We have moved!

In case you were wondering where the blog has gone....it's officially moved over to WordPress! This site will still be left up for archive reasons, but if you want to see all the new content, cruise on over to THEUltimateSportsBlog.com!


-DJ

NBA Free Agency Grades (DAY TWO)

Day two of NBA free agency is in the books. It wasn't AS crazy as day one was....but it still had it's moments (GO ROCKETS!). Here's what went down in case you missed it. 

NBA Free Agency Grades

Day Two

-Los Angeles Lakers sign (SF) Luol Deng for 4-years, $72-million.

Deng averaged 12.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG, & 1.9 APG while playing 32 MPG in 74 games for the Miami Heat last season. 

Tremendous signing by the Lakers. Los Angeles has one of the youngest teams in the league and they need mature veteran players around to help keep the young guys in line. I probably would have preferred a two-year contract for Deng rather than giving him four, but I wouldn't be too nitpicky if I'm a Lakers fan. After an off-season that saw them hire the unproven Luke Walton as head coach and once again strike out on all the big-named free agents, they'll take any kind of good news they can get. Deng was a solid signing.

Grade: B-

NBA Free Agency Grades (DAY ONE)

NBA free agency is finally upon us. 

Here's a live look at NBA owners everywhere.....

Seriously though. The amount of money that was thrown out on the first day of NBA free agency was ludicrous. We all knew it was going to be insane, but were we expecting it to be THAT insane?!?! I mean, MIKE CONLEY is now the highest paid player in NBA history. Let that one sink in for a second.

.................

..............

..........

......

...

We good now? 

Anyway, with the first day of NBA free agency behind us and with the absolute wackiness of it all, it's only right that we here at THE Ultimate Sports Blog take a look back and grade each ridiculous contract that was handed out yesterday. 

Are you ready? I hope so. Because shit is about to get weird.

NBA Free Agency Grades

Day One

-Los Angeles Lakers sign (C) Timofey Mozgov for 4-years, $64-million.

Mozgov averaged 6.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, & 0.8 BPG while playing 17 MPG in 76 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. 

Ummm, yuck. Look, I know the Lakers don't have much to work with and they are in a bad spot right now. They have such a horrible team that no good free agents are even going to give them a meeting or even sniff their direction. That will change in a few years if D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram can develop into solid NBA players, but that's far from a guarantee. At the moment though, the Lakers need good players who can help those two develop. Giving a 4-year contract to a back-up center is ballsy. Giving a 4-year, $64 million contract to a back-up center is just plain fucking stupid.

Grade: F

Thunder and Lightning: A Tale Of Two People

We were supposed to go through it together. Worried that our favorite players from our favorite teams would leave for greener pastures or better situations. She was supposed to curse up a storm as Steven Stamkos flirted with the hated Detroit Red Wings and the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs. I was supposed to sulk as Kevin Durant listened to the bitchmade Golden State Warriors and the inferior San Antonio Spurs.

The situations were similar. 

Should These NBA Free Agents Be Brought Back? (PART TWO)

Yesterday was part one. Today is part two. 

See how that works?

Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade (Shooting Guard) - YES

Wade may not be the player that he once was, but the Miami Heat without Dwyane Wade just seems wrong. The Heat will likely bring back Wade regardless of the price tag. He's their Kobe Bryant and will likely continue to do so unless LeBron James can convince him to leave the beaches of Miami for the wonderful streets of....Cleveland? 

Hassan Whiteside (Center) - YES

I'm a huge fan of Whiteside's game. He's quietly become one of the best defenders in the league and is already one of the most in demand free agents and free agency hasn't even begun yet. While I would love to see him end up in Portland, the Heat may have an advantage in re-signing him and would be wise to do so. He's worth a max deal in my opinion.

Luol Deng (Forward) - MAYBE

Deng is one of those players that I'm bringing back if the price is right. I'm still a fan of what he can bring to the table, but I'm not willing to overpay for his services. At this point in his career, he's probably better suited for a "sixth man" role. He would likely kill in that kind of role.

Gerald Green (Forward) - NO

Green is coming off a disappointing year last year and I highly doubt the 30-year old is going to get things turned around at this point in his career. It's probably best for both parties to go their separate ways.

Udonis Haslem (Forward) - NO

The longtime Miami Heat veteran barely played last season and when he did play....it was gross. His NBA career may be over.

Joe Johnson (Forward) - NO

Six to seven years ago I would have jumped all over Joe Johnson. He was one of my favorite players when he was tearing things up on the Atlanta Hawks back in the late 2000's. Times have changed though and much like Luol Deng, Johnson is probably best suited for a "sixth man" role at this point in his career. He's also probably going to demand a nice price tag and the Heat really need to avoid spending a ton of money on a bunch of guys who should be playing basketball at the senior citizen center. 

Amar'e Stoudemire (Forward) - NO

I never noticed how many old guys the Miami Heat have on their roster. I guess it's true that old people love moving to South Florida. 

Dorell Wright (Forward) - NO

Pass.

Tyler Johnson (Shooting Guard) - YES

A young guy who has shown some promise on the Miami Heat? KEEP THIS GUY AROUND! You need someone on your roster who doesn't eat dinner at 3:30 and is in bed by 6. 

Every NBA Team Makes Their Pitch To Kevin Durant

 Kevin Durant is set to hit the free agent market and all 30 teams are interested. Only a handful of teams were able to land a meeting with the superstar and, realistically, only four teams have a real shot at signing him. But what if Durant listened to all 30 teams and heard their case as to why he should sign with them? I'm glad you asked.

Boston Celtics

You could become the second greatest small forward in franchise history. Isaiah Thomas is a top five point guard according to some people who only watched the playoffs. Brad Stevens is an exceptional coach with a college background. Home of Bill Simmons. Once Tom Brady and David Ortiz retire, this will be your town. 

Should These NBA Free Agents Be Brought Back? (PART ONE)

Now that both the NBA Finals and the NBA Draft are in the rear-view mirror, it's time to start focusing on the next best thing in the National Basketball Association. 

That's right.....

IT'S TIME FOR NBA FREE AGENCY!!!!!!

OK then.

Anyway, with free agency starting, I came up with a brilliant idea. Since I run my own sports blog and with NBA free agency coming up, maybe I should take a look at whether or not each NBA team should re-sign their own free agents or let them take a walk. 

See what I mean?

A BRILLIANT IDEA!!!!!!

This list should help every single NBA general manager make their decisions a little easier. I personally spent time evaluating each guy and ultimately made the decision myself. 

Enjoy the piece. It's a two-part column because I'm an asshole who likes making people come back to his blog on a daily basis. 

Atlanta Hawks

Al Horford (Center) - YES

Horford may be 30 years old, but he's still one of the best big men in the NBA. While his best days are likely behind him, he's still a very valuable player. If the Hawks let him walk, someone will offer him a big deal.

Kent Bazemore (Forward) - MAYBE

Bazemore is coming off the best season of his short career and will likely command a high price tag on the open market. The Hawks would be smart to bring Bazemore back if the price is right, but I usually tend to hate giving a guy big-time money when he's really only had one good year. Buyers beware.

Kris Humphries (Forward) - NO

The former Mr. Kardashian has been on five different teams over the last five years. He obviously has a commitment problem. I would continue to let him look for his perfect mate elsewhere in the NBA.

Mike Muscala (Forward) - NO

He sucks.

Kirk Hinrich (Point Guard) - NO

He's old. He sucks now. He should probably retire. Let him go.

THE USB Baseball Report: Twelfth Edition

Hi, hello & welcome to THE USB Baseball Report! I'm Steve Cook, and we have officially hit the dog days of summer in Cincinnati. Not only is the team a dog, but it's so hot...

HOW HOT IS IT?

I'll tell ya, it's so hot that some Cubs fans showed up to the ballpark & the air coming out of their mouths caused the first five rows to pass out from heatstroke. It's so hot that all the hot dog buns were toasted. It's so hot that Tony Perez was out there sweating like a politician on Election Day. It's so hot that that guy St. Louis drafted in the first round of the draft tested positive for water. It's so hot that the fireworks display scheduled for after Friday's game went off early because the firecrackers lit themselves. 

Enough of that. As you can tell, the heat is getting to me a little bit. So let's dive right into the baseball!

Will the Cubs win the most games ever this season?

One of the things about baseball is that you can't get too excited or too depressed early. As good or bad as a team might look early on, the 162 game season has a tendency of evening everything out. 2016 is no different. The Chicago Cubs looked like the best team in the history of baseball early on. The offense was going crazy, the pitching was shutting everything down, they were 25-6 and the surefire pick to win this year's World Series & possibly a few after that. People were talking about them challenging the 2001 Mariners for most regular season wins in baseball history.

Reaction: Oklahoma City Thunder Trade Serge Ibaka To Orlando Magic

When the report came out that the Oklahoma City Thunder were "shopping Serge Ibaka," I didn't think much of it. Maybe they were picking up the phone and listening to calls, but Ibaka was a core member of the team and there was no way that Sam Presti was going to trade him just to get into the first round of a weak draft. If the team was going to depart with Ibaka, they would have to get back a player that could immediately help and the only player that appeared available and a fit for OKC was Jimmy Butler and Ibaka alone wasn't going to be enough to pry him out of Chicago.

Then the news broke. Ibaka to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladip, Ersan Ilyasova, and Domantas Sabonis (the 11th pick in this year’s draft).

Just over a week before the biggest day in Thunder history and Presti once again flashed his brass balls for the world to see.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Safeties - NFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Safeties - NFC

32. Andrew Sendejo (Minnesota Vikings)

Age: 28

2015-16 Pass Coverage Grade: F

2015-16 Run Defense Grade: D-

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 1

Last Year's Ranking: Not ranked

NBA Draft 2016 Lottery Results!!!

It's officially NBA Draft time folks. That sure crept up on us, didn't it? That's probably because this is widely considered somewhat of a "weak draft". Outside of Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram, there isn't a whole lot to get excited about tonight on the surface.

Either way, you know how much we love the NFL and NBA drafts here at THE Ultimate Sports Blog which of course means that it's time once again for the NBA DRAFT LIVE BLOG! 

There may not be a whole lot to get excited about when it comes to the draft tonight, but at least you will have my smart ass comments to help get through it all. Even though it's considered a weak draft among experts, there are all sorts of rumors going around that chaos could definitely ensue tonight. You know who loves chaos????

THIS GUY!!!

So sit back. Relax. And let's poke fun at all the stupid moves every team makes and act like we are all smarter than the NBA GM's who are actually running this thing. As of right now, I only plan on covering the lottery picks, but if things go right, I might make it all the way through the first-round. Let's let it play out and see where it goes....

THE Ultimate Sports Blog's 

NBA Draft LIVE BLOG 

(Make sure you keep the page here and keep reloading for updates!)

1. Philadelphia 76ers select......Ben Simmons (F), LSU

A lot of people are high on Ben Simmons. I'm not one of those people. While I think he'll be a fine NBA player, I happen to like Brandon Ingram just a little bit more. Simmons' stock went from being a potential LeBron James/Kevin Durant type player to more of a Tracy McGrady/Paul George type and it seemed to lessen the more he played. That's not exactly something I'm extremely excited about if I'm a 76ers fan who desperately need a franchise changing player. There's also the fact that Simmons' college basketball team missed the NCAA tournament. When's the last time a #1 overall pick's (who wasn't a foreign player or a high school player) team missed the tournament? The talent is so spread out in college basketball that if you have a talented player who can be a game-changer in the NBA, your team should make the tournament....just saying. That's only my opinion though, take it or leave it. Like I said, a fine player but I think 76ers fans are expecting LeBron and they are going to be disappointed.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Safeties - AFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Safeties - AFC

32. Tashaun Gipson (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 25

2015-16 Pass Coverage Grade: F

2015-16 Run Defense Grade: F

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 2

Last Year's Ranking: 6th

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Kickers)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Kickers

32. Kai Forbath (New Orleans Saints)

Age: 28

Field Goal Percentage (for 2015-16 season): 50.0%

Field Goals Made: 1

Field Goals Missed: 1

Extra Points Made: 1

Extra Points Missed: 0

Warriors vs. Cavaliers was Hart vs. Austin

The Golden State Warriors entered the 2016 NBA Playoffs as favorites. They dazzled fans all season with their beautiful basketball. Everything was crisp, clean, and made sense. The Cleveland Cavaliers were a bit different. They were being led by an unstoppable machine surrounded by parts and pieces that didn't always mesh together.

The Warriors were a likable bunch. Steph Curry was the undersized guard who became the first ever unanimous MVP. Klay Thompson was a generic looking guy but a killer on the court. Draymond Green was the overlooked product who slipped in the draft and was hell bent on proving critics wrong. The Warriors were Bret Hart.

The Cavs weren't as likable. LeBron James was an arrogant whiner. Kyrie Irving stalled the offense and didn't get teammates involved. Kevin Love just sort of existed. The Cavs were Steve Austin.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Cornerbacks - NFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Cornerbacks (NFC)

32. Nevin Lawson (Detroit Lions)

Age: 25

2015-16 Pass Coverage Grade: F

2015-16 Run Defense Grade: D

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 0

Last Year's Ranking: Not ranked

Why Cleveland Deserves the NBA Title

Last week, I spent five days in Cleveland. I arrived there with the Cleveland Cavaliers trailing the NBA Finals 2-1 to the Golden State Warriors. I was in town after Game 4, when all hope seemed lost and after Game 5, when some hope was restored. This is my story.

There was no "Welcome to Ohio" sign or welcome center when we crossed the state line into Ohio from West Virginia. I only knew that we were in Ohio because I could get more than two radio stations on the FM setting.

THE USB Baseball Report: Eleventh Edition

Hi, hello & welcome to THE USB Baseball Report! I'm Steve Cook, and it's about time that Major League Baseball had the main stage all to itself. Now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the Penguins & the rigged, bitchmade NBA Finals are finally over, we can concentrate on what really matters...baseball! This week we settle the Hit King Debate & rank the top ten father/son pairings in the history of baseball. It'll be good times.

Ichiro Is Great. He's Not The Hit King. And That's OK.

Looking at Ichiro Suzuki's stats is pretty amazing. He got over 200 hits each of his first ten seasons in Major League Baseball. He led the league in hits seven of those seasons. He hit over .300 each of those ten seasons. He's only played less than 150 games during a season twice in his career, and has never gone under 140. You don't see a lot of home runs, but that's no big thing. All Ichiro does is hit, and he's still doing it at the age of 42. He's batting .354 this season and still producing whenever he gets the opportunity. He currently sits at 2,980 career hits as I write this, and he should reach 3,000 and ensure his place in the Hall of Fame within the next couple of weeks depending on how often he plays.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Centers)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Centers

32. Cameron Erving (Cleveland Browns)

Age: 23

2015-16 Pass Blocking Grade: F

2015-16 Run Blocking Grade: F

Last Year's Ranking: Not ranked

NBA Finals Recap in One Photo

Let me get this out of the way: I have not watched a single second of the NBA Finals and I'm an extremely bitter Oklahoma City Thunder fan. So what you're about to read is the non-expert analysis from a fan who can't stand either of these two teams for multiple reasons.

Now, take a look at the photo above. Do you see all the bitchmadeness in that photo? It's pretty easy to see, so if you can't see it, maybe go get your eyes checked like right now.

Let's start with LeBron James. Look how jacked this guy is. This man could be, pound for pound, the strongest guy in the NBA. Whatever that means. He could probably rip a dudes head off with one hand like he's in Mortal Kombat or some shit. This dude looks like one of those douchebags at the gym that grunts when he's lifting weights because he wants you to pay attention to how strong he is. Basically, he's really strong. Now look at his face. Now back at his arms. Now back to his face. Why is this man in such pain as Steph Curry barely touches him with his pinky? Maybe Steph is scratching him with his pinky, a tactic I wouldn't put past Curry. And if that's the case, I can see why LeBron would be in such pain given his thin skin. Aside from that, there's no reason why a man as strong as LeBron should be in such agony as skinny Steph grazes him on the arm.

Now look at Steph. He's so afraid of touching LeBron that he's trying to pull his hand back from such action. He recoils in fear, not fear of picking up some dumb touch foul, but fear of being exposed. This is why Steph is the biggest fake in the NBA. When things are going great, he's flexing, he's dancing, and he's doing a bunch of stupid shit with his arms that everyone loves because they didn't know any better until a couple weeks ago. But when Steph is challenged, like he's being challenged in this photo, he backs away and has his wife fight his battles on Twitter.

This photo sums up the NBA Finals. One guy, embracing his bitchmadeness that was exposed long ago, colliding with the other, trying to run from his true bitchmade self.

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Cornerbacks - AFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Cornerbacks (AFC)

32. Brandon Flowers (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 30

2015-16 Pass Coverage Grade: F

2015-16 Run Defense Grade: F

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 0

Last Year's Ranking: 7th

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Guards - NFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Guards (NFC)

32. Jamon Brown (Los Angeles Rams)

Age: 23

2015-16 Run Blocking Grade: F

2015-16 Pass Blocking Grade: F

Last Year's Ranking: Not ranked

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (4-3 Middle Linebackers)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

4-3 Middle Linebackers

15. Kiko Alonso (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 25

Career Sacks: 2.0

Career Tackles: 117

Sacks (for 2015-16 season): 0.0

Tackles (for 2015-16 season): 30

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 1

Last Year's Ranking: 5th

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Guards - AFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Guards (AFC)

32. Orlando Franklin (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 28

2015-16 Run Blocking Grade: F

2015-16 Pass Blocking Grade: F

Last Year's Ranking: 4th

THE USB Baseball Report: Tenth Edition

Hi, hello & welcome to THE USB Baseball Report! I'm Steve Cook, and we're back with the tenth edition of this column after taking a bye last week. Can you believe that ten of these things have been produced? Neither can I! The baseball season is just flying by and before you know it we'll be in September and wondering how I can combine this and my NFL picks into one column.

This week we've got exciting non-game action, more fun baseball fights, and USB contributors meeting up at GABP to watch the Reds! Let's get it started!

MLB Draft!

This week was a huge week for the half of the National League that's been tanking for the past year or so. Major League Baseball held their 2016 Draft in Secaucus, New Jersey at their network studios. To their credit, MLB has been trying to make their Draft a bigger deal over the past few years, televising the proceedings on their network and hyping up the top prospects on shows in the weeks ahead of the draft. It's a tough thing for them to sell for several reasons:

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (3-4 Middle Linebackers)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

3-4 Middle Linebackers

34. Michael Wilhoite (San Francisco 49ers)

Age: 29

Career Sacks: 0.0

Career Tackles: 166

Sacks (for 2015-16 season): 0.0

Tackles (for 2015-16 season): 62

Interceptions (for 2015-16 season): 1

Last Year's Ranking: 29th

Power Ranking The 2016-17 NFL Starters (Offensive Tackles - NFC)

Just like last year at this time, we are POWER RANKING THE NFL STARTERS!

This feature is going to be rolled out on a daily basis over the next month and is going to pick a specific position and rank each team's potential starter at that position. I say POTENTIAL starter because we are still a few months away from NFL training camps everywhere starting and teams and players can still make moves. And lord knows, some teams need to make a lot of moves still.

This column itself is supposed to give you a good idea about how your team is looking at each position as we start pointing the nose of the car towards the upcoming NFL season.

Also, since it's a power rankings, it's ranking the players based on how I feel they played last season.

So, with no further distractions....

I bring to you.......

The Ultimate Sports Blog's

2016-17 NFL Starter Power Rankings

Offensive Tackles (NFC)

32. Ereck Flowers (New York Giants)

Age: 22

2015-16 Pass Blocking Grade: F

2015-16 Run Blocking Grade: F

Last Year's Ranking: 15th