NCAA TITLE GAME, MLB OPENS, TIGER AT AUGUSTA & THE MCNABB TRADE STILL THE LEAD STORY
So it was going to be a full sports day on Monday, actually one of the biggest in recent memory with the NCAA basketball Championship game, Major League Baseball openers all over America, Tiger Woods played a practice round in the morning & then held a news conference that was carried on about 37 channels. And yet, as I tuned into Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN2, they spent the first 20 minutes talking about the Donovan McNabb trade, ditto ESPN. So no matter what is current in the world of sports, football is still king, NFL football especially. When MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was asked about the coverage of the Phillies' opener, he responded "I didn't see any, all they talked about was a football trade, it was annoying."
A story that popped up early yesterday morning was that the Redskins had offered DT Albert Haynesworth, the $100 million man in the McNabb trade. The Eagles refused but this shows just how much Mike Shanahan wants to rid himself of some of the old regimes' high-priced talent. Haynesworth has made it clear he's not happy about the transformation to a 3-4 scheme, as he is expected to play on the nose. He hasn't attended the off-season workouts so far. Actually Haynesworth has the size, strength & stamina to play nose tackle. The problem is, you don't pile up stats on the nose, you just get double-teamed every single play, it's a brutal position, a nose tackle requires a certain physicality & mentality to flourish.
Another result from this trade is it's unlikely, make that very unlikely, the Redskins will draft a quarterback with their 4th overall pick in the first round. That makes Jimmy Clausen's possibility of being a top-10 draft pick fairly remote, unless Buffalo would pick him at #9. After that he could slip down into the 20's, really costing him millions. I don't have even a slight doubt the Rams will pass on Sam Bradford, they released former starter Marc Bulger.
The other outcome of this trade is that there could be 4 offensive tackles taken in the first six picks. Detroit will select Russell Okung or Ndamakong Suh. Washington will select Okung, Bryan Bulaga, or Trent Williams. Kansas City & Seattle might choose between Bulaga, Williams & Anthony Davis. I read some very interesting research tonight about the highest risk positions in the draft. WalterFootball.com went back 18 years, evaluating the top-16 picks, offensive tackle was the clear winner as the lowest risk premium pick. Of the 30 players drafted, there were 19 who played well enough to start for at least 5 years, 4 were just OK, 3 are so young the result is unknown & only 4 were considered to be busts. Of those 4 busts, two are starting guards, so that is a bit skewed. So what is the highest risk position, quarterback? Nope, defensive lineman(15 'busts' in 33 picks), Kansas City fans will have no problem believing that will they?
I took a shot at Shaun Rogers for having a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage the other day, resulting in his arrest. According to the police report, his .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun had a full clip in it, a round in the chamber & the safety engaged. I don't think Rogers really intended to bring this on-board with him, I just think he might not be the best multi-tasker when packing. Nobody is dumb enough to believe this is O.K. Rogers plead not guilty.
Also off the hook was the Georgia football team for the alleged taxi cab incident. The guys identified were very large, but weren't members of the UGA football program. Another note from the colleges, Texas Tech QB Taylor Potts received a severe laceration to his throwing hand hitting a defenders helmet during a scrimmage. I told you the cut was deep & "required 6 large stitches." The stitches came out today because it was determined he had two tendons that were severed & micro-surgery was performed. Now Potts will be on the shelf for at least 8 weeks, probably longer, before he can even grip a ball. This injury along with Steven Sheffield's foot surgery puts new coach Tommy Tuberville squarely behind the 8-ball. It will certainly make it difficult for this offense to practice, much less play their spring game with only 2 other QB's on the roster, a true freshman & a redshirt freshman.
Comments or questions? You may use the comments tab at the end of each article or email me at rich@richsfootballreport.com
A story that popped up early yesterday morning was that the Redskins had offered DT Albert Haynesworth, the $100 million man in the McNabb trade. The Eagles refused but this shows just how much Mike Shanahan wants to rid himself of some of the old regimes' high-priced talent. Haynesworth has made it clear he's not happy about the transformation to a 3-4 scheme, as he is expected to play on the nose. He hasn't attended the off-season workouts so far. Actually Haynesworth has the size, strength & stamina to play nose tackle. The problem is, you don't pile up stats on the nose, you just get double-teamed every single play, it's a brutal position, a nose tackle requires a certain physicality & mentality to flourish.
Another result from this trade is it's unlikely, make that very unlikely, the Redskins will draft a quarterback with their 4th overall pick in the first round. That makes Jimmy Clausen's possibility of being a top-10 draft pick fairly remote, unless Buffalo would pick him at #9. After that he could slip down into the 20's, really costing him millions. I don't have even a slight doubt the Rams will pass on Sam Bradford, they released former starter Marc Bulger.
The other outcome of this trade is that there could be 4 offensive tackles taken in the first six picks. Detroit will select Russell Okung or Ndamakong Suh. Washington will select Okung, Bryan Bulaga, or Trent Williams. Kansas City & Seattle might choose between Bulaga, Williams & Anthony Davis. I read some very interesting research tonight about the highest risk positions in the draft. WalterFootball.com went back 18 years, evaluating the top-16 picks, offensive tackle was the clear winner as the lowest risk premium pick. Of the 30 players drafted, there were 19 who played well enough to start for at least 5 years, 4 were just OK, 3 are so young the result is unknown & only 4 were considered to be busts. Of those 4 busts, two are starting guards, so that is a bit skewed. So what is the highest risk position, quarterback? Nope, defensive lineman(15 'busts' in 33 picks), Kansas City fans will have no problem believing that will they?
I took a shot at Shaun Rogers for having a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage the other day, resulting in his arrest. According to the police report, his .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun had a full clip in it, a round in the chamber & the safety engaged. I don't think Rogers really intended to bring this on-board with him, I just think he might not be the best multi-tasker when packing. Nobody is dumb enough to believe this is O.K. Rogers plead not guilty.
Also off the hook was the Georgia football team for the alleged taxi cab incident. The guys identified were very large, but weren't members of the UGA football program. Another note from the colleges, Texas Tech QB Taylor Potts received a severe laceration to his throwing hand hitting a defenders helmet during a scrimmage. I told you the cut was deep & "required 6 large stitches." The stitches came out today because it was determined he had two tendons that were severed & micro-surgery was performed. Now Potts will be on the shelf for at least 8 weeks, probably longer, before he can even grip a ball. This injury along with Steven Sheffield's foot surgery puts new coach Tommy Tuberville squarely behind the 8-ball. It will certainly make it difficult for this offense to practice, much less play their spring game with only 2 other QB's on the roster, a true freshman & a redshirt freshman.
Comments or questions? You may use the comments tab at the end of each article or email me at rich@richsfootballreport.com
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