Football Outsiders Say Fear Poz in 2009

Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders wants you to know one thing: fear Posluszny. OK, he really wants you to know that there are five young players in the AFC that are going to become building blocks for their teams in 2009. Ravens LT Jared Gaither, Titans DT Jason Jones, Steelers LB Lawrence Timmons and Texans CB Fred Bennett should all rise up this upcoming season and become Pro Bowl-type players providing a stable foundation for their franchises. But who cares about them, really? Tell me more about Posluszny! (link for ESPN Insiders, sorry)

Another middle linebacker, Posluszny would likely already be one of the AFC East's building blocks had he not fractured his forearm three games into the 2007 season. In what effectively served as his rookie year in 2008, Posluszny showed signs of becoming an excellent middle linebacker. He made 14.7 percent of his team's plays on the ground, eighth among 4-3 middle linebackers; furthermore, he was making tackles in important places. He had a stop rate of 54 percent, meaning that 63 of his 116 plays prevented the opposition from achieving a "successful" outcome on the play (defined here as gaining 40 percent of the needed yardage for a first down on first down, 60 percent on second down, or 100 percent on third or fourth down); that figure was sixth among 4-3 middle linebackers.

Penn State fans know all about this -- and in 2009, the entire AFC may come to fear Paul Posluszny.

He has still some work to go as a pass defender and as a pass rusher, but the Bills count on him primarily to be an elite run-stopper at linebacker. If he's not quite there yet, he very well may be after this season.

Ya hear that haters? Poz means business and will be a household name in 2009.

Posluszny may be my favorite Nittany Lion of All-Time. He plays the position I love and was an excellent student and role model, which can not always be said for college athletes. Poz is a beast and it's nice to see him getting recognized but statistical gurus.

Dolphins Team to Beat in AFC East, Says Porter

Joey Porter utilizes his mouth as much as he does his skills to plant a QB in the turf. He voices his opinion on everything, from guaranteeing wins to expressing his feelings about division rivals. He even can get under your skin on the field too, if you can believe that. Well today Porter had more to say, according to ESPN.com's Tim Graham.

"I don't understand how you can put somebody in front of us," said Porter, who would be the cleanup hitter on my all-interview team. "We won the championship. We were AFC East champions. I just don't think it's supposed to happen like that. You've got to beat somebody to be the champs. We had to beat somebody to be the champs."

This Porter sound bite is a lot less controversial than guaranteeing a win. How is what he says not the truth? He's speaking from a logic standpoint that a team won the division last year, why shouldn't they be the team everyone is gunning for? Of course everyone and their mother is crowning the Patriots, the reason Porter spoke the way he did to Graham.

I don't have a problem with what Porter said today. Nor do I have a problem with players guaranteeing wins. Why shouldn't they be? Shouldn't a team always expect to beat the other team they are playing? The media tries to use the "bulletin board" material angle but that's ridiculous. I wouldn't want players on my team that think they would lose. Porter is an incredibly cocky s.o.b but sometimes what comes out of his mouth is exactly what athletes should be saying.

And the Dolphins are the defending AFC East Champs, so every team should be looking to knock off them and not New England. Despite the return of OMG BEST QB EVAH Tom Brady, the Patriots still have questions on defense and the o-line. In my first predictions for the 2009 season I have New England performing reasonably well but no one should underestimated the Dolphins. See what happened when teams did that last year?