Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 865 of 1503)

      Whitlock rips Herm Edwards for flubbing draft gig

      April 27, 2009 /

      Never one to shy away from giving his truthful opinion, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star ripped former Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards for his less-than stellar performance on ESPN’s broadcast of the NFL draft last weekend.

      Herm spent two days on air making damn sure he didn’t offer one opinion that could potentially put him at odds with an NFL owner, general manager or remotely talented player. Edwards isn’t the first former coach to hit the television airwaves determined to pick up an easy paycheck and protect his future coaching prospects.

      If he’s not careful, his ESPN job is going to sabotage his coaching career. In two days of breaking down the draft, Edwards came across as sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing. His commentary was a mixture of Mike Ditka, Sarah Palin and Michael Irvin.

      I fully expect to soon see Edwards standing in front of the pointless touch-screen prop that had promising Michael Smith looking and sounding more like Vanna White than the next Chris Mortensen during the draft weekend.

      For a man who was supposed to be a broadcasting natural, Edwards mumbled, stumbled and clichéd his way through two days of draft coverage. Kansas City’s 2-14 record made sense.

      Unfortunately I didn’t see Edwards’ performance on ESPN because my TV never left the NFL Network’s coverage of the draft, but it would make sense that Herm wouldn’t want to ruffle any feathers if he hopes to get another head coaching gig.

      Jon Gruden was an analyst for the NFL Network all weekend and while I didn’t think he did a bad job, he didn’t give any earth-shattering commentary either. I thought he played his role – talked about team needs, what a head coach looks for in prospects and gave his opinion on the state of certain franchises. I wouldn’t expect him to rip another head coach, owner or team given the fact that he’ll probably be in the league again next year. I would have to assume that NFL coaches share a brotherhood to some extent, which is why Herm probably didn’t feel the need to lambaste anyone either.

      It still would have been nice to see what Whitlock is talking about with Edwards though. Anyone agree with Whitlock’s assessment of Herm’s performance?

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Jets contact agent for Plaxico Burress

      April 27, 2009 /

      Jets’ GM Mike Tannenbaum revealed after the draft on Sunday that he contacted agent Drew Rosenhaus about Plaxico Burress’s pending legal situation.

      Plaxico Burress“Consistent with our normal approach of performing our due diligence, we contacted Drew Rosenhaus several days ago prior to the draft to inquire about Plaxico’s pending legal situation,” said GM Mike Tannenbaum in a statement Sunday night. “However, we have had no discussions with Drew about Plaxico since that time.”

      The Jets’ decision not to draft a wide receiver had nothing to do with their inquiry about the controversial Burress, according to a person with knowledge of the Jets’ thinking. That person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak for the club.

      “The Jets kicked the tires a little bit but it hasn’t advanced beyond that,” said the person.

      This just goes to prove that talent usually exceeds all else in professional sports. Even though a player was a jag off to his former team and was dumb enough to not only bring a loaded weapon into a nightclub, but actually try and secure that weapon in the band of his sweat pants (who wears sweat pants to a nightclub anyway?) only to shoot himself in the leg, he will still be given every opportunity to get back onto the field.

      The Jets are freaking out that they don’t have enough quality receivers to give rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez – and they should be. If the season were to start tomorrow, the Jets would line up Jerricho Cotchery (who is talented, but probably can’t carry a thin receiving corps on his own) and either David Clowney or Brad Smith out wide. Not exactly Jerry Rice and John Taylor, you know?

      Still, if Tannenbaum were smart, he’d stay away from Burress and let his legal situation run its course. Then maybe you can see what kind of mental and physical shape the guy is in, and whether or not Roger Goodell is even going to let him see the field next season. And even then, I still wouldn’t touch him with a 700-foot pole.

      NFL

      Does anyone want Jason Taylor?

      April 27, 2009 /

      Jason TaylorNow that the NFL draft is in the books and unrestricted rookie free agents are being signed, teams can start turning their attention to the available veterans that are still on the market.

      One player still looking for a home is former Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor, who was released by the Redskins in early March. Outside of garnering interest from the Dolphins, Jets and Patriots, no team has made the 34-year old pass-rush specialist an offer.

      According to the Palm Beach Post, Miami GM Jeff Ireland says that his front office hasn’t talked about adding Taylor, even though the Dolphins went the entire weekend without adding a pass rusher in the draft. Miami did, however, sign former CFL star Cameron Wake a few months ago so maybe Bill Parcells and Co. feel as though adding Taylor would be unnecessary.

      New England didn’t draft a pass rusher either, so they still remain one of Taylor’s best options. The Jets are still a possibility too, but one has to believe that they’ll tell Taylor to shove off after he essentially said a couple weeks ago that he would never play for the green and white.

      There is little doubt that if he wants to, Taylor will play somewhere next season. Teams are always in need of a pass rusher and while he might not get more than a one year contract, his phone will ring at some point.

      NFL

      NFL Draft: 5 Second Day Steals

      April 26, 2009 /

      What constitutes a second day steal in the NFL draft? Well, opinion of the evaluator above all else, I guess. But if a player was projected to be taken higher than he was, then that plays into the notion that a team got somewhat of a steal for that selection. Below are five players that were selected on Day 2 of this weekend’s draft that I thought were decent steals.

      1. Carolina Panthers No. 163, Round 5: Duke Robinson, G, Oklahoma
      I was flat out flabbergasted that Robinson fell to the fifth round. Not that this holds much water because I’m not a scout, but I projected Robinson to go to the Steelers with the last pick in the first round in each of my three mock drafts. He was arguably the best guard prospect in the draft and instead of being a first day lock, he fell all the way to No. 163 for reasons unbeknownst to me. He has the talent to be a future starter and maybe sliding this far will motivate him to succeed.

      2. Chicago Bears No. 119, Round 4: D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt
      The only reason Moore slipped to the fourth round is because of his size (5’8”, 192 pounds) – or lack thereof. If he were two inches taller and 10 pounds heavier, he would have been a second round pick and maybe the fourth corner taken overall in this draft. Moore has tremendous athleticism, good speed and is an aggressive player. Nathan Vasher has struggled the past two seasons for the Bears and I wouldn’t be surprised if Moore challenges for the starting cornerback job opposite Peanut Tillman in training camp. If he doesn’t start, he’ll certainly see some time in nickel packages as a rookie.

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      NFL, NFL Draft

      Was Glenn Dorsey almost a Falcon?

      April 26, 2009 /

      One of the more intriguing rumors that circulated before the draft was one involving the Chiefs trading former 2008 No. 5 overall pick Glenn Dorsey to the Falcons in exchange for Atlanta’s first and third round picks in 2009. Apparently as part of the deal, Kansas City would have also been on the hook for the guaranteed portion of Dorsey’s contract, which would have been roughly $18 million.

      From the Falcons’ position, this would have been a phenomenal trade. Dorsey struggled last year as a rookie, but most defensive tackles usually do in their first year. He would have filled a major need for Atlanta, who almost took Dorsey last year but decided instead to select Matt Ryan with the No. 3 pick.

      The Falcons eventually wound up filling their defensive tackle need with Peria Jerry, who they chose with the No. 24 pick in the first round of this year’s draft. Jerry isn’t the prospect Dorsey was and it’s questionable if he can play nose in the 4-3, but obviously his selection means that Atlanta won’t continue their pursuit of Dorsey (if they ever did in the first place, that is).

      For Kansas City, this would have been a brutal trade outside of the fact that Dorsey doesn’t fit in their new 3-4 defensive scheme. Acquiring another first round pick and an addition third would have been nice, but they would have been giving up on a player in Dorsey who has tremendous upside. Plus, and this is the killer, they still would have had to pay $18 million in guaranteed money to Dorsey. I don’t see how that deal would have been good for KC in the long run although again, they have a player in Dorsey that doesn’t fit their new scheme.

      It’ll be interesting to hear if this was just a major rumor or if this was a deal that fell apart on draft weekend.

      NFL, NFL Draft

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