New Orleans will get a rematch with the Seahawks.

That’s their reward for knocking off the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24 today.

Seattle won the last meeting 34-7 in week 13 by building an early lead and dominating on defense.

Russell Wilson also had his best game of the season.

The Saints keyed in on stopping Marshawn Lynch, which helped Wilson considerably.

We’ll see if they come with a different plan next week — considering they could be without each of their starting defensive backs.

At times tonight Nick Foles had 6-7 seconds in the pocket and made them pay. Rob Ryan’s defense was nearly impenetrable in the first half, but struggled badly in the second as the injuries stacked up.

The pass rush was pretty non-existent and only had success when Foles pushed his luck.

It was interesting to see how easy the read-option fooled the Saints, even with a slower-than-average quarterback handing it off to LeSean McCoy.

In the week 13 meeting Wilson was Seattle’s leading rusher with 47 yards (Lynch managed 45, Robert Turbin 34).

New Orleans ran the ball well today, something they struggled to do against the Seahawks. They managed a paltry 44 total rushing yards.

Taking the run away again next week will be crucial — even if limiting Drew Brees remains the greatest challenge.

How do you do that? Tight coverage, get the pass rush rolling, limit the damage with Jimmy Graham and force turnovers. In his last three road games, Brees has thrown six interceptions with a 1-2 record.

Having an impact on defense early is crucial — as we saw at Century Link and also in week 15 when St. Louis carried a fast start to win comfortably 27-16 against the Saints.

The result in Philly also means San Francisco can only set up a NFC West encounter in the playoffs by winning in Green Bay tomorrow and then Carolina next week.

That won’t be easy. If the Niners manage it, watch out.

They’re already coming into the post-season as the NFL’s hot hand. Winning two very difficult road games would further emphasise that.

Enough talk about San Francisco anyway. Let’s watch this instead…

Texans owner Bob McNair said Houston is willing to trade No. 1 overall pick so it can land another QB and a defensive player as well.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 3, 2014

And so it begins.

The mad rush to let the world know you’re open for business.

Rams GM Les Snead (who for some reason is still rocking a ‘Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic’ look, even though it’s not 1997) was the first to move:

“There are going to be some teams that want to pick a quarterback, and that could increase the value of our pick… I have told people I’m not sure I know how to draft without multiple first-round picks, so I’m always going to be interested when it comes to making sure I can continue to do that.”

Last time he had the #2 pick he turned it into a treasure trove — although I’d argue it’s debatable whether the Rams are better off without Robert Griffin III.

Clearly he’s hoping history will repeat itself. I doubt there was a happier man in America when Johnny Manziel led that comeback against Duke earlier in the week.

The Rams are in a very strong position, even if they won’t quite match the RGIII. The three teams sitting behind them in the draft — Jacksonville, Cleveland and Oakland — all desperately need quarterbacks.

If the Texans don’t select Jadeveon Clowney, they could also field calls from Atlanta — who badly need a pass rush.

Bob McNair and the Texans will be envious of this position. I suspect some potential trade partners will wait to see what they do before reacting.

They don’t have an Andrew Luck sitting there — or an RGIII for that matter. They’d almost certainly prefer to move down and get more bang for their buck.

Manziel and Clowney will be two guys that make a trade possible, as long as they let it be know they’re willing to take either at #1 but not at all costs.

I suspect one or two teams (maybe more) are going to fall head over heels for Johnny M. Ditto for Clowney.

I’m not sure anyone’s going to feel that way about Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles.

Some teams won’t have any interest in Johnny. But I’m willing to bet there’ll be a handful who talk themselves into needing him. Big time.

I can see Cleveland taking that stance.

Maybe Minnesota, too.

Clowney is a generational physical talent. He’ll go in the top 5. There’ll be no shortage of takers. But will anyone want him badly enough to go get the top pick?

I’ve mocked Clowney to Houston at every opportunity so far. But quarterback is their biggest need. They’ve appointed an offensive minded coach and he’ll want his own guy to build around.

Jay Cutler — the only obvious veteran out there worthy of a big trade — has now signed a mega-extension with Chicago.

Clowney is a nice fall back option if they can’t commit to Bridgewater, Manziel or Bortles. He’d be a terror alongside J.J. Watt.

But you have to wonder if they’ll feel obliged to take a quarterback, even if it is a little forced. There are two main reasons they slumped to 2-14 last year — bad offensive play calling and poor quarterback performance.

They’ll hope part one was addressed with their new coaching hire. Part two is the quarterback.

Waiting until #33 is an option, but A.J. McCarron’s performance against Oklahoma last night highlighted the issues within his game. His decision not to attend the Senior Bowl is also a head scratcher.

Nobody should expect Houston to draft another Carr brother.

If they do end up drafting a QB with the top pick, in a way it still helps St. Louis.

Take one of those signal callers off the board and the group thins. Now you’ve got three or four teams knowing they better move up or risk missing out on what is developing into a ‘power three’ of Bridgewater, Manziel and Bortles.

Cleveland, with two first round picks, might get a twitchy trigger finger. Minnesota — with GM Rick Spielman seemingly on a short leash — might feel like they need to make a splash.

Advantage, St. Louis.

Be prepared for the Rams possibly having three first round picks this year, or at least another couple next year.

But hey — at least it means Les Di Caprio (or is it Leonardo Snead?) won’t be drafting the guy in the video below.

Because frankly, they can draft all the Alec Ogletree’s they want.

As long as Sam Bradford is throwing the darts, the Rams will likely be as average as their quarterback.

In my latest mock draft I had Johnny Manziel at #4 to Cleveland.

He might need to be moved up even higher.

One performance doesn’t make a career, but making your last impression a good one can be crucial.

Manziel’s display against Duke will have the NFL talking today.

Everyone knows what he offers by now — incredible scrambling skills, the ability to improvise and extend plays, underrated talent as a passer and the ability to run a thoroughly modern NFL offense (including the read option).

Everyone knows the negatives too. The erratic mistakes, the plays where he tries to do too much, the lack of a big time arm (I’d argue it’s good enough, just not top-end) and the laundry list of bizarre off the field stories that include this article by ESPN that made him sound like a walking temper-tantrum.

But last night perhaps allayed some of those fears.

The Aggies trailed Duke 28-10 and 35-17. Defensively they were the usual shambles — conceding touchdowns on Duke’s first five possessions. And there was Manziel — rallying the troops. Leading his team. Pleading with his defense to get a stop, to take the football away.

All the while he battled away on to keep his team in the game — before leading a sensational comeback in a 52-48 victory.

This is what NFL teams want to see. No tantrums. No sulking. A man determined to win, taking responsibility and lifting every single player on that A&M sideline.

Once again he did things only he seems capable of. Take this touchdown for example…

Seriously, have you ever seen anything like that?

I’m a sucker for improvisation. It’s the single most underrated quality a quarterback can have. I don’t want a signal caller who collapses when his initial read or two isn’t there. I don’t want to rely on someone who buckles if the defense offers an exotic look, or wins at the LOS.

I want a guy who can make something out of nothing. Manziel is better at that than any quarterback we’ll ever see in college football.

He doesn’t need to be a choir boy. He can go to parties dressed as Scooby-Doo, wear a Tim Tebow jersey, say whatever he wants on Twitter. He just needs to prove he can be a leader. Whether he’s up for the 5:30am alarm call to be the first in the building, we won’t know until he makes the league.

But last night I guarantee a heck of a lot of NFL teams were salivating about Johnny Football being their guy.

Want a great example of how he acted as a leader last night? Mike Evans got into an unnecessary tussle with the #6 for Duke who was covering him early in the game. He got one silly flag for reacting to whatever was going on there — and added a second later on.

Manziel could sense he wasn’t focused — and this happened…

Again, that’s a guy taking responsibility. Instead of letting the coaches deal with it, Manziel does their job for them. For what it’s worth, Evans did settle down after this and made some plays.

So he might not be a Russell Wilson-esque workaholic who lives and breathes game tape. But he might be responsible enough to know he’s the quarterback and he has to lead by example.

I’ve no doubt a lot of GM’s will be digging out the Alabama game from last year. They’ll watch it, breathe it in.

Convince themselves even more.

We need this guy.

Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, Minnesota. I’m almost certain that one of those teams is going to talk themselves into drafting Manziel in the top ten. And why not?

The Texans need a signal caller. Are they any more likely to win with Teddy Bridgewater?

The Jags need a reason to get excited. They need a face of the franchise, someone to build around. Manziel can get people talking about Jacksonville.

Cleveland is looking to end years of misery and are reportedly known admirers.

Oakland has nothing right now. What have they got to lose?

Minnesota’s spent the last three years trying to get by with mediocre, boring quarterbacks. Will they go for the home run?

Heck — even the Rams at #2 should be all over this. Who really wants to face this guy twice a year in the NFC West?

I certainly don’t.

Quite frankly I’d rather fail as a NFL GM putting my faith in this kind of quarterback instead of hoping a Sam Bradford pans out. Or that a Teddy Bridgewater will be better than average.

I’ll hold my hands up if I’m wrong, but I suspect last night is just the beginning of a huge clamour that ends up with Manziel going in the top three picks. Some of the teams listed above will talk themselves into feeling they have to have him.

Quite frankly if the Seahawks didn’t have Wilson — I suspect I’d be banging the drum for the guy myself.

The NFL will be more fun with Jonny Football. And I think he’s going to head into the pro’s as a top five pick.

End of season draft status check

This is a pretty unusual end of season report. Normally there’s at least one glaringly obvious, critical need for the Seahawks.

For the time being, that isn’t the case.

We can make arguments for certain positional upgrades. But the fact of the matter is this is currently the most rounded overall roster in the NFL. The record speaks for itself at 13-3.

That could change very quickly when players start to get paid. And that moment is coming.

This off-season will be the first opportunity to extend Richard Sherman’s contract — and I expect that to happen. It’s unimaginable to think they’ll let Earl Thomas play through the final year of his contract, knowing the 2015 off-season will be the time they pay Russell Wilson.

Sherman and Thomas will get extensions this off-season. I’m pretty sure about that.

Wilson’s second contract is also just around the corner. They’ll have to start making room now for a likely $100m+ deal. If he wins a Championship either this season or next, it’s going to be an eye-watering deal (see: Joe Flacco).

This is why we talk about being forced to cut players you’d ideally keep. It’s unavoidable. There isn’t any scenario where Sherman, Thomas and Wilson aren’t part of this team for the long haul. They are the holy grail of this franchise.

They will have to start making some room and relying on the draft for replacements.

Seattle will probably never have a roster as jam packed as the 2013 edition. Not without world class drafting every year. While it’s not going to be a mass exodus in a few weeks time, the first few painful cuts or walks will be tough to watch.

Right now we don’t really know what Seattle’s greatest need is. We have to wait and see what happens.

Here are a few scenarios to consider…

– What if Michael Bennett walks? He has no reason not to test free agency. He came here on a one-year deal to prove himself. Job done. Nearly every team in the NFL would be stupid not to try and sign him. It’ll only take one team to make a gigantic offer to price Seattle out of the market. I sincerely hope Bennett stays with the Seahawks, but I’m preparing for the worst. He was a true difference maker for this team, the missing piece of the puzzle. Without him in 2014 I fear the pass rush will revert back to its previous one-dimensional status. That can’t be allowed to happen.

– Breno Giacomini is a terrific Seahawk. His attitude, his honesty, his execution. He might be the most under-appreciated player this team has had in my time following the Seahawks. Too many people got bogged down with his penalty trouble at the start of last season. He’s a very good right tackle. Even though his position doesn’t attract a lot of attention in free agency, he might be a painful sacrifice this off-season. It’s hard to imagine how they’ll be able to afford him unless he generates zero interest in the open market, which I highly doubt. Unless they truly believe in Michael Bowie as a starter, it would make right tackle a priority.

– Receivers get paid big bucks in free agency. Golden Tate is the perfect combination of household name and playmaker. Someone will pay him to be part of their roster. Like Bennett, he’ll be too costly for the franchise tag. He was Seattle’s most productive receiver in 2013 and has a ton of chemistry with Wilson. Can they find a way to keep him? Everyone would love to see Tate get an extension. If it doesn’t happen — it’ll create a big hole. Throw in Percy Harvin’s health issues and Sidney Rice’s likely departure and receiver could quickly turn into a titanic need.

– Tony McDaniel has been a revelation this year — a truly underrated signing at a cost effective $600k. Along with the rejuvenated Clinton McDonald, another free agent, we’re talking about two players who will likely need to be replaced. McDaniel in particular has been more than just an impact player. He’s been an absolutely crucial starter. The positive is they plucked him from nowhere to have such an impact. Maybe they can do it again?

These are just four scenarios. Then you throw in all the potential cuts. What if you have to move on Chris Clemons, Brandon Mebane or Red Bryant (or a combination of the three) in order to pay Bennett, Sherman and Thomas? That creates a need for another pass rusher or a run stopping defensive tackle.

Right now we can only speculate on what might happen. Needs will emerge, it’s simply impossible for Seattle to go into next season with everything intact.

For me, it’s all about keeping the defense together. It’s the most rounded group in the NFL.

Some minor changes are unavoidable. I expect we’re coming to the end of the Clemons era and it’ll be tough to hang on to McDaniel. Keeping everyone else is key, without exception. Try to re-sign McDaniel, McDonald and Walter Thurmond. Keep Bryant and Mebane.

To preserve the defense — almost man for man — it could mean losing Golden Tate and Breno Giacomini, which would be tough to stomach. Particularly given the complete lack of payback on the Harvin trade so far and the investment made in him, while Tate is the one out there making plays.

But the defense will make Seattle a contender year in, year out. This isn’t the draft to feel comfortable trying to replace a guy like Michael Bennett, but it is a good, deep draft for receivers and offensive tackles.

Seattle has made its bed with Harvin and if he can get back to good health — that trade can still be a success. Pairing him with Doug Baldwin and a bigger, true #1 will help make up for the potential loss of Tate if it comes to that.

For that reason — as things stand — I’d say a big receiver is the greatest need this team has. But that’s just today.

One final thought on this — what should they do if there’s simply no way of keeping Michael Bennett?

I’d take the money saved for him, put it in a big bag, and hand it to Lamarr Houston. He’s the nearest thing you’ll find to Bennett in free agency this off-season.

Breakdown of the prospective two big needs

Wide receiver

Golden Tate is a free agent. Sidney Rice’s knee injury and huge contract will likely lead to a parting of ways. Percy Harvin’s hip injury remains a major concern, even if he practises this week. This is a big need for Seattle. Even if Tate re-signs and Harvin gets healthy, they need a big bodied wide out. It’s an absolute must. Russell Wilson will thrive with a big target to throw to downfield.

Best early round options: Mike Evans, Brandon Coleman, Kelvin Benjamin

Offensive tackle

I’d love to see Breno Giacomini get a new contract. The guy belongs on this team, playing for Tom Cable. But the reality is the only way he can stick around is with a decent pay cut. His cap hit this year is $4.25m. A rookie drafted in the late first round can expect to earn around $1.2m in year one. The saving is obviously even bigger if you wait until the late second round.

Best early round options: Cyrus Kouandjio, Antonio Richardson, Greg Robinson, Zack Martin, Cedric Ogbuehi, Cameron Erving, Taylor Lewan

Monday notes

Dan Quinn a coaching target?

Vikings have requested permission to interview Seahawks DC Dan Quinn, as Browns have.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 30, 2013

This isn’t a huge shock.

Assistants at winning teams will always get attention. I suspect Quinn will get more than two interviews. Before anyone panics though, let’s remember — this is Pete Carroll’s defense. And while Carroll remains, there shouldn’t be too much of a drop off.

From Quinn’s point of view, this has to be tempting. You don’t get many opportunities to become a Head Coach in the NFL.

I say good luck to him. But I hope he, Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable remain with the team in 2014.

Jason La Canfora is now reporting Bevell will also interview with the Vikings. He was, of course, formerly an offensive coordinator in Minnesota.

Browns zoning in on McDaniels and Manziel?

Rob Chudzinski was fired yesterday, somewhat surprisingly.

I have a theory here.

‘Chud’ and offensive coordinator Norv Turner are pretty immovable on the type of quarterback they want. It’s the Troy Aikman, Philip Rivers style pocket passer.

There’s been a lot of speculation for weeks about Cleveland’s interest in Johnny Manziel. The very opposite of what you’d call a Turner-style quarterback.

If the Browns’ front office are pretty much sold on the idea of Manziel, why would they stick with a coaching staff that contradicts that vision? It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they go with a creative offensive mind willing to embrace the much-discussed Texas A&M quarterback — rather than Quinn or Todd Bowles (who they are also hoping to interview).

For that reason I expect Josh McDaniels to be candidate #1 on Cleveland’s list. They tried to get him last year. And McDaniels is the guy who drafted Tim Tebow during his spell in Denver.

Clearly he likes a challenge.

Manziel could be his next project.

And then there’s this…

Once Josh McDaniels interviews for the Browns job, again, I’ll have a helluva time thinking someone else gets it — Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) December 30, 2013

I’ll be doing a mock draft tomorrow — and guess who the Browns will be taking?

Speaking of the 2014 quarterback class…

Jimmy Haslam signing the praises of 2014 @NFL Draft. Had a GM tell me last night it reminds him of the 2011 draft when it comes to QBs. Ouch

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2013

… And I totally agree with that GM.

Teddy Bridgewater will be a solid starter with the right guidance, but will he ever be truly elite? I suspect Manziel will be constantly up and down — a bit like Andy Dalton, even if they’re very different players. As for the rest? It wreaks of another Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder and Jake Locker bunch.

I suspect we won’t see as many going early. Surely the NFL has learnt its lesson?

Maybe not.

2014 confirmed draft order so far

#1 Houston Texans
#2 St. Louis Rams (via Washington)
#3 Jacksonville Jaguars
#4 Cleveland Browns
#5 Oakland Raiders
#6 Atlanta Falcons
#7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
#8 Minnesota Vikings
#9 Buffalo Bills
#10 Detroit Lions
#11 Tennessee Titans
#12 New York Giants
#13 St. Louis Rams
#14 Chicago Bears
#15 Pittsburgh Steelers
T #16 Baltimore Ravens
T #16 Dallas Cowboys
#18 New York Jets
#19 Miami Dolphins
#20 Arizona Cardinals

The Ravens and Cowboys will need to toss and coin to determine who owns the #16 and #17 picks.

Mock draft time tomorrow.

The Seahawks are NFC West Champions tonight.

Forget the two defeats against San Francisco and Arizona. Seattle won the division.

First goal, accomplished.

This was an encouraging performance against the Rams, even if it wasn’t perfect.

When the two teams met in week eight, St. Louis ran for exactly 200 yards. Today they managed just 13.

Frankly, they were lucky to get 13. This was a thoroughly dominating performance by Seattle’s defensive line.

Brandon Mebane had possibly his best game as a Seahawk. He was unstoppable. Not just in run defense either. On several occasions he was the one creating pressure up the middle — his move forced Kellen Clemens’ second interception to Byron Maxwell.

Mebane has had a terrific second half of the season and he’ll be vital in the post season if he keeps up this level of performance.

Not to be outdone, Tony McDaniel also had a big day. St. Louis couldn’t block him in the first half. McDaniel has quietly been one of the steals of the season. His cap hit in 2013 was just $605,000.

As a unit Seattle’s defense was scary good — and that is a big relief. More on that later. Some other names I want to mention — Malcolm Smith and Bobby Wagner were both excellent at linebacker. Wagner in particular for me was all over the field making plays. Michael Bennett had yet another sack (have I mentioned he needs to be re-signed?).

The only frustrating moment was the botched interception where Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell all ran into each other. It seemed like Sherman had position. I guess you can compete too much sometimes…

On offense it was also a relief to see Marshawn Lynch back to his best. He ran with more purpose today, looked decisive and deserved the missing three yards he needed to hit 100.

The Seahawks need Lynch. Flat out need him. They need a great defense too.

And here’s why…

For whatever reason, the passing game is going through a big slump. The kind of slump we haven’t see in the Russell Wilson era so far. Golden Tate’s big touchdown late in the day padded the stats, but the reality is this has not been a good couple of weeks.

It’s a relief to see the back of St. Louis’ and Arizona’s superb defensive lines.

Some of the blame goes to Wilson, who just doesn’t look like the ice-cold, super poised quarterback we’ve come to expect. For the first time in his pro-career he looks a little rattled. Teams are keeping him bottled up, he’s trying to extend plays too much and he’s running into trouble.

More of the blame, for me, is the scheme. I’m still a big fan of Darrell Bevell. I believe Pete Carroll has a pretty substantial say in the game plan. As a duo, I think they need to make life easier for their quarterback.

I noticed a lot of people calling for more designed bootlegs, purposefully getting him out of the pocket. I completely disagree with that. But it seemed early on that’s what they tried to do.

From my untrained eye, it looks like teams are toning down the edge rush and having the ends read the play. Wilson is so good at exploiting over-committed DE’s, you can’t afford to let them pin their ears back. Arizona sat and basically let Wilson run himself into trouble.

Players as good as Robert Quinn can do this and still bring pressure on a high number of downs. But it seemed to me St. Louis also toned down the rush — especially from Chris Long — and used the same plan as Arizona last week.

If teams are going to do this, I’d argue the best thing to do is to shorten it up. Get Wilson into a rhythm passing underneath and on shorter routes. He looked at his best today when Seattle chipped away rather than looking for the big plays.

And hey — I love the explosive nature of this offense and I like the fact they want to make big chunks of yardage downfield. But it’s not happening right now.

For the time being, they need to quicken the tempo and shorten the passing game. It worked for a time today. Let Wilson snap, drop and throw. It’s basic, but it might just help him get back into a groove.

If the issues continue in the post season — and that could happen — the running game and the defense has to be there for this team to win. That’s why it was such a relief to see them play the way they did today.

If Lynch is running like this, if the defense plays lights out — the Seahawks can live with Wilson struggling a bit.

My hope is two weeks off to prepare will be just the ticket. They tore New Orleans apart after the bye in week 12 — by throwing the football. With the Saints owning the #6 seed, there’s every chance they’ll be back in Seattle for the Divisional playoffs.

Some other notes from the game…

– The Refs were a total embarrassment today. They lost control of the players very quickly and the ejection of Kendall Langford was a joke. Although there were no game-defining calls like last weeks bizarre bicep fumble, this was about as bad as it gets for officiating.

– The St. Louis Rams should also be embarrassed tonight. It seems to me like they came to play the Seattle Golden Tate’s, not the Seahawks. They spent so much time trying to wind Tate up for his silly taunting penalty from week eight — and what impact did it have? Absolutely none. You can’t let a player get into your head like that.

– Aside from their obsession with Tate, the Rams looked like a completely disorganised bunch who came for a scrap, not to win a game of football. It seemed like they were getting flagged on every play. They out-flagged the Seahawks — the flaggiest team in the NFL. Rivalries are great. But you have to play your game, not the opponent. I’d be frustrated as hell if I were a Rams fan tonight.

– Losing Luke Willson to a high ankle sprain is a major blow. This will have an impact — and they might need to bring in another tight end.

– Nothing about this game made me change my mind on what I’m starting to believe is Seattle’s greatest need — a big bodied receiver. Simply put — it’s a must. Even if Percy Harvin makes a full recovery and they re-sign Tate, they need a big guy in there.

– Kudos to Ricardo Lockette for two of the best special teams tackles you’ll ever see.

We know the Seahawks will definitely face one of Green Bay (#4), San Francisco (#5) or New Orleans (#6) in the divisional round. Three interesting story lines there. A ‘Fail Mary’ rematch, another NFC West showdown or the Saints still looking for Beastquake revenge.

If this team plays defense the way it did today, they have a great shot against anybody at home. If they run the ball well, they have a great chance. If Russell Wilson and the passing game make the necessary improvements, they’re going to be rock solid.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Seattle. Go take it.

The Rutgers offense has been pitiful all year. Even benching struggling Gary Nova hasn’t had much of an impact.

In the Pinstripe Bowl today, replacement Chas Dodd completed just ten passes and threw three interceptions. The Scarlet Knights were beaten 29-16 by Notre Dame.

As frustrating as Coleman can be — the occasional mental lapse, the inability to consistently high point the football — it’s hard to judge a receiver playing in this type of craptastic offense.

How do you improve? As much as you can work on the technical aspects of your game during the week — if the QB never gives you a chance, what can you do?

I’ve watched a fair few Rutgers games the last two years. Nova and now Dodd just do not give their receivers a shot to make big plays.

Today was more of the same.

Dodd didn’t find his best receiver until the teams third drive. He found him twice. The first a 51-yarder with Coleman beating his man and making a big play (click here to see it). He finished it off with a 14-yard touchdown grab (and you can click here for the TD).

And then… silence.

Dodd barely looked his way. The coaches made hardly any attempt to get him the football. And so he ended with two catches for 65 yards and a score.

I’m not here to make excuses, but what the hell happened?

It didn’t end well either, with Coleman landing awkwardly on a meaningless last play and hurting his shoulder. He said after the game he was fine and no serious injury had been incurred.

It would’ve been great to be able to judge him in a polished offense. Not one of these ‘Air Raid’ easy-yardage efforts. Just an offense that could move the ball, had a competent college passer and knew how to utilise the teams best weapon.

Teams will spend a lot of time trying to work him out over the next few months.

He’s huge (6-6/6-5) and clearly has athletic potential through the roof. He doesn’t play with the same biting determination you see from Mike Evans, but he’s nowhere near as irritating to watch as Kelvin Benjamin.

He’ll be a relatively early pick providing checks on his knee get the all clear. There just aren’t that many guys who can do what he does at that size. With the right guidance — and with a better quarterback — he can be a star.

Just look at the way Josh Gordon exploded this year. The light switched on. And because he is such a size/speed freak — we’re seeing the results. Again, not many guys can do what Gordon’s capable of.

Coleman might be one of the few that can.

Someone will take a chance on this guy — and earlier than people think. Watch out for the Patriots — Belichick loves Rutgers. But the Seahawks could easily have Coleman on their radar.