By Greg Fuchs
A weekly feature of my musings on what is going on in the sports world, and perhaps some non-sports commentary as well.
- With the 6th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins will select LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. TE Kyle Pitts and Tackle Penei Sewell go 4th and 5th to Atlanta and Cincinnati, leaving Chase for the Fins.
- I’m not opposed to analytics in baseball, but I just don’t get the attraction people have with the exit velocity on home runs. Isn’t the only thing that really matters is that the ball went over the fence?
- Between injuries, Covid and load management, do NBA teams ever have their normal starting 5 anymore? How many times have the Heat had Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic all healthy for the same game?
- And maybe that is why NBA TV ratings are at an all-time low. I turned on the Celtics-Nets game the other night and James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown were all on the sidelines. Who wants to watch games when most of the star players are out?
- Dolfans are excited, as they should be, about the upcoming draft as they are envisioning Miami drafting multiple Pro Bowl caliber players as the have 4 picks in the top 50. They may want to temper their expectations a bit, though, as in the last 5 years the Ravens lead the league in drafting Pro Bowl players with 6. Only 1 a year on average is the best. Yikes!
- The Marlins are off to a pedestrian 9-12 start. The offense will need to ramp it up if they are going to turn things around as they are 12th in the NL in on base %, 13th in home runs and 15th in on base plus slugging %, which has resulted in them being 11th in the NL in runs scored.
- But don’t feel too bad about your lack of offense Marlins fans, as you could be a Braves fan. On Sunday, not only did they get shutout in both games of their doubleheader vs. the Diamondbacks, but they only managed 1 hit combined in both games. Ouch!
- How far can the Florida Panthers go in the NHL playoffs if they are able to get everyone healthy? Despite injuries to multiple players over the past month or so, the Panthers continue to play well (unless they are playing Carolina) and have the 3rd most points in the league. They will miss defenseman Aaron Ekblad, though, who is done for the season with a leg injury.
- Speaking of the Panthers, which goalie do they go with in the playoffs? Florida might have the best group of goalies in the NHL with Sergei Bobrovsky, Chris Driedger and Spencer Knight. Unfortunately, you can only play one of them at a time. The decision for the Panthers will be easy, though, as you don’t give Bobrovsky a 7-year $70 million dollar contract and not play him in the playoffs even though Driedger has outplayed him this season.
- The Atlanta Falcons picking 4th are the key to the NFL draft, as they could select a QB, draft TE Kyle Pitts or trade the pick to a team looking for a quarterback. I think they go with Pitts plus a running back in the 2nd round to surround Matt Ryan with even more talent to give them one of the most potent offenses in the NFL.
- Denver, New England, Washington and Chicago all could be looking to trade up for QB in the draft, but there may be only 1 available if Atlanta decides to take one at #4. Chicago might be the most desperate, but they are at a disadvantage picking 20th whereas the Broncos and Patriots can offer up their 9th and 15th picks. My gut says New England is the team that will trade up. Denver could also draft a QB if Atlanta decides to pass on one with the 4th overall pick.
- With many of the NBA’s best players (Lebron James, Antonio Davis, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, etc.) missing a lot of games this season, who will win the MVP award? Does Giannis Antetokounmpo win it for the 3rd year in a row? He’s 3rd in the league in scoring (28.5 ppg), 5th in rebounding (11.5) and 19th in assists (6.0), but he has missed 7 games. Luca Doncic has missed 5 games, but is 3rd in the league in scoring (28.5), 20th in rebounds (8.0) and 3rd in assists (8.8). My vote (if I had one) might go to Denver center Nikola Jokic who is 10th in the league in scoring (26.2), 9th in rebounding (10.9) and 5th in assists (8.7). He’s also made 56.8% of his field goal attempts, which is tied for 2nd in the league along with Giannis for players averaging at least 20 points per game. Most importantly, he hasn’t missed a game. The best ability is still availability!
- The Miami Hurricanes may only have 5 players drafted this year in the NFL draft, but it will be a quality 5. Edge rushers Jaelen Phillips and Gregory Rousseau should get selected in the 1st round while fellow edge rusher Quincy Roche could go in the 3rd round, as may TE Brevin Jordan. And while kickers don’t get a lot of love in the draft, Canes kicker Jose Borregales is the best kicker in the draft and will get drafted somewhere in the 5th-7th rounds.
- New Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni stirred up a bit of a storm last week by saying Jalen Hurts isn’t necessarily the Eagles starting QB. Let me get this straight. He doesn’t want to anoint Hurts the starter after he started only 5 games last season and threw only 6 TD passes? Heaven forbid there should be competition in training camp.
- In every NFL draft there are risers and fallers. Some on the rise as we approach the draft are Tulsa LB Zavon Collins, Kentucky LB Jamin Davis and Stanford QB Davis Mills. Some players who may be sliding down a bit due to injury concerns or having opted out of the 2020 season are Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley (recent back surgery) and the 2 Miami Hurricane pass rushers; Jaelen Phillips (concussion history) & Gregory Rousseau (2020 opt out; unimpressive pro-day). It’s possible all 3 could still go in the 1st round, but they may have all been top 15 picks without the various concerns.
- With only 10-12 games left in the NBA season, who would have thought that the Hawks and Knicks would have better records than the Celtics and the Heat?
- When it comes to evaluating college QBs, to me the 2 most important attributes are football IQ (i.e., being able to read defenses before & after the snap and making quick & correct decisions) and being an accurate passer. Size, arm strength and mobility, while all are nice to have, are secondary to me. Yet everyone seems to focus on the athleticism, mobility and arm strength of Zach Wilson, Justin Field and Trey Lance while pooh-poohing Mac Jones’ football intelligence and passing accuracy.
- Speaking of evaluating college talent, how come most experts have Michigan defensive lineman Kwity Paye as the top edge rusher in the draft despite the fact they he only averaged 1 sack every 3 games in college?
- I hope Florida Panthers fans appreciate being able to watch 2 of the best players in the NHL, Alexander Barkov and Jonathan Huburdeau, every night. They rank 12th and 15th in scoring in the league.
- And for my last NFL draft comment, if a team needs an offensive lineman, then this is the draft for them as 20 of the top 100 players in the draft are O-lineman. 14 are wide receivers, 13 are cornerbacks and another 13 are edge rushers. That means that only 40 of the top 100 players are QBs, RBs, TEs, defensive tackles, linebackers and safeties.
- Nomadland won the Oscar for Best Picture. I remember watching this movie a few months ago when I was bored and looking for something to watch. It looked interesting and while I enjoyed watching it, I would only give it 2.5 stars out of 4. Not only was I surprised when I learned it was nominated for Best Picture, but I am shocked that it actually won. Mank was the only other movie of the 8 that were nominated that I saw, and I struggled to watch the entire movie. I assume fewer movies were released in 2020 due to Covid, so should all of the winners receive a C-19 asterisk?
See you next week sports fans!
