The NFL Network just kicked off the first of their (drum roll) ... 100 live hours of coverage during Super Bowl week. And Lovie Smith has already played the underdog card!

"We're gonna show up Sunday. And we've got some scholarship players too," Smith said.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After Chris Henry's latest plea agreement, the Bengals reportedly expect him to be suspended four games to start next season.

I'm a big believer in Henry's talent and think he's comparable to Chad Johnson at the same stage of his career. If he didn't have two Pro Bowl quality receivers in front of him, Henry could have put up 1,000 yards last season.

The Bengals held on to Henry despite the four arrests, so there is no way they will let him go now unless he gets in trouble again this off-season.

He will be a tough player to gauge in fantasy drafts. He's entering his third season and is wildly talented, but he's a number three receiver who will miss a third of the fantasy season. My guess is he'll go undrafted in most leagues. I'll happily scoop him up as a WR5/6 type in deeper leagues.

Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh should have better numbers in September if Henry is out.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

FoxSports' Jay Glazer is one of the best football information guys around, but his notion that Ashley Lelie is the best free agent wideout is ridiculous.

Lelie is a good third receiver. He can be one of the best deep threats in the league if used properly, but is coming off a miserable season. The way he demanded to leave Denver because he didn't want to sit on the bench probably doesn't sit well with many GMs. He sat on the bench in Atlanta anyhow.

My top free agent wideouts would be Donte' Stallworth and Drew Bennett. Both players are also vertical threats, albeit with some downside. Stallworth has been inconsistent and was hurt often while on the Eagles. Bennett never developed great hands.

Lelie wouldn't even be third on my list. I would take Kevin Curtis and see what he could do in a starting role. Lelie would be fourth, and that's because I can't think of anyone else halfway decent. Wes Welker and DJ Hackett are intriguing, but they are both restricted free agents.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here were the top nine defensive ends in the draft, according to the NFL Network's Mike Mayock. This looks like a strong class of ends. These rankings were made at the beginning of Senior Bowl week.

1. Gaines Adams - Sr. - Clemson
2. Jarvis Moss - Jr. - Florida
3. Quentin Moses - Sr. - Georgia
4. Jamaal Anderson - Jr. - Arkansas
5.Adam Carriker - Sr. - Nebraska
6. Victor Abiamiri - Sr. - Notre Dame
7. Anthony Spencer - Sr. - Purdue
8. Lamarr Woodley - Sr. - Michigan
9. Charles Johnson - Jr. - Georgia
10. Ray McDonald - Sr. - Florida

Moses, Spencer, and Woodley could probably play OLB in a 3-4 defense. Spencer seemed to shine at Mobile and could have made a strong case as a first round pick.

Perhaps no player helped his stock this week as much as Adam Carriker, who could also play DE in a 3-4 defense. His athleticism seemed to surprise a lot of people. He could be third on this list going into the combine.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The NFL salary cap has gone up over $15 million in the last 10 months. It changes everything about the NFL landscape. Teams like the Patriots and Eagles who have managed the salary cap well throughout the last ten years don't have as big an advantage anymore. Everyone has cash. In fact, I think it came back to bite New England last off-season when they didn't adjust to the market fast enough.

The St. Petersburg Times has a complete breakdown Friday of how much room each NFL team has under the cap. The figures change every day and there's no way to be entirely accurate, but this is a great resource.

19 teams have over $20 million in space, even before doing roster paring. In past years, that number was usually one or two teams. Basically, teams can spend however much money they want this off-season and every free agent will be "overpaid", just like in baseball.

Apparently, the next Todd Heap or Tony Gonzalez isn't in this draft. Here's Mike Mayock's top six tight ends.

1. Greg Olsen - Jr - Miami
2. Zach Miller - Jr. - Arizona State
3. Martrez Milner - Sr. - Georgia
4. Scott Chandler - Sr. - Iowa
5. Matt Spaeth - Sr. - Minnesota
6. Clark Harris - Sr. - Rutgers

Miller was very productive under Dirk Koetter at Arizona St. and might have the best chance for fantasy relevance. As Vernon Davis, Tony Scheffler, Marcedes Lewis, and Joe Klopfenstein showed this season, it's tough for a rookie tight end to come flying out of the gates.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After 15 seasons, 220 games, and who knows how many perfect snaps, Bucs TE/long snapper Dave Moore has finally made the Pro Bowl.

About damn time.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pretty quiet morning at the South practice in Mobile. A lot of NFL scouts have packed up and left because the padded practices are over. Here were Mike Mayock's top five movers on the North team this week.

Amobi Okoye - DT - Louisville
Adam Carriker - DE - Nebraksa
Brandon Bebane - DT - Cal
Anthony Spencer - DE/OLB- Purdue
David Harris - LB - Michigan

Okoye seems to be the story of the week. He sounds like a solid first round pick in the mold of Warren Sapp, but less polished since he's 19 years old. Carriker would look great in a 3-4 defense. He's tough and seems to have a lot of versatility. Spencer also seems to be a possibility for 3-4 defenses as a situational pass rusher.

For the wideouts, Paul Williams of Fresno State made some big plays. Penn St. running back Tony Hunt is a grinder with versatility and toughness. In the right situation, he could be a fantasy sleeper next season.

Troy Smith threw three interceptions at practice Wednesday, but there don't seem to be any questions about his arm. Michigan St. QB Drew Stanton looked to be slinging it on Thursday, though, and probably rates higher than Smith on most draft boards right now. Smith isn't going to be selected in the first round. Stanton helped himself.

Rutgers FB Justin Leonard is an interesting player who everyone seems to love. He can play tailback, catch the ball well, and block. Like a more athletic Mike Alstott. He probably won't be a fantasy star, but a team like the Patriots or Eagles who love versatility won't let him get out of the second round.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It sounds like Lane Kiffin and Al Davis want to keep Jerry Porter. It's amazing that Porter whined all season, basically took a year off, and doesn't suffer for it at all.

That said, I think Oakland is making the right move. Why give away offensive talent? They would be selling low and Porter could be the best slot receiver in the league if he wanted. He complements Ronald Curry well. His salary jumps from $1 million to $5 million in 2008, so that's when Oakland should deal him.

It's interesting that the Raiders are talking up Porter without mentioning Randy Moss. It looks like Moss is the more likely to get dealt of the two.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (429)

The only thing more tiring than an overused storyline during Super Bowl week is the proliferation of articles about the overused storylines during Super Bowl week. They are just as mindless, and this post only makes it worse.

For every "Jerome Bettis is from Detroit" story, there was a Jerome Bettis is from Detroit joke. The same trend is continuing this year with the Lovie Smith-Tony Dungy angle, only starting earlier.

Deadspin, of course, does it right.

Other articles from the mind-numbing amount of Deadspin imitators ... not so much.

This is all probably a reflection of the media saturated sports world we live in - one that is responsible for my job. Bill Simmons wrote one of his truest pieces in years on the very subject last week. He was dead on.

Like I mentioned at the top, this meta-meta-media coverage rant only compounds the problem. So I will shut up now, and try to come up with some football coverage that shows how much I love the sport. That's the point, right?

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)