2012 Breaking Down The Divisions: AFC SOUTH

A conference once noted for it's gun slingers has now moved to a league of premier runners. Three of the best runners in the league reside in this conference and make no mistake about it, they are all game changers

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Life In The Adamantium Bleachers: A Fans Look At The Hot Players In The NFL

Today we will take our fandom evaluation around the league with a look at 10 players or situations that impressed or surprised us on the past couple of weeks. Since we're all about the positives here at Bull City, let's start with the five players who put on particularly impressive showings this past Sunday and Monday.

Who’s Hot

1. Steven Jackson might become the poster boy for this section. The man just goes hard day in and day out. Sunday he seemed to be playing a little bit harder and acted as if he had something to prove. Maybe he didn’t like where I ranked him in the 5 best running backs in the league last week and he decided that he was going to prove me wrong. Seriously outside of Matt Forte is there a more complete runner in the league?

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NFL Draft 2011: How I Would Do It

The NFL Draft begins tonight and the first round is where teams like to spend their money. There is sure to be less wheeling and dealing this year than in years past as teams have really been putting in the time for the draft as they haven’t been able to work on free agency. Everyone has a big board but I am going to sure up everyone in the first round with players they need based on the BCSOM perspective. However I will show you who the experts say they should take versus who I think they should take. Let’s be clear, I am no expert, just a fan who sometimes crosses the line of fanatic. But I do have a sense of football. I have years of playing and coaching experience on every level possible to prove it.

Pick	Team	Expert Pick	My Pick	Biggest Need
1	Carolina	Cam Newton	Cameron Newton	QB, WR, DT
2	Denver	Marcel Dareus	Von Miller	QB, DT, DB
3	Buffalo	Von Miller	Marcel Dareus	Everything
4	Cincinnati	AJ Green	AJ Green	LB, DB, OL
5	Arizona	Blaine Gabbert	Blaine Gabbert	QB, OL
6	Cleveland	Julio Jones	Julio Jones	WR, OL, DL

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The Curious Case For Cam Newton

The past few days all I have heard are the so called experts tell football fans why the Carolina Panthers should not take Cameron Newton with the first overall pick in the draft. One guy loves him and his upside, and then the next guy gives you 100 reasons why he shouldn’t be the number one overall pick. My question is, why wouldn’t you want this kid? Everything about him says winner. When he was in high school he won. He was a member of the 2008 Florida National Championship team before his suspension. He took his talents to Blinn Junior College in 2009 and won a Juco National Championship. Then in 2010 he shows up at Auburn and wins another BCS National Championship.

Sure there are the intangibles. Can you trust the guy? Is he a legitimate franchise quarterback? Does he posses the skills needed to compete in the National Football League? My question is why so many questions? Tim Tebow was a pretty good college quarterback. He was drafted in the first round. Newton has already outperformed him as a passer in college and in workouts. Tebow showed everyone at the end of the year that he can be a legitimate passer and player in this league.

There is no doubt that the Panthers need a quarterback. They need one in the worst way. However, if Newton is not the kid you really want, go ahead and tank another season and wait for Andrew Luck. The way I see it is that Newton is the best quarterback on the board and if he doesn’t measure up to expectations, then pass on him. This situation bothers me a little anyways as it just reminds me too much of other great "savior" QB's to get drafted high and then not become what was expected.

There is no doubt in my mind that Newton will be fine in the NFL, just maybe not in Carolina because of the shape they are in. I feel the same way about Blaine Gabbert. If either is drafted they would be expected to start right away and neither of them will be ready for that. The learning curve for a rookie is far too high and transitioning from spread to traditional takes time.

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The Carolina Panthers Are On The Clock

The Carolina Panthers have a ton of needs to address, however the lack of ability to maneuver via free agency has crippled the franchises ability to position itself so that it could make all of the right moves to cater to the new regime. New coach Ron Rivera has many needs to address and it appears he is going to have to make a choice real soon whether or not he is going offensive or defensive.

If you take a look at what the Panthers already have on their team, going defensive makes perfectly good sense. There is a pair of defensive tackles out there that almost every team in the league would love to pair up with speedy defensive ends to get stability on their defensive front. Everyone is enamored with Nick Fairley of Auburn and Marcell Darius of Alabama. Both guys display first overall pick grades but the Panthers have a dilemma to address. Admittedly they haven’t been the runs stopping team since the departure of Kris Jenkins to the Jets. So putting a big guy inside could really help them get better on defense.

The real question looms as to whether the Panthers feel like former Notre Dame Quarterback Jimmy Clausen is that guy. Is he the franchise guy? Is he the guy you are willing to turn over the keys to the franchise to and say lead us to a championship? If the answer to that question is no, then are there any guys on the board that they feel can be that guy. There are only two names up for discussion when it comes to this years quarterback class. All have questions and all have doubts about playing in a pro system.

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