2007 NFL Mock Draft

1. Oakland
JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU

2. Detroit
Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame

3. Cleveland
Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma

4. Tampa Bay
Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech

5. Arizona
Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin

6. Washington
Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson

7. Minnesota
Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas

8. Houston
LaRon Landry, S, LSU

9. Miami
Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville

10. Atlanta
Leon Hall, CB, Michigan

11. San Francisco
Alan Branch, DT, Michigan

12. Buffalo
Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss

13. St. Louis
Chris Houston, CB, Arkansas

14. Carolina
Greg Olsen, TE, Miami

15. Pittsburgh
Levi Brown, OT, Penn St.

16. Green Bay
Ted Ginn, Jr., WR, Ohio St.

17. Jacksonville
Jarvis Moss, DE, Florida

18. Cincinnati
Darrelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh

19. Tennessee
Robert Meachem, WR, Tennessee

20. New York Giants
Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida St.

21. Denver
Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska

22. Dallas
Ben Grubbs, OG, Auburn

23. Kansas City
Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU

24. New England from Seattle
Reggie Nelson, S, Florida

25. New York Jets
Anthony Spencer, DE/OLB, Purdue

26. Philadelphia
Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn St.

27. New Orleans
Marcus McCauley, CB, Fresno St.

28. New England
David Harris, ILB, Michigan

29. Baltimore
Marshawn Lynch, RB, California

30. San Diego
Dwayne Jarrett, WR, USC

31. Chicago
Justin Blalock, OG, Texas

32. Indianapolis
Aaron Ross, CB, Texas

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.

2006 NFL Draft "Pet Cat" Team

An "all-draft" team comprised of underrated players, potential steals, and prospects I otherwise find myself rooting for.

OFFENSE
QB: Kellen Clemens, Oregon
RB: Joseph Addai, LSU
FB: Lawrence Vickers, Colorado
WR: Maurice Stovall, Notre Dame
WR: Ethan Kilmer, Penn State
TE: Anthony Fasano, Notre Dame
T: Michael Toudouze, TCU
T: Pat McQuistan, Weber State
G: Kevin Boothe, Cornell
G: Charlie Johnson, Oklahoma State
C: Mike Degory, Florida

DEFENSE
DE: Pierre Woods, Michigan
DT: Babatunde Oshinowo, Stanford
DT: Steve Fifita, Utah
DE: Jason Hatcher, Grambling State
LB: Brandon Guillory, Louisiana-Monroe
MLB: Anthony Schlegel, Ohio State
LB: Nick Reid, Kansas
CB: Cletis Gordon, Jackson St.
CB: Will Blackmon, Boston College
FS: Anthony Smith, Syracuse
SS: Greg Blue, Georgia

53 Deep 2005 All-Pro Team

OFFENSE
QB: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
FB: Lorenzo Neal, San Diego Chargers
RB: Tiki Barber, New York Giants
TE: Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers
WR: Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers
WR: Chad Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals
T: Walter Jones, Seattle Seahawks
T: Willie Anderson, Cincinnati Bengals
G: Steve Hutchinson, Seattle Seahawks
G: Alan Faneca, Pittsburgh Steelers
C: Jeff Saturday, Indianapolis Colts

DEFENSE
DE: Kyle Vanden Bosch, Tennessee Titans
DE: Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants
DT: Pat Williams, Minnesota Vikings
DT: Tommie Harris, Chicago Bears
OLB: Joey Porter, Pittsburgh Steelers
OLB: Lance Briggs, Chicago Bears
MLB: Zach Thomas, Miami Dolphins
CB: Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos
CB: Ronde Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
S: Mike Brown, Chicago Bears
S: Bob Sanders, Indianapolis Colts

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Neil Rackers, Arizona Cardinals
P: Brian Moorman, Buffalo Bills
KR: Terrence McGee, Buffalo Bills

Frank Gore—Making Himself at Home?

2005 third-round pick Frank Gore seems to be making a push to establish himself at the new number one running back for the San Francisco 49ers.

The statistical analysis over at FootballOutsiders.com shows that Frank Gore is actually having the best season of any rookie running back (DPAR, ranked 17th overall). What's more, in terms of value per play (DVOA), Gore is doing more than twice as better than the next rookie, Ronnie Brown (7.1%, 9th overall, versus -6.1%, 25th overall).

Favre Should Keep Playing

Too many reporters and supposed football "experts" write about players as if they're nothing more than graphics in a John Madden video game. The Green Bay Packers team is going out there tomorrow and next week, and they're going to give their all, and they deserve the best chance to win the game. Brett Favre gives them that, not Aaron Rodgers. There's no such thing as a "meaningless game" to a player, though some games certainly have less importance than others. The idea that Rodgers needs playing time doesn't hold water because the situation isn't right. Rodgers is not going to be battling the current starter for the spot next year. Favre is the man until he announces he's retiring, or he because completely inept at his job. Of course, Favre is open to criticism for not letting the team know his plans at this point; an argument can be made that he needs to consider where his team is at and that the front office people need to know his leanings, at least, so that they can best do their job. But until there is a real quarterback controversy in Green Bay, not one projected by reporters needing to come up with a storyline, Favre should be in there unless the game gets out of hand as it did last Monday night.

Pro Bowl Players Tend To Be High Draft Picks

Chris Malumphy of Drafthistory.com offers his take on the correlation between high draft picks and players selected to the Pro Bowl.

Another Article on Belichick's History Lesson

This time from the Boston Herald's John Tomase: Class in session: Prof. Belichick teaches media Football 101.

Umenyiora Signs 6-year Extension

Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com reports that New York Giant's defensive end Osi Umenyiora has agreed to a $41 million contract which will run through 2012. Though "only" $15 million is guaranteed, Pasquarelli notes that "The guaranteed part of the contract is believed to be the largest ever awarded to a three-year veteran."

Belichick's History Lesson

I'm glad Football Outsiders linked to this blog report by Boston.com's Mike Reiss. Wish there were even more details, but maybe more will emerge in articles in tomorrow's papers. This is the kind of thing, besides the three Super Bowl wins in four years, that separates Bill Belichick from the rest of the league's coaches. He really is an original. Though I will always hold a bit of a grudge against him for choosing Vinny Testaverde over Bernie Kosar, who was one of my favorite players at the time. Anyway, it'd be awesome if Belichick could take some time in the offseason to put together a show or two (or three or four) for NFL films.

Majority of Pro Bowl Position Players Were First Round Picks

Great Blue North's PRO BOWL ROSTER REPORT notes that "70 of the 76 players named to the Pro Bowl this year at regular positions were drafted. In fact, over half of this year's AFC and NFC Pro Bowl positional players - 40 of 76 or 53% - were first round picks and 83% of all positional players named to this year's Pro Bowl, were first day picks selected in the first three rounds."

DeMarcus Ware Hopes To Make an Impact Down the Stretch

For the first half of the season, DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys was the hot defensive rookie. But over the course of the second half of the season his play has dropped off and the attention has shifted to Shawne Merriman of the San Diego Chargers. Both are outside linebackers in 3-4 defenses. Merriman was selected just one spot behind Ware in the 2005 NFL draft and was just voted in to the Pro Bowl. Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News reports that Ware is frustrated by his recent lack of production.

Bloomin' Prospect

Jeff Legwold's weekly NFL notebook looks at skier/NFL prospect Jeremy Bloom and lists some of the top candidates for the Texans head coaching job. And, yes, I'm still irked that Art Shell is not among those mentioned.