When news broke of a trade between the Lions and the Browns, fans were skeptical. Not due to the move per say, but because of roster decisions made by the previous regime.
The Lions have struggled this season, despite having some talented players on both sides of the ball. One would argue that they have struggled because they are lacking talent at the most critical position on a football team: Quarterback.
Enter Maxwell Hartmann.
Hartmann, the 23 year old, 6’3, 230 lb QB out of Florida, comes to an organization looking for stability at the quarterback position. A two year starter in Cleveland before they decided to go in a different direction, Hartmann looks to help the Lions get back to winning football games.
While he has some success throwing touchdown passes, a quick look at his previous statistics shows a troubling trend: turnovers. In two seasons in Cleveland, Hartman threw a whopping 58 interceptions. In his first game in Detroit yesterday against his old team, he threw 3. Those are explainable, for the most part, as he had only one day to practice with his new team and the Lions were down for the entire second half. The real issue is, can he keep those numbers down in the games ahead.
Coach Matt Patrica has a tough job ahead of him. Trying to let Hartmann grow as a passer, while trying to cut down on the turnovers, will be challenging. When asked how he is going to approach this, Patricia said “We need to implement a game plan that is suited to his strengths. He has a cannon of an arm, but that doesn’t mean we need to throw it deep all the time. We will work on his decision making. It's okay to take shots but sometimes you need to let your playmakers make plays. Look at the last game. He hit Wiggins on a drag route and Wiggins does what he does best, makes plays. He took that to the house. Sometimes, less is more. Hartmann needs to take what he’s given and we will be fine. I am not concerned at all.”
Part of the issue facing Hartmann’s success is the lack of an every down running back. Starting running back Khalil Brooks has fared well so far but sources inside the front office say that while Brooks has had some good games, he isn’t viewed as a long term option at the position and they are currently looking at trade options.
The move makes sense. Having a legitimate running game will ease the pressure on Hartmann and free up some passing lanes that will help make the Lions more diverse on offense.
Only time will tell whether Hartmann proves to be the long term option that will carry the Lions through the end of this cycle but it doesn’t take a genius to see that he does provide a much needed upgrade at the most important position in football.
With Gurley Set to Return, Falcons Face Tough Decision
By Elijah Madison, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been almost 50 weeks since star running back Todd Gurley has played an SMLP game. After a gruesome injury that left Gurley with a torn right achilles tendon, Gurley is set to return next week vs. the Chargers.
“I’m just looking to get back out there with the guys. That’s been the hardest part. Not being there to help the boys go to war every Sunday.”
When speaking with Gurley, you can tell how excited he is to get back to work. For the past few weeks, he’s been getting back to light workouts, which began to ramp up into light contact work in hopes of being cleared to play next week.
Enter George DeVoe.
When Gurley went down last season, DeVoe stepped in and not only did he fill in for Gurley, he carried them through their last 6 games and into their wildcard game. Last season, DeVoe ran for 663 yards and scored 7 TDs in those final 6 games. This season DeVoe has not missed a beat. Through 10 games so far this season, he has rushed for an astounding 908 yards and 14 TDs. Both of those totals lead the NFC.
With Gurley’s return, the Falcons have a nice problem, but a difficult decision to make.
So, what will the Falcons do? The age old adage in sports is that a player should not lose their job to injury. One can logically assume that the job will remain DeVoe’s while Gurley gets back into game shape but what will they do once that happens?
An anonymous source inside the organization has told me that DeVoe will continue to carry the load, even when Gurley is fully healthy. “The coaching staff really feel like he’s their best option to win. Despite Gurley’s 2020 SMLP season, he’s been average at best. DeVoe has numbers on par with the leagues’ best at the position. It’s really not a difficult decision for the coaching staff as they feel DeVoe gives them the best chance to win.”
When speaking to Head Coach Dan Quinn, he gave the typical “coach speak” one would expect in this situation. “Obviously, I can’t get into specifics but we will play the player we think gives us the best chance to win. Both of these guys are professionals and I’m sure they will conduct themselves accordingly. Both will prepare to play each week and I would expect that each guy will be supportive of whatever direction we go in.”
If I were to guess what might transpire, I would expect that George DeVoe would continue to play as his numbers warrant him continuing to get the majority of snaps moving forward. Gurley will get some opportunities here and there but I would assume that he would be more of a change of pace back for the remainder of the season.
Whatever the direction the Falcons choose to go in, it is definitely a good problem to have as they move into the second half of the SMLP season.
Musings from the Dirty South
Welcome to the inaugural edition of "Musings from the Dirty South!" I have been trying to come up with an idea for an article for some time now. It’s been a bit of a struggle since there were many avenues I have wanted to pursue but when I’ve sat down to prep for said idea, I get thinking about another potential topic so I have decided to touch on all of those topics in a Monday Morning Quarterback type article. For those who may be unfamiliar with that type of article, or for NYT who definitely had to look up the meaning of the word “musings,” it’s essentially a collection of thoughts about a given topic, with that topic obviously being our league.
Here we go:
I think that the Seahawks being 7-0 shocks me. Granted, I am unfamiliar with a lot of the history of these owners outside of the few that I have played with in previous Maddens, but the Seahawks were 5-11 last year and I believe there hasn’t been an ownership change since I’ve been here. Four of his seven wins have come against actual opponents, with victories over Gudda, Trick, DoubleRice, and Sawblade, who have a combined record of 14-18 but you can only play the games on the schedule. No disrespect to NBAKID0010 at all, just shocked me when I saw his record.
Conversely, Jones and his Jets being 8-0 is not surprising at all. Coming off of a 12-4 season last year, Jones has started this season on fire, with no signs of letting up. He has a decent passing attack with Longwell, who has thrown 13 TDs to only 7 INTs but his true strength lies in his rushing attack. I will have some thoughts on the Jets RB in the next thought. Jones sports both a top 10 offense and defense and has forced 21 turnovers, which is 9th in the league.
RB Brenton Staley is tearing up defenses with 883 yards, second only to Joe Mixon, and a league leading 15 TDs. Combine that with 37 catches for 346 yards and 1 TD through the air, Staley looks to be on his way to an MVP caliber season.
Dookie. For those of you who did not have the privilege of partaking in his rant on his proficiency in sports, here is a quick recap. A few of us were discussing baseball and Dookie pops in and starts saying he has no respect for a sport that he is better than 95% of the players. He then doubles down on that and says, to his knowledge, that there are maybe 7 players that are better than him in all of baseball. Crazy, I know. Then he hops into the SML stream with two accounts and starts talking to himself via both accounts and going off on how he’s better than all of the players playing, etc. Essentially spamming the chat. I mentioned how he’s crazy or something and Bomber bans him from the stream for annoying the viewers. He then quits the Primer. This guy is the internet personified.
You’re welcome.
DW & Tiny’s addition to the Primer. It’s awesome that we have a few solid owners who will be around more. While Tiny just joined today, it’s obvious that his addition will only add to the league. DW has been great by providing suggestions on how to get the call up to the SML, even though he hasn’t been great on the field.
You know I love you and your 2-6-1 record, DW!
Speaking of someone who hasn’t had much success on the field of late….me. After yet another loss to Rowin and his cheating Eagles to start the season, I came back with a vengeance, winning three in a row, the biggest of those was a huge win over the reigning Primer champs! Sitting at 3-1 and drinking my own kool-aid, I have now lost three out of my last four, including a loss to the CPU. I need to find a way to play consistent, winning football.
Whiskey has won two games!! The Football team had a nightmare of a season a year ago, going winless. While his record isn’t the greatest, it’s obvious that he is playing much better this season. He has a few very close losses. He lost to the Saints by 3, the Lions by 3 and the defending AFC champ Bengals by 1. If he can find a way to pull victory from the jaws of defeat, Whiskey may become a force to be reckoned with in the NFC East.
Games I am looking forward to watching. With the Bengals and the Jets already playing, it got me thinking about what other regular season games will be fun to watch. In week 11, the Bengals play Rowin and the Eagles. It will be nice to see Rowin get his ass whooped!!!! Another game I'm looking forward to watching in week 11 is the Ravens vs the Broncos. In week 14, Jones and the Jets play the Seahawks. With both of them being undefeated at the time of this article being written, that will obviously be a good one. In week 16, the Jets take on the Texans. Jones may very well be undefeated and the Texans are always tough.
A game I am NOT looking forward to is my week 15 game vs. Ostrich. As I mentioned above, beating the Panthers was a huge win for us and, if I’m being honest, most likely is my Superbowl. Currently, the Panthers sit at 7-1 and I’m sure that when that games comes around, Ostrich will come in ready to play. Beating Ostrich is tough enough without the added motivation. I would like to say that I think you’re a great guy and that I’m very sorry for beating you in week 3. I didn’t mean it.
Since we are in week 9, it is the first time we can look at who is in the lead for the major awards. Currently, Joe Mixon has the edge over the aforementioned Staley from the Jets for the Primer MVP award. In looking at the top 10 for this award, the AFC dominates the board, taking 7 of the top 10 spots, including the top 5 spots (Mixon of the Bengals, Staley of the Jets, Johnson of the Texans, Kuehl of the Titans and Burrow of the Bengals). Its obvious to me that the AFC owners are all stat whores, and I expect the league brass to launch a full investigation into my unsubstantiated claims.
Since we are on the topic of awards, here are my predictions on the other major awards this season.
MVP: Staley (NYJ)
AFC OPOY: Staley (NYJ)
AFC DPOY: Jackson (HOU)
AFC OROY: Brewer (CIN)
AFC DROY: Wake (BAL)
NFC OPOY: Canfield (LAR)
NFC DPOY: Adams (SEA)
NFC OROY: Canfield (LAR)
NFC DROY: Anderson (CAR)
Turnovers. Guys, we need to do better here. I’m not sure how many of you have watched the SML content but a frequent topic of conversation is the sheer volume of interceptions being thrown. That trend has caught on here in the Primer as well. Right now, through 9 weeks of games, there are an astounding 23 quarterbacks who have thrown double digit interceptions. Six of those 23 have already thrown over 20 picks. This is madness. I am one of those 23 teams so I am preaching to the choir here but it’s something that we need to do much better at.
This upcoming draft class does not look to be overloaded with talent, like last one seemed to be. Granted, scouting has only been open for 6 weeks but it does not seem to be loaded. Perhaps it is a matter of not being loaded with good prospects at positions that I am targeting or not but through six weeks, it seems disappointing to me.
Offensive line play. I am not sure how many of you agree with this point of view or not and I know it has been said before, specifically by Fazz and Bomber in their Heat Check show, but ratings definitely do not matter too much this edition. I was able to use this to my advantage when I dealt my RG from last season to the Titans for Devin Morris, who took over the #1 WR role on my team after Julio retired. Prime has said that, unless the OL have abilities, they do not matter but it got me wondering how many OL actually have abilities. There are a grand total of 11 offensive linemen who are superstar dev with abilities. Both the Saints and Raiders have two each, meaning that a grand total of nine teams have a top tier linemen. Don’t overpay your OL, folks. They just don’t matter this time around.
And lastly, league activity, specifically the chat. One of the many reasons why I hope to get the call up is how active the chat is. Boys, the primer chat, outside of a few guys, is dead half of the time. We have quite a few people who are just content to play their games. I’m not sure if it has always been this way or if it is more indicative of the time of year in the madden cycle but it would be great if we can get the chat a bit more lively.
Thanks for taking the time to read this far. Feel free to leave a comment!