NFC South Predictions

This is a division that featured three teams over .500, two of which made the playoffs. Three teams will once again be in contention for the playoffs in this division. This is a division that is loaded at the quarterback position, and some really good young guns.

Josh Neighbors 4th: Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton is not the answer to all of Carolina's problems. Steve Smith is a great wide receiver on a terrible team. Johnathon Stewart is developing into a strong running back. The offensive pieces are there, but with a somewhat shortened training camp and a rookie QB, things will be rough this year. This defense alacks some serious pieces, as they only held teams under 20 points twice last season.

Connor Jones4th: Carolina Panthers: This one does not need to much explaining. Carolina was horrible last year. They did get Cam Newton with the number one overall pick but he will not help the get out of the cellar this year. I do believe Carolina is heading in a good direction. They started this process by re-signing some of their top players from last years team including running back DeAngelo Williams and line backer James Anderson. The Panthers also signed undrafted free agent Kendric Burney a corner back from North Carolina. Burney is a real talent, the only reason he was not drafted because of his off the field problems at North Carolina. With these additions, Carolina could win three or four more games than they did last year.

Josh Neighbors 3rd:  Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I am very high on Josh Freeman. In his 2nd year he threw 25 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions, and lead the Bucs to a 10-6 season. Mike Williams caught 11 of those TD’s last year. Sammie Stroughter is showing much improvement and will develop into a great target for Freeman. Legarrette had over 1,000 yards last year. The defense is just as young as the offense with the exception of Ronde Barber. That is the teams downfall. Bucs fans just wait for 2 or 3 years, you will be in the playoffs.

Connor Jones3rd: Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tampa Bay will not be the average 3rd place team in a division. The only reason they are stuck in the back half of the division is because the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints are in this division. And Josh Freeman is not the average 3rd place quarterback in a division and this is only because Matt Ryan and Drew Brees are in this division. The Bucs will be strong on offense with 1,000 yard rusher Legarrette Blunt and 25 touchdown thrower Josh Freeman. Tampa will compete for the wild card once again this season and will have somewhere between 8-10 wins.

Josh Neighbors 2nd: New Orleans Saints: Drew Brees leads this offense that in my mind has no big name receiver. The addition of Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram at running back will really help Drew Brees. Even as a rookie I think Ingram’s work ethic is inspiring to veterans as well as other young players. Defensively, this secondary is loaded. Right to left you have Tracy Porter, Roman Harper, Darren Sharper, and Jabari Greer. I am not saying the Saints are getting worse..... The Falcons are just getting better.

Connor Jones 2nd: Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta will come in second place and win a wild card this year. Young stud quarterback Matt Ryan will lead them to double-digit wins once again. The Falcons will rely on running back Michael Turner to help give them an attack in the air as well as on the ground. They added a weapon on the outside in Julio Jones who should work well along side Roddy White. This team has proven they are ready to win and ready to win now and I believe they will enact these plans this year.

Josh Neighbors 1st: Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan is not a kid anymore. For the Atlanta Falcons, the time is now. Michael Turner is the most physical running back in the league. Roddie White is one of the biggest freaks at the wide receiver position, and the Falcons are only getting stronger with the addition Julio Jones. Tony Gonzalez is a rock at the tight end position. The pieces are there for Matt Ryan and I think he can utilize them well enough to win the division. Oh yeah, that defense is not to bad either. Mike Smith is coaching the team with the most well rounded offense int he entire league, and I think that will win this division in the 2011-2012 season.

Connor Jones 1st: New Orleans Saints: Those off-season workouts are going to pay off. Drew Brees is like a . Tim Tebow with more talent. He will once again spread the ball around and have six players with a least five touchdowns. New Orleans is strong in all aspects of the offensive game, they do not rely on one wide out to carry them instead they let everyone get in on the action. They have brought in running back Darren Sproles to boost the ground game and have brought in veteran center Olin Kreutz to boost the offensive line. The Saints are motivated and are back to fight for their second championship in three years.

NFC North Predictions

NFC North Picks

The NFC Championship last year featured two teams from this division, and my Super Bowl favorite comes from this division as well. This could easily be the strongest division in the NFC this year.

Connor Jones 4th: Detroit Lions: Detroit should be an improved team this year with the draft picks of Nick Fairley, Titus Young and Mikel Leshoure. This team will be strong on the defensive line and should generate a good pass rush. They have good weapons on the outside being lead by Calvin Johnson. Once again, an improved Detroit team should have fans there excited but this team is at least one year away.

Josh Neighbors 4th: Minnesota Vikings: After seeing what Donavan McNabb was not capable of last year with my Washington Redskins, I believe at age 34 he will not be able to be productive with an offense that is broken at most skill positions. Bernard Berrian is 30, and a shell of his old self. Percy Harvin is too small to be the #1 receiver on any team and is still haunted by migraines. Adrian Peterson is a great player, but when you have entire teams gamep planning to stop you and you alone, things get difficult. Defensively is Jared Allen up front, chad Greenway at Linebacker, and Asher Allen in the secondary. Not terrible, but not good enough to be a contender for the division.

Connor Jones 3rd: Minnesota Vikings: Minnesota is a team that will be streaky at best this year. They bring in a motivated Donavan McNabb to help tutor Christian Ponder and win games for Minnesota. D Mac had a miserable year last year in Washington where he made mistakes not expected from a veteran. But this year he should most likely to be able to lead this team to an 8-8 season.

Josh Neighbors 3rd: Detroit Lions: To be completely honest I feel like I could put the Lions at 2nd. They easily have the best front 4 in the entire league. Kyle Vanden Bosch brings the experience, Suh has already proven to be a force to be reckoned with, Fairley no doubt is going to have an instant impact, and Corey Williams had 37 tackles last year and is the worst player on this line. That is one helluva line. Alphonso Smith has been inconsistent at corner.  Matt Stafford has a huge target in Calvin Johnson to throw to. Jahvid Best gets the RB job eventually I think, but that is the weak point on this offense. Too bad they are in such a tough division.

Connor Jones 2nd. Chicago Bears: Wow, speaking of motivation, Jay Cutler should be motivated. Last year his will to win and his toughness were questioned when he left the NFC championship game. Personally, I would not feel comfortable with Cutler leading my team but he should have a strong season. Chicago should win at least 9 games with my prediction being a 10-6 season.

Josh Neighbors 2nd: Chicago Bears: I was a Jay Cutler critic. He proved me wrong. Who knows, maybe it actually was the offensive line’s fault. Tough to place the blame on the guys that make it all happen. Anyway, this team is reloaded. Forte and Hester are great offensive options. The Bears could easily win this division......offensive line is the problem, once again sorry guys. You cannot let your quarterback get sacked 52 times. Israel Idonije and Julias Peppers anchor down the D-line. Briggs and Urlacher at linebacker. Tillman in the secondary. On defense its going to be business as usual for this team. That spells trouble for the rest of this division.

Connor Jones1st: Green Bay Packers: The Super Bowl champs will once again win their division. Aaron Rodgers, the best young quarterback in the league, will lead his team back to the post season. Now remember, Green Bay won the super bowl with 15 guys on the IR last year so what is that going to make them this year? BETTER. With one key addition this year being Ryan Grant. Last year, Green Bay had to do lots of mixing and matching to find a running back on a weekly basis. The defense should be top five this season. They will be lead by Corner Back Charles Woodson and Line Backer Clay Matthews. Matthews has 23.5 sacks in two seasons which is a ton. Green Bay will win there division and compete for another super bowl.

Josh Neighbors 1st: Green Bay Packers: What is so scary about this team is that they did what they did, with the significant number of injuries they had. It is just testament to the determination and will power demonstrated by this team and Aaron Rodgers. Lucky for him now Ryan Grant is back and he no longer has to do it alone. Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, and Donald Driver have all developed into options for Rodgers at any time in the game. BJ Raji anchors the front four. AJ Hawk and of course Clay Mathews at linebacker. This defense is stacked in the secondary with Charles Woodson and Nick Collins. Tramon Williams has also developed into a skilled corner. The Pack is back, and are a heavy favorite for the back to back.

No doubt abaut it

Jose Bautista has emerged as the one of the American League's premiere sluggers. The casual baseball fan looks to steroids as an explanation for his sudden rise. The real source in this mans great power has been a change in mechanics. Bautista has always had the build, and the potential to be a powerful hitter. he is just now tapping into his abilities at age 30. Last year Jose Bautista adjusted his swing to where he was started stepping into pitches earlier. His back right foot is closer to home plate, and his hands are positioned a tad higher on the bat. The result has been tremendous. Bautista's biggest year before this change was in 2006 with the Pirates where he had 15 homeruns and 63 RBI. In 2010 he had 54 homeruns and 124 RBI. This year he has 31 homeruns and 65 RBI. He is on pace for another huge year, and if you look at his body throughout his career he has been the same since he entered the league. It is sad that the first thought most fans have is that Bautista is using performance enhancing drugs. In all reality, this is just one case of many where a swing change makes a huge difference. As a baseball player, I go through the same thing, constantly adjusting my swing. Most hitters struggle to find a good consistent stroke, but when they do. There are fireworks.-Josh Neighbors

The not so new guy

On August 28, 2008 an entire stadium was hushed. The West End of Richmond Virginia held their collective breath with anticipation and concern. Russel Wilson lay on the ground face down and still. Russel Wilson went to Collegiate High School located on the West End(my high school). We all watched as the kid who had brought us back to back state championships, the kid who had become a rock star on campuss, the kid who's leadership qualities were unquestioned, the kid seemed invincible lay on the ground motionless. Suddenly, the pride was washed away and a sense of panic took over. Russel was taken off the field, South Carolina handed NC State a 34-0 lashing to start off the college football season. We thought our pride and joy would not be playing college football anymore. Who could have guessed that 3 years, 8454 passing yards, and 93 total touchdowns later, we would see Russel Wilson being the most sought after QB in the country. Wilson had to choose between Wisconsin and Auburn, and he chose Bucky Badger, making them the favorite in the Big 10 and a National Championship contender. There is no doubt Russel was a great Quarterback at NC State, but at Wisconsin Wilson can create a storybook ending to a fantastic college career.

     Wilson will get to start his senior season where his college career began, on Thursday night prime time. The Badgers start their 2011 campaign at home against UNLV to kick off the 2011 season. The Badgers first real test will be 5 games in against Nebraska in Madison. Besides this game the Big 10 is not particularly strong this year. This Badgers team is not a one man show, as this backfield is loaded. James White and Montee Ball are going to be getting a lot of touches in Brent Bielma's run first system. Wilson also has Nick Toon who is a great weapon on the outside. The Wisconsin defense is always tough and will keep opponents numbers low, while Wilson and the high powered offense should poor it on offensively. We will learn more about this Wisconsin team as the season approaches, but right now Russel Wilson is giving Badger Nation a lot to Jump Around about.-Josh Neighbors

NFL Preseason Predictions: NFC East

The NFL players association and NFL owners seem to be moving closer and closer towards an agreement. Assuming we will have football, Connor Jones and i have decided to go division by division and make predictions as to who will finish where this upcoming season.
NFC EAST
Connor 4th: Washington Redskins, this is a team with to many holes to fill for the upcoming season. They are moving closer to being competitive again but without a decent quarterback, they will have trouble winning in the strong NFC East

Josh 4th: My beloved Washington Redskins will finish 4th, as much as I hate to admit it. But, the most prominent issue with this team is their lack of a quality quarterback. Hell, they don't even know who there quarterback is going to be. Defensively they will be okay, but they do not have good enough players in skilled positions. The Skins do have a good core of young runningbacks who could develop into productive players in the future, but not this year.

Connor 3rd: Dallas Cowboys, Dallas is going to be an above average team, just not as good as the Giants and Eagles. I believe Dallas will be in the hunt for a playoff spot all the way to the end. They have a strong quarterback in Tony Romo and multiple strong running backs in Felix Jones, Marion Barber and Tashard Choice. They also have the best pass rusher in the league in DeMarcus Ware. The big issue with this team is that Tony Romo is not a proven big game winner.

Josh 3rd: The Dallas Cowboys were awful last year. 6-10 was not something Cowboys fans were used to. This year will be different, but not a gigantic one. The backfield is not good enough to support Tony Romo and win this division. The defense is good but not great. I think the Cowboys will finish right next to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2nd wild-card. and will miss the playoffs. I see a 9-7 finish for them this year.

Connor 2nd: New York Giants, The New York football Giants will once again produce a strong season. Eli Manning is an always trusted veteran quarterback. He also has weapons on the outside for him to get the ball to in Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham. The Giants will count on rookies Prince Amukamara and Marvin Austin to anchor the defense. I believe they will finish 10-6 but just miss a wild-card spot, they are one year away from making another Super Bowl run.

Josh 2nd: The Philadelphia Eagles will finish 2nd this year. Okay, what Vick did last year was ridiculous, but to expect him to duplicate that performance is unrealistic. The weapons are there offensively, they will be a fun team to watch with McCoy, Maclin, and Jackson. They are not stunning defensively, above average at best. The Eagles will finish 2nd and go to the playoffs once again behind Andy Reid.

Connor 1st: Philadelphia Eagles, The Eagles will win this years NFC East with another 11-5 season. This team is lead by the flourishing Michael Vick at quarterback. He was arguably the 2nd best quarterback in the NFL last year by Michael Vick. They have various speedsters on the outside in Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson. If Philly signs Plaxico Burress to be a tall jump ball style receiver they should be an unstoppable offensive team and if the average defense holds down fort, it should be enough to win the division.

Josh 1st: The New York Giants are the bully in this division. Unlike the other teams in this division, this teams greatest strength is its defense. Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora are forces on that front 4. Keith Bullock has not decided where he will sign, but if he chooses NY that is even more of a reason to pick the Giants. Prince Amukamara is a great addition in the secondary. Offensively the Giants are set with Eli Manning getting better each year. Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham are good weapons on the outside and Brandon Jacobs is a consistent tough runner and I think NY will power through a pretty strong schedule and win this division.

A foreign flavor

There was an obvious theme in this year's NBA Draft. The large number of foreign players drafted this year is leaving many questions for the fans of these NBA teams. Sports Spin will be doing a series of articles telling you about these players.

Enes Kanter: #3 Utah Jazz- Statistically Enes Kanter looks like a below average player. He played about 100 minutes in his 08-09 season overseas. Regardless of this, his intangibles are what made him such an attractive player. He is the classic European big man; he demonstrates an wide array of post moves, can shoot from the outside, and can appear flashy at times. His 6,11 frame and 7 foot wingspan is going to make him the biggest body the Jazz have. He fits well into the system, but will struggle to adjust to NBA life in his early years in the league. The 82 game schedule could turn out to be his nemesis, making him weary easily and increasing his risk to injury. At the end of the day I see Kanter as the of the European players who could have been. I do not see him developing his intangibles fully and becoming a productive NBA player.-Josh Neighbors

Sports Spin

It has been a while, I apologize. The past few months have been a very busy time for me and my writing staff. We have decided to change our blog name and widen our stance. We will now be covering the full range of sports on both college and pro levels, now our first love is college sports, but seeing that the other members of the staff are very passionate about their pro sports, I feel we needed to make a change. So as of  today we are now the Sports Spin. New material will be coming soon, we hope you enjoy our new site.-Josh Neighbors