Al's Hot NFL News and Rumor Blog
January
01/29...The Senior Bowl is over and the Super Bowl is now just days away which means the NFL Combine can't be too far away...here's one rumor that is floating around the league at this time.......Look for Eagles QB Jeff Garcia to wear a different uniform in 2007 because he becomes an unrestricted free agent in March and the Philadelphia Eagles don't have enough cap space to satisfy Garcia's contract demands... from what I've heard Garcia will be looking for starters money on the market and despite his age one NFL team that may be willing to dish out the money is the Minnesota Vikings...the Vikings would be a great fit for Garcia because they run a version of the west coast offense and the team was far from satisfied with the play of Brad Johnson last season...Johnson's backup Travaris Jackson (the Vikings second round pick in 2006) isn't far along enough in his development to make the Vikings a serious playoff contender in 2007...if Garcia were to sign with the Vikings the teams Qb situation would no longer be an issue for the team...on the other hand...the Eagles would love to have an experienced veteran like Garcia back for the 2007 season to back up Donovan McNabb because McNabb is coming of a serious injury and is not a lock to be ready for the start of the 2007 season...but...from a team standpoint... they would be better off (both cap wise and team chemistry wise) to let Garcia walk...if Garcia were to re-sign with the Eagles for the 2007 season... a Qb controvery would be staring the team in the face.
01/25...Both teams practiced in pads for the last time this week on Wednesday and todays drills will be done in just helmets and jerseys...several players have elevated their stock this week including WR Dwayne Bowe...DE Adam Carriker...DT Amobe Okoye...OT Levi Brown...CB Aaron Ross...S Brandon Meriweather just to name a few....several rumors are picking up steam this week including Chargers DC Wade Phillips being hired as the next Cowboys Head Coach...Phillips would be a good fit for the team because he has a low key approach which would blend in well with GM/Owner Jerry Jones...plus Phillips is one of the best 3-4 DC's in the game today which is important because the 'Boys want to keep their 3-4 scheme in tact because they don't want to blow up their defensive personnel and switch back to a 4-3 scheme...they feel they have the talent (with a few tweaks) to challenge for a Super Bowl berth in 2007.
01/24...Notes from the North's morning practice...One one One Receiver vs Defensive backs drill - WR Brandon Myles (West Virginia) was the star of the morning drills displaying great initial quickness off the line and ran great routes to score 3 TD's...WR Jason Hill (Wash St) beat DB's Marcus McCauley and Josh Wilson for TD's...QB Troy Smith (Ohio State) displayed a strong arm and a tight spiral and had the most catchable ball of all the QB's...RB
Tony Hunt (Penn State) dropped an easy short pass in the backs drills against the linebackers...RB Thomas Clayton (Kansas St.) fumbled the football on his first carry of the full contact 11 on 11 drills....One on One Linemen vs Linemen Drills...DT Amobi Okoye was relentless in getting to the QB (towel that simulated where the QB would be) as he beat OL Marshal Yanda (Iowa) once and OL Dan Mozes (West Virginia) twice in the drills...DE Adam Carriker (Nebraska) was also impressive in the drills and beat OT Ryan Harris (Notre Dame) once and OL James Marten (Boston College) once for a sack...OT Levi Brown (Penn State) shut down DE Victor Abiamiri (Notre Dame) in the drills.
01/23...Notes from the North's morning practice...One on One press coverage drills...WR Paul Williams (Fresno) beat Damien Hughes (Cal) twice for scores...one on a deep pass and another after making an impressive inside move...WR Aundrae Allison (E. Carolina) continues to impress and has caught every ball thrown his way...WR Jason Hill (Wash St) had a good workout and has displayed good hands and ability to seperate...WR Rhema McKnight (Notre Dame) has struggled to get off of press coverage and had two drops...DB Damien Hughes (Cal) gives up too much leverage inside in pass coverage...DB Josh Wilson (Maryland) and DB Marcus McCauley (Fresno) were the most impressive DB's in the press coverage drills....Second update...DT Amobi Okoye (Louisville) has displayed a great first step and has great technique and an array of moves as a pass-rusher...he reminds some scouts of a young Warren Sapp... Okoye beat OG Samson Satele (Hawaii) with a great spin over move in the one on one pass rush drills...DE Anthony Spencer (Purdue) has been very impressive displaying a quick first step and squared off against highly regarded OT Levi Brown (Penn State) this morning beating him once with a great inside spin move...both DE Jay Moore and Adam Carriker of (Nebraska) flashed pass rushing ability in the morning drills...DT Brandon Mebane (Cal) displayed great lower body strength and used good leverage in the pass rushing drills...Third update...I have yet to mention the following players but they have all been impressive up to this point and have made themselves some money this week HB Tony Hunt (Penn St.) ...WR Dwayne Bowe (LSU)...C Ryan Kalil (USC)...DL Antonio Johnson (Mississippi St) and DE Anthony Spencer (Purdue).
01/23...Problems with the website prevented me from posting yesterday... but the kinks have been worked out and I will post a report from this mornings North practice at 12:15pm est...Notes from Monday...Louisville DT Amobi Okoye measured in at 6-2 287 which is considerably less than his 313 listed playing weight...however...it wasn't much of a surprise to many of the NFL personnel on hand because Okoye reminds them of a young La'Roi Glover...Okoye's stock won't drop because of his measurables because he's only 19 years old and has a very high ceiling...a few players that passed the eyeball test at the morning weigh in were...Dwayne Bowe...Kenny Irons...Jordan Palmer...Stewart Bradley...Adam Carriker...Brian Leonard and Paul Posluszny...one player to keep an eye on this week is Michigan State QB Drew Stanton...Stanton was considered a possible first or second round pick heading into the 2006 season but was inconsistent which has caused his stock drop a bit...Stanton has the tools to have an impressive week of practice which could move him back up many teams boards...I have updated My First Round Mock and have made several big changes.
01/21...I will be posting daily Senior Bowl practice reports in this blog starting on Monday afternoon.
01/19...The Dolphins have ended their search for a head coach and will name former Chargers OC Cam Cameron to the position over the weekend...however...both parties need to reach a contact agreement to finalize the deal...out West...the Raiders are reportedly close to hiring former Raiders assistant and USC Offensive Coordinator Steve Sarkisian as their next head coach...it would be wise for these teams to have their head coach in place by this weekend since the Senior Bowl practices begin in just 3 days.
01/15...Marty Shottenheimer's tenure as Coach of the Chargers will be decided by mid-week as Chargers GM A.J. Smith and team president Dean Spanos get together for their end of the season meeting...I believe the Chargers will part ways with Shottenheimer and name DC Wade Phillips or OC Cam Cameron as the Chargers next head coach...the last thing the Chargers want to do is "blow up" their current staff and hire a coach unfamiliar with their situation and by promoting from within much of the current staff would stay intact...Cameron's name has been linked to the Dolphins current coaching search and would be a solid candidate to replace Shotzie...GM A.J. Smith and DC Wade Phillips came to the Chargers from Buffalo where Smith was the Bills Pro Personnal director and Phillips was the Bills Head Coach......elsewhere...the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly ready to hire Russ Grimm as their new head coach.
01/09...The New York Giants turned down Bill Parcells offer to return to the Big Apple to become their next general Manager according to a report out of the New York Star ledger...I believe Parcells would like to step down as coach of the Cowboys and get out of coaching period....a return to New York as their GM would have fit perfectly into Parcells plans because Parcells is a huge horse racing fan and is in the process of building a new house near a well known track in New York...IF the report is correct I believe Parcells timing in this matter is perfect on his part because now that the report is out... there's a good chance that Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones will consider firing Parcells and pay out the last year of his contract...had Parcells decided to step down as Coach of the Cowboys he would have forfeited the money from the remaining year on his deal.
01/08...Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga flew his private plane to Costa Rica this weekend to meet with USC Coach Pete Carroll to offer Carroll the Dolphins head coaching job...as I mentioned in my 01/03 column... the job offer is believed to be having complete control of the football operation along with a boatload of cash as well...it will be tough for Carroll to turn his back on such an offer...but...Carroll is in a near perfect situation at USC and could decide to stay out on the west coast...stay tuned!
01/04...The Pittsburgh Steelers have moved their Monday press conference to announce the retirement of Coach Bill Cowher up to tomorrow at 1:00 pm because OC Ken Whisenhunt the Coach that the Rooney family wants to replace Bill Cowher went to Atlanta today to interview for the Falcons vacant coaching job...it's believed that Whisenhunt is the front runner for the Falcons job and Owner Arthur Blank may be ready to offer the Falcons job to Whisenhunt as early as this weekend ...however...I was told that the Steelers were aware of Blanks intentions and decided to move up the press conference and may have already privately told Whisenhunt that the job is his in Pittsburgh after they go through the process of their interviews...if I hear anything more on this it will be posted right here in this blog.
01/03...The Miami Dolphins will hold a press conference this morning to announce that Nick Saban is leaving the team and has accepted the head coaching job at Alabama...from what I was told the move was a family decision...I expect Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga to grant coaching interviews to present staff members Mike Mularkey and Dom Capers... and I also expect Huizenga to make a pitch for Iowa Coach Kirk Ferenz...however from what I'm hearing Huizenga has his eyes on USC Coach Pete Carroll and will offer complete control of the team to Carroll if he came back to the NFL and took the job...Carroll is very content at USC and has declined several NFL offers in the last two seasons... but the complete control offer that Huizenga will make Carroll will be very tempting and very tough for the current USC Coach to pass up.
01/01...Happy New Year!...Since the NFL just finished it's regular season yesterday, I have several things that I feel will happen within the next few weeks...and they are...Dennis Green will be let go by the Arizona Cardinals...Jim Mora will be let go by the Atlanta Falcons...Brett Favre will finally announce his retirement...Nick Saban will leave Miami and take the job at the University of Alabama...Bill Cowrer will leave the Steelers and take a year off from coaching...Art Shell will need to do some major housecleaning and find a new staff of assistants to keep his job in Oakland...the same can be said for Romeo Crennel in Cleveland...Tom Coughlin will be relieved of his duties as coach of the Giants either after the G-men get eliminated from the playoffs or after the team hires a new General Manager later this month...Scott Pioli of the Patriots and Charlie Casserly formerly of the Texans have been rumored to be the potential front-runners for the job...but Floyd Reese of the Titans will emerge as a dark horse candidate.
