But then the Patriots cut ties with O'Connell and did the same with Walter on Friday -- leaving just Brady and Hoyer on the current depth chart. One need look no further than the 2008 Patriots season to know that a reliable backup quarterback is needed in the NFL. And no offense to Hoyer, who was 18 for 25 in the Patriots' final preseason game while taking every snap, but it's doubtful New England would feel too confident turning to him should the unthinkable happen to Brady again.
Another NFL draft has come and gone, and it's possible that you spent much of your weekend glued to a television set laughing at the Raiders and screaming for your team to find the next Tom Brady at the bottom of the sixth-round. If you're like me, you live in an area of the country where your only option for draft day coverage is ESPN's wire-to-wire mayhem.
If you happened to miss the draft, or watched it on the NFL Network, here's what you missed.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
From Mike Shanahan's firing to the Jay Cutler trade, the Broncos are almost unrecognizable from the team that finished last season. After three playoff-less seasons, that may not be a bad thing.
The upheaval does make it difficult to predict where they'll look on draft day, however. A new coach and general manager running their first draft don't have a track record to use as a guide, which should make the Broncos a team to watch on April 25.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking, smart guy. You're thinking this post should be one letter long, and that letter should be 'F.' It's true that the Big Ten did little to advance its reputation during the season, and even less during the postseason. In spite of it all, there are still a few diamonds among the, um, whatever else it is the diamonds are scattered among.
They're scattered among things like 35-3, a 1-6 bowl game record, the fall of the Michigan dynasty, a tragically unwarranted and completely unjustified preseason overrating, several regressions to the mean, and the worst sendoff since the last episode of "Seinfeld."
So we'll go through the league team by team, painful as that is, to build up the successes and try to understand the failures of Big Ten football in 2008. Yes, I used "success" and "Big Ten football" in the same sentence without the connecting phrase "lack of." Deal with it, Buck. Every team gets an overall grade and a quick look at its prognosis for the 2009 season. For you Big Ten fans, I promise you it's not all bad news; for you Big Ten haters, I promise you it's not all good.
Ah, mediocre football. The annual rite of late summer where fans of middling programs congregate and tell each other things like "if our offensive line is solid then I don't see why we can't go to a New Year's Day Bowl." Soon, of course, love and hopes are, well, amended.
By "amended," of course, we mean "discarded in favor of bloodthirsty savages on sports talk radio complaining about the coordinators and accusing the team of not wanting to win." It's a strange reaction to a 7- or 8-win season, of course, one that ends up in a warm climate in late December (grisly exception: Motor City Bowl, war-torn Bosnia Detroit). The fans never seem to get it: it could be so, so much worse. Look at Minnesota last season.
While Michigan, Ohio State, and (usually) Penn State represent the perennial powerhouse typification for the Big Ten, the conference usually hosts quite a few more mediocre programs. 2008 is no exception. Let's look at some of the programs that, let's be honest, don't stand a prayer of taking the Big Ten crown this season.
Anyone who pays the slightest attention to college football knows about Michigan's uncertain quarterback situation, but recent events have put the state's other Big Ten team in a similarly dodgy spot:
Out: Redshirt freshman Connor Dixon, a Pennsylvania native, decided to transfer a few days ago.
In: Michigan State picked up transfer Keith Nichol, who originally committed to Michigan State but decommitted when John L Smith was fired and Rhett Bomar pulled a Bomar, opening up the job at Oklahoma. Sam Bradford kinda slammed that door shut.
Out: Redshirt freshman Nick Foles, a Texan, announces he's going to transfer somewhere closer to home, specifically citing the crowded(?!?!) Michigan State depth chart as a reason to bolt.
As a result, MSU is left with starter Brian Hoyer, a fifth year senior, and redshirt freshman Kirk Cousins, an unrated recruit with one other BCS offer (Colorado). Past that it's walkons. The Spartans will have Nichol and incoming freshman Andrew Maxwell in 2009; in 2008 they'll be desperately hoping the mediocre Hoyer stays in one piece.
If the only thing I told you about Friday's Champs Sports Bowl was that Michigan State rushed for 172 yards against a Boston College defense that was giving up 68.1 yards a game, you'd probably assume that Michigan State took care of the Eagles. Then if I told you that Boston College only rushed for 27 yards of their own, you'd be convinced the Spartans won.
Unfortunately for Michigan State, quarterback Brian Hoyer also threw 4 interceptions and fumbled once as the Spartans lost 24-21. Anytime your quarterback commits 5 turnovers it's probably going to kill your team. (I would know, I'm a Bears fan.) When you only lose by three points, you know it killed your team.
"Obviously I'm disappointed," Hoyer, a junior, said. "It was bad day to go out and have the worst day of my career. The one thing I take from it is we had a pretty good season and always fought back, even today.
"There's no way I couldn't take responsibility for the things I did. In the end, I was just trying to make a play. I'm just going to try to keep my head up because we have something forward to next year, but right now I feel terrible that the seniors had to go out with a loss in their first bowl game ever.
"It's a surprise because I definitely thought I was coming off two pretty good games (against Purdue and Penn State). In the end, it kind of came down to me forcing one or two throws. I can't think back all the way to Little League baseball that I had such a bad performance."
Despite Hoyer's performance, there are still reasons to be optimistic in East Lansing.
WHB 810 in KC is reporting that [Freeman] showed up to the first [Wildcat] practice at 260lbs or so and failed his fitness test.
Josh Freeman is not exactly at Jared Lorenzen-level heavy - yet - but maybe we can classify him with another portly Kentucky Wildcat quarterback: Shane Boyd?
Thanks to being the team's starting quarterback and the brash use of the #1 uniform, there's a big ol' target on Freeman's back. We already know Bill Callahan hates him. Does he really need to draw the ire of the entire Kansas State fan base as well?
He had an eye-opening performance in beating a Colt McCoy-less Texas last year that had people thinking big things but this just isn't good news. Phil Steele lists him at 6-6/238 pounds so Freeman is clearly a big boy but few quarterbacks ever find that "ideal weight" anywhere north of 250 pounds especially as college sophomores.
Less beer, less cheeseburgers, a lot more windsprints and stadium steps and hopefully this resolves itself by the end of the month when Kansas State opens up on the road against Auburn. Now please excuse me while I sit down to a cheeseburger and a pint of Sam Adams.
People have accused Americans of being "fat" and "overweight". Sometimes we need to be that way. Look no further than Michigan State quarterback Brian Hoyer.
He's trying to bulk up so he can take some big hits and not get injured when he becomes Michigan State's starting quarterback this season.
"I'm trying to take in 6,000 calories a day," said Hoyer, who was listed at 6-foot-2, 212 pounds during the spring. "It's hard to keep up with eating that much food. You always feel like you're stuffed.
The cynic will note this may be more of a commentary on the Michigan State offensive line than Hoyer himself. At least he's eating healthy and not engaging in the 1950's-era "raw egg" diet or the more modern "I'll have eight whoppers, please" diet.
"I have to try to eat every two hours. When I wake up in the morning, I try to eat a pretty big breakfast. After I lift, I'll eat a protein bar or some fruit. After we run, I'll have a pretty big lunch. I get a rotisserie chicken and eat the whole thing and some pasta. For dinner, I'll have some pasta with fish or two chicken breasts. Before bed, I drink a protein shake.
Since we're talking about Michigan State here, obligatory video below of former coach John L. Smith slapping himself as well as a link to the H.R. Pufnstuf rant that gave everyone warm fuzzy feelings last year.
Fans Are: Once again on the upswing of their three-year manic-depressive cycle. John L "Slappy" Smith has taken his maverick ways, terrifying offense, and maddening defensive and special teams breakdowns to... well... somewhere, probably. Who cares? New head coach Mark Dantonio is going to make MSU a disciplined, winning, tough team and Michigan's instate hegemony will finally end! Viva el revolucion!
Expectations: Dantonio will get a free pass in his first year on the job. State was awful last year; the fans will take a bad team as long as it's not obviously dumb. One of those 6-6/7-5 bowls would be nice.
1. They were that bad and they had Drew Stanton... how bad will they be without him?
Though the JLS firing cost Michigan State the services of Stanton clone Keith Nichol, Michigan State is actually in decent shape at quarterback. Brian Hoyer was well-regarded by the recruiting services, though he was a step behind some other quarterbacks regionally, and showed a good arm and decent command of the offense when Stanton was forced out of games with a series of nagging injuries. While he lacks Stanton's mobility, a healthy Javon Ringer will help take the pressure off of Hoyer.
A week ago, the Patriots had four quarterbacks on their roster -- Tom Brady found himself backed by Kevin O'Connell, Andrew Walter and rookie Brian Hoyer.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call 
Yeah, I know what you're thinking, smart guy. You're thinking this post should be one letter long, and that letter should be 'F.' It's true that the Big Ten did little to advance its reputation during the season, and even less during the postseason. In spite of it all, there are still a few diamonds among the, um, whatever else it is the diamonds are scattered among. 
Brian Hoyer is lonely.
If the only thing I told you about Friday's Champs Sports Bowl was that Michigan State rushed for 172 yards against a Boston College defense that was giving up 68.1 yards a game, you'd probably assume that Michigan State took care of the Eagles. Then if I told you that Boston College only rushed for 27 yards of their own, you'd be convinced the Spartans won.
Fat, lazy, stupid?
But it's for a good cause ...
Last Year: 4-8, 1-7 Big Ten. 
