Jackson Free Press

Heck of a way to start the season for me. Overall I finished the week 16-3 and correctly picked every game involving a Mississippi team.

I blew the Texas A&M and South Carolina game big time. Who knew Kenny Hill would play his first game as the starter like he has been the starter for the last three years.

I also tripped up on the Rutgers against Washington State game. The Scarlet Knights went across country with a late kickoff and escaped with a win for the Big Ten over the Pac-12 Cougars.

Finally, I missed Louisville beating Miami. I thought the Hurricanes would be better this season but they folded as the game went along.

This week every Mississippi team begins play after Milsaps, Mississippi College and Delta State were off last week. Nationally, the schedule has some tasty games but a lot of the top 25 are playing cupcakes.

Here is the list of the top ten of AP Top 25 are playing this weekend: The Citadel, Florida Atlantic, Michigan State, Tulsa, San Jose State, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Lamar and Northwestern State. Georgia is off this week and Michigan State and Oregon play each other and Ohio State faces Virginia Tech.

Even with all the cupcake games there are still plenty of games to waste your Saturday watching. Here are my week two picks starting with the Mississippi games, as with last week, winners are in bold.

Delta State at Fort Valley State (Saturday/1 pm)

This is the first game for both teams this season. The Statesmen make the trip to Georgia to face the Wildcats. I think Delta State will be good this season and this will be a good first test. I'm going with the Statesmen because a gut feeling.

UAB at Mississippi State (Saturday/1 pm/FSS)

The Blazers rolled over Troy last Saturday and everyone knows the Bulldogs demolished Southern Miss. Mississippi State will be 2-0 after this game but I expect UAB to put up a fight.

Mississippi at Vanderbilt (Saturday/3:30 pm/ESPN)

On paper before the beginning of the season, this looked like a good matchup. That was before Vanderbilt got blasted by Temple at home. If Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace can keep from giving the other team the ball, this game should be a blowout win for Mississippi.

Mary Hardin-Baylor at Milsaps (Saturday/6 pm)

The Majors kickoff their season against one of the better teams in Division III. If Milsaps wins this game I think they will run the table. I really think the Majors are going to run the table.

Alcorn State at Southern Miss

The Braves wasted no time dispatching Lynchburg last week. The Golden Eagles played tough against MSU for a quarter.

This game is must win for USM or they are going 0-12 this season. The Braves won't roll over for anyone and will put up a fight. Southern Miss is in a dogfight for …

Some interesting things have come out of New Orleans over the past few days. Both the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees seem to be trying to position themselves for some possible post-draft fallout.

By now, nearly every Saints fan knows that Brees currently has a $30 million salary number cap for this upcoming season. This is also the final year of his current contract with New Orleans.

The next few stories are why this is so interesting.

When the Carolina Panthers suddenly rescinded their franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman, making him an unrestricted free agent, it quickly became apparent that Washington and New Orleans were his top destination options.

Norman signed with Washington instead of New Orleans, but after Norman was off the market, ESPN reported that Brees was willing to rework his deal so the Saints could sign the star cornerback.

Neither side has said it had a contract deal in place after Norman signed with Washington. But could Brees have worked out a deal in a few short hours to give the Saints room to sign Norman?

Then, there was this: Just this week, Ian Rapoport said the Saints were looking to move up to the number-one pick before a trade was made between the Los Angeles Rams and the Tennessee Titans.

Brees said in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he doubts the Saints tried to make a move for the top pick. New Orleans General Manager Mickey Loomis also said the report was false during a recent press conference.

Rapoport, in the same story, reported that the Saints were also interested in possibly moving up from the 12th pick to inside the top 10 to draft former University of Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.

If you don’t remember, the Saints spent a third-round draft choice on Garrett Grayson last year. Grayson just rode the pine after the preseason, mainly as the Saints’ third-string quarterback.

The theory that New Orleans might want to draft a quarterback in the first round raises some questions.

Would the Saints want to sign Brees to a contract of three or fewer years if they draft a quarterback in the first round?

Will the Saints let Brees play out this season and then move on from the future Hall of Fame signal caller?

Will New Orleans rework Brees’ deal so they can trade him once his salary is more trade-friendly?

Even if the Saints rework Brees’ deal and draft a quarterback, is the club saying the Super Bowl window is closed with Brees?

Do the Saints want to rework Brees’ deal and make a couple of final runs at a Super Bowl?

Is this all really a pre-draft smokescreen that the Saints are using to work a better deal with Brees?

Let’s take a look at each question.

If the Saints take a quarterback in the first round, they …