NFL closer to replacing departed VP Anderson

The NFL is getting closer to naming a replacement for departed VP of football operations Ray Anderson.

The NFL is evaluating some final candidates to replace departed VP of football operations, Ray Anderson, finishing up interviews with both internal and external candidates, league sources said. Ultimately, the position, one of the more important within the league office, could end up divide between a few people, involving possible promotions for internal candidates and help from the outside.

Ron Hill, who is already an executive in the NFL's football operations department, has a strong football background with 33 years in the and is one of the men under consideration, while Jack Mulla, former counsel of the New England Patriots, was one of the final two or three outside candidates, sources said, but he is withdrawing from the process to focus on his consulting business, which helps both pro and college teams and has worked with each of the past five NCAA football champions.

Over the past few months some of the internal candidates have been handling Anderson's former responsibilities, but with the job involving the football side -- with officiating, the competition committee, rule changes, over seeing on-field discipline -- as well as duties involving business affairs, ongoing technology, etc, it could result in a slightly different structure moving forward.

With the owners meetings just a month away, some teams are getting anxious to see who is brought in and/or promoted into these duties, and the NFL is certainly moving closer to making those decisions final. Jeff Pash, general counsel for the NFL, has been very involved in the process, with Commissioner Roger Goodell ultimately making the final determination, in consult with his inner circle, on the matter.

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Giants expecting young WRs to step up next season



With Hakeem Nicks' chances of returning to the Giants next season "close to zero," in-house youngsters such as Rueben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan are expected to pick up the slack. One person with such expectations is Giants general manager Jerry Reese.Via NFL.com's Chris Wesseling, Reese said Saturday that he is confident Randle will make a "significant jump" in 2014, and that Jernigan "finally looked like the player" who the team selected in the third round of the 2011 draft.Randle, a second-round pick in 2012, caught 41 passes this season. He had a six-week span in the middle of the year in which he scored five of his six touchdowns. Jernigan came on late in the season as he caught 19 passes for 237 yards and three total touchdowns in the final three games.



Victor Cruz is the rock in this receiving corps. Randle and Jernigan can be solid complementary players if they can carry what they displayed in short bursts this season through a 16-game slate. And considering the year that Nicks just had, they can't be any worse, and they'll come much cheaper. Eli Manning has plenty of concerns after such a horrid campaign, but losing the injury-plagued Nicks shouldn't be one of them.