January 24, 2007
Charlie Weis is suing the doctors that nearly ended his life during a botched gastric bypass surgery in 2002. Tom Brady, of all people, is expected to be a witness. Most Patriots fans know the story, but it's a fascinating one.
While I'm on a homer Patriots kick, Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe and Mike Felger of the Boston Herald take a look at what the Patriots need to upgrade this winter.
Going into the year, I wrote that linebacker depth was the team's biggest weakness. I thought secondary depth could also be a problem, but it's hard to expect losing Rodney Harrison, Eugene Wilson, Tebucky Jones, and Randall Gay for the season.
The thin back seven helped New England get beat in the AFC Championship. Tedy Bruschi is no longer a difference maker and may not be a three-down player anymore. Rosevelt Colvin and Mike Vrabel are solid, but Vrabel isn't getting any younger. After that, the Patriots have nothing. Let the Jets overpay for Tully Banta-Cain. The Chargers picked him on in the AFC Divisional Round.
I look for the Patriots to sign a player like London Fletcher (always a Belichick favorite) and use a high draft pick on an inside linebacker. This should be a good draft to pick one.
Rotoworld regular Evan Silva recaps the first two days in Mobile.
Making a rare trip to Rotoworld headquarters today, so the Senior Bowl Coverage is being saved on Tivo. Here are some notes on yesterday's action starting with the receivers.
The top nine receivers in the land, according to the NFL Network's Mike Mayock ...
1. Calvin Johnson - Jr. - Georgia Tech
2. Dwayne Jarrett - Jr. - USC
3. Ted Ginn - Jr. - Ohio State
4. Dwayne Bowe - Sr. - LSU
5. Anthony Gonzalez - Jr. - Ohio State
6. Craig Davis - Sr. - LSU
7. Robert Meachem - Jr. - Tennessee
8. Chansi Stuckey - Sr. - Clemson
The only question regarding Johnson is how high he'll go. Oakland will consider him if they can find themselves another quarterback. He might be the best wideout prospect since Randy Moss, certainly Larry Fitzgerald.
Jarrett is a physical receiver who will get questions about his speed, but most scouts agree he's no Mike Williams. Ted Ginn and Dwayne Bowe are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Ginn will be a burner in the mold of Lee Evans, but with some special teams flexibility.
Bowe is at the Senior Bowl and is quite a physical presence. Mayock would say he has a "rocked up" body, which may be my least favorite scouting term yet. My favorite remains: Heavy-legged waist bender.
Like all the LSU receivers, Bowe can block and gets after passes. He appears to struggle with the routine catch, though, and that may knock him to the end of the first round. Think Michael Clayton. Bowe's teammate Craig Davis is also a physical threat, but is better at getting down the field.
Anthony Gonzalez may lack some of the measurables of his teammate Ted Ginn, but is said to be intelligent and runs precise routes. I usually target receivers like that in dynasty leagues because those skills are easily transferable to the next level.
If Mike Tomlin were a head coaching hire out of left field, Lane Kiffin's hire by the Oakland Raiders was out of ... a minor league ballpark across town. 
I don't know much about Kiffin, but I do know it takes guts to sit across the table from Al Davis, who looks positively frightening these days.
Kiffin will have his hands full with a roster of overpaid, entitled veterans used to running the show. They didn't listen to a Hall of Fame linemen, so maybe they will listen to a 31-year-old with virtually no NFL coaching experience.
Two pretty good takes on the Kiffin introductory press are available for consumption. Cam Inman of the Contra Costa Times writes about Al Davis verbally abusing some female reporters.
Gary Peterson of the same paper has a good look at the obstacles Kiffin will face.
There is some offensive talent for Kiffin to work with, and I suspect he sold Al Davis on his ability to mold JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn into a star NFL quarterback. LaMont Jordan, Randy Moss, and Ronald Curry depend on it.
January 23, 2007
I spent part of my afternoon having a professional photographer take "head shot"-type pics to use for the website. That was a first. As penance, it was necessary to dive into Senior Bowl coverage Tuesday when I got back.
The Senior Bowl has been a springboard for a quarterback to soar up draft boards the last two seasons. Philip Rivers rose from a borderline first round draft pick to the fourth pick in the draft. Jay Cutler emerged from a relative unknown second round pick to being selected eleventh, one place behind Matt Leinart.
The best candidate to be this year's Cutler is University of Houston's Kevin Kolb. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, admittedly a homer, thinks Kolb is a franchise quarterback.
The NFL Network crew is intrigued by Kolb's athleticism and accuracy. He played almost exclusively in a shotgun in college. If he shows he can adapt to a pro-style offense, he should be the third quarterback off the board in April and may be a solid first-round pick. 49ers coach Mike Nolan made a surprising admission that Kolb looked to be ahead of the other quarterbacks on his squad (Jordan Palmer and Chris Leak).
I admittedly don't have time to watch college ball much during the NFL season. So I was surprised to learn that Carson Palmer's brother is an NFL prospect. Jordan Palmer from UTEP is a dead ringer to his older brother. His arm looks strong.
Unfortunately his decision-making may not be a strength. Palmer had 64 interceptions in 42 career starts. Like his older brother, Jordan sounded like he "gets it" when interviewed.
Here are NFL Network's Mike Mayock's top six quarterbacks in the draft.
1. JaMarcus Russell - Jr - LSU
2. Brady Quinn - Sr. - Notre Dame
3. Kevin Kolb - Sr. - Houston
4. Troy Smith - Sr. - Ohio St.
5. Drew Stanton - Sr. - Michigan St.
6. Trent Edwards - Sr. - NC State
Imagine getting your dream job after years of working for an organization. Then telling your family about it. Then finding out you didn't really get the job. That's what happened to Steelers offensive line coach Russ Grimm.
Something got lost in translation when Grimm negotiated his prospective contract with the Steelers. It's fairly standard operating procedure to work out contract parameters with coaching finalists before deciding who gets the job to get the details out of the way.
Grimm was reportedly so devastated, he considered giving up coaching. His buddy Ken Whisenhunt, however, convinced him to take an assistant head coach/offensive line coach job in Arizona. Grimm is thought to be one of the best O-line coaches in the business, so it's great news for Edgerrin James and Matt Leinart.
Here are NFL Network's Mike Mayock's rankings of the DBs in the NFL Draft. There is a lot of great Senior Bowl coverage on the tube Tuesday.
1. Dewan Landry - Sr. - LSU FS
2. Leon Hall - Jr. - Michigan CB
3. Marcus McCauley - Sr. - CB
4. Aaron Ross - Sr. - Texas - CB
5. Brandon Merriweather - Sr. - Miami S
6. Darrell Revis - Jr. - Pittsburgh CB
7. Chris Houston - Jr. - Arkansas CB
8. Tanard Jackson - Sr. - Syracuse CB
9. Michael Griffin - Sr. - Texas FS
10. Reggie Nelson - Jr. - Florida S
It sounds like Landry and Hall could be top ten picks. There appears to be a big drop-off after that, but everyone else here should have a chance to make the first round.
Griffin's stock seems to have fallen quite a bit after a weak senior season, while teammate Aaron Ross climbed the ladder by winning the Jim Thorpe award.
My new column is up at Rotoworld. I look at some veterans like Willis McGahee, Julius Jones, Ricky Williams, and Joe Horn who could be changing teams this off-season.
Here's a request for any readers out there. There has been a lot of talk about a Michael Vick-to-Raiders report, originally on FoxSports.com. I can't find it. I suspect it was really part of Ben Maller's daily links, which is a lot like Rotoworld's news. It's not like we break stuff ourselves very often, just link elsewhere.
Anyhow, sources from AOL Fanhouse to Profootballtalk.com to Atlanta Journal-Constitution refer to this report. But I can't find it. None of the above link to the actual column. I'm not convinced everyone has really read it, it's just an example of an internet rumor spreading by wildfire without attribution. Who actually broke the story and where is the link? If you know, leave it in the comments. Thanks!
Classic NFL Network moment Monday night. I'm a football loser, I know.
Dennis Green is working as a studio analyst on Total Access. After a segment on the Bears, host Fran Charles asked the question everyone was thinking.
"Dennis, are the Bears who we thought they were?"
Green, to his credit, laughed heartily and moved into analyst mode. He always did a good job at ESPN and may be angling for a media job for next season. Perhaps Bill Parcells will join him.
Wright Thompson of ESPN.com does a great job of putting a bow on the special season in New Orleans.
Mike Tomlin showed at his introductory presser why everyone around the NFL is so high on him. I can't remember an unknown coach who was so universally lauded by the coaching community and media who knows him. Tomlin didn't waste time with a huge introductory statement. His answers were direct, occasionally light-hearted, but always very to the point. He's the anti Brian Billick.
One way to tell he gets it: Tomlin will retain Dick Lebeau as his defensive coordinator. Tomlin said he would be flexible enough to bend his schemes to the talent in Pittsburgh. "X's and O's are overrated," Tomlin said. That's great news for the Pittsburgh linebackers like Larry Foote and Joey Porter.
Terrell Owens thinks Bill Parcells' retirement was a good idea. "Hopefully, the owner will hire a coach to take the team to the next level," Owens said.
I bet Parcells read that article this morning and knew he made the right choice.
January 22, 2007
The NFL Network has wall-to-wall Senior Bowl coverage this week. They will air a whopping 3.5 hours of practice every day between Tuesday and Thursday, plus a half hour wrap up show every night. The coverage kicked off Monday.
Most working people couldn't possibly devote that much time to watching kids practice, but it's my chance to go to school on the 2007 class. Thank you, Tivo.
I wanted to use this space to pass along NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock's current draft rankings. There is no TV draft analyst better than Mayock, and he often spots the scouting trends before the rest of the sock puppets do, to use a Florioism.
Here were Mayock's top defensive tackles.
1. Alan Branch - Michigan - Jr.
2. Justin Harrell - Sr - Tennnessee
3. Amobi Okoye - Sr. Louisville
4. Ryan McBean - Sr. - Oklahoma State
5. Tank Tyler - Sr - NC State
6. Brandon Mebane - Sr.- Cal
Okoye is only 19 years old and graduated, a fact we'll probably hear 4,365 times before April 28th.
Branch seems like a lock to go near the top of the draft. Any team could take a look at him because everyone needs a dominating defensive tackle. He may not be the prototype 3-4 DT, but neither was Vince Wilfork when he came out and he's worked out well. Perhaps Richard Seymour is a better comparison because Branch is 6'6. Either way, the Browns and Bucs will have to take a hard look at Branch.
The NFL world convenes this week in Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl. So who will show up representing the Cowboys?
Bill Parcells' "retirement" from coaching football Monday isn't a huge surprise, but the timing leaves the Cowboys in a difficult position. Coaching staffs, young and old, use this week in Mobile to scout future draft picks and interview prospective coaching candidates. A few members of Parcells' staff already departed in recent weeks, perhaps reading the tea leaves more accurately than many members of the media.
The only two head coaching vacancies in the NFL now exist in Oakland and Dallas. It's purely speculation, but the lack of a ready statement from Jerry Jones may indicate that the decision took Jones by surprise. Jones has surely been aware in recent weeks that Parcells could leave, and should have a short list of possible candidates.
Jeff Fisher was rumored to be a target of Jones, but the Titans seem unlikely to let him go. Chargers defensive coordinator has been mentioned and knows how to run the 3-4 defense. It's anyone's guess who else is on the list, but Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has been a hot candidate.
The Cowboys job is still a plum position, no matter how much Jerry Jones meddles in day-to-day affairs. While Parcells couldn't win a playoff game in Dallas, the team has plenty of young talent locked up long term.
Finally, I thought it was interesting that Parcells said he was retiring from "coaching football" in his statement released on Monday. That may indicate that he's looking to work in a front office elsewhere.
One thing is certain. No matter what Parcells does, rumors about his future will follow. He wouldn't have it any other way.
|
