Trade deadline may be pushed back again, this time because of the weather

By NFL-EN | dave@nflen.com

The trade deadline is almost here, even if it is pushed back...(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Earlier this year, the NFL moved the trade deadline from the end of week six to the end of week eight.
The NFL is considering once again pushing back the trade deadline, this time because of the weather.

Hurricane Sandy making landfall...

Hurricane Sandy caused the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets to shut down operations today, they have told players and non-football personnel not to report to team facilities Monday.

Average age of all NFL teams, including offense and defense

By Dave Brown | dave@nflen.com

Go here for the latest article on the average age of every team heading into free agency in 2013. This article was done right before the start of the 2012 season.

Random image that has nothing to do with this article...
(Photo credit: www.davidnicolas.co.uk)

Twice a season, I take a look at each team and see how old their roster is. The last time I looked was heading into free agency. At that time, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the oldest team in the NFL, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the youngest. The Super Bowl champion New York Giants were the 19th oldest and 14th youngest, however you want to look at that.

As an overview of how I calculate these numbers, I do not exclude special teams players. For this article and going forward, that becomes important, as I also calculate the average ages of every offense and defense in the NFL.

I do not include practice squads or players on injured reserve. Practice squads are composed of younger players, and are probably about the same average age across the board. Including them would just increase the amount of work with no gain in information. The players on injured reserve, with the possible exception of one from each team under the new rules, will not have an impact on the active rosters for the entire season.

Now that we have an idea of what teams were looking back, it's time to look forward into the 2012 season and see where they are now.

Did the Pittsburgh Steelers get younger?
Which team is the youngest in the NFL?

This time, there is much more. Who has the youngest defense in the NFL, and the oldest offense?

The most efficient rushing teams in the NFL

By Dave Brown

Earlier this month, I looked at the running game in the NFL for every team going back to the year 2000, looking for the most 'prolific rushing team'. There are several ways to look at the definition of prolific.

What I did was simple, I looked at what teams had 1,000 yard rushers, and the team with the highest of 1,000 yard rushers would then fit my definition of a prolific rushing team. Well, I ended up with a tie between the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants. Each team had 1,000 yard rushers for 10 of the possible 12 seasons going back to the year 2000. A team can have a great running back, but I think a team that has different running backs go over the 1,000 yard mark is a more prolific rushing team, so I went with the Titans as the most prolific rushing team in the NFL.

Another way to look at prolific rushing teams would be to look at the number of rushing attempts. I have once again went back to the start of the 2000 season and looked at every rushing attempt for every team, then added them, then took the averages for attempts per season and attempts per game. There are 192 games to look at, so in all but one instance, that is the number used to get the average per game. The Houston Texans start in 2002, so 160 games and 10 years were used to get those averages.

Free agency review

by Ryan Ebert

Sometimes it can be hard to follow where a player signs with in the offseason, and once they do sign we can forget they signed with another team.  Here is a list of the free agent signings of every team made so far this offseason.  This list is not entirely accurate as players may have been traded or cut or something else, but it is about 99% dependable.

The most prolific rushing teams in the NFL since 2000

By Dave Brown

Pass, pass, pass, it's all we hear about anymore.

I bet the vast majority of football fans could not tell me how many players have rushed for over 1,000 yards in a single season since the year 2000. Well, I can answer that for you.

There have been 87 players that have rushed for over 1,000 yards 210 times since the start of the year 2000. 

Running back by committee seems to be a popular concept in the NFL now, and that might detract yards from a running back that would carry the load. Three teams have had two players gain over 1,000 yards on the ground in the same year since the start of 2000, The New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, and Carolina Panthers.

In 2009, the Panthers had DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both gain over 1,000 yards. In 2008 the Giants had Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs both break the 1,000 yard barrier, and in 2006, the Falcons had Warrick Dunn and Michael Vick do it.

Michael Vick is the only quarterback in the NFL to rush for over 1,000 yards since the start of the 2000 season, and only once, in 2006.


Look for Cam Newton in the future. In his rookie year last season, he ran for 706 yards and 14 TDs on 126 attempts, an average of 5.6 yards per carry. I think the only way Newton doesn't break the 1,000 yard barrier in the future is if the Panthers tell him not to run as much. In 2006, when Vick ran for over 1,000 yards, he only carried the ball 123 times and had a rushing average of 8.4 yards per carry.

On the bottom of the spectrum, there are a few teams that stand out. The Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, and Detroit Lions have all had players with over 1,000 yards rushing three times since the start of the 2000 season, and each team has had two different players eclipse the 1,000 yard mark.

I didn't have to look hard to see the tie-breaker here, the Detroit Lions are the only team in the NFL without a 1,000 yard rusher since the start of the 2005 season.

All of those are cool facts, but not what this is about.

Prostate cancer takes Ben Davidson's life at 72

-by Ryan Ebert

Former Raiders head coach John Madden on KCBS-AM radio in San Francisco reported that Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson has died.  He died of prostate cancer Monday night at the age of 72.

In eleven years in the NFL Davidson was first drafted out of Washington by the Giants in 1961.  He first played in the NFL with the Packers.  Before his time in Oakland he spent two years with the Redskins.

Davidson had a physical play, a raspy voice, and his distinctive mustache which helped create the image for Al Davis' Raiders in the 1960s.  The defensive end made the Pro Bowl three straight years between 1966 through 1968.

"We'll miss him," Raiders owner Mark Davis told CSN Bay Area on Tuesday. "He was larger than life and a wonderful human being."

While with the Raiders Davidson made the playoffs including the team that lost to the Packers in Super Bowl II.

"He was a tough, gutsy ballplayer, team oriented with enough meanness in him to be feared and enough talent to be effective," former Raiders teammate Tom Flores told the Associated Press.

"He was just a big, tall, skinny guy that (Al) Davis took a chance with," Flores said. "He was able to rush the passer and worked hard to get bigger and stronger, with the character and personality. He was always that way."

After he retired Davidson made a career playing in movies such as "M-A-S-H", "Conan the Barbarian, "Necessary Roughness" and played himself in Miller Lite ads.

He has left behind a family that includes his wife Kathy, and three daughters Jan, Dana, and Vicki.

Patriots pick up Ballard off waivers

by Ryan Ebert

Just one day after he was released by the Giants TE Jake Ballard was picked up off waivers by the New England Patriots.

The Giants released him because he tore his ACL in the Super Bowl and did not pass his physical.

Patriots will now have three dangerous TEs in Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, and Jake Ballard.

Ballard had 38 receptions for 604 yards for an 15.9 average and 4 touchdowns in 2011 for the Giants.

Blackburn given chance to take MLB spot as two down LB

by Ryan Ebert

The New York Giants will be giving linebacker Chase Blackburn the middle linebacker spot in training camp next month, but as a two-down middle linebacker. 

Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said that Blackburn, a seven-year veteran who was the starting middle linebacker at the end of the 2011 season, will "go back to that role" to begin camp. Though there will be competition for the spot.

Giants owner John Mara thinks NFL moving away from kickoffs

kickoff close (Photo credit: just.jim)

New York Giants owner John Mara thinks one day the NFL will replace kickoffs with something else, making the game safer.

Mara, a member of the NFL Competition Committee, thinks kickoffs are the most dangerous play in the game today, and says there have been talks of different ideas to replace it yet.

While he admits that taking away the kickoff probably wouldn't happen soon, he thinks it will one day.

The whole concern behind the kickoff play are the concussions and other injuries sustained during the play.

You can try to make the game more safe all you want, but until many players realize that the 'bounty' system the New Orleans players and coaches had in place is a bad thing, we will still see players getting hurt, then suing the NFL years later.

These same players want the NFL to take better care of the players that no longer play the game, but will not allow any of that money to come from their cut of the revenue. Maybe they need to look at the way they play the game, and start playing it the right way, within the rules, because I'm here to tell you, removing the kickoff play from the game would have little impact on the number of concussions sustained over the course of a full season.

Related articles

• Concussions on kickoffs drop sharply in 2011 (profootballtalk.nbcsports.com)
• NFL says moving kickoff to 35-yard line reduced concussions (tsn.ca)
• Player Safety Justifies Kickoff Rule Change (redskins.com)
• Sean Payton may have new job (nflen.com)
• NFL upholds penalties on Saints, sort of... (nflen.com)

The Evidence and the Giants: Giants Bring Back CB Thomas

Featured Article:  

The New York Giants secondary looks strong going into the 2012 season, and our Giants writer tells us why.

The Evidence and the Giants: Giants Bring Back CB Thomas:
By Louis Joseph Anthony Schaefer

Prior to the 4 P.M. deadline to exclusively negotiate with free agents from your own team, the New York Giants agreed on a new deal for cor...