Al's Hot NFL News and Rumor Blog
February
02/26...Quick Hits from the Combine...Most of the top rated receivers worked out at Indy on Sunday and several of them solidified their stock as potential first round picks...LSU's Dwayne Bowe ran a 4.46 which is a solid time for a 221 pound receiver...Tennessee's Robert Meachum is coming off of his best year as a Volunteer but there were questions whether Meachum could run under 4.5 in his forty...well Meachum ran a 4.42 and a 4.38 on some Scouts clocks and is quickly rising up the charts...other top prospects that ran well include Sidney Rice of South Carolina (4.41 forty)...Jason Hill of Washington St. (4.37 forty)...Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio State (4.38 forty) and Steve Smith of USC (4.41 forty)...on the flip side...USC's Dwayne Jarrett didn't participate in any of the drills because of a groin injury...one of the rumors floating around is Jarrett may have a hard time running under 4.6
...if Jarrett fails to run under 4.6 in his Pro day workout he will fall completely out of the first round of the NFL Draft....last but not least...Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech ran a blistering 4.35 forty time on Sunday which is outstanding for a big receiver like Johnson...Johnson's measurements are 6-5 239...Johnson is the number one rated player on My board and will likely be at the top of most of the NFL teams boards when the entire process is complete and the teams stack their boards in April...Johnson has what I consider the "Big 4" going for him
...the Big 4 consists of #1 - Size, #2 Speed, #3 On-field production and #4 Good Character...he also has no prior injury concerns...Johnson has all the qualities of the first overall pick in the Draft.
02/23...Quick Hits from the Combine...The Cleveland Browns are said to covet LSU QB JaMarcus Russell and will take him with their first pick in the Draft...that is if both the Oakland Raiders and Detroit Lions pass over Russell...USC WR Dwayne Jarrett won't run at the Combine because he reportedly tweaked a groin during a recent workout...Jarrett will wait until USC's Pro Day on March 28th...Ohio State WR Ted Ginn told the media that several NFL teams have talked to him about playing Cornerback for them...Ginn a former Corner stated that he misses playing Corner and would be receptive to the move...Ginn was the USA Today Defensive player of the year in High School....Randy Moss rumors continue to circulate and the latest has the Raiders sending Moss packing to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Byron Leftwich and a draft pick...it's probably nothing more than a rumor but it's interesting that the Jaguars went out of their way yesterday to announce that Leftwich will undoubtably be their starter in 2007...talk about bargaining power!
02/19...Norv Turner is expected to be named the Chargers new head coach sometime within the next 24 hours which is a good move for the Chargers because Turner was the best candidate for the Chargers at this time...Turner was considered a failure in his first two stints as a head coach... but... had the misfortune of having to shoulder the blame by not turning a poor team around in both Washington and Oakland...in San Diego he will just be asked to "guide the ship" a talented ship at that...it's also a good fit because Turner has prior head coaching experience in the league and will be a great mentor for Chargers QB Phillip Rivers....on the flip side...the San Francisco 49'ers have been dealt a huge blow because under Turner... Alex Smith was starting to show promise and was developing into the type of QB the Niners envisioned he would be when they drafted him first overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.
02/17...In yesterdays writing I stated that Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson is a "lock" to become one of the top 4 picks in the upcoming Draft...however...after talking to a friend of mine who Scouts for a team in the league I'm not so sure that it's a given that Johnson will indeed be one of the top four picks after all...we were in general agreement that Russell is the pick for the Raiders and the Lions will likely shy away from a WR with the second pick and should be leaning toward an OT with their selection...after that...the Browns and Bucs own the next two picks...in my most recent Mock update I have the Browns taking Hb Adrian Peterson with Calvin Johnson going to the Bucs...however after our conversation... I wasn't so was sure that the Bucs will take Johnson with QB Brady Quinn staring them in the face...my friend pointed out to me that Jon Gruden has been longing to have the opportunity to land a franchise type QB and was extremely dissapointed that Quinn passed up the opportunity to play in the Senior Bowl in which Gruden and the Bucs staff coached in...the Bucs just re-signed Chris Simms in the offseason... but... the contract wasn't the type that has the Bucs totally committed to Simms as their future QB...I also learned that there isn't that much of a difference in ranking in the Scouts eyes between Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas and Penn State's Levi Brown... and several NFL teams could have Brown rated ahead of Thomas after the Combine and after the entire process is completed and the teams have their boards stacked in April.
02/16...One thing to look for at next week's Combine is the workout results of the following three prospects...all DE's...Quintin Moses (Georgia)...Lamar Woodley (Michigan) and Anthony Spencer (Purdue)...these three will be asked to work out in some Linebacker drills to see if they are athletic enough to make the transition at the next level...NFL teams that run a 3-4 scheme will be very interested in their results because the prospect that peforms the best next week has a good chance to be drafted in the later part of the first round of the upcoming Draft...I expect that prospect to be drafted by either the New England Patriots (picks #24 & #28)...the New York Jets (pick #25) or the San Diego Chargers (pick #30) three AFC Playoff teams from '06 that pick in the latter part of the first round......some notes to pass along.....WR Calvin Johnson (Geo Tech) reportedly recently ran a 4.33 forty and recorded a 43" vertical jump during his pre-comine workouts...Johnson is a lock to become one of the top 4 picks in the upcoming Draft...OT Joe Staley of Central Michigan expects to run the forty in the 4.7 range...this is no surprise because Staley is a converted tight end...Staley carries a second round grade heading into the Combine with a slight chance to make it into the later part of the first round...CB Chris Houston (Arkansas) expects to run his forty in the 4.2 range...Houston carries a mid to late first round grade at this time and could become the second Corner off the board (behind Derrell Revis) if his time is that good...remember...speed kills at the next level and some NFL teams become enamored with fast corners.
02/15...The NFL's free-agency period doesn't begin until March...but one rumor that is circulating around the league is the Washington Redskins pursuit of Bills Cb Nate Clements...this comes as no surprise because Clements is a personal favorite of Redskins DC Gregg Williams who drafted Clements while he was the head coach of the Bills ...however as I pointed out in my 02/08 column...the Redskins will need to make some big moves to clear some Cap space in order for a Clements signing to happen...I updated My Mock once again today with several Big changes!
02/13...Marty-Ball is out in San Diego!...it was a huge surprise to most NFL observers mainly because of the timing of the firing... but it came as no surprise to me...I felt all along that Shotzie would be fired as noted in my 01/15 column mainly because of the "lack of relationship" that he had with Chargers GM A.J. Smith... and... his poor playoff record as well...now the big question is...who will be the next Head Coach in San Diego?...I believe there are three front-runners for the job... and they are...Jim Fassel...Mike Sherman...and "drum-roll" please...USC Coach Pete Carroll...the reason I believe that Pete Carroll could be interested in this job is simple...he'd remain on the West Coast and be able to inherit a team that is on the brink of representing the AFC in the Super Bowl...Carroll has maintained all along that he is very happy at USC...but...he has also kept his options open "if the right job" were to come along...Miami owner Wayne Huizenga interviewed Carroll in his coaching search for the Dolphins head job and Carroll admitted that he was intruiged by Huizenga's offer... but was happy on the West Coast...well the last time I checked San Diego is still located out on the West Coast and the Chargers job would be extremely attractive to Carroll because he wouldn't have to leave the coast... and he would be in a perfect situation to succeed as a Coach in the NFL which is something that Carroll failed to do his first time around in the league...stay tuned!...News out of Detroit this week isn't very promising for Lions fans as HB Kevin Jones is likely to be shelved for the first half of the upcoming NFL season...with this news...don't be surprised if the Lions make a big pitch for Colts UFA Dominic Rhodes in free agency because the Lions are paper thin at the Hb position at this time with Brian Calhoun coming back from an injury of his own and Shawn Bryson being the Lions only other option...Rhodes would make sence because he'd be a good fit in Mike Martz's offense and he wouldn't cost the Lions as much as a Michael Turner would...another UFA back that would make sence for the team is the Bears Adrian Peterson...I'd be very surprised if the Lions don't heavily pursue either Rhodes or Peterson this March.
2/08...I'll be updating this blog DAILY once the Combine and NFL free agency rolls around... but even though this is a quiet time of the year there are several rumors making their way around the league...in Minnesota...the Vikings are rumored to be interested in Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald and may be willing to part with the seventh pick overall in the upcoming Draft in a package deal to land him...keep in mind...Fitzgerald is from the area and was a Vikings ball-boy while he was growing up...plus Fitzgerald was drafted by former Cards Coach Dennis Green who no longer is with the club......in Washington...the Redskins have a salary cap mess on their hands and will need to trim some of the fat to get under the Cap before Free Agency hits in March...because of salary cap ramifications...many of the Redskins recent free agent acquisitions are virtually untouchable including free agent busts WR Brandon Lloyd and S Adam Archuleta...however...from what I'm hearing... DE's Renaldo Wynn and Philip Daniels may BOTH be Cap casualties by the time March rolls around...Stay Tuned!
02/01...This is a relatively "quiet time" for talk invloving the NFL Draft because this is the first "lull" since the season ended with all of the major all-star games being played and the Combine being 24 days away...however Ohio State Qb Troy Smith was in the news recently as he pettioned the Cleveland Browns to take him in the upcoming Draft...I'm hoping that Smith doesn't think the Browns are considering him with their first round pick because if he does he's in for a rude awakening come Draft day...Smith had a great season winning the Heisman and leading the Buckeyes to the BCS Title game...but...as an NFL Prospect I have him graded as a third round pick at best!...Smith has a solid NFL arm and throws a very catchable ball with very good rotation on it...but...he wasn't as accurate as advertised during the week of the Senior Bowl practices and didn't enhance his stock for the draft during the week or in the game...the knock on Smith is his lack of ideal height for the Qb position which makes it difficult for him to find passing lanes while he's in the pocket...Smith is at his best when he gets outside of the pocket and is able to see his lanes or use his legs to run with the ball...I'm a bit concerned with the poor outing that Smith had in the BCS title game against Florida because Smith struggled to adjust to the Gators overall team speed which was just a smidgen of the speed that he will face at the next level...all in all...I just don't see Smith being taken any earlier than the third round of the upcoming Draft with the possibility that he will still be on the board when day two of the Draft rolls around on Sunday.
