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Most Shocking Developments From NFL OTAs Thus Far

Posted by on Jun 6, 2014 06:01

The most recent phase of NFL OTAs are drawing to a close and it’s time to reflect on the most surprising, tragic and bizarrely predictable developments of recent weeks. Peruse below for the most shocking takeaways from this fleeting portion of the 2014 offseason.

Daryl Washington suspended for 2014 season

Arguably the best defensive player in football early in the 2012 season, Washington has trended downward in the time since. Still, it was reasonable to expect him to bounce back from an off-year in 2013 that began with a four-game ban.

This makes Washington’s latest suspension, one year for violating the league’s Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse, a huge blow. Washington and the departed Karlos Dansby take 11 sacks, five batted passes and 20 quarterback hurries with them, as Arizona’s once-dominant 34 inside linebacker corps now looks suspect. Pro Football Focus founder Neil Hornsby touched on how productive this tandem was for the Cardinals defense in his most recent podcast.

In steps second-year linebacker Kevin Minter—who took one snap in 2013. And the rest of the depth chart at ILB is headed by Ernie Sims, Larry Foote, Lorenzo Alexander and Kenny Demens. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will have his work cut out this offseason.

Jordan Reed gets candid on concussions

Reed’s career got off a to a blistering start as he finished the season third in yards per route run among tight ends behind just Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski, according to Pro Football Focus. However, concussion issues cost him the final seven games of the 2013 season and may jeopardize his career going forward.

For a player in the midst of controversy over the extent of his concussion issues, Reed’s admission to hiding an earlier concussion before the season-ender comes as a stunningly honest comment in the landscape of still-active players.

Reed spoke, and David Elfin of The Sports Xchange reported it: “I think I had had a concussion two weeks before, but I didn’t tell nobody so when I took a shot to the side of my head against the Eagles it made it worse. I was in a bad spot for a long time.  I didn’t know if they would ever go away, but I’m past it now.”

Sean Lee tears ACL in non-contact practice

It’s an absolute shame that one of the league’s best young players is finding such horrific luck with the injury bug. This will greatly hamper Dallas’ ability to stop the run, where Lee ranked first among ILBs in Pro Football Focus‘ run-stop percentage metric last season (min. 200 snaps).

Lee has been one of the rare versatile players that can elevate the level of his entire defensive unit.

Lee missed five games in 2013 and a toe injury cost him a good chunk of his 2012 campaign. Ex-Lion Justin Durant and fourth-rounder Anthony Hitchens along with returning Cowboys DeVonte Holloman and Orie Lemon should contend for the spot. Holloman struggled in replacing Lee down the stretch last year and Lemon took only six snaps.

Matthew McConaughey shows up to Redskins OTAs

Going from Dallas Buyers Club to Washington Redskins camp.

The cynic in me says this is somehow tied to Daniel Snyder’s many failed attempts to galvanize the fanbase behind their racially insensitive franchise name.

Snyder did not get McConaughey to say the Redskins’ name is “alright, alright, alright with Native Americans.” On to Plan E. (Joke: Please don’t sue me Snyder.)

Giants’ secondary hit with waves of suspension

New York’s secondary appeared incredibly deep after their free-agent run on defensive backs and perhaps this signaled obstacles foreseen by general manager Jerry Reese.

New York re-signed Stevie Brown while adding Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Quintin Demps, Zack Bowman and fifth-rounder Nat Berhe to a defensive backfield that already had Antrel Rolle, 2011 first-rounder Prince Amukamara, and 2012 third-rounder Jayron Hosley (suspended for four games) in place. And ex-Giants safety Will Hill was hit with a six-game suspension and released by the team on Monday.

“They know if they’re going to be tested and when they’re going to be tested. It’s, like I said, too easy to do right to keep doing wrong,” Rolle said, via Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger. “That’s something we don’t need around here. We don’t need that [publicity] — fans asking me on Twitter, ‘What is up with the secondary?’ It’s a bad reflection. It doesn’t look good.”

This defense has typically excelled most when playing Rolle alongside two other safeties. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell worked wonders with subpackages involving Kenny Phillips, Deon Grant and Rolle in New York’s 2011 Super Bowl run, and it would’ve been interesting to see Fewell work with Rolle, Hill and Brown. Giants fans lament.

Vernon Davis claims he missed OTAs for self-branding

It’s been widely acknowledged that Davis is missing Niners OTAs in an effort to catalyze a contract extension, which would make the loss of a $200,000 OTA bonus more palatable. Nope, Davis says, it’s all about spending some quality time on branding.

“You know what, every decision I make is in the best interest of my brand,” Davis told Jay Mohr Sports during a radio interview on Wednesday, as transcribed by CBS Sports. “At the end of the day, we sometimes have to make a business decision. And my decision is to work out on my own and focus on building my brand.”

Then, on SportsCenter: “Everyone was just assuming I wanted a new contract. I just take it one day at a time. If they offer me a new contract, I’ll gladly take it. I’ll accept it.”

Davis probably saw an opportunity to pimp Fantex after making a major investment in the player-stock business, while continuing to dance around the more direct language he could use in this situation. Davis has gone to great lengths to avoid ruffling feathers of the Niners brass with his rhetoric, but Davis’ actions make it very clear that his eye is on the matters relevant to his monetary future.

Johnny Manziel spends first weekend of OTAs in Vegas

I guess this should be filed under “not shocking”, but what the heck.

As I touched on briefly in the radio spot below, his persona makes this a story. And how quickly he grasps Kyle Shanahan’s offense can make this a non-story. Oh, offseason fodder.

About Thomas Emerick

Merry freelancer. NFL Lead Writer at The Sports Daily, Contributor to Sporting News. May have also seen my work at USA Today, Bleacher Report, Pro Football Focus and the late AOL FanHouse. VT grad. I am also an avid diabetic.

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