FFToolbox - Wade Phillips tapped as Broncos new DC plus 5 more

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Wade Phillips tapped as Broncos new DC
Eagles RB LeSean McCoy not open to taking pay cut
Redskins QB Robert Griffin III: 'I wasn't healthy and it sucked'
Report: Buccaneers have their 'sights set' on QB Marcus Mariota
Browns WR Josh Gordon: 'I failed myself'
Bears Insider Report: Ka'Deem Carey in 2015 (PREMIUM PREVIEW)

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 10:08 PM PST

Once again joining forces with newly hired head coach Gary Kubiack, Wade Phillips has been tapped to oversee the Broncos defense. With 38 years of NFL coaching experience - the bulk of them as a defensive coordinator - Phillips will probably roll out a 3-4 defense in Denver. The 67-year-old coach has a history with Denver and GM John Elway, having served as the team's DC from 1989-1992 and head coach from 1992-1993. FANTASY ANALYSIS: He may not be an offensive genius, but Phillips can juice up a defense. His aggressive style should work well in Denver, potentially boosting the IDP values of LB Von Miller and DE DeMarcus Ware. If QB Peyton Manning returns for a final season, a further beefed up defense might help him hobble his way to yet another Super Bowl appearance.

Eagles RB LeSean McCoy not open to taking pay cut

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 09:40 PM PST

While being interviewed at Super Bowl Radio Row on Thursday, Eagles RB LeSean McCoy said he didn't quot;want to take less money" in order to keep the current team together. At $11,950,000 in 2015, McCoy's cap number will be the second highest in the league. Philadelphia is expected to retain the stud RB, but the organization would save $7,550,000 if he was released. Understanding that a pay cut would free up enough cash to bring back some of his other teammates, McCoy remains adamant about being paid what he was initially promised. FANTASY ANALYSIS: If McCoy isn't open to at least restructuring his deal, the Eagles will have trouble bringing No. 1 WR Jeremy Maclin back. Shady managed to stay relatively healthy for the whole of 2013 and 2014, but his productivity dipped this past season. McCoy's certainly still a stud, but Maclin had a career year. It'll be interesting to see how far Philly will go to keep both of their stars in the City of Brotherly Love.

Redskins QB Robert Griffin III: 'I wasn't healthy and it sucked'

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 07:04 PM PST

Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III dislocated his left ankle in Week 2 this season. He missed the next six games to get healthy, but that never happened. Even after Griffin returned in Week 9, he felt the effects of the injury. RGIII admitted as much in a Wednesday radio interview. quot;Last year, I wasn't healthy, and it sucked," Griffin said. "There's no other way to say it other than that." Griffin said his ankle was so bad that he could have taken the rest of the season off to get truly healed up, but he indicated that he pushed himself to get on the field as the losses mounted for Washington. Through five starts in the second half of the year, Griffin completed 66.4 percent of his throws with 224 passing yards per game. But his touchdown-to-turnover ratio was a putrid 5:9. FANTASY ANALYSIS: Griffin talked mostly about how tough this season was and how he's looking forward to being 100 percent for 2015. But for how long? He missed nine games in 2013 and 2014 combined, and his production in those years couldn't even touch what he did as a rookie in 2012. Plus, his yards-per-carry average has dropped off by almost a full yard in each of the past two seasons, and he didn't exactly see eye to eye with first-year head coach Jay Gruden. We're heading into another make-or-break campaign for RGIII. Emphasis on the "break." He's locked into the QB2 range.

Report: Buccaneers have their 'sights set' on QB Marcus Mariota

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 06:16 PM PST

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, quot;there's a real sense that Tampa Bay has its sights set on Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota." Of course, the Bucs have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. They are fully expected to take a quarterback at the top, either Mariota or Florida State's Jameis Winston. FANTASY ANALYSIS: Who likes to dance? That's what Mariota's draft stock will be doing until April 30. He was viewed as the No. 1 pick for the majority of the college season. Then the Ducks lost the national championship game to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Mariota didn't play well, and his draft position began to fall in mocks. Scout's Gil Arcia reported that the Bucs weren't sold on Mariota as the best choice ... and now we're back to where we started. Of course, these are just reports; the Bucs aren't going to tip their hand. So get ready for notes about Mariota's stock yo-yoing (allegedly) for the next three months. Oh, well. It's still better than Deflategate.

Browns WR Josh Gordon: 'I failed myself'

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 05:10 PM PST

In a 2,000-word, first-person account presented Thursday on Medium.com, Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon took blame for his mistakes, slammed some of his more famous detractors and presented details of his life history and substance use. The 2013 All-Pro is facing another league-imposed suspension, one at least a year long, after failing a drug test for alcohol shortly after the Browns' 2014 season ended. Gordon writes that he was on a flight with some teammates to Las Vegas on Jan. 2 and consumed four alcoholic beverages. He claims it was his first taste of alcohol since his DWI arrest in July 2014. Believing that he had fulfilled a condition of his reinstatement from a 10-game suspension to not drink alcohol for the rest of the season, Gordon thought it was OK for him to drink. Upon landing, he received a request to report to a testing center, where his most recent failed test took place. quot;In the end, of course, I failed myself. It doesn't matter if I thought that the league-imposed restriction on drinking had expired at the end of the regular season; what matters is that I didn't confirm whether or not that was the case. Now, that oversight has further jeopardized my relationship with my team and our fans, my reputation, and maybe even my career." Gordon also lashes out at some of those who have chided him for his league illegalities -- specifically, Charles Barkley, Stephen A. Smith and Cris Carter -- for judging someone they don't know and for painting him as a depressed drug addict who is in a downward spiral. Gordon still maintains that his failed drug test that was announced during the 2014 draft was the result of second-hand smoke, that he hasn't smoked marijuana since prior to entering the league in 2012 and that many of his actions can be partially attributed to a childhood bereft of guidance, growing up in a rough section of Houston called Fondren. "What I do know is the following: I am not a drug addict; I am not an alcoholic; I am not someone who deserves to be dissected and analyzed like some tragic example of everything that can possibly go wrong for a professional athlete. And … I am not going to die on account of the troubled state you wrongly believe my life to be in. I am a human being, with feelings and emotions and scars and flaws, just like anyone else. I make mistakes -- I have made a lot of mistakes -- but I am a good person, and I will persevere. "If I have a 'problem,' it is that I am only 23 years old? -- with a lot left to learn. I've come a long way from those mean Fondren streets, but it's clear that I can be a better me ... . I truly believe that what I am going through right now will only make me stronger. I believe that my future is bright." FANTASY ANALYSIS: Gordon comes off as repentant and frank as well as defiant. It's a rather commendable step for an athlete staring down his fourth pro suspension in three years. Most public figures in Gordon's situation would run from any hint of spotlight. But the Browns' stud receiver is putting himself out front, telling his story, acknowledging that he is a flawed person but that he's also not many things people have characterized him as. Whether it matters to Roger Goodell is a different issue. Again, it was Gordon who made those mistakes. No excuses. And he has to pay for them. He writes that he may appeal his upcoming suspension, but at the moment, he looks as good as gone for 2015. A future failed test, no matter how slight, could effectively end Gordon's NFL career forever. At least he makes clear that he knows it.