The Pewter Plank » NFC South http://thepewterplank.com A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more. Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:41:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 NFC South Bloggers Rank The Top 13 Players in the Division: Three Tampa Bay Buccaneers Make the List http://thepewterplank.com/2013/05/18/nfc-south-bloggers-rank-the-top-13-players-in-the-division-three-tampa-bay-buccaneers-make-the-list/ http://thepewterplank.com/2013/05/18/nfc-south-bloggers-rank-the-top-13-players-in-the-division-three-tampa-bay-buccaneers-make-the-list/#comments Sat, 18 May 2013 20:22:34 +0000 Leo Howell http://thepewterplank.com/?p=10180 The NFL has begun the announcement of their top 100 players of 2013, and I noted yesterday, I already disagree strongly with the ranking of Darrelle Revis. So I wanted to see if our friends in the NFC South agreed with these rankings, and we all decided to rank the NFC South separately and come [...]

NFC South Bloggers Rank The Top 13 Players in the Division: Three Tampa Bay Buccaneers Make the List - The Pewter Plank - The Pewter Plank - A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

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Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL has begun the announcement of their top 100 players of 2013, and I noted yesterday, I already disagree strongly with the ranking of Darrelle Revis. So I wanted to see if our friends in the NFC South agreed with these rankings, and we all decided to rank the NFC South separately and come up with our top players in the division. Chris Roling of our New Orleans Saints blog Who Dat Dish, and Ken Dye of Cat Crave (our Carolina Panthers site) both took the time to rank their top 13 players in the division, and I combined them with my rankings to provide to top 13 consensus rankings. Why 13? The NFC South is 1/8 of the NFL, and 13 is approximately 1/8 of 100, so this is cutting out all the other divisions and focusing the rankings on the teams in the NFC South only.

Without any further introduction, here’s the list:

So what are my three biggest takeaways from this list?
  • The Falcons are an extremely top-heavy team. An injury to a key player would be devastating to the Falcons, who seem to have woven a strong core in the passing game that might be ruined with one piece missing. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez combine to form a dangerous passing attack, but if Ryan or Jones were to miss time, it would decrease the value of the others in a major way.
  • The Buccaneers are the only team without a quarterback on the list. That’s not surprising, but it does show the uphill battle it will be for Tampa Bay to succeed in this division. I was the lowest on Matt Ryan, as I don’t believe he is an elite NFL QB, but I agree that the three other QBs in the division are ahead of Josh Freeman at this moment. Freeman has a chance to change that in 2013…
  • Darrelle Revis is still underrated. I have him as the second best player in the division, behind only Drew Brees, but my fellow NFC South bloggers ranked him lower than I did, dragging down his ranking. I understand that Revis is coming off an injury, and I have had my doubts about him, but every indication I have seen leads me to believe that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting the real Darrelle Revis in 2013 and beyond. The Darrelle Revis of 2011 is one of the five best players in the NFL, and might even be more important to his team than Drew Brees is. So I’m not ready to count him out just yet.

 

So what do you think, Bucs fans? What players do you feel should be higher? Which ones should be lower? Who is missing from the list? Let us know in the comments below.

]]> http://thepewterplank.com/2013/05/18/nfc-south-bloggers-rank-the-top-13-players-in-the-division-three-tampa-bay-buccaneers-make-the-list/feed/ 0 NFC South: Atlanta Falcons release Ovie Mughelli http://thepewterplank.com/2012/05/09/nfc-south-atlanta-falcons-release-ovie-mughelli/ http://thepewterplank.com/2012/05/09/nfc-south-atlanta-falcons-release-ovie-mughelli/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 16:33:11 +0000 Joe Soriano http://thepewterplank.com/?p=7977 Yesterday, veteran fullback Ovie Mughelli was released by the Atlanta Falcons in what was an inevitable move. The almost-32-year-old is regarded as one of the better fullbacks in the league due to his great run blocking, but he is getting up there in age and would have been paid $3 million. He is coming off [...]

NFC South: Atlanta Falcons release Ovie Mughelli - The Pewter Plank - The Pewter Plank - A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

]]> Yesterday, veteran fullback Ovie Mughelli was released by the Atlanta Falcons in what was an inevitable move. The almost-32-year-old is regarded as one of the better fullbacks in the league due to his great run blocking, but he is getting up there in age and would have been paid $3 million. He is coming off of a torn MCL injury that costed him his 2012 season, and the Falcons drafted quality Wisconsin FB Bradie Ewing in the fifth round of the draft.

Oct 23, 2011; Detroit, MI, USA; Atlanta Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli (34) is unable to make a catch in the first quarter while being defended by Detroit Lions outside linebacker Justin Durant (52) at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber- US PRESSWIRE

Ovie Mughelli has the pedigree of a great lead blocker and will sign somewhere at this point, but an MCL tear is devastating for an older back. He won’t make nearly as much as he was set to make this year, and the best bet is that the Wake Forest product will sign a contract with a team at the veteran minimum.

If he can get back on track after the injury, then expect Mughelli to win over the starting job somewhere. If he doesn’t, then he will most likely be waiting/wading in free agency.

Mughelli is one of the most consistently great blocking fullbacks in the game, and his work ethic on each play is incredible. He is undoubtedly one of the best lead blockers of the game, and the MCL injury was a huge blow to his career. It’s tough for him to leave the Falcons like this, as he was a mainstay in the NFC South. Let’s see which team he ends up on, and I hope he can fully recover from this injury and show that he has some good football left in him.

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]]> http://thepewterplank.com/2012/05/09/nfc-south-atlanta-falcons-release-ovie-mughelli/feed/ 0 New Orleans Saints Mark Ingram knee surgery http://thepewterplank.com/2012/05/05/new-orleans-saints-mark-ingram-undergoes-knee-surgery/ http://thepewterplank.com/2012/05/05/new-orleans-saints-mark-ingram-undergoes-knee-surgery/#comments Sat, 05 May 2012 19:06:46 +0000 Joe Soriano http://thepewterplank.com/?p=7961 New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram had a slow start to his rookie season, but he ended up having a quality year. The 3.9 yards per carry total can be misleading, but it does show that Ingram can still improve in year two. On Thursday, Ingram underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out [...]

New Orleans Saints Mark Ingram knee surgery - The Pewter Plank - The Pewter Plank - A Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

]]> New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram had a slow start to his rookie season, but he ended up having a quality year. The 3.9 yards per carry total can be misleading, but it does show that Ingram can still improve in year two.

December 4, 2011; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (28) carries the ball against the Detroit Lions during the second half at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints defeated the Lions 31-17. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-US PRESSWIRE

On Thursday, Ingram underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out for the next six weeks. It is his third surgery (one was a meaningless turf toe surgery) in the past year-and-a-half, and he also had knee surgery just before his final college season (also arthroscopic).

In the NFL Draft, Ingram slipped from a mid-first round choice to the late first round due to concerns over the health of his knees, but these “scope” operations are routine and shouldn’t cause too much concern. However, it is a back’s knees, so there is definitely going to be warranted concern. It isn’t like his knees have been in the best health either, so this is something to keep an eye on as he heads for a, likely, increased role next season.

In 2011, Mark Ingram led the Saints with 122 carries and finished third on the team with 474 rushing yards. He tied with Pierre Thomas for the team lead with five rushing touchdowns, but he did not play in the playoffs for New Orleans.

The back will most likely reach 200 carries for the Saints next season and is expected to break out in his sophomore year. The good thing is that Ingram is a strong, workhorse back and can handle an increased workload. These knee surgeries only help clean things out and will help him out as the carries increase. After a good rookie season, Mark Ingram is prepared to attain 1,000 rushing yards and fulfill his potential in the NFL.

The former Heisman winner was viewed as the favorite, along with fellow NFC South skill position player Julio Jones, to win the Rookie of the Year last year. That didn’t materialize, but the year was only disappointing in numbers. Ingram showed an almost veteran-like ability to do the little things and ground out yardage to help the Saints out.

Mark Ingram could be fully healed from the injury in four weeks, so the time frame is between four and six at this point. This was a minor surgery that will not slow him down in the future, so “cautiously optimistic” is the right term here. He will definitely be ready for training camp to prepare to build on a solid rookie campaign.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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