TPL100 2013: 80-

Introduction | #100-91 | #90-81 | #80-

Twenty down, just eighty to go in this year's TPL100 rankings! We've already seen a plethora of rookies, but only 3 offensive lineman (what's wrong with us...!?). Here's hoping we redress the balance with players 80-71 below.

Remember to keeping checking back daily as we reveal one player per day in a countdown to the start of the 2013 NFL season, and then shout at us if you think we've taken our eye off the ball with one of our nominations! Hit us up in the comments below, on twitter @PullingLinemen, or on Facebook.

80. Daryl Washington, ILB, Arizona Cardinals (TD = 56, PG = --, GS = 77)

2012 Ranking: --

P:  Mark Runyon | Football Schedule

Washington is an outstanding talent an linebacker, and undoubtedly a core piece of the Cardinals D that they will wish to build around for the next 5-7 years. Unfortunately for them, he's also got an eye for getting in trouble. The 2012 season was very kind to Washington; he started all 16 games for the first time in his career, recording personal record highs in tackles (134), sacks (9.0), and forced fumbles (2), and getting him voted to the second team All-Pro and an alternate to the Pro Bowl. Soon after, Washington started letting things slip. In April it was announced that he'll miss 4 games at the beginning of 2013 for violating the NFL substance abuse policy, a length of suspension that normally equates to a PED abuse. Just a month later he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his former girlfriend and breaking her collarbone.

Washington's talent is undeniable, and he is deserving of the 56th and 77th ranks that my TPL partners have given him, but much as I did with Brian Cushing in our rankings last year, I personally penalised Washington for his off-the-field issues, particularly the PED abuse, because to me that reduces his value as a player and tarnishes his career. If he can get back on the straight and narrow, Washington will likely go to 5+ more Pro Bowls in his career, and has the chance to be considered amongst the best in the NFL. But only if he can play 16 games a season. (PG)

79. John Sullivan, C, Minnesota Vikings (TD = --, PG = 97, GS = 36)

2012 Ranking: --

It's not always easy to quantify offensive linemen, given the lack of statistics for the position - though, of course, there is one OL stat that should be familiar to our readers by now - but a bit of qualitative exploration (or in simpler terms, "looking at the tape") reveals that in his fifth season, John Sullivan had become one of the best centers in the NFL. A late round draft pick out of Notre Dame, Sullivan took over the starting gig during 2009, snapping to one of the greatest in Brett Favre. Every season since, Sullivan has improved in every aspect of the game, becoming more solid in pass defense, more aggressive in run blocking, and despite being a younger lineman - he'll be only 28 heading into this season - he's been a rock to Christian Ponder, not just physically as a protector but by taking control of the protection calls and "Mike" identifications to ease the burden on his quarterback.

P: Joe Bielawa

Of course, you can't really talk about the Minnesota O-line and not bring up the guy in the #28 shirt. All Day had an All-Universe season in 2012, coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL with just a nine-month turnaround to finish just nine yards short of the all-time single-season rushing record. No doubt Adrian Peterson would have had a phenomenal season no matter who was in front of him, but having a center of Sullivan's undeniable caliber surely helped - a fact clearly not lost on offensive co-ordinator Bill Musgrave, as a whopping 62% of runs by the Vikings as a whole last year, 10% higher than the league average, was run up the A-gaps, the fifth highest proportion of up-the-gut runs in the league. No offensive co-ordinator, especially not one on a playoff team, calls for so many runs up the middle without having absolute confidence in their center - and with as outstanding a player as Sullivan snapping the ball, the only surprise here is that the ball wasn't run behind him even more often. To quote m'colleague Phil, in his article looking at teams' OLR scores over the course of the 2012 season - in which the Vikings came fourth -  "Sully has been UN-BE-LIEVABLE in the running game this season, and has been THE difference maker". Voted to the Pro Football Writers Association's All-Pro first team for 2012 - although criminally neglected by the Associated Press's version of the award - this is one center who deserves far more recognition than he's gotten so far, and if people focused a little less on stats and a little more on gametape this upcoming season, Sullivan's name will be one that is lauded across all quarters of NFL media and fandom alike. (GS)

78. Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers (TD = 46, PG = 85, GS = --)

2012 Ranking: --

P: Wikimedia Commons

After his impressive rookie season there were many saying that Cam Newton would regress. That the league would catch up to his unique brand of football and the college-NFL hybrid offense the Panthers had put in place for him.

And to a certain extent that was what happened. Early games were far from spectacular for Newton, he had 2 multi-interception games in the first 5 weeks of the season, and 2 games where he failed to break a 60 QB rating, while one of his 2 impressive games came against the epically awful Saints defense. Hardly a stellar follow up to his award-winning and record-breaking rookie season.

It wasn't until November that Cam really came to the boil. He got the best of Robert Griffin in Washington, and after being unable to keep pace with Peyton Manning closed out the season with a 5-2 record, throwing 11 TD's to just 2 interceptions, completing 58.4% of his passes and rushing for over 6 yards a carry and picking up 4 more TD's on the ground.

By the end of the season Newton's numbers showed improvements in interceptions, yards per pass attempt and yards per rush attempt. Not only that but he continued to be the most exciting QB, perhaps player, for a neutral supporter in NFL to watch.

There are of course still some issues with Cam's game, he's taken a whopping 71 sacks in his 2 seasons in the NFL, and fumbled 15 times (10 of which were in 2012). But he also lacks the weaponry to really excel. His best, and only, wide receiver Steve Smith just turned 34 and while Greg Olsen is a good option at tight end he's not really the ideal number 2 target. The investments made in the backfield have handcuffed the Panthers when it's come to getting Newton more help on the outside, they've been waiting for Brandon LaFell to turn into a consistent threat, and it looks like he'll get at least one more year to do so after a defense-heavy draft this year. If LaFell can get open more consistently and perhaps start to even out the coverage on Smith we should see Newton's passing numbers take off. With former QB coach Mike Shula now taking over the reigns as offensive co-ordinator in part thanks to a good relationship with Newton, we'll hopefully see the performances become more consistent, and the results match the level of entertainment that Newton brings to the field every sunday. (TD)

First Sound: Tebowmania heads to New England

Last year I did one of these for Tebow's move to the Jets, and after they cut him in April I sincerely hoped I wouldn't have to write another. But with tonight's news that my beloved New England Patriots decided to sign "The Circus" (yes, I did just come up with a nickname for him) I have to do it again.

The first thing I did when I saw the news, other than register my displeasure on social media, was fix a very large, very strong drink. I disagree with Tebow's politics and preaching, but that's not the reason I hate this move. It's what he can and can't offer on the field, and what happens around him off the field.

TPL100 2013: 90 - 81

Introduction | #100-91 | #90-

We're only ten players into this year's TPL100 and already there's been debates and arguments tweeted at us over the names already revealed! If players #100-#91 brought out some strong opinions, we can only imagine how you'll react to seeing which players were ranked in the next group of ten...

But don't just keep it to yourself! If you agree or disagree with where the players already reveal were placed, if you've got an opinion on the list so far, we want to hear it! Leave a comment below, tweet us @PullingLinemen or join our Facebook group - like last year, we'll reply to the best comments at the end of the countdown. So speak up and tell us why you think we're right or wrong!

And with that said, it's now time to reveal #90 on the 2013 edition of the TPL100...

TPL 100 2013: 100 - 91

Introduction | #100-#91 | #90-

So here we go! Another summer, another run down of The Pulling Linemen's top 100 players in the NFL.


Sure, you could go to NFL.com and see where the players voted one another, but why would you do that when your 3 favourite UK linemen have put together a far superior list?!


Over the next 100 days, running right up until opening night, we'll be revealing a new player every day. So make sure you check back regularly to see where your favourite player comes in. And as ever, if you agree or disagree, or just want to have a debate, leave a comment or hit us up on twitter, @PullingLinemen.

TPL100 2013: Introduction

Introduction | #100-#91 | #90-

If the 2013 season started tomorrow, who would you want on your team?

==================================

It's that time of year, when the sun is in the sky, summer's just around the corner, there just over 100 days until the 2013 season opener, and Gur decided to re-use the same introduction almost word for word as last year. Yes, it's almost time for your favourite linemen to reveal who we judge to be the one hundred best players in the NFL right now - the one hundred players we would want on our team if the 2013 season started tomorrow.

Re-Drafting The 2010 Class

We're now a week removed from the 2013 draft, and even before Jonathan Cyprien was taken to open up the 2nd round every analyst had "draft grades" for the teams. Players who still hadn't put pen to paper on contracts were being graded? the word "premature" doesn't even come close to describing that situation.

Draft analysis has never been a bigger industry, with every major sports network in the US having their own "experts" as well as a plethora of independent draft evaluators, and there's a huge audience for such work. This is why we can sit at home and laugh at Dallas for "reaching" on Wisconsin's Travis Frederick at 31, or be stunned when Sharrif Floyd is only taken at 23 because for months everyone's been telling us he should be going in the top 10. We're calling out hits and misses on whole draft classes before a down has been played, and that's just not fair on the players or the teams who pick them.

The old mantra was that you don't evaluate a draft class until they've been in the league for 3 years. Which means rather than evaluating the 2013 class all week, the experts should have been telling us about the 2010 class. But they haven't so it's been left to your favourite UK Linemen to get down to the nitty gritty of assessing who came out ahead or behind 3 years ago, and who's surprised everyone with great or terrible performances. So, it's re-draft time!!

Round Table Mock - Day 2

Our round table is more of a head-to-head this time round as Phil's had to duck out due to work overload. But there are no such restrictions for Gur or Toby today which means that we can bring you up to date with our inaccurate musings (Just the 1 1st round pick from our mock was on the nose last night!) about who could go where when Roger Goodell steps out onto the stage once again.

TPL Roundtable Mock Draft

For this mock draft we've decided to go in a different direction. Rather than doing one individually we decided to split the 1st round between us, adding a little bit of spice to a normally bland affair.

Toby will be taking picks 1, 4, 7 etc while Gur handles selections 2, 5, 8 etc and Phil presides over 3, 6, 9 etc.

Toby Durant's Mock Draft 1.0

It's April, which to an NFL fan can only mean one thing. Time to get serious about the draft! Everyone likes to think they would be great in their teams "war room", sifting through a big board, debating prospects and where they might fit on your team and then negotiating trades to try and get the best value. Thanks to the availability of information on college players these days, from full games on youtube to scouting reports and network "experts",  even idiots like us can put together mock drafts. So here's mine!

Before getting into it let me just say that I won't be mocking any trades this season. The rookie wage scale that has been bought in has made trading up far more appealing to teams now and as such we saw a flurry of unexpected and influential trades. Trying to predict which teams will dive up the board for a player is even more difficult than a straight forward mock! So let's get into it. There are a few surprises, including 2 Quarterbacks in the top 10....

Free Agency So Far: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We're almost a week through free agency and while we haven't seen any contract nearing the $96 million mark that was given to Mario Williams last season there have been some staggering signings.

From Miami's spending spree and a flood of players leaving Baltimore it's been a fast-paced, action packed week that's had us glued to twitter (which was surely invented for NFL Free Agency!). There are still plenty of quality players out there for teams to pick up, but with the top of the market starting to thin out it's a good time to go over what I think were some of the best and worst signings of the first week of free agency.

Agree or disagree with what I've said? Or just have an opinion about who your team should go after next? Leave a comment or get on twitter (@PullingLinemen) and tell us!