While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
“The early returns on the 2012 draft appear fruitful with four rookies starting on offense in Richardson, Weeden, Schwartz and Gordon. Johnson starts on defense. Winn and Hughes are playing key roles and both started when Taylor and Rubin were injured.
The weakest year appears to be 2010 which was Heckert’s first year when he was bringing in players for Mangini’s system. He seems to be much better at bringing in players that fit the system he was accustomed to with the Eagles. Heckert said when he joined the Browns that he would build through the draft and he has. Heckert has drafted 12 of the 22 starters.” [Greetham/The OBR]
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This story from Saturday was gut-wrenching to watch live- “Senior Army quarterback Trent Steelman sat heartbroken on the bench after the Black Knights fumbled with a little more than a minute to go, giving away their last chance to beat Navy. He sobbed on the bench and kept sobbing through the traditional singing of the alma maters, as teammates and even Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo tried to console him.
We all got to see Steelman’s raw realization he would never beat Navy, and it was also apparent he understood how close Army came to breaking its long losing streak to its rival.” [Schwab/Dr. Saturday]
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Awesome idea. Would love to see more of this. “Texans players will wear the jackets on their trip to Foxboro, Mass., as the Texans face the Patriots on Monday Night Football. The 11-1 Texans may the the best team in the AFC (and perhaps in the NFL), but they’re still looking for any motivational edge they can get as they prepare to deal with the 9-3 Pats on national television. The idea, according to Barwin, was to recall the high school days most every Texans player can fondly remember.
“We have a dress code,” Barwin said. “Everybody’s going to wear them on the plane, on the trip to New England, on the bus. [I'm] pushing for khaki pants, white shirt, blue tie, jacket, so it looks like we’re about to get on a yellow bus with shoulder pads in our hands.”
There were no objections. Every player on the team got their own custom jacket with his jersey number and position. Even cornerback Stanforf Routt, acquired off the waiver wire this week, has put in an emergency order so that he can fit in.” [Farrar/Shutdown Corner]
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“There were five centers selected in the first round of the 2012 NBA draft. Two of them were on display at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday: Detroit’s Andre Drummond and Cleveland’s Tyler Zeller. Drummond appears to have the most upside of the five centers, while Zeller might have the most skills.
If Zeller keeps making a 15-foot jumper, by the end of the season he could move into the starting lineup next to Anderson Varejao. His outside shot separates him from his peers. He’s averaging 7.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.6 blocks. Zeller is shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from the foul line. The poor display at the foul line is peculiar since he shot 77.4 percent from the line in his four-year career at North Carolina.” [Finnan/News Herald]
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Here’s your “we won three games in a row can we make the playoffs” post. [Dawgs by Nature]
