Sports' Michael Middlehurst Schwartz breaks down the top prospects heading into the NFL draft combine. USA TODAY
Colorado is working toward a deal with Miami Dolphins assistant head coach Karl Dorrell to become the next head coach of the Buffaloes, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on behalf of the school, which had not yet announced the hire.
Dorrell has been a head coach in the Pac-12 before, going 35-27 over five seasons at UCLA before getting fired. During that time, Dorrell had one standout 10-2 year in 2005 but largely had an underwhelming tenure with the Bruins, finishing fourth or fifth in the conference in all but one season.
Dorrell is familiar with Colorado, with two stints in Boulder earlier in his career -- 1992-93 as receivers coach and 1995-98 as offensive coordinator.
Colorado had pursued a handful of coaches in the wake of Mel Tucker's departure after one season to Michigan State, with athletics director Rick George prioritizing college head coaching experience.
Colorado seemed locked in on Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian earlier this week. Sarkisian, however, decided to remain at Alabama, sending the search into new directions, with Dorrell emerging as the favorite on Saturday.
Dorrell is unlikely to be a popular hire among fans, given that he's been largely out of the limelight since UCLA. The 56-year-old has had two stints with the Dolphins, one with the New York Jets and one with the Houston Texans since returning to the NFL. He also was Vanderbilt's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2014.
Learning on the fly: Kyrou working his way through NHL growing pains
There have been growing pains to be sure. The demands of playing in the NHL are great, particularly playing for the defending Stanley Cup champs. Especially playing for coach Craig Berube.
No matter how fast you skate, no matter how skilled you are, if you don’t play defense, if you don’t battle for pucks, if you don’t compete — well, you’re not going to get much ice time with Berube.
“Yeah, biggest thing for me right now is focusing on just competing every single shift and just playing hard,” Kyrou said. “That’s the biggest thing me and Chief have talked about.”
By all indications, they have had plenty of talks.
There have been times earlier in the season where Kyrou could be seen drifting on the ice. Times where he could have been more engaged in a puck battle. As a result, he’s been in and out of the lineup — a healthy scratch eight times since his callup from the American Hockey League.
But spend any time around Kyrou and it’s easy to see his passion for the game. He wants to establish himself in the NHL, and wants it bad. So after starring in the junior ranks in the Ontario Hockey League, and then doing the same for San Antonio in the AHL, Kyrou is learning what it takes in the NHL.
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And don’t forget, he’s learning after kneecap surgery last spring. Kyrou told the Post-Dispatch earlier in the season that he didn’t quite have his speed back. He was still getting treatment after games at the point. So it’s possible he has another gear, or partial gear, that he’s yet to show.
The Eagles need to get younger ... or do they?
It doesn’t matter the debate, at some point there comes a point where the seesaw slams too hard on one side. That’s what’s happening with the conversation about how “old” the Philadelphia Eagles roster has become.
There’s still merit to becoming younger, as Howie Roseman recognized this off-season. Over the past five years the Eagles could be considered long in the tooth in every year but one (2018) and even that outlier year is an illusion when you dig deeper. Per Football Outsiders, the Eagles were the third oldest team that year in “snap weighted age” (SWA).
How much does it matter? The numbers we have available from the 2018 season paint a muddy picture.
“The level of correlation between SWA and DVOA is usually low, but 2018 takes the cake — just a 0.04, which is far and away the lowest number we have ever seen... in 2018, there was really no connection to how old or young a team was and how well they performed on the field. Age is just a number, indeed.” - Bryan Knowles, Football Outsiders
It’s worth noting that from 2014 and on, the Super Bowl winners list is dominated by dinosaurs.
2014: New England Patriots (10th oldest) d. Seattle Seahawks (3rd youngest)
2015: Denver Broncos (7th oldest) d. Carolina Panthers (3rd oldest)
2016: New England Patriots (10th oldest) d. Atlanta Falcons (8th oldest)
2017: Philadelphia Eagles (7th oldest) d. New England Patriots (5th oldest)
2018: New England Patriots (1st oldest) d. Los Angeles Rams (11th oldest)
*2019 SWB not yet available, 49ers & Chiefs ranked 12th & 16th youngest average age at 53-man cut downs
“To sum up, being young is in vogue, but experience wins championships, right?... With the exception of the Legion of Boom Seahawks, we have never seen a team with an SWA below 26 even make the big game. So, teams should load up on those veterans in free agency and start planning their Super Bowl parade, yeah?
Well, no, of course, that’s silly. The question about where a team wants to rank in SWA to be the most competitive remains open, and this year’s results continue to muddy the waters. Half of the twelve playoff teams had an above-average SWA; half of them were below average. If you’re looking for the One True Roster-Building Model, you’ll have to keep looking elsewhere.” - Bryan Knowles, Football Outsiders
According to the player’s union, the average life of on an NFL career is just 3.3 years. Players at positions of cornerback, wide receiver, and running back are cut short at an average of less than three years. Certain players are old simply because they’re good, that’s how they’ve lasted so long in the league compared to their comrades.
There’s something to be said for not overpaying aging players as they hit the decline, no question. There’s also a delicate balance to be struck between wanting to get younger and being woefully inexperienced compared to having proven players that have stuck in the league for very good reasons.
One question that comes out of this concerns what the Eagles should do at cornerback. On one hand, you want to get younger, right? Well, the Eagles cornerback has been incredibly young in recent history and a lack of development has created a huge hole there entering 2019.
With a new defensive backs coach, should the Eagles trust that their fortunes change or should they make a shift to more proven players on the outside? Would a young rookie suffer from stunted growth here and bust out? Would an old cornerback fall off the cliff an land on injured reserve? Either way, the Eagles can’t be paralyzed by fear. They have to chose which gambles to take.
Eagles free agent linebacker targets: Buy or Sell?
As it stands, the Eagles are now strong candidates to grab LBs in free agency for yet another season. They’ve been scraping the bottom of the bargain bin for a few seasons now, looking to add subpackage linebackers below the top tier of the waiver wire and develop them into starters to little avail. With the cut of Bradham, however, the Eagles now only boast of Kamu Grugier-Hill and Nate Gerry as previous starters returning to the position. That’s rough.
Could the Eagles make a more aggressive play into the linebacker market this year? I ripped through some film on top names and compared my valuation to their projected price tag to highlight those players the Eagles might be willing to spend on when the 2020 league year opens.
Cory Littleton
Littleton is the biggest name on what is generally a quieter linebacker class. A two-year starter for the Rams, Littleton projected as a subpackage rush linebacker when he finished his final season in 2016 with the Washington Huskies. Littleton was too thin to be a full-time pass rusher, and had never stuck in an off-ball role for the Huskies.
But he hung around on the Rams roster long enough to make the permanent switch, filling responsibilities on special teams and impressing in backup play. When Alec Ogeltree left for his bag in free agency with the New York Giants, Littleton won the starting role at MIKE.
And it was awesome. Littleton’s lanky frame is a great fit for off-ball linebacker, where he suffocates passing lanes and survives contact from bigger offensive linemen with his length. Of all the players on the market that I’ve watched, Littleton has the best physical traits, and is arguably still growing into the MIKE position: he’s only played the role for two years.
Littleton’s best trait is his ability in underneath coverage, like on this play against George Kittle late last season. Watch Littleton first command the defense and push the Tampa 2 coverage after the RB motion, then get connected underneath Kittle and play through his hands into the catch point. That’s tough for a lot of linebackers to do from a recognition/technique perspective, let alone have the physical tools to pull off.
Littleton is not exactly a stout run defender, and is an inconsistent tackler relative to what you might expect for his frame. With that said, he is remarkably talented and has a positive second contract projection. However, that projection comes with a price.
Littleton is projected to make over $10M/year on the open market, and could even exceed $12M/season. It is highly unrealistic that the Eagles dole out that much money for a linebacker, which is a position they have historically approached with low-cost role players under GM Howie Roseman.
At that price tag, I’m on board with the Eagles’ approach. That’s more money than I’m comfortable spending on a linebacker, even if Littleton is a top-tier MIKE. The Eagles have bigger needs at other positions that I’m hesitant to ignore for the sake of a MIKE, especially when they likely have two starters already (Nate Gerry, Kamu Grugier-Hill), and are just looking for their third.
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