Around the NFL 4/21

by John Gennaro on Apr 21, 2009 10:41 AM PDT

The Jaguars signed Torry Holt to a three-year deal. I watched a lot of Holt last year, after he was auto-drafted onto my fantasy team, and he is finished. Physically he's no longer fast enough, quick enough and strong enough. Mentally he doesn't understand that and gets angry when the balls not thrown to him. If he's agreed to be a number 2 in Jacksonville he might be able to be an Eric Parker-like player, but this signing is not the news it would've been several years ago.

Former LSU receiver Demetrius Byrd is in intensive care after a car accident in Miami. I liked Byrd a lot in college and was hoping the Chargers might grab him in the 5th round, but now he most likely won't be drafted and will have to work out for teams once he's healthy to prove that there's no risidual effect.

The Detroit Lions unveiled a new logo, new lettering and new uniforms for the upcoming season. I've secretly rooted for the Lions since the days of Barry Sanders (I even have a Joey Harrington bobblehead doll) and love the new logo and lettering. It looks fierce and it takes them into the 21st century. Reminds me of when the Cardinals switched to the "meaner" bird logo, it just freshens things up.

Remember those stories of B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews, Vontae Davis and Brian Cushing failing their drug tests? Turns out, they're all clean.

SI.com has an extensive list of scouting reports for all of your NFL Draft needs. Here are direct links to some of the players that have been discussed here:

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I'm curious

I wonder who leaked the failed drug test stories. Were they teams that wanted these players to fall so that they could pick them up lower and wouldn’t have to trade up to get them? I wouldn’t put it past some of the GMs around the league.

by Diesel85 on Apr 21, 2009 10:53 AM PDT reply actions

NFLdraftbible.com

They are where the story originated. Nobody knows who runs the site or where they got their information. They’ve never broken a big story before this. Since this has been proven false a lot of people think it’s just a case of a blogger wanting to get attention (and traffic) for his site. I tend to believe that as well.

"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock

by John Gennaro on Apr 21, 2009 11:33 AM PDT up reply actions

nothing really new

I read something the other day that said the main reason Dan Marino was drafted in the bottom of the first round was due to rumors of a drug problem. I wasn’t paying too much attention to the NFL draft back then to remember, but it was an interesting note.

by Stephen (shaynes41) on Apr 21, 2009 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions

ok, fine

I just like controversy. Its fun

by Diesel85 on Apr 21, 2009 11:53 AM PDT reply actions

Ditto

And SI.com likes it too, as they initially put the report up on their site as well (citing NFLdraftbible.com as their source) before taking it down a few hours later.

"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock

by John Gennaro on Apr 21, 2009 11:56 AM PDT up reply actions

Maualuga's scouting report says...

Seems a little immature off-the-field, and was woefully unprepared for pre-draft scouting events such as the Senior Bowl and combine.

I was @ the Senior Bowl and I thought he looked pretty solid. Ya, he was clownin’ around on the sidelines a bit, but we’ll see. AJ usually doesn’t go for the immature types.

by theGEN3RAL on Apr 21, 2009 2:10 PM PDT reply actions

Pre-draft gut thoughts

(damn right my gut can think!)

Maualuga – He seems like the “safest” pick. But maybe not in the way that you would think. It seems to me if you pick him he won’t be worse than what we got, but his attitude/work ethic might hurt him from being the star/playmaker you’d for.
Cushing – He strikes me as a bad fit for the 3-4. I picture him playing in a defense where he is a “chaser”. A cover-2 OLB if you will. I could be way off, but what do you expect from a gut. It has no brain!
Jackson – Risky. I don’t like most first round DEs. They all seem risky to me. And the 3-4 DE position seems like a somewhat complicated position to fill.
Jenkins – I don’t think he wants to be a FS. He may go there eventually, but my gut tells me that guys like this want to see if they can hack it at CB first. We have 3 of those already, it doesn’t make sense to use your 1st rounder as your 4th CB.

Chris Wells – My gut keeps fighting with my brain on this one. My brain says “No RB!”, my gut says that this guy could be a stud if he is LT and Sproles caddy for a year or two.

My gut also says to trade down. There’s just not a guy that looks like he has a good chance at being a future playmaker and we have enough spots with issues that we should just throw some bodies at them.

My gut also tells me that whoever we pick will get an almost indifferent reaction from me. This is one of the reasons I like 2nd round picks. You get a second talented guy that makes the first pick look better somehow (unless he’s a total reach). The first rounders have all been re-hashed so many times and their flaws pointed out over and over that until they get on the field it’s hard to get excited about them, especially at #16. I’m almost more excited about how we use our 3rd and 4th rounders.

Memo to baseball managers: You manufacture runs by NOT making outs, not by making them on purpose.

by Wonko on Apr 21, 2009 4:04 PM PDT reply actions

I’m almost more excited about how we use our 3rd and 4th rounders.

Ditto

"I bleed powder blue." - Antonio Gates

by matthewverygood on Apr 21, 2009 4:39 PM PDT up reply actions

My gut agrees with your gut

Although I’ an optimist. I could see Maualuga start off with poor work ethic, but then I could see him being taken under the wing of Merriman and turning into a beast.

I know I should be excited that we have such a high pick, but I think I’d be happier with us moving down in the first, getting a second and winding up with Donald Brown and Patrick Chung (or William Moore)

I’d be more nervous about the whole thing if I hadn’t completely handed over all trust to AJ over the past few years.

"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock

by John Gennaro on Apr 21, 2009 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions