David Carr: At any level, Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford was one of the best

I have a Jeff Tedford story. He was the offensive coordinator at Fresno State my first season and he would always find ways to challenge you from a mental standpoint, from a physical standpoint.

In one of the first meetings I had with him, he told me that we were going to play checkers.

I was thinking, “Checkers? Why does this guy want to play checkers with me?”

But we sat down and he had the pieces aligned like a defense. I went to put my pieces on the board and he says, “All right, give me double tight,” and I’m like, “Double tight?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Line your checkers up in double tight.” So I lined them up and then we just started talking through plays.

It was a great training tool because what he’d do is walk you through audibles, walk you through reads.

You’re not just on the chalkboard drawing X’s and O’s, you’re actually moving pieces on the board. He would sit there with two fingers on the safeties and he would move them into different coverages.

It was a real neat thought experiment and a way to get mental reps.

I remember later on I started doing that with my brother Derek, only on Madden. I would sit down with him on Madden football and I would teach him coverages. It was just a different way of doing things.

Technology has caught up now – it’s virtual reality. You can watch film and do all these things. But back then it was a neat way of teaching the game and teaching how to play quarterback, how to think through different scenarios.

You know that old expression, play chess when others are playing checkers? With Tedford, checkers was a lot better. Checkers was great.

He would test you like that. He would do what good coaches do – they take you to where you can’t take yourself, where you’re not willing to take yourself.

At times you wanted to scream, because he was so demanding, but he had a great nature off the field when you were away from the chalkboard.

There were some heated moments early on in my career. But off the field, he was awesome. You could tell he really cared about you as a person, as a young man. That’s the thing I respect most about Tedford. I remember the first time I was with him away from the field, I was like, “Wow. This guy’s not a jerk. I actually like him. We get along great. He actually likes me … I think.”

That was the summer of my first year and from then on it was great.

I know guys who played for him and even Marcus McMaryion, most recently, he said the same thing about Tedford. He’s super-demanding, but he really cares about you as a person.

You knew that, and you knew the coaching was difficult and that he was going to challenge you. But then you turn around and you’re playing good football, you’re completing a lot of passes and you’re winning games, and then you’re able to smile and laugh about it away from the field.

That’s the biggest thing with Tedford – how great he is off the field.

He’s just one of the best.

Did Elway get one right?

The Broncos’ track record with quarterbacks hasn’t been good with John Elway as general manager, whether through the draft, trades or free agency. Denver drafted Brock Osweiler, Zac Dysert, Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch and Chad Kelly, traded for Mark Sanchez. Case Keenum didn’t work out there, and Joe Flacco got hurt.

Denver won with Peyton Manning, but it hasn’t been a good run.

Elway is below the Mendoza line, as they say, but Drew Lock is starting to make him look pretty smart.

You never really know if a guy can play until you put him out there with a decent group around him and see if he can make some plays.

Lock is 2-0 as a starter with that road win last week at Houston, and he has all the confidence in the world. The thing that stands out is his zip on the ball, his arm strength. Not to scare Broncos fans, but his release, it reminds me of a guy who used to play there: Jay Cutler.

I like what Lock brings. He played a ton of games at Missouri and in the SEC, so he has played good competition and seen some good defenses.

In the Broncos’ victory at Houston, he threw a couple of balls to tight end Noah Fant, tight-window throws, and you can’t hesitate there. You have to know what you’re looking at to be able to pull the trigger on some of those throws.

We’ll see if Elway finally hit one. The Broncos aren’t going to the playoffs, but so far so good. If they can get a couple of pieces around that guy and keep that confidence level high, you never who what can happen next year.

Defense wins (fantasy) championships

Carr was talked into joining a fantasy football league a few years ago by his brother, Darren. He won it. His strategy – picking a defense off the waiver wire each week that had a chance to score points based on its matchup.

This one might scare some people, but this week the Jets defense going against Baltimore is my sleeper pick.

Gregg Williams’ defenses can completely shut down a run game, Mark Andrews is hurt and Lamar Jackson is coming off his lowest-production game of the season. This could be a spot to go against the Ravens.

Buffalo played well against Baltimore last week in a scheme similar to what the Jets run. Your friends might think you’re losing it by using a defense that’s lining up against Jackson and the Ravens, but it could be very interesting.