The 2008 NFL Draft

I was busy on Saturday with a wedding and picking my mother up at the airport, so I spent Day One of the NFL Draft trying to pick up the signals of various sports radio stations between Washington DC and Martinsburg, WV broadcasting the draft.  No existing players (Shockey, Taylor, Johnson) were traded, but teams swapped picks right and left to reposition themselves.  I spent part of Day Two flipping between the ESPN and the NFL Network coverage to take in the differences when I wasn’t watching the Wizards lose to the Cavaliers.  So for my spambot readers, my takes on what happened:

Washington Redskins – I’m not as bent out of shape about the Redskins burning their first three picks on two WRs and a pass catching TE.  Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post and Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin on Clear Channel’s Sports Talk 980 were quite angry about the moves, particularly the repetition of filling needs, or spending a higher pick for depth only.  If one of those picks had been in the first round (the Redskins traded their first round #21pick to move back), I might be as upset.

Michigan State WR Devin Thomas and Southern California TE were decent “value” picks where they were taken.  I would have preferred Notre Dame DT Trevor Laws in place of Thomas, but whatever.  It’s worth noting that two guys I would have liked to seen drafted by Washington, Clemson DE Philip Merling and Laws, were drafted two picks and one pick, respectively, ahead of the Redskins spots.  Perhaps this is what passes for Plan B for them.  The selection of Oklahoma WR Malcom Kelly was gratuitous, but well, these are the Redskins.  I’m just happy they didn’t trade all the picks for old kick return specialists.  Even this is a great improvement.

The only Day Two picks I want to talk about are Georgia Tech P Durant Brooks and University of Hawaii QB Colt Brennan.  The Redskins just resigned their meh quality P Derrick Frost, but he’s disposable.  My real hope if Brooks beats out Frost for the job, is that Brooks can kickoff.  Ever since Chip Lohmiller appeared in a McDonald’s commercial and his career fell apart, the Redskins have had neither kicker nor punter capable of consistently deep kickoffs.  PK Shawn Shuisham’s kickoffs are dreadful.  During the short time Frost had
the kickoff job he was a little bit better, but his mediocre punting degenerated into bad.

I don’t like Brennan as an NFL QB.  I dislike his arm strength and decision making.  The decision making can be fixed and combined with his mobility (which should not be confused with actual running ability) that might make him a serviceable CFL QB.  It’s not a guarantee though, June Jones’ previous disciple at Hawaii, Timmy Chang, was quickly benched after starting for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last year.  A 34.7 QB rating (on 89 attempts) will do that to you.  If all Brennan does is hold a clipboard, do good work on the scout team and get the Redskins a player from the British Columbia Lions in a few years, it’s OK.  What, NFL and CFL teams can’t trade?  Ohh, maybe not.  In all seriousness, I wouldn’t be surprised if former Maryland QB Sam Hollenbach, currently on the roster as a minicamp arm, beats out Brennan during training camp.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - First rounder CB Aqib Talib (University of Kansas), fourth rounder DT Dre Moore (University of Maryland) and sixth rounder LB Geno Hayes (Florida State) are typical athletic Buc reloads for the defense.  I have no other comments of worth.

WR Dexter Jackson of Evil Appalachian State was the Bucs second round pick.  He’s the classic 5′9″ kick-returning, reverse running, screen pass catching, Hell-on-Earth-with-the-ball-in-space guy.  The Bucs need all kinds of competent WR help, so if he can do any of that at the NFL level (embarrassing last year’s bewildered University of Michigan team is only a start) he’ll have been a good pick.

As speculated before the draft, the Bucs got University of San Diego QB Josh Johnson in Round 5.  I didn’t know that San Diego’s program had jumped up to Division I-AA, but against that competition Johnson put up insane (68.8% completion rate, 113TDs to 16 INTs) numbers and had the best 40 yard dash time (4.55 seconds) and vertical leap (33.5″) of any QB at the combine.  Interestingly, Johnson was not listed as a top performer for the 20 yard shuttle run or the three cone drill.  Anyway, the downside for Johnson is that he is in Tampa and might get forgotten along with the three other youngish QBs nominally on the Bucs roster.  One of the draftheads on TV said Gruden knows how to develop QBs.  Whom has he done that with since ascending to HC?  As a HC, Gruden’s best QBs have been Rich Gannon, Jeff Garcia, Brad Johnson and Brian Griese, all veterans with previous success.

Back to Johnson, he may be a bit scrawny (height is 6′3″ but weight is anywhere from 198 to 213 lbs.) and he’ll have to adjust from playing “low” I-AA ball in the Pioneer League.

Stupid Jets - Ownership, coaches, management changes, but for the fourth time in sixteen years the Jets saw fit to spend a first round draft pick on a TE, Purdue’s very fast and formerly (IIRC he was 6′1″ at the combine, now he’s 6′3″?) very short Dustin Keller.  It was the 30th pick, so at least it wasn’t a high pick, like Kyle Brady with the 9th pick back in 1995.  The Jets got modest, if useful play out of the TE spot last year from Chris Baker, so adding the second coming of Byron Chamberlain (20 more catches, 3 more TDs, 200 more yards?) doesn’t seem worth a first round pick.

Anecdotally, I remember driving up to New York at the end of the Jets appalling 1996 season when it was obvious the number one overall pick (ultimately Keyshawn Johnson) was headed their way.  WFAN wise-guy host Steve Summers said the obvious choice was “the All-American from Rutgers, TE Marco Battaglia.”

Better Run Bastards Up North (Ravens) - Ozzie Newsome is a Hall of Fame TE and a great GM.  His main inability is (in conjunction with “genius” ex-HC Brian Billick) finding QBs.  After spending the 19th pick in the 2003 draft on a QB who should be a H-back, Kyle Boller, the Ravens reached a bit to get the University of Delaware’s cannon-armed Joe Flacco.  Flacco is very talented, but will have to make a multi-level adjustment to NFL defender speed, and my worthless gut instincts thought he was a second rounder.  Hue Jackson, once upon a time saddled with the thankless job of OC for the Steve Spurrier Redskins, gets to “coach up” Flacco to the NFL game.  In the meantime, some combination Kyle Boller (probably too slow these days to be returning kicks) and Troy Smith (anonymous Heisman trophy winner) will hold things down in Baltimore, meaning handoff and pitch to Willis McGahee.  Flacco is growing, I think ESPN.com College Football had him at 6′4″ at the end of the season, ESPN.com Scouts Inc. had him at 6′6″3/8 for the draft and now NFL.com and the Washington Post have him at 6′7″.  How long before he starts challenging Mark McGwire’s brother Dan (6′9″) for tallest QB to play in the NFL?

The Purple and Black Birds also drafted two interesting safeties, Notre Dame’s Tom Zbikowski in round three and University of Cincinnati’s Hideki Nakamura in round six.  Zbikowski was previously mentioned on this blog as a guy I thought graduated two years ago.  He’s a pretty good punt returner, a ferocious hitter and I think a Golden Gloves boxer and minor league baseball player.  Nakamura I only saw once last year and I can’t recall anything special about his play.  I’m a humorously sad that he’s not some Japanese guy who hopped off a plane to play football in Cincinnati, but just some guy with a Japanese father who grew up in Ohio.

In the Navy Army – Finally, the Lions used a seventh round pick on West Point S Caleb Campbell.  Campbell is large (6′2″ 223lbs.), fast (4.5 allegedly) and the U.S. Army is giving him an exemption from service to play in the NFL.  It’s actually described over at Campbell’s NFL.com draft profile as a reserve recruiter assignment with an option for buyout.  The deal sounds vaguely similar to that given by the U.S. Navy to David Robinson for the NBA and Napoleon McCallum for the NFL.  The theory is that Campbell’s on field work, if he makes the team, will help Army recruiting enough to compensate for his absence in the actual officer corps.  He’s the subject of piece on ESPN’s maudlin E:60 news magazine, which I’ll have to watch some time.

“Neglect Among the Action” – College Football Edition

Spring Games have been afoot recently. I watched part of the University of Florida game featuring Tim Tebow. This is strange from a guy who used to watch Redskins pre-season scrimmages, but I’m vaguely uncomfortable with ESPN being present for a Spring Game. I know the games, which are controlled scrimmages, often draw big five-digit audiences, particularly in SEC and Big-12 country, but I have an undefined displeasure at these being made national events.

Rich Rodriguez was hired to bring a new vision for University of Michigan football. While the vision comes in to place, he has brought drama:

• The great lawsuit war between Rodriguez and West Virginia University continues. I really need to sit down and figure out who is suing whom and all the sordid accusations that have been leaked to the media.
• OL Justin Boren, of whom I know nothing, has announced he is transferring to Ohio State a move made only slightly less shocking by the fact he grew up in Columbus, Ohio. His official reason is that the olde tyme Maize and Blue ‘family values have eroded.’
• QB Ryan Mallett, who performed competently as a Freshman filling in while Chad Henne was hurt, has transferred, since he’s not up to running Rodriguez’s spread-option offense.
• Other Big Ten coaches, specifically Purdue’s Joe Tiller and Ohio State’s Jim Tressel have criticized Rodriguez’s recruiting ethics.
• Rather naturally, the Wolverines are getting adjusted to Rodriguez’s schemes: the spread-option on offense (from the I-formation, used for generations at UM) and a variable front defense (from the 4-3, which I think has been run at UM for 15 or so years).

Three members of the U.S. House of Representatives have asked the Department of Justice to look into whether the BCS violates anti-trust laws. The three, whose names are unworthy of mention, are likely pandering to their respective constituencies as victims of the BCS, those being Hawaii (University of Hawaii), Georgia (University of Georgia) and Idaho (Boise State University ). Good thing there isn’t a war on or anything. I immensely dislike the BCS, but this is stupid. It reminds me of the time a couple of years ago a legislator in the R.O.C. Taiwan proposed a bill asking the New York Yankees not to send Chen-Ming Wang back to AAA. These politicians either do not or choose not to understand big money sports.

Georgia was angry at being hosed out of the Rose Bowl and/or the National Championship Game, so they destroyed Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. Hawaii fans spent much of the season grousing about not being ranked higher in the BCS rankings, but the abuse they took from Georgia would seem to indicate they’re only BCS worthy by statute. They’re probably also bitter about being humiliated on national broadcast television by Georgia. I’m not sure what BSU would be crabby about, their 2007 BCS victory in the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma was memorable and historical. The Broncos were not BCS quality this year.

The usual number of players were kicked off of their teams for the usual range of arrests: robbery, domestic violence (attention college football players! Do not hit your women, do not move in with them), drug and weapons possession, sexual assault, various fighting related charges.

“Neglect Among the Action” – NFL Edition

So I’ve been neglecting this blog while busily re-establishing my career as the best fifth-rate computer programmer in Northern Virginia.  I’m sure my sporadic readers arriving by search engine and the many spam bots linking back to my posts have missed my commentary on the many things that have happened in the NFL since my last post, weeks ago.  Off the top of my head:

• The Dolphins reached an agreement with University of Michigan OT Jake Long, making him the 1st overall pick in the 2008 draft.  The next team, the St. Louis Rams, are forbidden from similar early contract negotiations with whomever it is they want to draft.
• The Titans reach a trade agreement to send CB Adam “Pac-Man” Jones to the Cowboys pending his reinstatement by the NFL.  Terms are a conditional fourth-round pick.
• The alleged gunman in the Las Vegas strip club fight that got Jones in the most trouble has been arrested.
• Surly, but not in court nearly as much CB DeAngelo Hall is dealt by Atlanta to the most logical place for NFL malcontents, Oakland.
• DE Jared Allen and his DUI problems are traded from Kansas City to Minnesota.  The Vikings, despite changes in management since the Herschel Walker trade, still send a pile of draft picks (1 and pair of 3’s) to Kansas City for Allen and his many, many sacks.
• Golf pro and former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh reaches an indemnity agreement with the NFL, which will result in him meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell as Belichik Spygate continues.
• The Redskins are the most public of several suitors trying to trade for Bengals WR Chad Johnson.  The published offer was a 1 and a conditional 3 that becomes a 1 if Johnson plays well.  The Bengals would take a $8 million dollar cap hit if Johnson is traded, so declined the offer and saved Vinnie Cerrato from himself.  Washington has also had a trade offer for the more useful Anquan Blodin rejected by Arizona.
• Once not so long ago all-purpose super RB Shaun Alexander is cut by the Seahawks.  He’s a usable RB2 somewhere.  If Washington hadn’t gone ahead and re-signed Rock Cartwright, I could see them being bored enough to trade Ladell Betts and bring in Alexander to back-up Clinton Portis.
• Once very good Panthers DE Mike Rucker retires.
• Bengals LB Odell Thurman’s drug rehabilitation has gone well enough that he has been reinstated by the NFL.
• Bengals problem child WR Chris Henry was cut after another arrest.  I can’t remember for what.
• The Steelers cut so-so scrub WR Cedrick Wilson after an arrest for domestic battery.
• Latest rumor I saw on NFL Network has Daunte Culpepper being considered as the veteran relief QB in Green Bay for Aaron Rodgers.  Culpepper still has useful mobility and his game loosely matches what I imagine Rodgers skills are.

Perhaps more blogging once I got more stable.