A year ago, Eric Mangini, still the Jets head coach, was contemplating making a quarterback change. Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens were scheduled to fight for the job, and Mangini, uninspired by his options, eventually traded for Brett Favre and released Pennington.
After an 8-3 start, the Jets, largely due to Favre's inconsistent play, finished 1-4 and missed the playoffs. Pennington signed with the Dolphins and promptly led them to the AFC East title.
Mangini is now with the Browns (and Favre is retired, at least momentarily), but last year's experiences may have influenced his decision with his new club. Leading up to last month's draft, speculation had Cleveland trading Brady Quinn. It didn't happen, and apparently there were plenty of opportunities.
Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.
Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.
Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.
Nate Davis has had a rough few months. After an impressive junior season at Ball State -- one in which some folks had him pegged as a possible first-round pick -- the MAC quarterback has experienced a series of setbacks that will cost him millions of dollars, and perhaps the opportunity to play professional football.
Two weeks ago, Byron Leftwich met with the Redskins. It was the first free-agent visit of the offseason for a player most of us thought would be in high demand. Leftwich would also visit the Buccaneers, which prompted the Steelers to step up their efforts to re-sign Ben Roethlsiberger's backup, but Tampa Bay has apparently landed the 2003 first-round pick.
That's the word on the street, anyway: "Free-agent quarterback Byron Leftwich has agreed to a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a source told ESPN's Michael Smith."
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
It was improbable. The Baltimore Ravens made another playoff run in 2008 based on a defense that used the art of suffocation (oh, and Ed Reed) and an offense that improved dramatically over the previous years. John Harbaugh was impressive as coach, putting a rookie quarterback out to toss the ball around and sticking with him through thick (17-29, 248 yards, 2 TDs in Week 9) and thin (11-28, 115 yards, 2 INTs in Week 15).
Now the team has to figure out what to do about a superstar in Ray Lewis, and how they should handle other important positional players (hello Mr. Stover) in order to return to (and move past) the AFC Championship game without their defensive coordinator.
Just before Thanksgiving, Donovan McNabb's career in Philadelphia looked to be heading to its inglorious end. After getting benched in a blowout loss to the Ravens, there was nothing left to do but play out the season, pack up his stuff and get the hell out of town.
Then the Eagles won four of their final five games to sneak into the playoffs, made it to the NFC Championship before running into the Cards, and now McNabb appears to again be the team's quarterback of the future.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
What a difference five weeks made for the New York Jets. From 8-3 to 9-7. from Eric Mangini as head coach to Rex Ryan, and from Brett Favre as the starting quarterback to, well, your guess is as good as ours. Those last five games sent the franchise into yet another new direction, one that will only start coming into focus when free agency opens on Feb. 27.
It's simple, really: Joe Namath wants some answers. The only man to lead the Jets to a Super Bowl victory has already grown tired of the "Who will replace Brett Favre?!" discussions. Certainly, the front office has a plan (a plan, apparently, that in no way includesMichael Vick), but they just haven't been very forthcoming with it in the days since Favre "retired."
Which brings us back to Joe Willie. In an interview with the Daily News, Namath stated his case:
When the Ravens faced the Dolphins in Week 7, both teams were 2-3 and coming off forgettable 2007 seasons. I'm pretty sure nobody had Baltimore finishing the year 9-2 or Miami winning the division. Yet 11 weeks later, here we are.
The Ravens won 27-13 back in October in what has now become a familiar formula: run, run, play-action; matriculate the ball down the field; control the clock; and let the defense take care of the rest.
Pretty much everybody likes the Ravens tomorrow, partly because of their suffocating defense, and also because the Dolphins haven't beaten anybody outside the AFC East. Of their 10 non-divisional games, Miami was an impressive 7-3, but the teams they beat combined for a 36-76 record. So, yeah, there are some skeptics. The Ravens, on the other hand, smoked the Eagles, Redskins and Cowboys, and played the Steelers well enough to win. Twice.
Now the question becomes: can Miami concoct variations of the Wildcat that will work against Baltimore's defense? And when running a conventional offense, will Chad Pennington be able to play up to his MVP candidate form against the Ray Lewis All-Stars?
A year ago, Eric Mangini, still the Jets head coach, was contemplating making a quarterback change. Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens were scheduled to fight for the job, and Mangini, uninspired by his options, eventually traded for Brett Favre and released Pennington. 
Nate Davis
Two weeks ago, 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 
Just before Thanksgiving, 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 
It's simple, really: 
