The Alternate Universe: Dave Dameshek's N "if" L
 

On his blog, Dave Dameshek does a piece called the N "if" L where he does "what if" scenarios. Here is his most recent piece about Andrew Luck and the 2011 draft that someone uploaded on You-Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtTJsNOQ5kM

After watching that, what situation would you do a version of the N "if" L about?

It wouldn't have that major an effect but Jake Plummer doesn't retire and is traded to Tampa Bay. Who would Denver have gotten with there pick? And would Josh Freeman have ended up playing for the Bucs or where would he have ended up?

Another one would be again nothing big and Earth Shattering but Dallas doesn't trade back in the 2004 draft. Although looking back it did give us either Marcus Spears or DeMarcus Ware so it could have far reaching consequences.

What if Terrell Owens didn't ***** his way out of playing for the Ravens after getting traded here?

Was that a year or two years before they picked up Steve McNair?

That would really throw a spanner in the works for everything moving forward.

Similarly, what if Terrell Owens hadn't thrown a ***** fit and gotten booted out of Philly? Would Owens' production have been even better than it was with other teams (he did have 20 TDs in 21 games or something like that)? Would Donovan McNabb have won a championship?

What if the Eagles had taken Reggie Wayne, Chad Johnson, Chris Chambers or Steve Smith instead of Freddie Mitchell?

Here's something that I heard about on another forum:

What if the Panthers traded their 2011 first-rounder to the Rams for their second round pick in 2010, and selected Jimmy Clausen?

On top of that, what if Andrew Luck came out last year?

This is how the top several picks could have looked:

1. Broncos(from Rams: Denver sends 2nd overall pick to Rams for first overall pick): Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford*
2. Rams(from Broncos): A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
3. Bills: Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
4. Bengals: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
5. Cardinals: Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M
6. Falcons(from Browns): Julio Jones, WR, Alabama

*Denver could have included Orton in the deal, but there was a lockout, so players couldn't be moved. However, the Rams decided to just swap picks at this time because the Broncos agreed to trade Kyle Orton and Jabar Gaffney to the Rams for a 2012 4th and 7th rounder after the lockout ended as an extension of the trade.

In Round 2, The Bengals take Torrey Smith instead of Andy Dalton, who goes to Washington in the same round. Dalton plays well after taking over for Grossman and Beck in Week 10.

This year, Indy gets RGIII, SF gets Peyton, Miami gets Alex Smith, and Cleveland gets Tannehill.

What if TO got along with Jeff Garcia and the Niners weren't in cap hell during the early '00s? The answer is that Mooch would probably have coached in SF for like 8 years.

Or so I would like to believe.

What if Archie didn't get Eli out of SD?

multiple SB winner, Phillip Rivers?

You mean... no JP Losman?

We probably would have taken him in the 2nd round, or drafted someone like Andrew Walter in the first round the next year.

Possible or Eli gets SD over the hump and we go nowhere. It's a good what if.

What if...the Bears drafted Joe Flacco in 2008, as some mock drafts had them doing?

That means:
-no trading for Jay Cutler in 2009
-Bears keep 2009 and 2010 first round picks
-Jay Cutler is starting for someone else (Redskins were rumored to have the 2nd-best offer at the time)
-if Cutler goes to Washington as rumored, RGIII goes to someone else
-With the conservative way the Bears approach new players and Orton looking pretty much average, ole Neckbeard probably finishes his contract as the Bears' starter for two more years before signing as a FA somewhere else
-Flacco sits on bench for two years. Help or hindrance to his development?
-Ravens have no QB

Lots of QB musical chairs in the NFL if the Bears did that, I imagine.



Or here's another one that's on my mind at least once a day...

Leading up to the 2009 draft, every mock I did had Arian Foster going to the Bears in the sixth round to be the change-of-pace for Forte. OMGWTFBBQSAUCE?

Campbell a Bronco
 

Jason Campbell goes to Denver instead of Orton. The Redskins give up a 2009 first and third-rounder and a 2010 first-rounder for Cutler. As a result, Denver has the 12th and 13th overall pick in the 09 draft. So, they send the 13th overall pick, 09 second rounder, and 2010 fourth-rounder to the Browns for the fifth overall pick in the draft. The Broncos use that pick on B.J. Raji of Boston College, and they select Knowshon with the 12th pick.

Campbell does good in his first year, leading Denver to the playoffs, where they lose to SD in the Divisional Playoffs. In the 2010 draft, the Broncos had the 11th overall pick due to the Cutler trade(they traded their pick to the Seahawks for a 2nd rounder so they could get Alphonso Smith). Denver drafts S Earl Thomas with that pick. Also, because the season ended in the playoffs, Marshall and Scheffler don't get traded, but Hillis still does. He gets moved to the Browns for a fifth-round pick.

Because of injuries and dissension due to Spygate II, the Broncos finish 7-9 and out of the playoffs. John Elway and John Fox still come in after McStupid is fired at the end of the season.

Marshall is also moved to Washington for a 11 second and a 2012 third-rounder.

In the first round, the Broncos draft DT Nick Fairley to pair with B.J. Raji. In Round 2, Denver drafts WR Torrey Smith and OT Orlando Franklin. They also go back to the playoffs for the second time in three years with Campbell at QB.

What if Miami took Patrick Willis or Darelle Revis, instead of Ted Ginn

What if Matt Millen had fallen into a bottomless pit in 1997?

It would have destroyed the space-time continuum and the Lions would have forever been under the Curse of Bobby Layne. Matt Millen had to be hired by the Lions.

In 1958, the Lions traded Bobby Layne. Layne responded by saying that the Lions wouldn't win for 50 years, and The Curse of Bobby Layne began. That same year, Matt Millen was born in Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania. For the next 50 years, the Lions accumulated the worst winning percentage of any team in the NFL.

In 2008, the final year of the curse, the Lions went 0-16. Matt Millen was finally fired after seven seasons of ineptitude. In April of 2009, the Lions drafted Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. Stafford attended Highland Park High School, the same high school as Layne. Stafford also lived in a house on the same street as Layne's. The firing of Millen and drafting of Stafford signaled the end of the curse.

This stuff is practically written in the stars.

What if the Vikings never Trade for Hershel Walker? Cowboys never get all those picks and never become a Dynasty? The Bills Win a couple of those Super Bowls? The 49ERS go to more Super Bowls without the Cowboys knocking them out in the Post Season and they go on to be the Greatest Team ever?

Another one is what if Trent Green never gets injured in the preseason making way for Kurt Warner or what about if Drew Bledsoe never gets injured ? No Tom Brady?

come on folks, we can do better.

Sean Taylor not shot
Steve Young never makes it to San Francisco from Tampa
Prime Time plays baseball full time
Vinatieri misses in the tuck rule game
McNair's Titans 1 yard short
Suzy Kolbert goes for it with Namath on live TV
No Willis McGahee injury
Marino goes to his backyard Steelers

There is some real alternate reality type stuff, every season really hinges on a whole bunch of stuff going in one particular random way or another.

What if the New York Giants hadn't been such dicks in the Superbowl!!!

In addition to the Bills and 49ers, I think that the Packers would have also been a big beneficiary of there not being a Cowboys dynasty. People forget how good the mid-90s Packers were because the Cowboys knocked them out almost every year. Green Bay almost certainly would have made it to Super Bowl XXX.

******* tuck rule....can burn in hell.

That is just creepy.



What if Ray Lewis and Ed Reed actually had a respectable QB for the span of 2001-2007.

Raiders would have beaten the Rams.

What if the Colts had taken Ryan Leaf instead of Peyton Manning?

The Chargers would have had a fantastic QB for over a decade, while the Colts would have remained a ****** team.

The Chargers wouldn't have had Tomlinson, in all likelihood, but they wouldn't have drafted Brees or Rivers either.

Brees consequently would not be a Saint, and might have more, or no, Superbowls right now. The Saints would still be a **** team, possibly, never establishing a winning attitude/mentality.

Eli Manning would not be playing for the Giants because the Chargers wouldn't have had the first overall pick to trade away, and Eli might have wanted to play for the team that chose him.

Rivers would not have been selected by the Giants at #4, because it's been said that if the Manning trade failed, they would have actually taken Roethlisberger over Rivers.

That means the Steelers might not have won their two most recent Superbowls.

Rivers would/could be a Steeler, but they also loved Shawn Andrews.

The Chargers, meanwhile, wouldn't have received the extra picks that led to Shawne Merriman, and others, but they would have, in all likelihood, built a better defense than the Colts did.

That would have changed so much in the NFL right now it's crazy. His N"if"L video on Favre staying in Green Bay is scary. Rodgers, Manning and Sanchez all in NY except Sanchez is in Buffalo. Crazy stuff.