In the midst of my first 2018-19 fantasy football Mock Draft for a PPR league, I found myself in a quagmire of uncertainty. I’d drafted Alvin Kamara ninth overall and was hunting for a second running back towards the end of the third round. With pick 29, I was targeting Christian McCaffrey, figuring I would…
Dallas Cowboys QB Rayne Dakota Prescott is set to be a rich man within the next calendar year or so. How rich exactly is anyone’s guess, but the 2016 4th round pick out of Mississippi State is eligible for a contract extension after the 2018 season and may look to cash in. Prescott has been…
The best ability is availability. Take the Seattle Seahawks’ backfield, which has been plagued with health issues ever since Marshawn Lynch suffered a sports hernia injury that led to his initial ‘retirement’. Thomas Rawls has never completed a full season. Chris Carson, whose one-cut nature and vision made him the only successful back in 2017,…
Penn State boasts one of the top rushing attacks in the nation, both because of their creative scheme and a strong stable of running backs led by the all-world Saquon Barkley. Charles Huff is the running back coach at Penn State and he has graciously decided to give the readers of Inside the Pylon a…
In the past two years of the NFL Draft, two running backs have beenselected in the first round. As NFL defenses get smaller in order to defend the pass, teams are looking to run the football more often. The 2017 NFL Draft running back class is the deepest in many years, and will provide NFL…
Fantasy football drafts are starting to pick up even as teams are still figuring out their rosters. In the next few weeks there will be some rookies that steal starting spots and veterans that underperform their draft position. Doug Moore looks at some of the most notable fantasy football training camp battles that fantasy players should…
Darrell Bevell was forced to get creative to jump start the Seattle Seahawks offense last year due to injuries and an inexperienced offensive line. One offensive formation he resorted to was the double stacks formation. Matthew Brown breaks down how Bevell incorporated this concept into the offense and how the team executed it against the…
Now is the time to start thinking about your upcoming fantasy football draft strategy, as rosters begin to take shape across the NFL. One popular strategy is to draft running backs early and often, but as Doug Moore explains, you might be better off taking a WR in the 1st round. As we approach the…
The NFL doesn’t announce the league’s Most Valuable Player award until Saturday night, but there is little suspense as to whose name will be called: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Dave Archibald digs into the data, looking for the real NFL MVP. Few expected big things out of Carolina after it lost top receiving threat…
The Carolina Panthers defense heads into the the NFC Championship Game riding high, led by the best linebacker in the NFL, and cornerback Josh Norman. Daniel Syed breaks down Norman’s amazing field awareness which led to a sack of the Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. With 1:51 left in the 3rd quarter of the Divisional Round,…
Saturday playoff games are a treat, mostly because we at Inside The Pylon are not publishing the next day, and can just watch the games. When we do watch, we chat. And here, for your reading pleasure, our Kansas City Chiefs at Houston Texans Wild Card chat. Craig Craker: Marshawn Lynch was just ruled as OUT…
Inside The Pylon works to deliver quality football content to our readers. This Week in Football Writing collects some of our favorite pieces from friends and colleagues last week and shares them with you. Purdue Fires a Champion of Athletes’ Rights Joe Nocera asks whether Purdue University fired their offensive coordinator for being too supportive of the rights of student-athletes in…
Former NFL scout, current director of The Scouting Academy, and ITP contributor Dan Hatman went to the film, scouting Seattle for the details that will make the difference when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Seahawks. * Big thanks to Danny Kelly from Field Gulls for assisting with Seahawks injury, scheme, and roster issues. The Seahawks clearly understand their…
All season long the Patriots mantra has been Do. Your. Job. Nothing personified this more than Malcolm Butler’s Super Bowl-securing interception of Russell Wilson in the end zone. Dave Archibald explains how Butler recognized the play early, and used his experience from film and practice to cement the legacy of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and…
How do NFL teams allocate resources? Dave Archibald has looked at the real price of contract extensions and draft picks on quarterbacks. In this installment, he looks at how teams evaluate running back investment. Historically, running backs have been some of the game’s most glamorous stars, with top backs like Jim Brown, Frank Gifford, and (gulp) O.J. Simpson parlaying their…
The St. Louis Rams recorded an important divisional win over rival Seattle Seahawks in overtime, with a final score of 34-31. Mark Schofield looks at the play that got the Rams into field goal range: when Stedman Bailey beats Richard Sherman on the corner route. The two biggest offseason storylines for the Seattle Seahawks imposed themselves in…