florio is a BOOB. last season he literally cut and pasted a Boston globe story by mike reiss and posted on his website as his own original piece, then he went on to bash Belichick for stealing signals. Plus I love florio’s sprint ads that double as stories. profootballtalk is a virus

The Steelers coaches have been very high on Stapleton ever since they kept him on the team all of last year as an undrafted free agent. Guess we’ll find out if they were right or not in their belief in him.

Ditto what Charlie says. His love of Al Davis has hurt his credibility enormously. It’s just a matter of time before even the stupid bubba’s catch on that’s he’s more gossip than football. He’s already irrelevant.

Michael, the 49ers have not gotten good play out of the offensive line so far this year. Who do you think is or has been the better player between Joe Staley and Tony Ugoh so far? Their careers will always be linked because of the 07 draft, did the 49ers make the right move to go get staley or should they have stayed put and taken Ugoh?

All you have to do is read the comments on PFT vs. NFP to know where people with intelligence prefer to get their football news.

PFT’s comments are only a notch above YouTube’s, and those posters are the mouthbreathers of the Internet.

staley is much better than ugoh….no doubt…

I really can’t believe this clown keeps getting more mainstream, getting linked and quoted and interviewed by ‘credible media outlets’. I swear it’s getting harder to distinguish anymore. That’s why I really appreciate this site, and make it a daily stop. A friend of mine just informed me your old cohort Ted Sundquist is doing some pre-game for PFT. That’s just sad.

I’ve always been curious about last years draft. I know Denver targeted 3 of the bigger turds in round 1 07, moving up to get arguably the turdliest of the 3. Sundquist said in the Denver Post after the draft he tried to get Pittsburgh to trade back from 1.15. Did Denver offer them their R1 and R3a or the same deal Jacksonville took? And was this all predraft or did they try again during the draft?

PFT is the amalgamation of babblings and misguided ideas emanating from the confused and reckless cranium that is Florios.

If a friend remembers a PFT rivalry with another website, maybe I can keep this discussion.

They made some false assertions and fell off my reading list.

Maybe he can remember what it was that went down.

Staley was a cap steal for a premiere line pay position where he was drafted.

His play can improve, but he’s young, and he still has done well. Most of the time a sack is the QB holding the ball too long. The skill players always make the blocker right.

Ugoh, I was not high on him, having seen him play for the Hogs. That said, I hope the man does well on his return. He has got the measurables to become a force at the position. Maybe his feet and technique eventually match that.

You have got to love what Al Davis did for the game. He helped weld the AFL to the NFL. Davis made the sport much more exciting to watch as a legacy to the legendary Gillman coaching tree.

If you wanted to be commish of the No Fun League, Davis was not your man. It’s sad to see the state of the Raiders at this time, he took the team to the summit of sports excellence.

He will remain an Icon to modern America’s sports pantheon. He’s always been a man of the future, even with such a celebrated past.

He has some amazing talent on his team at this time. To me, a guy like Coach Cable can get this thing lined out. you might not win all of them, but you sure as hell let others know what you are. He can give these guys some chance to establish identity and that was missing.

This what we are. Let’s run it. We’ll find out who can do that and who can’t. Cable has this kind of approach on power football. He might not be the yeller or screamer, but that is something a player is more apt to do and be effective at it.

Thanks for that.

As a football fan, this site has become my haven from sensationalism and gossip. The insights and real football knowledge here are unmatched. I’ve been watching the site, waiting for the gossip, sources, and manipulation to start creeping in…I can now safely assume it will never come.

In my humble opinion, this is the best sports site, period. Florio is a joke, a leech.

Thank you for your daily analysis! This is definitely the best site to get real football analysis, not the ‘he said-she said’ locker room crap that is the primary subject of other web sites (insert PFT joke here).

Sounds like you’ve been blessed in your life (two sons, rewarding career in the NFL, etc.), so keep up the good work since you must be living right!

Unfortunately, there have not been many sites that had daily NFL content in the past in a blog style (rather than an “ESPN news” style). That helped make PFT popular - not because the content was good, but because they churned league news so quickly.

I first found out about National Football Post from PFT. I’m sure they won’t be linking to this site again (tee hee). PFT is based on being wannabe-pundits and rewriting of press releases (what do you know, these are the same things that make certain music review sites bad).

National Football Post is a great, great site and if you guys continue with it I have no doubt that it will rightfully surpass rumor-mongering crap like PFT in popularity in time. I read it with genuine interst in the stories, opinions and observations you provide rather than simply scanning for headlines and AP blurbs.

What I’m saying is that you have an audience that has been wanting a site like NFP for a long time. As part of that audience, I thank you.

Delanie Walker is a natural pass catcher, however, he is still working on his blocking. This tips off the defense when he’s in the game. Davis is an above average blocker, but very stiff catching the ball.

Really? The 49ers actually thought they would get pass rush help from Justin Smith? The guy had his career high in sacks in his rookie year and only had 2 last year. Seeing some Bengals games last year, it was pretty obvious he’s not a pass rusher. How could a team actually think he would be when it’s so painfully obvious to a casual observer that he’s not??? The guy has never been much of a rusher, and they expected him to be? Ouch

I heard about NFP from James Jones and Greg Jennings because they kept wearing NFP t-shirts to practice and shouting the name over and over. Well, it worked on me. Great site.

Interesting point about Springs… he looks to be in great form so far this season. But actually, even after he left the game against the Cowboys last weekend, the Skins’ secondary still looked fine and Carlos Rogers did a great job in man coverage on a couple of passes intended for T.O.

If the Skins are going to win in the City of Brotherly Love, they’ll need another big game from Rogers.

Being attacked by scoundrels is actually a compliment. Your site has always stayed inside the mission statement eloquently stated in paragraph two of the post. I get knowledge here, not noise. Thanks for that.

Mike, your blog is very informative and you provide an aspect to the game that can’t be found elsewhere on the web. However, I feel that your posts on the Raiders have a little bit of bias against them. I know working for Al can be tough, but it seems as if you don’t pass up a chance to take little digs at the Silver and Black - so much that you don’t even mention working for Al Davis in your bio. I will continue to read your blogs but wish the bias against the Raiders was less evident.

I visit PFT here and there, but the best source of football information is nfl.com and Mr. Lombardi’s blog. While I’m reading, I have a feeling that the information is accurate and that we are hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Yes, the Skins game worries me, and I don’t think that we can easily take a 2nd road game and the 4th W in a row. Springs is missing and Rogers is not the player to rely on. He was injured and before the injury he never lived up to the expectations. I still feel that our offense is ‘’work in progress’’ and that Coach Gibbs will be missed at some point during the season.

Hail

Florio’s remark is more about Mike Florio than Mike Lombardi. ” It wouldn’t surprise us”…” if that happened…” I’d attach “egregious” rather than “gratuitous” to that (indisputable malice), but, well, either way…

On the face, that verbiage is is 100% content-free; perhaps intentionally so, crafted to skirt the law rather than inform. To my understanding, this is an exemplar of Florio’s work: entirely insinuation, summing to worthless.

This old saw applies: “consider the source.” This site provides more value in any day than PFT has produced in it’s full existence.

Stay the course fellas.

Above: “If that happened” should be in quotes. Now, back to football.

Max Starks’ situation is a puzzlement, and an embarrassment. Guaranteeing 6.875 million to a guy who can’t break into a subpar OL group is not good.

I haven’t seen Colon get a snap at OG. He looks like an interior linemen, and does not look like a quality OT, but there’s been no on-field evidence that he’s cross-trained inside. The Steelers will not make two changes to fill one hole, not before the bye anyway.

If the Niners thought they were getting an impact player in Justin Smith, they mis-evaluated. Smith is a nice complement (high effort, very good chase player) but he can be run at and he is not a difference-maker. They made a similar blunder with Tully Bantu-Cain. It doesn’t help that Manny Lawson has done little for them. The Niners hit with twin R1 picks in 2007 (Willis and Staley) but not in 2006 (Davis and Lawson).

What puzzles me about Vernon Davis is that he was the complete package at UMD. He carried our entire offense, very productive. The combine numbers were amazing, but its not like he was some workout warrior who was a work in progress. I’m betting he turns it around soon.

Re the Niners:

1. I disagree with the assessments of Smith. I think he was PR’d as a pass rushing demon (they had to get the fans excited about something) but the guy is more of an all of around player (run and pass) and I think he has played well.
2. Dead on about Delanie Walker. Vernon Davis is an athlete, Walker is a Football player. Ben Watson is just like Davis, great athlete but not a player. Whoever said Davis is an above average blocker is on crack.
3. Banta Cain is a bust, Lawson was playing very well when he got badly hurt last year, please don’t put a special teams player like Banta Cain in the same sentence as Lawson who is still not 100% yet. The guy made tremendous progress his rookie year, and was starting to get “it” in his second year before he got hurt.
4. Joe Staley is just fine, coming along nicely.

As for rumor-mongers, I’ll paraphrase the great Graham Parker and say: “There’s people in charge of keyboards who shouldn’t be in charge of brooms”

Hey Michael. I’m glad you printed that intro about the other Mike. I got totally disgusted with his “washer woman” gossip some time ago and have since deleted him from my Google Reader. And I, too, cannot stand his continuous venom directed toward Coach Belichick and the Patriots.

Mike..about the Niners: wow, I respectfully disagree that Walker is the more “complete” player. He might be the better receiver because I believe that’s what he was in college. He’s more natural there. Putting vD’s high Draft choice aside if you were to start Walker instead & used him as much as Martz does for blocking in our max protects I believe you would see a big rise in QB pressures & sacks. Walker is NOT the better blocker & IF he was HE would be the starter. VD has his share of not completing his assignments but he’s clearly the better blocker. As a matter of fact the coaches are still working with Walker to improve on his blocking so he can be put in the game more. When he’s in, the D knows he’s going out on a route & the play leans on passing & not running Gore or whoever’s back there.

IMHO..I think Martz needs to re-evaluate his usage of VD. I’m no expert but Martz’s plan is to (I’m paraphrasing)..”when the opportunity arises” wants to use VD on deep routes taking advantage of his speed to outrun the D. I think in regards to passing plays if you only use VD on those long routes that’s not a high percentage chance of succeeding. It’s not all that easy to catch deep balls at full speed for a TE. I wish Martz could maybe use short passes instead getting VD out in space to run for YAC where he’s shown he gets good chunks of yardage pretty consistently. This is the strength I wish Martz would develop. I don’t remember having seen Davis ever dropping a short pass. (ZERO DROPS, makes sense of course..their short balls.) So my point is highly reduce the chances for him to have drops, put the ball in his hands, & let him run. We only have 1 star in this Offense & we’ll never know about VD because I think he’s been underutilized ever since he’s put on a NIner uniform. I’m not complaining about Martz, he’s totally changed our Offense & its a joy to see if functioning at an NFL level & scoring points again. I just wish he would re-think VD’s usage.

..also I have to give it up for my man Patrick Willis who’s had a quiet year. Your right Mike, he’s AMAZING. You know being in Maryland I can’t get the Niner games on TV (my Condo faces the wrong side for the DISH NFLS Ticket)..so I have to watch them online. (BTW..streamtv, excellent service & cheap. Around 7$ mo. Good, not great quality. But works great)

I have a family member record the games in CALI then mail them to me. They forgot to record it this time..it seems everytime Willis has a good game they forget to burn it. Last year it was the TB game where PW had 20 tackles. This time he shut down Bush. I remember him flying around & shutting those screens down. Also Spikes is coming along & is going to make a good compliment. Down the road soon I hope we get another FAST young playmaking TED to line up next to him. ABrooks could emerge but I don’t like that he said he didn’t like the Strong Side LB switch when he was in Cinci. We’ll see, maybe he’ll like it here.

I wasn’t putting down Willis..I know teams are game planning for him & our middle DL is suspect & average where OLinemen easily get to Willis.

Mike:

Just want to say I really appreciate your post: the real content, insider’s information, and the unmatched football knowledge you bring with you here. I was as outraged as you when PFT made the unsupported allegation, siding with Al Davis, that you allegedly “got fired from every job and couldn’t find a job in the NFL.” Florio is such a clown that he shouldn’t be allowed to speak: I mean, when did he actually have a job in the NFL? NEVER….

Sapp complains about never being told how dysfunctional Oakland was, heck at least he did well the tampa! Imagine poor Patrick Willis, he has to work for York and Nolan. But imagine Patrick …Free agency!

Mr. Lombardi, learned of your site on Fantasy Focus or some other podcast you were on on ESPN.While I wish you continued success and hope that the site thrives, I’m in a quandary because this is my daily stop for true insider info and this pertinent data doesn’t need to be dispersed to the masses! (especially the lemmings that i compete with from a fantasy perspective or my friendly neighborhood wagering rep Rocco.) Seriously, your connections and knowledge of cap procedures, vision from an entire organization perspective etc. are first rate.While there are many top notch fotball teams in the league right now ( at the time i’m posting this 17 teams at or above .500)the fact that someone with your credentials has not been re-employed is laughable! Keep up the good work. Thomas Rose 40 yr old Sophomore OSU Cowboy/Displaced Katrina Who-Dat. Bless You Boys!!!

Mike, you were required reading at CNN and required viewing at NFL Network. This site and your analysis is outstanding. Don’t sweat Florio.

One point of note…..is that the Shepherds Tavern in Mayfair?

Seems like I’m being credited for someone elses post. Mine starts at “Mike you were required reading……”