed a casket and tombstone reading “R.I.P. Brett Favre” on the left and smelled the aroma of beer and brats on my right, I knew this wasn’t just any other Sunday.

As we approached the intersection of Oneida and Lombardi, I got my first up-close look at Lambeau Field. It’s no mystery what makes this place so special. I’ll best describe it as the “Wrigley Field of football.” One minute, you’re walking through a charming little neighborhood – the next, an imposing structure full of tradition and pageantry.

Tailgating intensified, music blasted and the crowds grew louder and larger. And I realized the tremendous time I was having people-watching. Little kids screamed “Minnesota sucks!” and “Go home Vikings!” Shirts proudly displayed messages like “Favre sucks” and “We 4-get you.” No. 4 Packers jerseys’ nameplates were replaced with “Brutus” “Judas” and “Benedict Arnold.” I knew I was in for a treat. But my favorite? This Jared Allen look-alike (excuse my finger). From the mullet to the headband to the hair fades – the resemblance was uncanny. The only thing missing were fatigue cargo pants…oh wait.

Let’s get back to football.

Kickoff approached, time to find our seats. And discover another great thing about Lambeau. We sat in second to last row of the end zone, literally, and they were great seats! Unlike the multi-million (or, sorry Jerry, billion) dollar stadiums of today – Lambeau truly is different. It’s a small, intimate enclosure, where even the worst seats are good seats. Perched on the slightly uncomfortable bleachers – while devouring some deliciously healthy cheese curds – I scanned the sea of green and yellow (and purple) and reviewed the wall of fame. Bart Starr. Reggie White. Ray Nitschke.

But, still, one name eludes this class.

Brett Favre.

There he was tossing the ball at midfield. Warming up like he did for 16 consecutive seasons, only this time, on the opposing side. And there he went, back through the tunnel to a loud chorus of boos.

But the biggest fan reaction came when Green Bay’s newest hero, Aaron Rodgers, was announced and emerged onto the field. The crowd let out a deafening roar that – for a moment – made you forget he’s only in his second year as a starter and hasn’t really accomplished anything. I had to ask myself, was this really a pro-Rodgers chant or an anti-Favre rally?

And then a football game broke out.

Amidst the constant booing on every early possession, Favre dominated the first half as he fit a number of tight spirals into even tighter openings. This led to one Packers fan commenting, “I had no idea how much fun it was to root against this guy!”

Meanwhile, Rodgers ran for his life. On every down. Talent on the Packers offensive line is painfully lacking, and Rodgers – six sacks Sunday – doesn’t help his cause by holding onto the ball too long. He is one of the most effective quarterbacks in the league when given time, but Rodgers must improve his pocket presence if he ever wants to be an elite quarterback.

By the second half though, momentum had shifted. Rodgers marched his team up and down the field and Favre threw several questionable passes into heavy traffic. The Packers climbed within a touchdown twice, but the exploits of Percy Harvin in the return game, Adrian Peterson in the run game and Favre were too much for the Packers to handle.

And in the end, Favre did what he had so many times before – exit Lambeau Field, arms extended skyward, and a satisfying grin encompassing the entirety of his face. Unfortunately, the home crowd could not do the same.

What an eerie feeling for Packers fans. But for me, it was a day I’ll never forget.

Thanks dad.