Marcus Thomas: Down But Not Out

Marcus Thomas has a lot to say over in this rivals.com football "diary entry." It's co-written, which obviously helps this sound as good as it does. Still, it's no given that a young prospect with character concerns is going to start listening to the right people and start doing the right things to change the perception of himself (and, for the prospect's sake, hopefully his actual self as well).

Draft’s Underclassmen Rush Scouts

BuffaloBills.com looks at how Draft’s Underclassmen Put Scouts In A Time Crunch. I think it'd be a little naive to believe that the scouts have as little info on the underclassmen, espesically the higher profile junior prospects, as Bills coordinator of college scouting Doug Majeski suggests in the article. But certainly there's going to be some scrambling, and this piece lets the reader in, a bit, on what's going on.

The New Orleans Saints' 2006 Draft

This aritcle by Roy Lang III recaps the Saints' 2006 Draft. One year is really too soon to judge a draft—better to wait at least three years, and arguably four or five— but it certainy does look like a safe bet to be the "second best in Saints' history." Sean Payton remarks: "There's a lot of communication and work done on behalf of the scouts and personnel staff. You start your preparation on the players you are grading, as well as the pro end, where you look at the Jeff Faines. This comes into play when all of a sudden you can back up and acquire Roman Harper and Jeff Faine and back up and acquire Jahri Evans and Hollis Thomas."

Team Needs

Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo News writes that upgrades to the run game and run defense are at the top of the offseason agenda for the Buffalo Bills.

Houston Texans
The Houston Chronicle sizes up the Texans needs heading into the 2007 NFL draft.

Jacksonville Jaguars
Florida Today looks at some of the issues facing the Jaguars as they head toward the 2007 season.

Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Star considers the many decisions confronting the AFC's sixth seed in the playoffs.

New York Giants
The Giants' needs are pretty obvious as this quick breakdown of the Giant roster proves.

Oakland Raiders
Inside Bay Area reports Raiders have lots to do to become presentable

San Francisco 49ers
Inside Bay Area reports 49ers must tackle need for much defensive help.

Seattle Seahawks
Scout.com puts the spotlight on the Seahawks' offseason needs.

Mock Draft

1. Oakland
JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU

2. Detroit
Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas

3. Cleveland
Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame

4. Tampa Bay
Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech

5. Arizona
Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin

6. Washington
Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson

7. Minnesota
Quentin Moses, DE, Georgia

8. Houston
Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma

9. Miami
Alan Branch, DT, Michigan

10. Atlanta
Reggie Nelson, FS, Florida

11. San Francisco
Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville

12. Buffalo
Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss

13. St. Louis
Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida St.

14. Carolina
Sidney Rice, WR, South Carolina

15. Pittsburgh
Darrelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh

16. Green Bay
Dwayne Jarrett, WR, USC

17. Jacksonville
LaRon Landry, S, LSU

18. Cincinnati
DeMarcus Tyler, DT, NC State

19. Tennessee
Ted Ginn, Jr., WR, Ohio St.

20. New York Giants
Marshawn Lynch, RB, California

21. Denver
Leon Hall, CB, Michigan

22. Dallas
Ben Grubbs, OG, Auburn

23. Kansas City
Levi Brown, OT, Penn St.

24. New England from Seattle
Jarvis Moss, DE/OLB, Florida

25. New Orleans
Zach Miller, TE, Arizona St.

26. New York Jets
Marcus McCauley, CB, Fresno St.

27. Philadelphia
Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn St.

28. New England
Jeff Samardzija, WR, Notre Dame

30. Baltimore
Anthony Spencer, DE/OLB, Purdue

30. San Diego
Robert Meachem, WR, Tennessee

31. Chicago
Justin Blalock, OG, Texas

32. Indianapolis
Earl Everett, LB, Florida

Initial Positional Rankings - 2007 NFL Draft

OFFENSE
Quarterbak
1. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame
2. JaMarcus Russell, LSU
3. Trent Edwards, Stanford
4. Drew Stanton, Michigan St.
5. John Beck, BYU
6. Jordan Palmer, Texas-El Paso
7. Kevin Kolb, Houston
8. Jeff Rowe, Nevada
9. Troy Smith, Ohio St.
10. Tyler Palko, Pittsburgh

Running Back
1. Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
2. Darius Walker, Notre Dame
3. Tony Hunt, Penn St.
4. Marshawn Lynch, California
5. Antonio Pittman, Ohio St.
6. Michael Bush, Louisville
7. Gary Russell, Minnesota
8. Kolby Smith, Louisville
9. DeShawn Wynn, Florida
10. Kenny Irons, Auburn

Fullback
1. Brian Leonard, Rutgers
2. Jason Snelling, Virginia
3. Cory Anderson, Tennessee
4. Deon Anderson, Connecticut
5. Billy Latsko, Florida

Wide Receiver
1. Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
2. Dwayne Jarrett, USC
3. Sidney Rice, South Carolina
4. Ted Ginn, Jr., Ohio St.
5. Jeff Samardjiza, Notre Dame
6. Robert Meacham, Tennessee
7. Dwayne Bowe, LSU
8. Craig Davis, LSU
9. Jason Hill, Washington St.
10. Dallas Baker, Florida

Tight End
1. Zach Miller, Arizona St.
2. Greg Olsen, Miami
3. Martrez Milner, Georgia
4. Scott Chandler, Iowa
5. Matt Spaeth, Minnesota

Offensive Tackle
1. Joe Thomas, Wisconsin
3. Levi Brown, Penn St.
3. Arron Sears, Tennessee
4. Mike Otto, Purdue
5. Tony Ugoh, Arkansas
6. Joe Staley, Central Michigan
7. Ryan Harris, Notre Dame
8. James Marten, Boston College
9. Doug Free, Northern Illinois
10. Herbert Taylor, T.C.U.

Offensive Guard
1. Ben Grubbs, Auburn
2. Justin Blalock, Texas
3. Josh Beekman, Boston College
4. Manuel Ramirez, Texas Tech
5. Tim Duckworth, Auburn

Center
1. Josh Beekman, Boston College
2. Ryan Kalil, USC
3. Dustin Fry, Clemson
4. Samson Satele, Hawaii
5. Doug Datish, Ohio St.

DEFENSE
Defensive End
1. Jamaal Anderson, Arkansas
2. Gaines Adams, Clemson
3. Quentin Moses, Georgia
4. Victor Abiamiri, Notre Dame
5. Anthony Spencer, Purdue
6. Adam Carriker, Nebraska
7. Charles Johnson, Georgia
8. Jarvis Moss, Florida
9. LaMarr Woodley, Michigan
10. Ray McDonald, Florida

Defensive Tackle
1. Amobi Okoye, Louisville
2. Alan Branch, Michigan
3. DeMarcus Tyler, North Carolina St.
4. Marcus Thomas, Florida
5. Kareem Brown, Miami

Outside Linebacker
1. Lawrence Timmons, Florida St.
2. Earl Everett, Florida
3. Paul Posluszny, Penn St.
4. Rufus Alexander, Oklahoma
5. Jon Beason, Miami

Inside Linebacker
1. Patrick Willis, Mississippi
2. David Harris, Michigan
3. H.B. Blades, Pittsburgh
4. Brandon Siler, Florida
5. Buster Davis, Florida St.

Cornerback
1. Darrelle Revis, Pittsburgh
2. Jonathan Wade, Tennessee
3. Marcus McCauley, Fresno St.
4. Leon Hall, Michigan
5. Fred Bennett, South Carolina
6. Chris Houston, Arkansas
7. Aaron Ross, Texas
8. Eric Wright, UNLV
9. Tanard Jackson, Syracuse
10. Daymeion Hughes, California

Safety
1. Reggie Nelson, Florida
2. Michael Griffin, Texas
3. LaRon Landry, LSU
4. Brandon Meriweather, Miami
5. Josh Gattis, Wake Forest

53 Deep 2006 All-Pro Team

OFFENSE
QB: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
FB: Lorenzo Neal, San Diego Chargers
RB: LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers
TE: Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City Chiefs
WR: Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts
WR: Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts
T: Jammal Brown, New Orleans Saints
T: Willie Anderson, Cincinnati Bengals
G: Mike Goff, San Diego Chargers
G: Shawn Andrews, Philadelphia Eagles
C: Brad Meester, Jacksonville Jaguars

DEFENSE
LE: Aaron Kampman, Green Bay Packers
DT: Warren Sapp, Oakland Raiders
DT: Pat Williams, Minnesota Vikings
RE: Jason Taylor, Miami Dolphins
SLB: Adalius Thomas, Baltimore Ravens
MLB: Zach Thomas, Miami Dolphins
WLB: Lance Briggs, Chicago Bears
CB: Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos
CB: Asante Samuel, New England Patriots
SS: Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals
FS: Kerry Rhodes, New York Jets

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Robbie Gould, Chicago Bears
P: Brian Moorman, Buffalo Bills
KR: Devin Hester, Chicago Bears

How Important Are First Round Picks?

Chris Malumphy at DraftHistory.com breaks down the Pro Bowl teams and finds Nearly Half of 2006 NFL Pro Bowlers Drafted in First Round. Malumphy also analyzes some of the differences between the AFC and NFC representatives.