Michigan QB Denard Robinson … We haven’t seen this type of college football playmaker since … Barry Sanders?

Having gotten to watch Robinson play (in person) this weekend, I have to say that there are only a couple of college football players who have captured my attention as much. Barry Sanders, Bo Jackson, Michael Vick and Charles Woodson are the others. At any point Robinson can break a play for 70 yards. You just sit there waiting for him to do it; it’s something special.

Drew Brees is/was quite the athlete. Brees held a 3-1 record against Andy Roddick in tennis as youngsters. Pair that with Brees 3-handicap on the golf course (started playing in college), his high school basketball and baseball skills (Brees thought baseball was his best chance at playing pro) and his Super Bowl ring and he’s a pretty good athlete.

I never can decide if I love reading about these natural athletes or if it makes me sick that they get all the talent in ALL sports. And reading this explains where he gets some of his natural talent.

I’ve always wondered what the point of the broad jump in the NFL combine tells us. Loosely I can see why the 40-yard dash makes sense, but the broad jump? Well turns out my thoughts are somewhat justified. Jonah Lehrer adds to my argument that the combine is a big waste of time:

Combine measures examined in this study include 10-, 20-, and 40-yard dashes, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20- and 60-yard shuttles, three-cone drill, and the Wonderlic Personnel Test. Performance criteria include 10 variables: draft order; 3 years each of salary received and games played; and position-specific data. Using correlation analysis, we find no consistent statistical relationship between combine tests and professional football performance, with the notable exception of sprint tests for running backs.

Looks like there’s a possibility we may be seeing Chad Ochocinco kicking field goals in the Pro Bowl. I hope so. And, I hope they run the triple-option with him.

Belichick doesn’t just work his players hard. He works them smart.

As I’ve read about Bill Belichick, I’ve become more impressed with what he’s accomplished and how he goes about to accomplish it (quick link to his influence on the Baltimore Ravens draft strategy). Much of his preparation in practice is based on situational work.

“He just does his homework, and puts players in those uncomfortable situations in July and August, so in October, November, December, when the games mean the most, it’s not the first time they’ve been in them and it’s second nature.”

I think this type of practice (among a dozen other methods) is what sets the Patriots apart from most NFL teams. I will say though that it takes time to implement this sort of thing and part of the reason why many of the Belichick coach disciples have flamed out so quickly.

Living in Denver, it’s been interesting watching Josh McDaniels take over the Broncos. I thought he came on too strong at first and I think learned his lesson with the Cutler thing and has balanced his “Belichick Influences” quite well (hence the 5-0 start).

I finally got around to reading The Blind Side (it’s being made into a movie) by Michael Lewis. I wasn’t blown away like I was with Moneyball, but if you like Lewis’ writing (which I do) and sports (again, I do), you’ll enjoy this book. It follows the journey of Michael Oher (who was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft – wish the Bengals took him) and uses his story to demonstrate the importance of the Left Tackle in football, aka the blide side. Not a lot of quotables or anything, but the book left me with a real interest in finding out more information about Bill Walsh (his strategies, philosophy, etc) and the term “systematic opportunity”.

ESPN goes into detail on whether Lebron James would make it in the NFL.

Esquire reminded me about what a fall from grace Todd Marinovich has had. Check out the tag from TMZ with his name on it, then read his wikipedia page. Follow all that up with the original Sports Illustrated article that featured the high school star.