Deflategate, possibly the greatest sports scandal ever, will reach a climax today as Tom Brady, Roger Goodell, Ted Wells and Jeffrey Kessler battle it out on the courtroom. The centerpiece of the offseason, dwarfing free agency and even the draft, will now be settled…or will it? Judy Battista of NFL Media predicts-oh, we'll get to that later. First, the dossiers. 

The quarterback is widely believed to be in on Deflategate. Ah, forget widely believed. EVERYBODY knows he did it. But the Pats may have found a solution. Sources tell us:  

Just joking. That was on Facebook. 
But anyway, most of you know all about Tom Brady, so I don't need to spend much time here. The important thing is that Bom Trady-er, Tom Brady's reputation hangs in the balance. 

Has there ever been a more unpopular commissioner than Roger Goodell? 
You could say he's earned his reputation. No football personality has ever made a bigger mess of things. Whether it's a huge scandal or a Baltimore Raven punching people, he just lollygags around not offending anybody. He just tries to make sure nobody gets mad at him.  
And oh, how he has failed.
I'll say this: he'd be an excellent politician. He knows how to get to the top and stay there. Unfortunately for him, this isn't politics, this is football. And while he could totally be in Congress right now, I can't see him in the Supreme Court. We'll see how he fares on the bench. 

Wells is probably the Number One coolest person involved in this hearing. 
He is one of the best defense attorneys in the world. He went to college with a Supreme Court Justice. He went to Harvard. He's worked for the NFL before. And he wrote the Wells Report. He'll attend the hearing. It'll be interesting to see what role he plays. 

The lawyer backing Brady, Kessler is known to be an enemy of lousy commissioners everywhere. Among his clientele are the NFL Player's Association, the NHLPA, and the MLBPA. He's pretty much the voice of the players. He paved the way to the free agency system. If you fight the NFL, there's nobody you'd rather have on your side. 

It is speculated that Goodell may decrease the suspension to appease Brady and Kessler. Brady might get the Von Miller treatment and a worse suspension. Either way, he'll take it to court. Judy Battista of NFL Media reports that he wants his name cleared completely. Read the whole story at NFL.com. Thanks for reading this post. Please share on Facebook. 

Just for the record, I am a huge Broncos fan. Just because I think the Raiders will do well does not mean I think this is a good thing. And I think we'll have a great season. And whether he's in the slot or outside, wide receiver Cody Latimer will undoubtedly be a part of it. Look at that impossible catch. In the preseason. Obviously, he makes the list. Let's see who else. 

QBs: Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles, Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Osweiler, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Kellen Clemens, Tim Tebow, Zach Mettenberger
Some of these (Bridgewater, Carr, Bortles) are locks to break out and become a top-ten QB. Some (Mettenberger, Clemens, Mallett) are long shots. Others (Garoppolo, Osweiler, Hoyer) have a good chance-except they're backups. Tebow is in a class by himself. So, yeah, not much to say. Except that I think this will be the year of the sophomore quarterback.

RBs: Chris Ivory, Joe Randle, CJ Anderson, Alfred Blue, Branden Oliver, Latavius Murray, Jonas Gray, Denard Robinson, Carlos Hyde, Mark Ingram, Bobby Rainey
Wow. These would be surprises. CJ Anderson is my number-one fantasy RB, and I don't think he would surprise too many people with a top-three season. As for the rest, I think 3 or 4 might break into the top ten or fifteen. I also think that one year or another, with one team or another, all of these running backs will have a top-ten season. 

WRs: Cody Latimer, Martavis Bryant, Brandin Cooks, Donte Moncrief, Stedman Bailey, Charles Johnson, Dontrelle Inman
Could I be the ONLY one who thinks Dontrelle Inman is a great player? I probably am, but still, he is ready for a great year. He will have multiple top-ten seasons. The rest will probably make the top-thirty this year. My highest expectations are of Latimer and Bryant. 

Ks: Connor Barth, Cairo Santos, Josh Lambo, Garrett Hartley, Kai Forbath
Normally I don't list rookies as breakout players, but I needed one more kicker so I went with him. He might take a while to break out, though. Hartley looks good, but I haven't seen too much. Forbath is reliable, and this could be the year he gets to the next level. Santos and Barth will join the top five this year.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

 I am the owner of the Aurora Eagles, an NFL.com fantasy team. I'm in a league with my family and my younger brother's best friend. (The kid got Peyton Manning two years in a row. Don't ask me how.) Last year, my draft grade was C- and my projected record was 3-13. I got third place anyway. So, here are my draft tips!

1: Draft a superstar RB in the first round, if possible. Keywords if possible. It's great if you can grab CJ Anderson, Le'Veon Bell or Adrian Peterson with the first or second pick. Choosing Matt Forte, Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy or DeMarco Murray a few picks later is also a safe bet. A superstar running back will quickly become the backbone of your team. But if you're in a, say, 14-person league and the biggest star RB left is Alfred Morris, then just grab him in the second round and choose Andrew Luck or Demaryius Thomas. 


2: Keep an eye out for sleepers and breakout candidates. I have my eye on Teddy Bridgewater, Ricardo Lockette, Cody Latimer, and Latavius Murray, to name a few. In defensive player leagues, Bradley Roby or Keith McGill might be a worthwhile experiment. They are in the perfect position to edge into the top ten. You may get a high-quality player a few picks before the kicker round.


3: On that note, FORGET THE KICKER ROUND! Unless you got Dan Carpenter, kicking will not produce much in your league. Use that pick on another sleeper experiment and pick up a breakout kicker in free agency. 


4: It's okay to have a bad draft. Whether you made poor choices or just didn't have a good draft position, it's not the end of your season. Free agency is a valuable tool. An undrafted sleeper who becomes a star or a trade that fills many positions of need can totally redeem you from bad draft luck.       

QB Jeff George, the first overall draft pick of the 1990 NFL Draft, and longtime member of the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings, truly deserves to be in Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame, said absolutely nobody.

George, who threw for over 27,500 yards and 154 touchdowns during twelve professional seasons, “absolutely should have a bust in Canton Ohio,” no one said.  “Just by comparing him statistically to other QBs of his era, you can see his worthiness of such an honor.  But in addition to that, it’s his character and leadership that make him such a prime candidate for Hall inclusion,” nobody continued.

Retired since 2004, George remains a favorite of absolutely no fans, and says he “very much appreciates all the warmth and well-wishes” that he gets from no one.  He claims he would be “honored to make it into the NFL’s Hall of Fame one day,” and that “as long as I have all this support and encouragement from nobody, who knows what will happen.”

That was written by the staff at Pro Football Mock, the premier satire website in the NFL. If you want to read more of their articles, follow this link: http://profootballmock.com

On that note, I agree with nobody. Jeff George is definitely a Hall-of-Famer in my book. 

I don't mean Gerald McCoy and Vincent Jackson should star in a nasal medicine commercial. I mean Michael Vick. 
Why?
Think about it. Tampa's new GM has just drafted a hotshot quarterback out of Florida State with tremendous upside, but a good chance of busting because of off-field issues. As I've told you in some of my previous posts, young Jameis Winston is one good role model away from a clean slate and a shot at greatness. Lovie Smith, like it or not, is purely defensive in his approach to football, similarly to Rex Ryan. Mike Glennon is a great guy who plays great football, but he's just not the kind of veteran mentor Winston needs right now.
So who'd work?
Michael Vick is an all-time great. He's more on the level of Jeff George and Sonny Jurgensen (or, for our younger readers, Daunte Culpepper), but a HOF-er nonetheless. He's also famous for turning his life around, going from gambling and dog-fighting to founding charitable organizations and just becoming a real nice man. His arm is definitely not what it once was, but they don't need it. They need his heart and his experience to mentor Jameis Winston.
A match made in heaven, right? The NFL's face of turning lives around and second chances comes to help a young QB turn around his, while getting a very different kind of second chance himself. 
Just one hangup. What about Glennon? Can the Bucs afford to have three star quarterbacks? 
Well, it's not the trade deadline yet, is it? They can trade him to some team with an offensive line but not a good QB. I'm thinking San Diego.
Oh, STOP LAUGHING. Philip Rivers can only lead his team to victory when he thinks he can. It's a real red flag when a leader loses faith in his team. He'll retire in January 2016, after winning his team the first overall pick. Mike Glennon could step right into a starting role with the Chargers, or at least a reliable backup. The Bolts would be happy to trade an offensive lineman or two for Glennon. 
So, there is my idea for Vick's new team. It's one of those scenarios where everybody wins.