Glenn Clark’s Rankings…

32. Cleveland Browns (32)

I like what I see from Weeden & Richardson. You need more good players to win though.

31. Indianapolis Colts (30)

I still can’t believe they lost to Jacksonville at home.

30. Jacksonville Jaguars (29)

I’m convinced they’ll ultimately be #32.

29. Miami Dolphins (31)

It’s a shame they couldn’t make that effort from Ryan Tannehill stand up.

28. New Orleans Saints (28)

They showed a little bit in Green Bay…wins are coming.

27. Kansas City Chiefs (25)

This doesn’t mean the Ravens will just coast Sunday.

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24)

Not much to offer defensively on the Redskins’ final drive.

25. Oakland Raiders (22)

Defense is a MAJOR issue.

24. Carolina Panthers (23)

They’re better than this. They’ll improve, but it might not be enough.

23. Tennessee Titans (21)

In the short term, perhaps they’re better off with Matt Hasselbeck.

22. St. Louis Rams (26)

Now with pesky Los Angeles rumors!

21. Detroit Lions (18)

Just an absolute mess. This could bury them.

20. Buffalo Bills (19)

But Scott Chandler is a nice target.

19. New York Jets (14)

I’ve heard the words “you know who” a lot this week.

18. Seattle Seahawks (17)

You can’t follow up a win over the Packers with a loss to the Rams.

17. Dallas Cowboys (16)

They’re not as bad as they looked Monday night. At least I don’t think so.

(16-1 on Page 2…)

Glenn Clark’s Rankings…

32. Cleveland Browns (32)

The only thing I’m certain about in the NFL is that the Browns have been the worst team thus far.

31. Miami Dolphins (31)

But if Dan Carpenter could make a kick they wouldn’t be here.

30. Indianapolis Colts (26)

If you’re going to win a few games you’re probably going to have to beat the Jaguars at home.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (31)

In my heart of hearts, I still think they’re worse than the Browns. But as a reminder, the Ravens really liked Cecil Shorts III.

28. New Orleans Saints (17)

I knew it would be a struggle. NO ONE knew it would be this much of a struggle.

27. Washington Redskins (21)

You REALLY think it’s a good idea to keep letting RGIII get hit like that, Kyle Shanahan?

26. St. Louis Rams (24)

So…if Jay Cutler stinks and you lose to him, that means?

25. Kansas City Chiefs (30)

They’re not going to go winless. That’s a start.

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (22)

Every time you think they might be making progress…

23. Carolina Panthers (19)

Is the league figuring Cam Newton out a bit in year two?

22. Oakland Raiders (29)

That was a damn gutty victory.

21. Tennessee Titans (25)

They’ll need to be able to win a few without so many miracles.

20. Minnesota Vikings (27)

That was a really impressive performance. Not a whole lot more you can say.

19. Buffalo Bills (20)

A win over the Browns is a win, just unlikely to be a win that will make me give you a whole lot of credit.

18. Detroit Lions (12)

But at least they have quarterback issues!

17. Seattle Seahawks (23)

As Drew Forrester says, they’re 2-1*!

(Rankings 16-1 on Page 2…)

Glenn Clark’s rankings…

32. Miami Dolphins (Last Week: 28)

Perhaps it’s time to work on changing snap counts

31. Indianapolis Colts (31)

Andrew Luck didn’t look terrible, though.

30. Cleveland Browns (32)

Pat Shurmur can’t wait too long for math lessons.

29. Buffalo Bills (16)

What a disaster. It can’t be as bad as it looked…can it?

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (26)

Nearly stole a road win. I can vision quite a few close calls this season.

27. Seattle Seahawks (27)

You can’t lose to Kevin Kolb and improve.

26. St. Louis Rams (25)

They got hosed by timeout mismanagement. They’re still lacking targets for Bradford.

25. Oakland Raiders (21)

I think we understand more why guys like Morgan Cox and Nick Sundberg have played through injury.

24. Carolina Panthers (17)

They ARE still capable of running the football, right?

23. Minnesota Vikings (24)

I guess we have our answers about Adrian Peterson…

22. Arizona Cardinals (29)

The.whole.quarterback.thing.

21. Tennessee Titans (20)

The Patriots will make a lot of teams look bad.

20. Kansas City Chiefs (15)

I thought they were better defensively.

19. Cincinnati Bengals (9)

They aren’t this bad. They just got their ass kicked.

18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (22)

It wasn’t an eternity ago that they were a team on the rise.

17. Washington Redskins (30)

I’m not all in yet, but it’s hard to not be impressed.

(Glenn’s rankings 16-1 on Page 2…)

Major League Baseball’s All Star Game carries about the same amount of condescension and pity as someone holding a surprise party for themselves.  Its one big MLB love fest, except anyone with a brain turns the game off and is left with animosity…or maybe that’s just me.

It all starts with the voting.  Any bloke with a computer can vote for their favorite players regardless of whether they are deserving or not.  I hate to be “that guy” but the old voting system where you had to actually go to a game to cast one was leagues better.  Not only did it draw in more fans, but it also ensured that at least the fans who were voting cared enough about the game that they actually went to one.  Don’t even get me started on the Twitter voting.  That was one of the most asinine things I’ve seen.  Not only did it destroy my timeline, but the fact that all of western Asia was able to vote for Yu Darvish was just completely unfair.  Fan voting influence needs to be decreased.  There are far too many snubs that should’ve made it and players that shouldn’t be there (ahem, Bryce Harper) that are.

The game used to mean something.  But those days are long gone.  Being an All Star used to be an honor and the players would reflect that on the field during the game.

Some players don’t even want to be there and until this year they were allowed to simply opt out.  I’m sorry but I can’t take any game seriously in which a rule had to be instituted that players have to participate if elected or they will be fined if they don’t have a legitimate injury.  Why wouldn’t you want players to play who actually want to be there?  Wouldn’t that be more entertaining Bud Selig?

The fact that only 5 teams are represented in each of the starting lineups is utterly ridiculous as well.  If I wanted to watch the Rangers, Tigers, or Yankees, I would just tune into ESPN on any given night.  To combat this and in order to insure “fairness”, baseball mandated that every team must have at least one participant.  So when you have so many from so few teams and then you have to add at least one more for the rest of the teams, it just gets to be a ridiculous amount of people.  And some of them don’t even get to play.  It’s just a microcosm of everything that is wrong with the MLB.  You have the league dominated by a few teams and the MLB tries to make up for that but ends up failing (see revenue sharing, or lack thereof). 

Sure, baseball’s All Star game is the closest thing to the real game, but that’s one of the problems with it.  It’s the same as every other game.  Interleague play has really done a number on its popularity.  Before interleague play, the game used to be one of the only time you could see the best from the AL play the best from the NL.  I have already seen the likes Bryce Harper, RA Dickey, and Dan Uggla because they have played the Orioles during interleague play.  It has taken the sense of surprise and unpredictability out of it.  It’s not special anymore because everyone has seen these most of these players play their team at some point.

And it’s not just the All Star game that is a joke.  If you didn’t watch the Home Run Derby, I completely envy you.  The fact that there was three hours of televised home run jacking is just absurd…THREE HOURS!  The most exciting part of the whole thing last night was watching Adam Jones chow down on some ribs.

But the biggest mistake Major League Baseball has made with the Midsummer Classic was the knee jerk reaction to the tie that occurred ten years ago.  Baseball’s genius idea to avoid future ties and to ‘make it more interesting’ was to add incentive to the game: home field advantage to the winning league in the World Series.  I guarantee you that Adam Jones isn’t worried about striking out for fear the AL might get home field advantage in the World Series.  I mean, he could care less about his own individual performance since getting his new contract.  What if an 88 win team somehow makes it to the World Series against a 108 win team?  You’re telling me the 88 win team should get home field advantage because their league won a scrimmage back in July?  I’m sorry, but you can take that cow fodder somewhere else.

MLB’s All Star game is completely flawed as is every leagues all star game.  But it will continue to exist because they get to show off their “best” players to everyone.  It’s just one big advertisement for Major League Baseball; that Fox actually pays them for.  Genius business strategy I’d say.  I don’t blame them for having one.  If I was in their position I would have a party for myself too.

I just blame people for watching the sorry excuse that is…

NFL PLAYERS FILE COLLUSION COMPLAINT AGAINST NFL, TEAM OWNERS

Washington, D.C. – The Class Counsel under the Reggie White settlement agreement and the NFL Players Association today filed a complaint, on behalf of the NFL players, charging the NFL, its clubs and their owners of collusion during the 2010 NFL season. The complaint details a conspiracy to violate the anti-collusion and anti-circumvention provisions in the White Settlement Agreement (SSA) by “imposing a secret $123 million per-Club salary cap for that uncapped 2010 season.”

The written claim is filed with the United States District Court of Minnesota, which oversees the SSA and alleges that the league and owners acted illegally and “solely by self-interest, unconstrained by their clear and unambiguous SSA obligations.”

“When the rules are broken in a way that hurts the game, we have an obligation to act. We cannot standby when we now know that the owners conspired to collude,” said DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA Executive Director.

“Our union recently learned that there was a secret salary cap agreement in an uncapped year. The complaint today is our effort to fulfill our duty to every NFL player. They deserve to know, above all, the facts and the truth about this conspiracy,” said Domonique Foxworth, NFLPA President.

The complaint cites John Mara, owner of the New York Giants, who also serves as the Chair of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee, as publicly confirming that the NFL directed teams to restrict players’ salaries during the uncapped year. When asked about imposed penalties for the Redskins and Cowboys, he replied: “What they did was in violation of the spirit of the salary cap. They attempted to take advantage of a one-year loophole … full well knowing there would be consequences.”

Such a scheme breaches express anti-collusion and anti-circumvention provisions of the SSA and the owners’ duty of good faith in implementing the SSA.

In the filing, it is alleged that the NFL and owners furthered their concealment by “approving the very player contracts that enabled the Redskins, Cowboys, Raiders, and Saints to exceed the secret, collusive salary cap” and, prior to and on March 11, 2012, failed to disclose to the players or the NFLPA “that the true reason for the then-proposed reallocation was to penalize the Redskins, Cowboys, Raiders, and Saints for not fully abiding by the Collusive Agreement.”

Also as described in the complaint, these collusion and other claims are entirely new and were previously unknown to the players and the NFLPA. They therefore were not asserted, and could not have been asserted, in the previous actions that were filed in either Brady. v. NFL or under the SSA in the White litigation.

The players and the NFLPA will be represented in these proceedings by Jeffrey Kessler, David Feher and David Greenspan of Winston & Strawn, LLP; James Quinn of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP; David Barrett, James Barrett, Daniel Schecter, Thomas Heiden and Michael Nelson of Latham & Watkins, LLP; Barbara Berens of Berens & Miller, P.A.; Mark Jacobson of Lindquist & Vennum, PLLP and DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA.

As first reported by the NFL Network, the Baltimore Ravens hosted former Houston Texans WR Jacoby Jones for a visit Sunday.

Jacoby Jones became an interesting name for Ravens fans after the NFL Draft, as the Texans’ selection of DeVier Posey made it appear as though the veteran receiver could become expendable for the team. He obviously was, as the team took only days to part ways with Jones.

Perhaps adding Jones to the mix would be a good idea for the Ravens. He’s been in the league for five years, but has only spent the last three seasons getting significant reps as a wide receiver. His numbers aren’t spectacular (31 catches, 512 yards and two touchdowns in 2011), but they’re certainly serviceable for a complementary receiver. The Ravens clearly need depth, as behind starters Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin they have just four combined career receptions (all belonging to LaQuan Willams) from a group that also includes Tandon Doss, David Reed, Phillip Livas, Rodney Bradley, Patrick Williams and 6th round pick Tommy Streeter.

As much as the Ravens may have needed a playmaker type, they clearly needed depth at the position in general. Jones could bring that, and could also bring experience in the return game. Despite his two fumbles against the Baltimore Ravens in the 2011 NFL Playoffs, he has four TD returns (3 punt, 1 kickoff) in his career.

An even more intriguing name that has loosely been discussed amongst Ravens fans is the name Michael Crabtree. The San Francisco 49ers wide receiver has been a hot topic after the team drafted Illinois WR AJ Jenkins in the first round of the NFL Draft. In addition to Jenkins, the team has added veteran free agent receivers Mario Manningham and Randy Moss this offseason, leading to some speculation that the team could be prepared to move on from Crabtree after selecting him with the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

I want to reiterate that the rumors surrounding Crabtree have been thinly veiled. While a National Football League source told me he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the Ravens had interest in trading for Crabtree, no true source has been able to confirm that actual interest exists. However, in my chat with CBSSports.com NFL writer Clark Judge (who is honestly amongst the absolute best in his line of work) last Friday on “The Reality Check” on AM1570 WNST.net, the Crabtree-Ravens conversation came up…

JUDGE: “Hey one other question for you, are you serious about taking that caller’s suggestion and trying to acquire Michael Crabtree?”

ME: “No, I don’t think that’s realistic at all. I was trying to play devil’s advocate.”

JUDGE: “The thing about Crabtree is that they would probably be willing to give him away because while he’s young, he’s an underachieving diva. A second rounder? I’d probably give him away for a fourth rounder.”

ME: “If they were willing to give him away for a fourth rounder, I’d be willing to have the conversation.”

JUDGE: “I wouldn’t want him on my team.”

It should be made clear that Judge didn’t report to me that the Niners were interested or willing to trade Crabtree away for a fourth round pick. He simply said that HE would be willing to do that if he were making the calls for San Fran. (The chat is available here in the BuyAToyota.com Audio Vault.)

I’ll say again what I said to Clark Judge. If the San Francisco 49ers were willing to trade Michael Crabtree away for a fourth round pick, I’d have the conversation. I’m aware that Crabtree has yet to fully live up to his potential as a Top 10 pick and has certainly had “personality issues” that stem back to his lengthy rookie holdout. I’m also aware that the former Texas Tech standout has become more and more productive in each of his three years in the league and his best year (2011) coincided with the year his quarterback (Alex Smith) finally moved into the “credible” category of NFL signal callers.

Let me stress, I’d have the conversation. But it’s important to point out again that this is not a fantasy football league. This is the NFL.

(Continued on Page 2…)

BALTIMORE, Md. - Morgan State tight Lamont Bryant has been selected by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent shortly after the conclusion of the three-day draft Saturday evening.

Bryant was the second of 12 undrafted free agent selections by the Ravens so far, joining North Carolina cornerback Charles Brown; Mississippi State offensive lineman James Carmon; Clemson fullback Chad Diehl; Georgia fullback Bruce Figgins; Slippery Rock wide receiver Devin Goda; UAB defensive tackle Elliott Henigan; Baylor defensive tackle Nick Jean-Baptiste; Tennessee fullback/linebacker Austin Johnson; Kent State defensive tackle Ishmaa’ily Kitchen; Alabama offensive lineman Alfred McCullough; and Western Kentucky running back Bobby Rainey.

The 6-5, 225-pound Bryant started 11 games in 2012 and ranked as the team’s leading receiver with 21 receptions (371 yards) and two TDs. He capped the season by being selected to the All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference First-Team.

Bryant’s stock rose on draft boards with a standout performance at the Morgan State Pro Day held in March. Bryant measured in at 6’5, 225, had an 80 1/4″ wingspan, ran the 40 in 4.45 and put up 19 reps on bench. He also registered a 10’3″ broad jump, a ridiculous 43″ vertical jump, and ran the short shuttle in 4.38.

In 2010, he recorded five catches for 55 yards (11.0 avg) in eight games. In ’09, he caught 18 passes for 251 yards (13.9-yard average) and two touchdowns on his way to first-team all-conference honors in 10 games.

The Newport News, Va., native was moved from quarterback to tight end in ’08 and saw action in five games on special teams, where he blocked two punts.

The last MSU tight end to enter the NFL was Visanthe Shiancoe who was drafted in the third round (91st overall) in the 2003 NFL Draft by the New York Giants and currently plays for the Minnesota Vikings.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — I almost thought about just re-posting the column I wrote two years ago.

I DEFINITELY thought about writing nothing at all.

But after the Baltimore Ravens traded their first round pick in the NFL Draft to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the Vikes’ 2nd and 4th round picks Thursday night, I had a few thoughts cross my mind.

After making the trade, General Manager Ozzie Newsome described the decision as “good business” for the Ravens. He might very well be correct. According to the famous Jimmy Johnson trade chart, the Ravens’ 29th overall pick was worth 640 points. The two picks acquired by the Ravens (35th and 98th overall) are worth a combined 658 points. Based on the chart alone, the trade really does appear to be “good business.”

Let’s drag this out a little bit though. The combined value of having the 129th-160th picks in the Draft (or ROUGHLY the entire 5th round) is 1,093.5 points. The 14th pick in the first round of the draft is 1,100 points. The value is almost exactly the same.

So with that in mind-which would you rather have? Would you rather have the 14th pick in the NFL Draft or the entire 5th round in the NFL Draft?

Don’t think about this TOO much. I don’t think there’s really a correct answer here.

The point I’m trying to drive home is that the acquisition of an additional pick or the breakdown of picks based on a numerical chart does not guarantee a selection in the draft is necessarily “good business.”

The last time the Ravens traded out of the first round was in 2010, when the team famously dealt the 25th overall pick in the first round of the Draft to the Denver Broncos for the 43rd, 70th and 114th overall picks in the Draft. The team would go on to select LB Sergio Kindle with the 43rd pick, TE Ed Dickson with the 70th and TE Dennis Pitta with the 114th. While Kindle has been almost a complete non-factor in the two seasons since the deal (and it is hard to imagine him becoming much more than that), Dickson and Pitta have established themselves as capable contributors at the pro level.

The player selected in the 25th spot was now New York Jets QB (and Special Teamer?) Tim Tebow. At first blush, the deal appears to have been “good business” indeed for the Baltimore Ravens.

But if we step back even a bit more, it’s worth identifying some of the players selected between the 25th and 43rd spot in the 2010 Draft. The list includes New England Patriots Pro Bowl CB Devin McCourty and TE Rob Gronkowski, as well as players like New Orleans Saints CB Patrick Robinson (4 interceptions in 2011), Miami Dolphins DL Jared Odrick (6 sacks in 2011), Detroit Lions RB Jahvid Best (over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and 6 combined TD’s in 2010 before an injury shortened 2011 campaign) and other promising young players.

The Ravens picked up Kindle, Dickson and Pitta but could have had Gronkowski.

This “which would you rather?” argument is nearly as compelling as the earlier one presented. In the spirit of full disclosure, the Ravens have said Gronkowski failed a physical before the 2010 Draft that took him off their board.

The 2010 deal could perhaps prove to ultimately be known as “good business” or it could ultimately be known as the year the Ravens missed on a chance to get one of the more dynamic players in the National Football League. Moreover, two of the players selected between the time the Ravens traded out of the 25th pick and ultimately selected with the 43rd pick in 2010 went on to help a Pats team eliminate the Ravens in the 2012 AFC Championship Game and prevent the Purple & Black from reaching their first Super Bowl in over a decade.

So while we’re quick to accept the idea that trading out of the first round with talented players still on the board like LB Courtney Upshaw, WR Stephen Hill, OL Peter Konz and OT Jonathan Martin was “good business” for the Ravens Thursday night, let’s tell the whole story and paint the entire picture. Trading out of the first round MIGHT have been good business for the Ravens.

It MIGHT be looked upon as the time the Ravens missed out on a future superstar like Vikings S Harrison Smith, San Francisco 49ers WR AJ Jenkins, New York Giants RB David Wilson or (perhaps) Indianapolis Colts LB Upshaw.

As the headline of this column suggested, the Baltimore Ravens may have pulled off “good business” by dealing out of the first round, but the more important need for the team is to acquire good players. If the Ravens acquire good players with the 35th and 98th picks this year, the deal will ultimately prove to truly be good business.

If the Ravens instead miss out on those picks, the deal will be known more as the year where a team looking to make the next step towards a Super Bowl title failed to acquire good players.

You’ll probably tell me I’m being negative. I’d like to think I’m just being realistic.

-G