In Depth look - Dropped Passes around the NFL in 2012

By Dave Brown | dave@nflen.com | Tweet #NFLEN

Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin drops a pass...

It's a passing league, I keep hearing that. Well, we could look at that the other way too, and it might be the dropped ball league. Some passes will be thrown away, some will be knocked down, some thrown badly, and some are just flat out dropped.

That's what I want to look at, the dropped passes.

The table on the left is just a basic dropped passes table. Maybe you have seen this around the net before, maybe not. It's a basic indicator of dropped passes, but I think we need to look much deeper to get a clear idea of what dropped passes really mean.

There were 945 passes that were dropped by receivers in the NFL in the 2012 regular season, an average of 29.53 drops per team.

Breaking down the 2013 NFL playoff picture

By Dave Brown | dave@nflen.com | Tweet #NFLEN


The 2013 AFC playoff picture is almost set, with the final six teams having been decided. The only thing still to be determined in the AFC is what teams are seeded where, and what teams get that coveted first round bye.

There are five teams that have made the playoffs in the NFC, with three teams vying for that final wild card spot. By now, most of us know that the Atlanta Falcons have the #1 seed and home field locked up in the NFC. There are also two divisions still up for grabs, the NFC East and NFC West.

You all want to know who is going to get in, and who is going to get a first round bye, so I'll break down the entire playoff picture, giving the most probable outcome. I'll just start by saying that the final NFC Wild Card spot isn't as up for grabs as you might think it is.

Antwaan Randle El to retire after nine seasons

by Ryan Ebert

Veteran wide receiver Antwaan Randal El decides to retire as his brother said in an email.  He was a quarterback at Indiana University before being drafted in the second round by Pittsburgh and moving to wide receiver.  In his nine years he has racked up 370 receptions  for 4,467 yards and 15 touchdowns.  He averaged 22.3 yards on 79 kick returns with a touchdown and 8.2 yards on 311 punt returns with 5 touchdowns.

Pittsburgh did utilize his passing skills from time to time.  Randle El in his career threw 16-18 for 170 yards and 4 of his 6 touchdowns came with the Steelers.  In the playoffs he completed one of three passes with a 43 yard touchdow strike to Hines Ward in the Steelers Super Bowl XL win over the Seattle Seahawks.  He became the only WR to throw a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl when that happened.

After that Super Bowl Randle El signed a $31 million contract for 7 years with the Washington Redskins.  Randle-El started 48 of 63 games catching 186 passes for 2,202 yards and 8 of his career 15 touchdowns.

The Redskins released him in 2010, and he returned to the Steelers one more time.  After last year's lockout the team terminated his contract.

On November 4, 2011 he worked out with the Detroit Lions, but did not get signed has been out of football since.

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.

Royal to Washington

By Ryan Ebert

Denver Broncos wide receiver/punt returner Eddie Royal has left the team to sign a two year deal worth $12 million with the Washington Redskins.

This move rejoins Royal with head coach Mike Shanahan who drafted him out of Virginia Tech in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.  Eddie Royal had career highs in receptions (91), yards (980), and touchdowns (5) in '08, his rookie year.  This fan favorite of Denver may have left Denver since he wanted to catch balls instead of block for the run game 80% of the time with Denver having a heavy run first approach.

Royal will join Josh Morgan, formerly of the 49ers, and Pierre Garcon, formerly of the Colts, who also signed with Washington to help strengthen the wide receiver position that only has Santana Moss as a clear cut reliable receiver.

I wish Royal well in his time in Washington and wonder how he and RGIII will connect.

The Cost of RGIII

 By Kent Lee Platte

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Reports are coming in that the St. Louis Rams have agreed to trade their #2 overall pick to the Washington Redskins for their #6 overall pick this year, their 2nd round pick this year, their 1st round pick in 2013, and their 1st round pick in 2014.

Reports have come in from around the league, including ESPN and NFL.com.

It is widely believed that the Indianapolis Colts will pick a QB with their #1 overall pick, and the Redskins will then pick whichever QB the Colts do not choose.  Most analysts, and those within the Colts organization, have the team selecting Andrew Luck of Stanford with their first pick, making the consolation prize Robert Griffin III from Baylor.  While Luck will go as the first pick, this trade ensures that Griffin will be the most expensive first round pick in a very, very long time.