NFL in London

National Football League in London

Aaron Rodgers 2023

Draft Eve

by

Are your NFL stockings hung by the fireplace with care, in hopes that Draft Eve will bring your team the talent to spare?

Welcome to the giddiness of the 2023 NFL Draft, as we bust your ear drums open with some banter of how we see the first bit of the draft going, and all the saucy news that will make up the hot gossip of trades around the week.
Buckle up!

Wade McElwain and Ryan Cull dust off their other life, and hop back into the NFL saddle as the cobwebs are off to start 2023!

If you would like to listen to the full Draft Eve podcast, you can click here for the Soundcloud, or find us on iTunes and Spotify as well.

Aaron ‘Jet’ Rodgers

Well it’s official kids, Aaron Rodgers is finally following in the footsteps of Brett Favre and moving off to the Big Apple.
The deal is finally done in a swap of rounders and Woody goes ‘all in’ on hoping that the guru veteran take them to the playoff land.
For both teams it’s a chance to finally move on to the season with the Draft now a focus on how they are going to surround them.
Giving Rodgers a solid o-line and a big old tight end might be some of the keys that he needs.
Rodgers will once again be wearing his Golden Bear 8, perhaps trying to channel his inner youth in a cleanse to start over.
8 could also be the number of interceptions he throws in a game given his predecessors.
Given the move to a 17 week season, the alignment means that an NFC North and NFC battle zone could see a 25% chance of the Packers playing the Jets again this year. The Jets won in 2022, maybe they could do it again.

Tom Brady

Nothing. Who cares. Made you look.

Draft Drama

We all know that the draft brings with it the joy of seeing your team jiggle it up to prime for a new run, but it’s also that dirty drama drama that accompanies it.
What’s the deal with Derek Henry? Is Dalvin Cook going anywhere? Has everyone forgot about Lamar? Lamar is missing y’all!
With a bucket load of free agent talent out there, and not a lot of cash to back it up, could there be some people that have to suck it up for cheap?
Welcome to 2023.

Draft Picks

In some ways it feels like kind of a ‘meh’ draft, because there isn’t really anyone with ‘pizza-azzle’ to ignite a flurry of excitement.
That being said, in an injury prone league of increased play time, the more bodies the better.
Big, young, fat men with questionable diets lead the focus, as DE, OT, C’s and BLT’s are the hunger of many a GM.
Any why not? After seeing so many QB’s get smashed by inept lines of fourth stringers, and the knowledge that just one of these kids could change the whole dynamic of a line.
QBs will sill be the focus though, but the cost of living crisis has also made some cuts to the height of the top talent.
Woe is the short man in this new game, where the Tua’s and Kyler’s college shuffle didn’t translate to a league where smackdown and field vision are more prevalent.

International Games

Okay folks, the big news is only weeks away. Word is that we will get the announcement of the full NFL in London games on May 4th, 2023!  That’s right, cancel your plans that day, as we your world is about to change.
We will not only know who plays the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, and Jacksonville Jaguars, but also the dates.
We will NOT know anything about that though for a while. Please watch the NFLUK website for that, as they will have all the legit news.
Please make sure that you don’t buy any tickets online before the official news, as they are deffo a big scam.
Check out out socials. You have our permission. You can also touch them if you want.
It’s been a long offseason.

Top 10 NFL Drafts of the Past 30 Years

by

With the NFL draft looming on the horizon, it’s time to look at some of the best NFL Drafts from the past thirty years.
The Draft is an exciting time for football fans as they eagerly await to see which players their favourite teams will select. Over the past 3 decades, there have been some remarkable drafts that have produced many stars and legends of the game.
Here we will take a look at the top 10 NFL drafts of the past 30 years, as this one isn’t going to crack any ‘top lists.’

  1. 1996 NFL Draft

    This draft produced some of the greatest players in NFL history. The top three picks in this draft were all future Hall of Famers: Keyshawn Johnson, Kevin Hardy, and Jonathan Ogden. Other notable players in this draft include Ray Lewis, Eddie George, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens, and Zach Thomas. The 1996 Draft had some of the top players across every position. Those were the days.

  2. 2011 NFL Draft

    The 2011 draft was one of the deepest in NFL history, producing many future stars who are still playing today. Cam Newton was the first overall pick, and he went on to win the NFL MVP award in 2015. Other notable players in this draft include Von Miller, A.J. Green, Julio Jones, J.J. Watt, Richard Sherman, and Colin Kaepernick.

  3. 1989 NFL Draft

    The 1989 draft produced three players who would go on to win the NFL MVP award: Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, and Deion Sanders. Other notable players in this draft include Derrick Thomas, Steve Atwater, and Mark Carrier. Check out some of the pictures of the 1989 Draft, and the fashion choices alone should let you know that it was totally different era.

  4. 1991 NFL Draft

    The 1991 draft produced many future Hall of Famers, including Brett Favre, Aeneas Williams, and Herman Moore. Other notable players in this draft include Ricky Watters, Ted Washington, and Mike Croel. Hard to believe that this draft was over 32 years ago.

  5. 2012 NFL Draft

    The 2012 draft produced many top QB stars of the future, including Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson. Other notable players in this draft include Luke Kuechly, Fletcher Cox, and Bobby Wagner. Despite being 10 years ago, there are still a few players from this draft playing in the league.

  6. 1998 NFL Draft

    The 1998 draft produced two future Hall of Famers in Peyton Manning and Randy Moss. Other notable players in this draft include Charles Woodson, Fred Taylor, and Hines Ward. This was more of the ‘grit-iron’ generation of tough as nails players.

  7. 2017 NFL Draft

    The 2017 draft produced many impact players, including the first overall pick, Myles Garrett. Other notable players in this draft include Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, and Alvin Kamara. This Draft is also known as the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda,’, as many pundits and fans lament of what could have been had players signed elsewhere.

  8. 2001 NFL Draft

    The 2001 draft produced many Pro Bowl players, including LaDainian Tomlinson, Steve Hutchinson, and Richard Seymour. Other notable players in this draft include Michael Vick, Drew Brees, and Reggie Wayne. This could have been known as the HOF class, as many of the players in this group were record-setters.

  9. 2004 NFL Draft

    The 2004 draft produced three future Hall of Famers in Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger. Other notable players in this draft include Larry Fitzgerald, Vince Wilfork, and Jared Allen. 2004 brought us a whack load of great QBs, which beckons when another draft like this could happen?

  10. 1999 NFL Draft

    The 1999 draft produced five future Hall of Famers, including Edgerrin James, Champ Bailey, and Torry Holt. Other notable players in this draft include Ricky Williams, Donovan McNabb, and Jevon Kearse.

The NFL draft is a significant event in the April calendar of football, and it has produced many great players over the years. The drafts listed above were some of the best of the past 30 years, producing numerous stars and legends of the game. As football fans, we look forward to seeing what the future holds for the NFL draft and the next generation of players who will make their mark on the league.

Who will be the star of the future in the 2023 NFL Draft?

 

Spring Steps

by

Well it certainly feels like the NFL is going to be very interesting with the amount of action we have seen the past few weeks in the league, as we take a look at some of the Spring Steps.

Some of the biggest names are on the move, while some even top tier names still have nothing going on with them. What’s the deal with that?

We’ll take a look at some of the moving and shaking going on in the league thus far, as we check in on some of the teams and see what the heck they are doing?

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons NEED a QB for 2023, it all depends where they are going to get him from.

With most of the major talent gone, it seems that the best hope for a new passer this season is in the Draft. C’mon, can you really build a squad around Desmon Ridder after the Mariota season last year?

Who and how they end up with should have big impact on some of the players that they have already started to build around.

ATL traded for TE Jonnu Smith from the Patriots, as well as snagging Taylor Heinicke from the Commanders, but it was their splash for cash on former Bengals safety Jessie Bates III that brought the most head scratches.
Sure, the Falcons D sucks, but do you really need to make Bates the 4th highest paid safety in the league?

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers have made no secret that this is going to be a ‘rebuilding year’ after having liquidated their assets over the past few seasons.

Trading off McCaffery last year, then the trade up with the Bears shows that Carolina is looking for a fresh restart to build the team around a new, young stud.

Carolina has made some pretty major acquisitions in this offseason, taking Miles Sanders from the Eagles, picking up Adam Thielen from the Vikings, Hayden Hurst and the solid ginger-ninja in Andy Dalton to back up whatever pretty boy they bring in.

The Panthers defence wasn’t horrible last year, so the additions of players like DeShawn Williams, Shy Tuttle, Justin McCray and Vonn Bell should help them from leaking points in 2023.

Chicago Bears

The Bears shuffled off their number one pick to the Panthers, allowing them to put the focus mainly on giving Justin Fields the tools that he needs to develop into a fully grown Bear.

Chicago blew some of its wad on former Bill Tremaine Edmunds, which is quite odd considering they could have just tossed that cash at All Pro Roquan Smith.

They did make a great move to snag the handsy DJ Moore from the Panthers, RB Travis Homer from the Seahawks, former Packer Robert Tonyan, RB D’onta Foreman and back up QB PJ Walker.
It’s like the Bears kind of cleaned out the closets of Carolina to find the simple things that ‘bring them joy.’

With the NFC North in flux, it could be more than a rebuild year for the Bears.

Denver Broncos

Splashing cash to protect the ass of Russell Wilson has been the driving force for the Broncos, who bolstered their D this week with some pretty key additions.

Former 49er Mike McGlinchey helps Denver out at tackle, although at a hefty 5 years for $87.5 million.
Adding to him is guard Ben Powers ($52 million), as well as another $45.8m for former Cardinal DE Zach Allen.

Offensively the Broncos also grabbed former Bengal Samaje Perine to help their running game, as well as slinger Jason Stidham to help in the back up role when Wilson inevitably ends up injured midseason.

It’s high hopes for the Broncos in 2023, in a division that will offer very little hope.

Lamar

How ya feeling Lamar? Feeling the love yet? Didn’t think so.

This drama is going to go down to the wire, and will probably end up with Jackson signing with the Patriots anyhow, just to make the AFC East a cluster-bang of teams for 2023.

Aaron

Can we just buy the guy a groundhog? Then it can tell us what it’s thinking, and whether or not we need to bother listening to it, or we can just go back to bed?