SICKO IS SICK, RAIDERS ABOUT TO SAVE MILLION$ & HOW DID I DO ONE YEAR AGO?
In the on-again, off-again saga that is the football future of Scott Sicko, is on........again. The New Hampshire tight end rebuffed the offers from 5 NFL teams, including the Chiefs, to sign an undrafted free agent contract. He said since he wasn't drafted he was going to continue his education in American History. Tuesday afternoon, Sicko(insert snarky name comment here) decided to sign with the Dallas Cowboys. Apparently his agent determined Scott had done enough damage thru the media & he became the only voice regarding Sicko's football future. He said his client was 100% committed to football now & is excited to pursue a career in the NFL. Alrighty, I'm buying it, how about you?
If Trent Williams doesn't become a Pro Bowl performer for the Washington Redskins it will be because he doesn't take his job seriously. That, according to Jerry Schmidt, Oklahoma football strength & conditioning coach. Schmidt said Williams has physical talents like no other player he's dealt with in over 20 years. "He can be one of the all-time greats if he works at it" said Schmidt. "I don't know if he has that kind of drive, he's always kind of coasted, just worked hard enough to get by, you know" Schmidt continued dumping on Williams. This was always the rap on him, thruout his OU career, he hardly scratched the surface of his talent. When you watch him in position drills, it's obvious he's quick, explosive & super agile. His bench press was disappointing at just 23 reps & even tho he he ran a blazing(for a tackle) 4.88 forty at the combine, I could tell he wasn't in the greatest shape, lots of flesh flopping around when he moved. He jumped a position-best 34" in the vertical & broad jumped 9' 5", also a position best. He did all this weighing 315 pounds. He's the kind of athlete that really teases you, it's obvious he could do a lot better, but this is all you're going to get. Let's hope Schmidt's comments stir something in Williams, enough to get him to 6 or 8 Pro Bowls.
How great is NFL Films? How about 100 Sports Emmy's? One hundred. The New Jersey based company, started by Ed Sabol & now run by his son Steve, has been sending 3-4 cameramen to every NFL game since 1962. The company was orignally founded to shoot enough game footage of each team & then produce a season highlight film. It's grown considerably, now owned by the league, it provides all the film for Inside the NFL on Showtime & Hard Knocks on HBO. They still produce a season highlight film for every team. NFL Films won three more Emmy's over the weekend, 2 for Hard Knocks & 1 for Inside the NFL.
According to ESPN's John Clayton, the Raiders are on the verge of saving themselves $6.45 million by cutting ultra-bust QB JaMarcus Russell. Oakland traded for Washington's Jason Campbell on Saturday, plus they already had Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye & Kyle Boller on the roster. Since Russell has made such a poor effort to get in proper playing shape, learn the offense, show up during the off-season workouts & become a real team leader, he's become expendable. Russell costs more against the salary cap than the other four combined. I honestly believe any of the four could out play him as well. Russell is going to replace Ryan Leaf as the greatest bust in NFL history. Bay Area media are claiming Russell has ballooned back up over 300 pounds & blame his Mom & Grandma. They're said to have a tremendous influence on him & it's all bad. Very soon they'll have him all to themselves, no one else in this league will touch him until he decides he wants to play football with the kind of effort that everyone else puts forth.
The backfield in Buffalo is getting crowded. The Bills signed RB Joique Bell yesterday, giving them 4 backs who should be able to play in the NFL. Buffalo drafted Clemson speedster C. J. Spiller in the first round last Thursday. Fred Jackson is the returning starter with 1,062 yards in just 237 carries. Troubled Marshawn Lynch is still there too, the Bills unable to trade him during the draft & he'll be hard to cut as he will be owed millions. I still don't understand the selection of Spiller, the offensive line is shaky & a QB certainly wouldn't have been out of the question. I haven't the foggiest idea the thinking of Chan Gailey & company up in Northern New York.
I told you last week how NFL teams throw up smokescreens by inviting players for visits when they have no interest in drafting them. It was estimated that less than 30% of invited players were actually drafted by the team that flew them in for lunch, an interview & sometimes a workout. According to Carlos Monarrez of The Detroit Free Press, the Lions used up their full allotment of 30 invitations, including their eventual first round choice, Ndamakong Suh. He was the only one they drafted, the rest were decoys according to coach Jim Schwartz. That's a lot of money spent on airline tickets & dining just to lead your competition down a dead end. Weird.
It didn't take long for 9-time Pro Bowl guard, Alan Faneca, to find new employment. The Jets released Faneca on Monday & Tuesday evening he signed with Arizona. The deal was for 1-year, $2.5 million in salary & a $300K signing bonus. The Jets are on the hook for almost $5 million after releasing him. Faneca certainly has something left in the tank, so the Cardinals made a good deal to strengthen their offensive line.
One year ago I listed my top-25 prospects for the 2010 draft. If you'd like to see the entire list, click on the archives to the left, click on April & it's at the top of the heading. I did pretty well, correctly forecasting 11 first rounders. Five more on my list went in round 2. Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich was stricken with a very rare form of cancer & had to sit out the season. He'll be a 1st rounder in 2011. The first rounders included Sam Bradford, Dez Bryant, Jermaine Gresham, Trent Williams, Russell Okung, Eric Berry, Ndamakong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Rolando McClain, Jerry Hughes & Sean Weatherspoon. The 2nd round selections included Brandon Spikes, Arrelious Benn, Taylor Mays, Terrence Cody & Sergio Kindle. I'll be compiling another top-25 for the 2011 draft by the end of this week.
If Trent Williams doesn't become a Pro Bowl performer for the Washington Redskins it will be because he doesn't take his job seriously. That, according to Jerry Schmidt, Oklahoma football strength & conditioning coach. Schmidt said Williams has physical talents like no other player he's dealt with in over 20 years. "He can be one of the all-time greats if he works at it" said Schmidt. "I don't know if he has that kind of drive, he's always kind of coasted, just worked hard enough to get by, you know" Schmidt continued dumping on Williams. This was always the rap on him, thruout his OU career, he hardly scratched the surface of his talent. When you watch him in position drills, it's obvious he's quick, explosive & super agile. His bench press was disappointing at just 23 reps & even tho he he ran a blazing(for a tackle) 4.88 forty at the combine, I could tell he wasn't in the greatest shape, lots of flesh flopping around when he moved. He jumped a position-best 34" in the vertical & broad jumped 9' 5", also a position best. He did all this weighing 315 pounds. He's the kind of athlete that really teases you, it's obvious he could do a lot better, but this is all you're going to get. Let's hope Schmidt's comments stir something in Williams, enough to get him to 6 or 8 Pro Bowls.
How great is NFL Films? How about 100 Sports Emmy's? One hundred. The New Jersey based company, started by Ed Sabol & now run by his son Steve, has been sending 3-4 cameramen to every NFL game since 1962. The company was orignally founded to shoot enough game footage of each team & then produce a season highlight film. It's grown considerably, now owned by the league, it provides all the film for Inside the NFL on Showtime & Hard Knocks on HBO. They still produce a season highlight film for every team. NFL Films won three more Emmy's over the weekend, 2 for Hard Knocks & 1 for Inside the NFL.
According to ESPN's John Clayton, the Raiders are on the verge of saving themselves $6.45 million by cutting ultra-bust QB JaMarcus Russell. Oakland traded for Washington's Jason Campbell on Saturday, plus they already had Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye & Kyle Boller on the roster. Since Russell has made such a poor effort to get in proper playing shape, learn the offense, show up during the off-season workouts & become a real team leader, he's become expendable. Russell costs more against the salary cap than the other four combined. I honestly believe any of the four could out play him as well. Russell is going to replace Ryan Leaf as the greatest bust in NFL history. Bay Area media are claiming Russell has ballooned back up over 300 pounds & blame his Mom & Grandma. They're said to have a tremendous influence on him & it's all bad. Very soon they'll have him all to themselves, no one else in this league will touch him until he decides he wants to play football with the kind of effort that everyone else puts forth.
The backfield in Buffalo is getting crowded. The Bills signed RB Joique Bell yesterday, giving them 4 backs who should be able to play in the NFL. Buffalo drafted Clemson speedster C. J. Spiller in the first round last Thursday. Fred Jackson is the returning starter with 1,062 yards in just 237 carries. Troubled Marshawn Lynch is still there too, the Bills unable to trade him during the draft & he'll be hard to cut as he will be owed millions. I still don't understand the selection of Spiller, the offensive line is shaky & a QB certainly wouldn't have been out of the question. I haven't the foggiest idea the thinking of Chan Gailey & company up in Northern New York.
I told you last week how NFL teams throw up smokescreens by inviting players for visits when they have no interest in drafting them. It was estimated that less than 30% of invited players were actually drafted by the team that flew them in for lunch, an interview & sometimes a workout. According to Carlos Monarrez of The Detroit Free Press, the Lions used up their full allotment of 30 invitations, including their eventual first round choice, Ndamakong Suh. He was the only one they drafted, the rest were decoys according to coach Jim Schwartz. That's a lot of money spent on airline tickets & dining just to lead your competition down a dead end. Weird.
It didn't take long for 9-time Pro Bowl guard, Alan Faneca, to find new employment. The Jets released Faneca on Monday & Tuesday evening he signed with Arizona. The deal was for 1-year, $2.5 million in salary & a $300K signing bonus. The Jets are on the hook for almost $5 million after releasing him. Faneca certainly has something left in the tank, so the Cardinals made a good deal to strengthen their offensive line.
One year ago I listed my top-25 prospects for the 2010 draft. If you'd like to see the entire list, click on the archives to the left, click on April & it's at the top of the heading. I did pretty well, correctly forecasting 11 first rounders. Five more on my list went in round 2. Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich was stricken with a very rare form of cancer & had to sit out the season. He'll be a 1st rounder in 2011. The first rounders included Sam Bradford, Dez Bryant, Jermaine Gresham, Trent Williams, Russell Okung, Eric Berry, Ndamakong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Rolando McClain, Jerry Hughes & Sean Weatherspoon. The 2nd round selections included Brandon Spikes, Arrelious Benn, Taylor Mays, Terrence Cody & Sergio Kindle. I'll be compiling another top-25 for the 2011 draft by the end of this week.
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