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The 10th edtion of the Great Blue North College Football Draft Preview
is now in the works with profiles of over 400 prospects for the 2009
draft. Order your copy today!
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- ARIZONA
May 2-4
ATLANTA
May 10-12; June 23-25 (voluntary)
BALTIMORE
May 1-3 (voluntary); May 9-11
BUFFALO
May 2-4 (rookies); June 11-13
CAROLINA
May 2-4
CHICAGO
May 2-4 (rookies); May 30-June 1
CINCINNATI
May 2-4 (rookies); June 12-14
CLEVELAND
May 2-4 (rookies); June 10-12
DALLAS
May 2-4 (rookies); June 17-19
DENVER
June 11-13
DETROIT
May 2-4 (rookies); May 20-22
GREEN
BAY
May 2-4 (rookies); June 17-19
HOUSTON
May 9-11
INDIANAPOLIS
May 2-4 (rookies); May 16-18
JACKSONVILLE
June 6-7
KANSAS
CITY
May 2-3 (rookies); June 6-8
MIAMI
May 2-4 (rookies); May 23-25 (voluntary); June 6-8
MINNESOTA
May 2-4 (rookies); June 6-8
NEW
ENGLAND
May 2-4 (rookies); June 6-8
NEW
ORLEANS
May 9-11 (rookies); May 30-June 1
NEW YORK GIANTS May 9-11 (rookies); June 11-13
NEW YORK JETS May
2-4 (rookies); June 5-7
OAKLAND
May 9-11 (rookies); June 3-5
PHILADELPHIA
May 3-5
PITTSBURGH
May 2-4
ST.
LOUIS
May 9-11
SAN
DIEGO
May 2-4
SAN FRANCISCO May 2-4
SEATTLE
May 2-4
TAMPA
BAY
May 2-4 (rookies); June 17-19
TENNESSEE
May 2-3 (rookies)
WASHINGTON
May 2-4
- May 2
- (12:01 AM): NFL teams shake up front offices…
Just hours after the draft, San Diego was forced to revamp its
personnel department after assistant G. M. and director of player
personnel Buddy Nix either resigned or was forced out of the job. Nix
had been with Chargers since 2001 and has been in the NFL for 15 years
after a 32-year career as a college coach. The Chargers reportedly will
not replace Nix, but will restructure from within, although former New
Orleans and Miami G.M. Randy Mueller was hired as a senior executive
who will also scout nationally. At the same time, Ed McGuire, the
Chargers' executive vice president, added Nix’ title of assistant GM.,
while ?
director of college scouting Jimmy Raye was promoted to director of
player personnel. John Spanos, the assistant college scouting director
under Raye, becomes director of that department while the Chargers also
promoted Mike Biehl to assistant director of college scouting and Tom
McConnaughey to national scout, and they made Chris Hobbs executive
assistant for player personnel. Meanwhile, Atlanta has hired David
Caldwell to be the director of college scouting. Caldwell, who was a
regional scout with Indianapolis for the past 10 years, replaces Phil
Emery, who was re-assigned to be the Eastern region scout for the
Falcons. Emery had been Atlanta's director of college scouting since
2004.
- May 1
- (12:01 AM):
Cats stay close to home in CFL
draft... Hamilton chose Saskatchewan DB Ryan Barker with the first
pick overall in Wednesday's annual CFL draft. Calgary had the next wto
picks and selected OTs Dimitri Tsuopas of Weber State and Jesse Newman
of Louisiana-Lafayette, while Saskatchewan nabbed Central Florida DT
Keith Shologan with the 4th pick. Sholgan had signed earlier this week
as an undrafted free agent with San Diego. Meanwhile, Sherbrooke WR
Samuel Giguere, who signed earlier this week as an undrafted free agent
with Indianapolis, was chosen 8th overall by Hamilton, while Montreal
took Boise State senior OG Andrew Woodruff with the 12th pick overall.
Here is the full list of
48
players selected in this week's CFL draft.
- April
30
- (12:01 AM): Draft lite on sked…
For those
that didn’t get their fill of drafting over the weekend, the Canadian
league holds its annual
CFL
draft later today. The CFL draft gets underway at Noon ET with
Hamilton holding the top pick. The CFL draft actually only involves
Canadian players, although there are a number of players available
today who should be familiar to NFL followers. Indeed, both Sherbrooke
WR Samuel Gigure and Central Florida DT Keith Shologan signed on as
undrafted free agents with Indianapolis and San Diego respectively in
the past couple of days, while RBs Rolly Lumbala of Idaho and Jerome
Messam of Graceland remain unsigned. Meanwhile, other top players
expected to be selected at today’s CFL draft still with U.S. college
eligibility include junior offensive linemen Andrew Woodruff of Boise
State, Jesse Newman of Louisiana-Lafayette and Jonathan St. Pierre of
Illinois State. - NFL round 8 continues… NFL teams continue
to
announce their undrafted free agent
signing classes and many of the top undrafted players are coming
off the board at the various positions.
It is important to note though that all players that showing up on some
lists of undrafted free agents may have actually only signed on for
mini-camp tryouts.
- April 29
- (12:01
AM): Round 8 well underway...
There was no down time for NFL pro personnel folks after the completion
of this past weekend's draft. Indeed, even before the final picks were
made, teams were on the phones trying to sign the top undrafted
players. In fact, most teams will have signed many, if not all, the
undrafted players they are going to bring in, however, official
announcements of who has been signed often don't come until later in
the week or even after the team's rookie mini-camp. For now, here is
our annual list of the top (at least on our board)
undrafted prospects by
position as well as a partial list of announced undrafted signings by team . Of
course, we'll be updating each file as new signings hit the wire.
- April 28
- (12:01
AM): That's a wrap... The 2008
draft is in the books and while there is still much chewing over of
what transpired this weekend, here are some preliminary thoughts in our
Draft Blog including some
early observations of the winners and losers in the 2008 draft. - Only
364 days until the 2009 draft... Hang in there guys! To help wile
away a few of those moments here is our very first, very preliminary 2009 projection. And first-projection
rules will be rigourously enforced; that is anyon e-mailing comments to
the effect that 'the Buckeroos will never take a ...' will receive an
automatic 6-minute suspension from the site!
- April
27
- (6:45 PM) That's a wrap... With
the
selection of Idaho LB David Vobora by St. Louis with the 252nd and last
pick, the 2008 draft is in the books. There won't be any rest for weary
NFL pro personnel staffs, however, as teams are already working the
phones trying to sign the top undrafted players. In fact, there is a
small army of pretty good prospects still out there; for reference,
here's the updated
GBN Big Board with the
top 90 or so undrafted players on our chart. We'll be back a little
later this evening with our final wrap of this weekend's draft. - (10:00
AM): Day two underway... With day two of the 2008 draft
underway we are ensconsed back in the GBN War
Room where we'll be right through the 252nd pick sometime around 6
PM ET later this evening. We'll have round-by-round wraps through the
rest of the day, plus we'll be keeping the GBN
Big Board updated as players come off the board.
- (9:00 AM): Day two morning shocker… Hard
to believe, but all 31 NFL teams that made at least one pick yesterday
were reporting this morning that they couldn’t believe that the guy
they got “was still on the board” when they got on the clock. To be
fair, some teams actually have a case starting with Kansas City which
never figured that LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, arguably the best player in
this year’s draft, would still be on the board when the Chiefs made the
5th pick. Indeed, said Bill Kuharich, the Chiefs’ vice president for
player personnel: ““I never thought in my wildest dreams that we would
have the opportunity to get both of these guys” after the Chiefs were
also able to acquire Virginia OT Branden Albert later in the opening
round. One can’t blame New Orleans, though, for not trying to move up
to get Dorsey, the local favorite who would also have filled a huge
need on the Saints’ roster. The Saints reportedly offered their first
pick next year, along with the 10th overall pick this year and a later
round pick this year to the Chiefs to move up to the #5 slot to get
Dorsey themselves, however, Kansas City turned them down. The Saints
though got some consolation when they were able to tarde up with New
England two picks later and get USC DT Sedrick Ellis, who is almost as
good a prospect as Dorsey. Meanwhile, there was no small irony when
Baltimore selected Delaware QB Joe Flacco with the 18th pick overall.
In the overall process, Flacco became the first non-D1A QB selected in
the first round since Tennessee took Steve McNair of Alcorn State in
1995. Of course, the Ravens took Flacco in large part because they
suddenly had a pressing need at QB when the same Steve McNair abruptly
retired just days before the draft.
- Back at it on day two… After catching maybe a
couple of hours of sleep we are back at it on day two of the 2008 draft
which gets underway in about an hour at 10 AM ET with Detroit on the
clock with a pick from Miami. Baltimore, which had a busy first making
two big first round moves, though, looks to be in position to make the
biggest impact with today’s selections. After taking what they hope is
their QB of the future in Joe Flacco of Delaware in yesterday’s opening
round, the Ravens have 9 more picks today including three in each of
the 3rd anf 4th rounds. In addition to Baltimore, Kansas City,
Philadelphia, and Chicago also each have 9 picks today barring further
trades with the Chiefs having three in the third round, while the
Eagles have three in the 4th. Atlanta will also have a busy second day
with 8 picks overall including three in the 3rd. Meanwhile, Cleveland
will finally make an appearance at the 2008 draft when the Browns pick
in the 4th round. The Browns had traded away their top three picks this
year prior to the draft. And there are still plenty of quality
prospects left on the board including Penn State LB Dan Connor, WRs
Early Doucet of LSU and Michigan’s Mario Manningham, RBs Jamaal Charles
of Texas, record-setting Kevin Smith of Central Florida and West
Virginia scatback Steve Slaton, and QBs John David Booty, who figures
to be the 8th former USC Trojan picked this weekend, along with
Kentucky’s Andre’ Woodson and Erik Ainge of Tennessee. Here’s the list
of players still on the board on the GBN
Big Board. In fact, as much as possible we’ll be updating that list
through the day today along with round-by-round wraps of all today’s
action.
- Shock, Shep still at home… The expected run of
trades of veteran players never materialized yesterday. As a result, TE
Jeremy Shockey is still a Giant and CB Lito Sheppard is still with the
Eagles. The act that Sheppard wasn’t dealt is perhaps the biggest
surprise. The Eagles reportedly had had a number of teams interested in
Sheppard, a 27-year-old one-time Pro Bowler and most analysts figured
he would be elsewhere by this time today, however, the Eagles obviously
did not feel they were getting full value for Sheppard in any of the
offers they received. The Eagles, though, have not ruled out trading
Sheppard at sometime today. There was one deal involving a veteran
yesterday when the Eagles acquired RB Lorenzo Booker from Miami in
exchange for a 4th round pick.
- April 26
- (1:30
PM): Rams leaning DE... According
to several sources, St. Louis has decided on which player it will be
taking with the #2 pick at this afternoon's and it appears that
Virginia DE Chris Long will be the guy. There is still plenty of
intrigue, though as the Rams are continuing to field trade offers with
Baltimore believed to be making a late push to move up to the second
spot to get Boston College QB Matt Ryan. The Ravens currently have the
8th pick and according to the established NFL trade value chart, the
Ravens would probably need to mortgage their top pick in 2009 to get
the deal done.
- (10:30 AM): Deal or no deal... Our first
blog of the day looks at
the possibility of a big trade day today as well as the likelihood that
the Eagles move CB Lito Sheppard. - (9:30 AM): Big Board
tweaked... Even with the draft just hours away, there appears to
still be a lot of movement on value boards around the league. As such,
we have tweaked the final GBN 'Big Board' ranking of the Top 300 prospects for the 2008 draft.
Players making late moves include Oklahoma MLB Curtis Lofton, Arkansas
State S Tyrell Johnson, East Carolina RB Chris Johnson and Purdue TE
Dustin Keller.
- (9:00 AM): The draft starts here...
Sifting through the tea leaves in a report in this morning's
St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests there is still considerable
internal debate as to whether the Rams will take LSU DE Glenn Dorsey or
Virginia DE Chris Long with the second pick at this afternoon's draft.
As with most teams around the league, Dorsey is at the top of the Rams'
draft board and appaers to be the consensus choice of most of the Rams'
staff, however, it appears someone in authority would prefer to take
Long who fills a bigger need. Perhaps the most interesting item in the
report is that the Rams reportedly had Dorsey rated #1 on their board
followed by Arkansas RB Darren McFadden, OT Jake Long third, Chris Long
fourth and Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston a somewhat distant fifth. Of
course, all this internal intrigue will be moot if the Rams trade the
pick and this is a possibilty. New Orleans, which would dearly love to
move up to the second spot to get home-town hero Dorsey, who also just
happens to fill a huge need with the Saints, has reportedly offered OT
Jammal Brown in a possible trade that also would have involved swapping
first-round picks. Meanwhile, the Jets, who want McFadden, have also
entered the mix with a potential swap of the first and sixth picks.
That might be more to Rams liking as they would to have to drop down
quite so far and should still get one of this year's top prospects.
- To QB or not to QB... One of the things to look
for in today's draft is a possible run on QBs late in the first round
by teams with early second round picks like Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore
and the Jets with big needs at QB but who didn't get Boston Collgege's
Matt Ryan in the first round moving up into the late first round round
to try and address that need. Our Jon Cozart says buyer beware though
as this rundown of QBs chosen in the first round in today's Scouts Notebook shows there have been
as many hits as misses at the position in the opening round in the past
decade.
- (8:30 AM): Cowboys get pick from Dolphins for
vets... Miami has acquired veteran LB Akin Ayodele and TE Anthony
Fasano from Dallas for a fourth-round draft pick, the 100th selection
in today's draft. By picking up the first pick in the 4th round, the
Cowboys in essensce recoup the fourth rounder they sent to Tennessee in
the Pacman Jones' trade and give Dallas and Jerry Jones a little more
ammunition if they are looking to trade up in the opening round.
- (8:00 AM): ITS DRAFT DAY!!!
- April 25
- (5:00
PM): Giants go safety first to wrap mock; The votes are
still coming in, but with exit polls we
have been able to project that with the 31st and final pick in the GBN
fan mock draft, the New York Giants selected Miami FS Kenny Phillips.
Thanks to everyone for playing along. We'll compare the results of the
fan projection with the actual draft next week.
- (10:00 AM): News updates… Add a couple of
more entries to the list of teams that attended Clemson DE Phillip
Merling’s special on-campus workout yesterday. In addition to
Washington, which sent a full contingent including owner Dan Snyder and
head coach Jim Zorn, Baltimore, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Miami, Green
Bay, Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay as well as both the
Giants and Jets, Seattle and San Francisco also had reps in attendance.
A couple of teams noticeably absent were Tennessee and Jacksonville,
which have the 24th and 26th picks respectively this year, as well as a
major need at the position. For the record, Merling, who usually played
at around 275 pounds, weighed in at 288 pounds, although as noted
earlier he has only been working out for a week or so after undergoing
surgery to repair a sports hernia. Meanwhile, it has been pretty much
confirmed that the Jets received a conditional 2009 pick from Denver in
exchange for DT Dewayne Robertson. The condition reportedly is playing
time with at least one report suggesting that the Jets could ultimately
get as high as a 3rd rounder next year for Robertson. On the other
hand, if Robertson doesn‘t play in 2008, then there will be no
compensation.
- Rams leaning toward big DT… Rumblings out of St.
Louis suggest that the Rams are leaning heavily toward taking LSU DT
with the 2nd pick at tomorrow’s draft. Virginia DE Chris Long still has
some supporters in the organization, but the consensus seems to be that
Dorsey is simply the better prospect at this time. Of course, the Rams
could still trade the pick, with Atlanta and New Orleans still believed
to be very interested in acquiring Dorsey for themselves, however, it
doesn’t appear at this if either is willing to give up what it will
take to get to the #2 spot.
- Raiders may have for sale sign on pick… Speaking
of the Raiders, most of the buzz about what Oakland will do with the
4th pick has focused on whether owner Al Davis was enamored enough with
RB Darren McFadden to in a sense force a pick of the former Arkansas
star on just about the rest of the organization which would appear to
prefer a defensive player. Head coach Lane Kiffin, though, implied at a
pre-draft presser earlier this week that the Raiders, who do not pick
again until the 4th round and have only 5 picks in total, are
entertaining offers for the selection. According to Kiffin, the Raiders
have “talked to a number of teams and a few of those have been very
serious conversations." Kiffin didn’t go into specifics but it is
believed that one of those calls may have come from the Jets, who are
known to covet McFadden for themselves. Meanwhile, the Patriots may
also have an interest in moving up to acquire Ohio State DE Vernon
Gholston, who would be a fine pass rush OLB in the Patriots scheme. And
as mentioned above whether to deal the pick or not would be further
complicated if Virginia DE Chris Long, the son of long-time Oakland
star DE Howie Long, were to also be available when the Raiders get on
the clock.
- (12:01 AM): Full mock draft done... As
promised, we have added the final four rounds to our annual full
7-round draft projection.
And as always, we guarantee in writing with your money back if not
satisfied that we will get at least 2-3 picks spot on over the course
of the seven rounds.
- April 24
- (6:00
PM): Clemson DE workout update...
There was a pretty good reason there were no usual results from Clemson
E Phillip Merling's on-campus workout earlier today as Merling did not
run a 40-yard dash, or do any weightlifting. Instead, he did exercises
that tested his midsection and groin area. Merling had been projected
as a potential top 10 prospect earlier this year, hasn’t been able to
workout since suffering a sports hernia and the goal of today's workout
was to show pro teams that he was healthy. About a dozen teams were in
attendance at Merling’s workout including a large contingent from
Washington including owner Daniel Snyder, head coach Jim Zorn, and
player personnel director Vinny Cerrato; indeed, even Redskins‘ QB
Jason Campbell was reportedly there. The Redskins have the 21st pick
this year and are in need of a good young DE. Other teams with
representatives in attendance included Baltimore, Indianapolis, New
Orleans, Miami, Green Bay, Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Tampa
Bay as well as both the Giants and Jets.
- (5:30 PM): OU WR workout correction...
Updating an earlier report from today that Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly
was conducting a final on-campus workout today, however, according to
John Murphy of Yahoo Sports Kelly actually had a private
workout with Washington, which was attended by owner Daniel Snyder,
head coach Jim Zorn, player personnel director Vinny Cerrato, receivers
coach Stan Hixon and starting quarterback Jason Campbell, who all flew
in after attending Clemson DE Phil Merling's workout this morning.
Campbell threw to Kelly during a 30-minute workout on-campus at the
school. The Redskins, who own the #21 overall pick in the first round,
scheduled the private workout with Kelly after his first Pro Day.
- Broncs get big DT from Jets... The New York Jets
have agreed to ship DT Dewayne Robertson to Denver for what is believed
to be a conditional pick in 2009. The Broncos had been offering a
seventh-round pick for Robertson, but the Jets were hoping better based
on the defensive tackle's playing time.
- (12:30 PM): Late college workouts on schedule…
Clemson DE Phillip Merling worked out in front of a realtively large
contingent of pro personnel folks earlier this morning at a special
on-campus workout. Meanwhile Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly is also
scheduled to have a third on-campus workout later today. Kelly who had
once been seen as the top receiver in this year’s draft, didn’t run at
well at a special pro day early in the month and then didn’t do much
better a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, we’ll have results from both
workouts later in the day.
- (9:00 AM): One more late update on Pacman
deal... the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the
compensation Dallas will get from Tennessee if Pacman Jones doesn't pan
out with the Cowboys is a little more complicated than first reported.
Dallas will get a 4th round pick back from the Titans in 2009 if Jones
isn't re-instated by the NFL later this summer. If Jones is
re-instated, but then re-offends during the season, the Cowboys will
get a 5th round pick from Tennessee. Tthe cowboys acquired the rights
to Jones earlier this week for a 4th round pick at the 2008 draft.
After running afoul of the law numerous times since coming into the
league in 2005, though, Jones is under suspension from the NFL for
violating the league's conduct policy. The NFL is expected to review
Jones status sometime later this summer.
- Pacman trade details updated… Jay Glazer of Fox
Sports is reporting that the 2009 pick Tennessee will get from
Dallas is CB Pacman Jones is first re-instated and then stays out of
trouble next year will be a 6th rounder. On the other hand, if Jones
isn’t re-instated or gets into further off-field trouble that precludes
him from playing this coming season, Dallas will get a 4th round pick
from Tennessee. In effect, the Cowboys would be getting the 2008 4th
round pick they shipped to the Titans yesterday to complete the deal
for Jones back if he screws up again.
- No draft chat for Rams… The NFL has reportedly
determined that St. Louis cannot open negotiations with the prospects
for the #2 pck at this year’s draft even though Miami has already
signed Michigan OT Jake Long with the first pick. All the NFL will say
that league policy is that only the team with the first pick can
negotiate with and sign a player prior to the draft, although it is
something the league will re-evaluate in the future.
- Draft buzz… So many veterans up for trade its
making your average draft analyst’s head spin. Miami is reportedly
shopping DE Jason Taylor who has said he’d rather retire than play
again for a rebuilding team. The Dolphins are reportedly asking for a
1st round pick in exchange for Taylor, but given the fact he’s already
34 may have to settle for less. Meanwhile, rumors persist that the Jets
are truly interested in drafting Boston College QB Matt Ryan if neither
Arkansas RB Daren McFadden nor Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston are on the
board when they make the 6th pick; and if the Jets do indeed select
Ryan they will look to trade veteran QB Chad Pennington. One possible
destination is Baltimore, which of course has to be interested in Ryan
themselves. Baltimore, though, has the 8th ick and may have to move up
if they want to nab Ryan. Across town in New York - well more
accurately across the stadium in New Jersey, the Giants reportedly
continue to field calls about star TE Jeremy Shockey; Seattle and
Atlanta have both reportedly joined New Orleans in asking about
Shockey’s availability. Not much word, though, on what the Giants would
want to move Shockey or what is being offered. Chiefs coach Herm
Edwards said today the team might spend the days before Saturday's NFL
draft examining the possibility of trading for even more draft picks.
And even after acquiring three more picks in this year’s draft with the
trade of DE Jared Allen to Minnesota Kansas City may not be done adding
more picks. The Chiefs currently have 13 picks, the most in the league,
but head coach Herm Edwards was quoted in the Kansas City Star
saying "It’s not over, We might end up with more than that. Who knows
we might have 20 by Saturday. It‘s not clear how the Chiefs are going
to get the additional picks, although trading down from the 5th pick
may be an option with a number of teams possibly inclined to trade up
for Boston College QB Matt Ryan and others interested in USC DT Sedrick
Ells. And here’s something of a new one. Pro Football Weekly
is reporting that Vanderbilt OT Chris Williams may slide a bit in this
year’s opening round, in part, because his arms aren’t the same length!
Go figure. With just a couple of days to go to the draft, players who
appear to be making major moves up in the draft include East Carolina
RB Chris Johnson, Virginia Tech CB Brandon Flowers, Arkansas State
Tyrell Johnson, Purdue TE Dustin Keller, Kansas State WR Jordy Nelson,
Virginia Tech OT Duane Brown, Wake Forest DE Jeremy Thompson, Iowa
State DT Ahtyba Rubin, Oregon OT Geoff Schwartz and USC LB Thomas
Williams. In fact, players like Flowers, ECU‘s Johnson, ASU‘s Johnson,
and Keller have started to show up with late first-round grades on ore
than one team’s draft board. .
- Thumb bedevils Devils QB… Arizona State QB Rudy
Carpenter, a leading prospect for the 2009 draft, will have minor
surgery on the thumb of his throwing hand. Carpenter actually
originally hurt his thumb while handing off in a game last October, but
played with the injury the rest of the season. Carpenter is not
expected to miss more than a couple of weeks of workouts.
- April 23
- (6:30
PM): Pacman now a Cowboy… Dallas
has finally acquired embattled Tennessee CB Pacman Jones for what is
being reported as a 4th round pick at the 2008 draft. Tennessee will
also get a conditional pick in 2009 if Jones meets a playing time
threshold this coming season. On the other hand, if Jones isn’t
reinstated by the NFL later this summer, the Titans will send an
undisclosed 2009 draft pick back to the Cowboys.
- (2:30 PM): Vikes-Chiefs trade update...
One quick update on yesterday's big trade in which Minnesota acquired
DE Jared Allen from Kansas City for a package of draft picks. There
still has been no formal announcement of the compensation but late
reports indicate that the 6th round picks the two teams swapped are
actually the 182nd going to the Chiefs and the 187th - a pick KC got
from Tampa Bay - going to Minnesota. Earlier reports had indicated the
Vikings would actually move up to the 170th with KC dropping down to
#182. The Vikings are also believed to have sent their first round
pick, the 17th overall, as well as both their third round picks to the
Chiefs to complete the deal. Assuming the latest information has it
right we have updated both the
full-draft order and
picks by team files. - (10:00
AM): Big Board posted... A little
later than we planned, but the final GBN 'Big Board' ranking of the Top 300 prospects for the 2008 draft is now
up.
- (8:30 AM): Vikes pay piper for Chiefs’ DE…
The trade won’t officially be announced until a news conference this
afternoon and the specifics still have not been released, however, it
appears that Minnesota paid a huge price in order to acquire franchised
Kansas City DE Jared Allen in a deal that completed late last evening.
For starters, the Vikings agreed on a long-term deal with Allen, who
led the NFL with 15.5 sacks last season, and at just 26 years of age
still has is prime football years ahead of him, that makes him one of
the highest paid defensive players in the league. Allen signed a
reported 6-year deal worth just under $74 million with more than $31
million of the total guaranteed. The Vikings also parted with something
of a king’s ransom in draft picks in order to get Allen. Again the
details haven’t been confirmed, however, the Chiefs are believed to
have received Minnesota’s first-round pick, the 17th overall, as well
as both of the Vikings’ third-round picks, the 73rd and 82nd picks. The
teams have also reportedly swapped 6th round picks with the Vikings
moving up to #170 and the Chiefs dropping down to the 182nd pick. With
that package of picks, the Chiefs now have 13 picks overall, the most
of any team in the league; as well, six of those picks are in the first
three rounds, giving Kansas City plenty of ammunition to make other
moves.
- Top pick signing has ripple effect… Even though
they were able to get former Michigan OT Jake Long signed before the
draft, there won’t be any rest for Miami personnel officials this week.
Indeed, the hard for the rebuilding Dolphins may just be starting,
although getting Long, who becomes the #1 pick overall at this week’s
draft, signed to a reported 5-year, $57M deal that includes over $30M
in guaranteed money is a solid start. The major issue now facing the
Dolphins is whether they use their net selection, the first pick in the
second round to address issues on defense or go after a QB. There are
reports, for example, that the Dolphins have explored moving up into
the late first round to acquire emerging Delaware QB JoeFlacco, whom
they are believed to really like but are afraid another team behind
them will jump the queue and beat them to the punch. Part of the
problem for the Dolphins is answering the question whether they can
really afford to trade away any picks when they have so many other core
needs. The Dolphins, though, are also believed to be high on Michigan
QB Chad Henne, OT Long's former college teammate, who ould be there at
#32 if Flacco were off the board by then. The Dolphins, though, also
have big needs on the other side of the ball starting with someone -
anyone - who can rush the passer from the either the DE or OLB spots,
as well as a CB who can cover. The Dolphins, though, do have another
second rounder - the 57th overall - which gives them another option.
Meanwhile, while St. Louis is now technically on the clock, it isn’t
totally clear whether the Rams actually are able according to NFL rules
to sign a player themselves prior to the draft. The NFL is expected to
issue some kind of rule whether the Rams can begin negotiating with the
#2 pick later today. Even if the Rams did get permission to negotiate,
the team is unlikely to have anyone signed by Saturday as St. Louis has
some trade options it likely wants to keep open. The Rams have
reportedly gotten calls from both Atlanta, which has the 3rd pick
overall and New Orleans with the tenth pick, since Miami made Jake Long
the #1 pick. Both the Falcons and Saints reportedly want a shot at LSU
DT Glenn Dorsey. If they d keep the second pick, he Rams are reportedly
torn between Dorsey and Virginia DE Chris Long. Pro Football Weekly,
for example, has a report that suggests that the coaching staff wants
Dorsey, while the personnel people favor Long. Meanwhile, there is a
bit of a buzz out of New York that if neither Arkansas RB Darren
McFadden nor Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston are on the board when the
Jets make the 6th pick, the Jets could very well select Boston College
QB Matt Ryan as the team still isn't sold on 3rd-year pro Kellen
Clemens, who struggled mightily at times last season, while veteran
Chad Pennington appears to be on his last football legs. Stay tuned.
- Daily draft buzz… With St. Louis now effectively
on the clock after Miami signed Michigan OT Jake Long, there are some
rumblings that New Orleans might make a push to move from the tenth
pick in the draft up to #2 to get LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, a local favorite
who would also fill the Saints’ biggest need. Unfortunately, though, it
could cost the Saints their #1 pick in 2009 along with the tenth
selection this year to swap spots with the Rams this weekend, at least
according to the NFL trade value chart, however, it is possible the
Rams, who want to move down and likely will have no other offers, may
take substantially less. On the other hand, if Dorsey isn’t selected
second overall, then Atlanta is set to pounce on the former Tigers’
star. In that case, there have been some rumors that if the Falcons can
land Dorsey with the #3 pick, then they might consider sending all
three of their second-round picks - the 34th, 37th and 38th picks - to
New England for the 7th pick if Boston College QB Matt Ryan was still
on the board. There had also been some speculation that whether Ryan is
on the board or not when Kansas City picks 5th that the Chiefs are
leaning toward taking an offensive lineman, either Boise State OT Ryan
Clady or more likely Virginia G/T Branden Albert, although both might
be considered reaches at that point. As a result of the trade that sent
franchised DE Jared Allen to Minnesota for a package that includes the
17th pick this year, though, the Chiefs may look at a DE like Vernon
Gholston of Ohio State, or even Virginia’s Chris Long if the latter
somehow dropped that far, with the 5th pick and then use the Vikings’
pick to address the offensive line.
- Redskins after embattled Bengals WR… Despite
being rebuffed in their latest attempt to acquire Cincinnati WR Chad
Johnson, Washington has reportedly not given up on tarding for the
embattled Bengals star receiver. Washington has reportedly offered
Cincinnati their first-round pick this year, the 21st selection, as
well as aconditional future pick that some reports say could escalate
to a second first rounder. Cincinnati, though turned down that offer
with an angry head coach Marvin Lewis telling Johnson in so many words
that if he doesn‘t want to play for the Bengals he can sit out the
season. The problem for the Bengals is that they would take an $8
million salary cap hit if he is traded before June. Meanwhile, the
Redskins also indicated that if they aren’t able to trade for Johnson,
or another veteran WR by the time the draft rolls around, they might
try to trade down in the first round if the top players they have
targeted are off the board when they pick and have acknowledged
speaking with a number of teams about trading down.
- April 22
- (1:30
PM): So much for smoke; Dolphins sign
OT... Miami has reportedly signed Michigan OT Jake Long who
becomes in effective the first player selected at the 2008 draft. St.
Louis is now on the clock.
- (10:00 AM): Tuesday morning draft buzz…
Atlanta Thomas Dimitroff indicated at the team’s pre-draft presser
yesterday that says he has heard from teams about possible trade
scenarios. That led to some speculation that the Falcons, who already
have 11 picks in this year’s draft, might be interested in moving down
from the #3 pick, however, it wasn’t totally clear from Dimitroff’s
words that teams were actually calling about the third pick. Indeed,
the Falcons have three picks in the first half of the second round
which could also be of some interest. Whatever, Dimitroff did caution
that a this time “nothing is concrete”. And speaking of moving down,
there could also be some movement late in the first round as both
Seattle and San Diego, with the 25th and 27th picks respectively, have
gone on record indicating they would like to move down. Meanwhile,
while Tampa Bay waits to see if franchised Kansas City DE Jared Allen
will be coming to town for a visit, the Buccaneers have also reportedly
talked to Philadelphia about a possible deal for CB Lito Sheppard. The
Eagles are reportedly asking for a second-round pick, plus a later
selection, most likely a fifth-rounder, in exchange for Sheppard.
- (12:01 AM): Defensive rankings posted...
As promised the final GBN
defensive positional
rankings are up. We’ll be posting our final Top 300 Big Board on
Wednesday. Then just for fun, we’ll have a full 7-round mock on
Thursday and Friday. And, of course, we will have gavel to gavel
coverage of this weekend’s draft.
- April 21
- KC DE
hits road without deal… Despite the fact that the draft is just a
week away, there wasn’t a whole of buzz around the league this weekend.
Franchised Kansas City DE Jared Allen was in Minnesota this weekend
talking with Vikings officials about a long-term contract, but
reportedly left town without anything being finalized. The Chiefs have
been shopping Allen, who led the NFL in sacks with 15.5 last fall, when
it became apparent that they would not be able to sign him to a
long-term deal. The Vikings, though, remain the clear front runner to
acquire Allen, although Tampa Bay has also shown interest in Allen.
Indeed, Allen has been invited to Tampa although its no clear at this
time whether he will actually go. The Vikings and Chiefs are reportedly
fairly close to an agreement on compensation with the Chiefs asking for
first and second round picks this year with the Vikings countering by
offering first and third rounders. The real hangup to any
Chiefs-Vikings deal is Allen agreeing with a new contract with
Minnesota. Allen is reportedly looking for a mega deal in the 6Y, $72M
range. In fact, one of the real sideshows to this year’s draft is the
potential for several other big-name veterans to be traded. Players
believed to be on the block in one form or another include Giants’ TE
Jeremy Shockey, Philadelphia CB Lito Sheppard, Minnesota C Matt Birk,
Jets DT Dewayne Robertson, and Buffalo QB J.P. Losman, while Cincinnati
has to be feeling some hea to deal disgruntled WR Chad Johnson who has
burned a lot of bridges in recent days with the Bengals.
- Buyer beware… GBN chief scout Kevin Hornung has
some thoughts this day on
several players that have
big bust potential on the boom-bust gradient. - Huskies’ C
dinged… Washington C Juan Garcia, a decent second-tier prospect
for the 2009 draft, had to be carted off the practice field Friday
after suffering a left leg injury during a scrimmage. The nature and
severity of the injury won’t likely be known until later this week.
Garcia was a second-team All-Pac-10 selection last season and was just
named to the watch list for this year‘s Outland Trophy, awarded
annually to the best interior lineman in the country. Garcia got an
extra season of eligibility after he missed 2004 and 2005 with injuries
and actually considered entering the NFL draft before he decided to
come back.
- April 19
- NFC
Cats may be looking at top QB… Boston College QB Matt Ryan, the
top-rated passer in the 2008 draft class, hasn’t necessarily gotten
much love from teams at the very top of the draft order, however,
Carolina has reportedly become enamored with his pro potential. So much
so, in fact, that the Panthers are reportedly exploring options to move
up in the draft in order to select Ryan as the heir apparent to
incumbent starter Jake DelHomme who is coming back off a serious elbow
injury which limited him to just three games in 2007. The Panthers, who
have the 13th pick overall, have reportedly had talks with both the New
York Jets and New England, with the 6th and 7th picks respectively,
about the possibility of moving up. Of course, there are no guarantees
that Ryan will still be available at #6 with Atlanta at #3 and Kansas
City at #5 possible landing sites. It wouldn't be cheap for the
Panthers to climb from #13 to the 6-7 range as it could cost them as
much as their second round pick, the 43rd overall.
- April 18
- (9:30
AM): Friday morning update... In
fact, it appears to be somewhat of a quiet morning although there are a
couple of updates regarding Kansas City's attempts to trade franchised
DE Jared Allen reported yesterday. According to NFL.com, Minnesota,
which appears to have the inside track on landing Allen who led the NFL
in sacks in 2007, is offering its first round pick - the 17th overall -
as well as one of its two third rounders - likely the 73rd overall - as
compensation. Earlier reports jad indicated the Vikings were offering
their first this year and a second rounder in 2009. The other team in
play in the deal is Tampa Bay, however, with only 5 picks total this
year, the Buccaneers don't have the same ammo to deal as the Vikings.
Its also been reported that Jacksonville has also shown some interest
in acquiring Allen but are believed to have backed off for now.
- (12:01 AM): GBN joins blogsphere… If we
weren’t part of the blogsphere already we are now with the addition of
the
GBN Draft Blog to our
lineup. Actually, we were finding the news page was filling up with a
lot of longer pieces so to keep it a little neater we’ll be posting
some of our longer thoughts on the draft on the blog starting with some
reaction - and its draft impact - of reports Dallas has offered RB
Marion Barber a contract extension, as well as what’s up with a couple
of volatile veteran receivers. - Red-letter day of sorts up in
NFL… Friday is the last day teams can sign transition players and
restricted free agents. Friday is also the final day that teams can
have out-of-town draft prospects in for visits.
If
you have comments or
suggestions, e-mail: The editor.
The GBN
can also be reached by phone at (613) 727-3388; by fax at (613)
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