Worst 5 Owners In The NFL

Worst 5 Owners In The NFL
M.D. Wright
11.1.09

Worst is 1 on this list. It needs no explanation, just names, teams, pictures and typical MDW conjecture.

1. AL DAVIS. Oakland Raiders.



He's still stuck in the 70s. I feel bad for Raider fans. SOMETIMES.

2. DENISE DEBARTOLO YORK & JOHN YORK. San Francisco 49ers.



She only inherited the team because her brother was in the clink. He doesn't know anything about football.

3. RANDY LERNER. Cleveland Browns.



What is his plan for owning this team? They haven't improved one iota since re-entering the NFL in 1999.

4. MIKE BROWN. Cincinnati Bengals.



They were terrible for years and now have a decent team in 2009 after running "Oz" for a few years. Even with their current success this season, they've had decades of questionable moves under the Brown family in general.

5. DANIEL SNYDER. Washington Redskins.



In a way, he doesn't belong here, because he actually wants to win -- spends the money to bring in the players he thinks can help the team win; just minus the results. This is 10 years in for Snyder and the Redskins look WORSE than they did when he bought the team. Something's wrong with that whole scenario given what respect I've had for Snyder for not being a cheapskate (I will say giving $100M to a DEFENSIVE TACKLE -- whose impact is limited -- was a questionable move, however).

Dishonorable Mention: Tom Benson - New Orleans Saints, Paul Allen - Seattle Seahawks.

Top 5 Team Owners In The NFL

Top 5 Team Owners In The NFL
M.D. Wright
11.1.09

This is a subjective list. Winning, paying players what is necessary to win and putting your team in great environments both from a practice facility and game stadium perspective counts for a lot here. Meddling, poor choices in GMs, coaches (if the team's owner makes that move himself) detract from candidacy for this list.

1. JERRY JONES. Dallas Cowboys.



Like him or not, he built the greatest sports arena ever this year. He has a state of the art practice facility and has been willing to spend money (however misguided at times) to ensure that his team was always the most talented on the field and in the best position to win. They haven't in years, but that's not reflective upon Jones.

2. JOHN MARA & STEVE TISCH. New York Football Giants.



Mara and Tisch continue the legacy of consistency, class and character that their fathers, also co-owners of the team, built for decades prior. They have one of the best GMs in the league and set an example for other owners to follow.

3. DAN ROONEY. Pittsburgh Steelers.



The Steelers have had three coaches. IN FORTY YEARS. That's consistency. They have always done the same thing from ownership down to the field. The owners were pioneers in integrating the league. The coaches -- Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin -- all ascribe to the same game philosophy: swarming Steel Curtain defense, steady QB play and a pound-it-out running game. And they've done it better than anyone since 1970.

4. JEFF LURIE. Philadelphia Eagles.



Since Lurie purchased the team, the Eagles have done nothing but win NFC East titles and NFC Championships -- even appearing in a Super Bowl in 2004. They probably manage the salary cap better than anyone in the NFL.

5. BOB KRAFT. New England Patriots.



The Patriots virtually dominated the NFL landscape in the 2000s, but being caught for cheating detracts from too much credit being given for simply being great.

Honorable Mention: Jim Irsay - Indianapolis Colts, The Residents of Green Bay, Wisconsin - Green Bay Packers, Woody Johnson - New York Jets.

Top 5 Point Guards In The NBA (2009-2010 Edition)

Top 5 Point Guards In The NBA (2009-2010 Edition)
M.D. Wright
11.1.09

It's the number one guy and everyone else. But for the sake of the list, I have to put five guys here and a few honorable mentions without naming half the players in the league ha.

1. CHRIS PAUL.



It's this guy, any everyone else. He does it all dynamically. Reminds me a lot of 1980s Isiah Thomas (and for those who only know him for ruining the CBA, Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks -- that's actually a HIGH COMPLIMENT).

2. RAJON RONDO.



It baffles me why Boston doesn't jump at the opportunity to extend this guy before waiting last minute (as they have, as of Nov. 1, 2009). He is so versatile. His "J" will come. He has excellent command of the ball and of the game in general. He is still learning when to score and when to just dish it, but he's been the reason why the Celtics have been so consistently good these past 2+ years -- not their "superstars" (two of whom are at that point of no return physically and age-wise; but don't tell that to C's fans).

3. TONY PARKER.



He disgusts me, but this is his 8th season of leading this Spurs team. There's something to be said about that, especially with an aging lineup that can't just go out and outscore anyone. There's something to be said about your point guard in a situation like that; serving as a calming and steadying influence.

4. DERON WILLIAMS.



He has the build and court vision that it takes to be a potentially great point guard. He can score at will and shoot it from deep. He shoots a good percentage at the line and doesn't do anything that costs his team. That's what you want in a point guard.

5. DEVIN HARRIS.



He's all the Nets have. There has to be something said for that.

Honorable Mention: Derrick Rose (developing a "J"), Jose Calderon, Rodney Stuckey, Gilbert Arenas.

Top 5 Middle Linebackers In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Middle Linebackers In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
11.1.09

The Quarterback of the defense. The glamour/spotlight of all the defenders -- and the one with the most responsibility. The Top 5 of this bunch includes some of the best athletes in ALL of sports. They have to be able to run, cover sideline to sideline, stop the run, get downfield and tackle adroitly.

1. PATRICK WILLIS.



Best LB in the league from the "Mike". Meets every criteria mentioned above and an absolute joy to watch if you love defense or played defense in your day.

2. DEMECO RYANS.



Too bad he's on a somewhat porous Texans defense and isn't on national TV at all (the Texans have only been featured in prime time once in his career). But I've watched him many games make play after play. And not those El Cheapo games with 20 tackles when your team gets blown out and you're trailing TEs and WRs downfield. But making plays at the line of scrimmage, stops for loss and getting downfield in coverage. I love it.

3. JON BEASON.



Jon Beason plays the game like absolutely hates everyone on the offensive side of the ball.

4. RAY LEWIS.



STILL LITERALLY KNOCKING DUDES' HEADS OFF AFTER 14 SEASONS.

5. JONATHAN VILMA.



The Saints scheme doesn't center around him making all the plays like it did when he was with the Jets, but he still covers tons of ground out there. The unquestioned leader on the Saints defense that includes secondary maven Darren Sharper.

Honorable Mention: Stephen Tulloch, London Fletcher, Barrett Ruud, EJ Henderson, Antonio Pierce.

Top 5 Safeties In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Safeties In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
11.1.09

Like the DT position, safety is the same -- free safeties and strong safeties are going to be considered alongside each other. Besides, the best safeties play all over the field.

1. ADRIAN WILSON.



Adrian Wilson FROM?!?! High Point, NC. This guy never gets his due. He's like Aeneas Williams. Won't appreciate him until his career is over. Williams was one of the best CBs ever and Wilson, while not one of the best safeties ever, IS playing like it this year. He is a ballhawk. He plays at the line in the box like a linebacker at 6'3" 230 lbs and has the coverage skills to cover anyone on the field.

2. DARREN SHARPER.



Gets by on guile alone and makes it look easy in the process.

3. BRANDON MERIWEATHER.



FROM?! The U. He is another in the long line of great secondary players from the University of Miami. A ballhawk (like all the others from that school) and plays bump and run like some of the greats from the 90s like Troy Vincent, Sam Madison, Bobby Taylor and Pat Surtain.

4. TROY POLAMALU



The stark difference ALONE between the way the Steelers play on defense when he's in the lineup versus when he is not is enough to have him here.

5. ED REED.



The best ballhawk maybe ever. That is the only reason he is here, because he is the Deion Sanders of tackling. But INTTDs are game-changing like TD passes and 57 yard punt returns, so he belongs.

Honorable Mention: Kerry Rhodes, Quintin Mikell, Brian Dawkins.

Top 5 Defensive Tackles In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Defensive Tackles In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
11.1.09

To be clear up front, I'm considering guys who play Nose Tackle in a 3-4 alignment in with the rest of the standard Defensive Tackles in a 4-3 look.

1. JAY RATLIFF.



This guy is an absolute MANE. I've seen him do things that I've never seen DTs do. I've seen him in a zone blitz scheme drop DEEP into coverage and be covering a receiver in the end zone. I've seen him run down many runs from RBs, WRs and TEs. He stuffs the run and is almost unblockable one on one. He's the most disruptive guy I've seen at DT this year by a smidge over...

2. DARNELL DOCKETT.



Darnell Dockett FROM?!?! He led Florida State and the ACC in stops for loss when he was in college, so what he's doing now is no surprise. The thing is, people don't know, because the Cards are rarely on national TV. I watch the Cards about 2 out of every 3 games they play. Dockett absolutely OWNED Chris Snee and Shaun O'Hara when they played the New York Giants in Week 7. There were times he was double-teamed and beat both guys to make a play in the backfield. All shades of what he did at FSU.

3. VINCE WILFORK.



I hate the Patriots, but watch this guy. Look how mammoth he is (pause). How does he move that quickly? How does he factor so disruptively in both the run and pass defense? If you love defense like I do, you've got to love watching Vince Wilfork man the "A" gap every week. He takes on double teams like they're nothing.

4. KEVIN WILLIAMS.



Still underrated by some, by some strange factor or another. He is svelte compared to most DTs and he moves like it. He gets great leverage in the "B" gap and, combining with Pat Williams, he provides a massive push from the Vikings' defensive front four.

5. KRIS JENKINS.



Was having a great 2009 before tearing up his knee again. He anchored the Jets defense much like he had the Panthers' defense for years prior to coming to New York last season. In Rex Ryan's defense, Jenkins has two-gap responsibility and freed up the Jet linebackers to make plays all over the field.

Honorable Mention: Pat Williams, Fred Robbins, Albert Haynesworth, Cullen Jenkins, John Henderson, Marcus Stroud.

Top 5 Defensive Ends In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Defensive Ends In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
10.31.09

Defensive End used to be a tough position to pick, but these five guys are better than the rest, and it's not really close after the 5th guy.

1. JARED ALLEN.



Jared Allen is a savage beast. He plays defensive end like one. The end.

2. JUSTIN TUCK.



Began making a name for himself when he sonned THOMAS in Super Bowl XLII, and has played some of the best football from everywhere along the defensive line, anchoring the New York Giants' front four. He plays both LE and RE and at times lines up at DT. And gets to the QB for sacks, stuffs the run and even makes plays in the flat against the short pass. What do you want from a DE outside of that?

3. JOHN ABRAHAM.



John Abraham still gets it done. Bulked up and hasn't lost a step. He came into the league not really being a stout run defender, but he does it all well and REQUIRES double-teaming every week.

4. DWIGHT FREENEY.



The whirling dervish himself. He has patented the spin move against slow-footed LTs. On his way to another 15+ sack season, even with missing a couple of games with a leg injury. Freeney is a nightmare for offensive coordinators and line coaches.

5. MARIO WILLIAMS.



Who cares about Reggie Kardashian anymore? Mario Williams deserved to be the #1 overall pick in 2006 IN 2006 and has played like it since. Reggie Bush HAS NOT. All us football people knew Bush was going to be a lite version of Eric Metcalf (which is an insult to Metcalf, who at least ran between the tackles and was TOUGH). Williams is an excellent combination of size (6'7", 285), speed and has an array of moves that get him to the QB -- even if it's not always sacks, he gets there and plays well against the run.

Honorable Mention: Osi Umenyiora, Leonard Little, Will Smith.

Top 5 Quarterbacks In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Quarterbacks In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
10.31.09

More than ever, I have to remind people this is 2009 Edition only; not career stats or "rings". It's all about what they've done through the first half of this season -- versus what they were expected to (which allows me to avoid putting Kyle Orton on anything other than the Honorable Mention list DEAR GOD HA).

1. PEYTON MANNING.




He seems almost robotic out there, it's so easy. He's making guys from Division II FBS schools (Garçon) look good. He doesn't have Anthony Gonzalez and Reggie Wayne is nicked up and they're still blowing teams away. The truest test of Manning's greatness was going to come once Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy left.

(YAWN).

Same old Manning.

2. DREW BREES.



This guy is amazing. He's 5'11" and barely 200 lbs. Amazing how he never gets knocked for being "too short", right? Anyway, he has a quick, Dan Marino-like release. He is amazingly accurate and the offense that the Saints run caters to all of his strengths and masks his weaknesses (height being the only real one). You can't blitz him, because he has too many weapons to throw a "hot" to, plus the aforementioned quick release.

3. BEN ROETHLISBERGER.



I hate him, but he's doing something (somewhat quietly) that has never been done -- and should he keep it up, he's going to break Dan Marino's 5,084-yard record set in 1984 (which Brees approached last year, but fell a dozen or so yards short of). Regardless of whether the Steelers can run the ball or not, he's extremely accurate and passes for tons of yards. The biggest knock on him is that he tries to make SportsCenter's Top Plays too often (i.e. holding the ball to make a big play downfield instead of chucking it into the stands or even taking a sack occasionally). You can tell he played Madden growing up, because he plays QB the way Madden players use their QBs on the game.

4. PHILIP RIVERS.



To think, he, his WRs and the team in general could be better if play-calling was better. But as it is, he puts up all world numbers with some of the highest football IQ out there. He's like the wily old veteran who's not even 30 yet.

5. JOE FLACCO.



OLD MAN FLACCO. He has a great arm, and it's ACCURATE (JaMarcus Russell, here's to you, buddy). He throws the best deep ball, and knows how to put touch on it for the intermediate and underneath routes. Considering he has an old guy (Mason) and a B-level WR (Clayton), he's playing amazing ball. Imagine if he had top tier WRs like Kurt Warner has at the X, Y and Z positions?

Honorable Mention: Eli Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Kyle Orton, Tony Romo.

Top 5 Wide Receivers In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Wide Receivers In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
10.31.09

This is by far the toughest position to pick a Top 5 for, so don't obliterate me for picking one guy over another.

1. ANDRE JOHNSON



Best combination of size, speed and hands. A bit under the radar being on a previously middling team, but he's getting recognition throughout the league, fantasy football and even casual football fans.

2. LARRY FITZGERALD.



Best hands in the game. Makes catches I've never seen before. And I've been watching the NFL for 25 years. If he didn't have a very good WR and a nice slot WR to spread the ball around to, he could easily catch 100 passes every year, and not look any different than pre-game warmups doing so.

3. CALVIN JOHNSON.



YOUNG MEGATRON. He can't stay healthy and he doesn't have a QB, a consistent RB nor an offensive line that could block for even Peyton Manning, but he somehow manages to put up the numbers. Even without the numbers (upon which these rankings are NOT based), he is a game-changing WR unlike those we have seen in years so soon in his career.

4. RANDY MOSS.



My knock on Moss is he never goes across the middle. But he's made a career off working the perimeter, so why knock it? He makes catching the ball look like he's playing pitch and catch with a little kid. If the Patriots really wanted to, they could throw to him 20 times a game and he'd have 12-15 catches per game.

5. REGGIE WAYNE.



Ironman. He never misses a game. He may miss one in Week 8 of the 2009 season, but that would be his first since 2001. He makes some of the prettiest catches along the sidelines and in the corners of the end zone while going out of bounds. Old Man Harrison taught him well. Runs great routes, never drops Manning's passes. Makes Manning look great -- and has for all these years.

Honorable Mention: Donald Driver, Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin, Relevant Steve Smith (i.e. New York Giants), DeSean Jackson.

Top 5 Cornerbacks In The NFL (2009 Edition)

Top 5 Cornerbacks In The NFL (2009 Edition)
M.D. Wright
10.31.09

You know the drill by now. This isn't like the Pro Bowl, where a guy gets by on past achievements. This is who is playing THE BEST AT CORNERBACK RIGHT NOW IN THE NFL THIS SEASON.

1. DARRELLE REVIS.



If you have not had the joy to watch this guy play, please tune in soon. He plays the position THE RIGHT WAY. The way I was taught to play cornerback. It makes me sit up and watch. Screw WRs, this guy gets it DONE. Locks down the best WRs in the game and makes it look easy. Not afraid to come up in run support, either.

2. NNAMDI ASOMUGHA.



A shame he plays for one of the worst teams in the NFL and plays on the West Coast. No one really sees him play. However, football people know this guy is as fluid as they come. He's like a younger version of Champ Bailey, with a step more speed. Teams rarely even throw to his side anymore and he hasn't even been in the league 5 years.

3. COREY WEBSTER.



Ever since clinching the 2007 NFC Championship Game with a stellar interception of Green Bay's Brett Favre, Webster has been locking down the best WRs in the NFC with relative ease. He has great hands, great closing speed, and superb awareness. He plays well in space and also comes in and helps in the box. A sleeper at this position, if that is possible here in New York.

4. ANTOINE WINFIELD.



He has managed to play all these years in Buffalo and Minnesota and no one really talks about him amongst the best. Honestly, he is the toughest CB out there. I have seen him come up and absolutely lay guys out no homo. He's great at everything. Why he doesn't get mentioned is beyond me. He saves the Viking defensive secondary from being an absolute SIEVE.

5. CHAMP BAILEY.



He's still got it. If he's lost a step, he makes up for it with guile. He's making plays he made in Washington. Still excellent in coverage, teams foolishly throw to his side thinking he's losing it. Champ can bump and run, play deep or come up in run support. One of the best cornerbacks ever once he hangs them up.

Honorable Mention: Terence Newman, Courtland Finnegan, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Quentin Jammer, Rasean Mathis.