2008 NFL Off season thread.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Pagal4321

For the Vikings I'd like to see us draft....oh wait, we only have a 2nd round pick this year. And I'd really like them to just draft BPA at that point.

As for those Eagles picks, I can see Phillips being there for them, but I think Harvey goes in the top 15, I think Devin Thomas is being heavily pursued by Buffalo and Branden Albert has seen his draft stock skyrocket and looks like he will be a top 20 pick.

Yep, I think Harvey is gone by then but it'd nice if he wasn't. I'd actually be happy with either Harvey or Quentin Groves out of Auburn. Groves and Trent Cole on opposite ends would be sick.

[simmer2]

It's kind of funny how much the scouts base their opinions on the workout. You'd think they would be more focused on how they did in game situations Vs. just the workouts. You hardly even hear about the NHL combine, it seems NHL rookies are drafted based on play.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by simmer2

It's kind of funny how much the scouts base their opinions on the workout. You'd think they would be more focused on how they did in game situations Vs. just the workouts. You hardly even hear about the NHL combine, it seems NHL rookies are drafted based on play.

Well NHL teams are starting to pay a lot more attention to their combine and the interviewing process that takes place there than they used to. Players who have fared well at the combine that the NHL has held the last two years have been picked earlier than where many others felt they would go. It's only recently that the NHL has used a combine type thing where they bring that many players together to be evaluated in different aspects head to head.

[simmer2]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Well NHL teams are starting to pay a lot more attention to their combine and the interviewing process that takes place there than they used to. Players who have fared well at the combine that the NHL has held the last two years have been picked earlier than where many others felt they would go. It's only recently that the NHL has used a combine type thing where they bring that many players together to be evaluated in different aspects head to head.

Not to get too far off topic, but I watched a draft special where it followed the St. Louis Blues during the 07' draft and they actually did take the Combine stuff pretty seriously. So you do make a good point. Maybe it's because the NHL Combine stuff is not really talked about openly and the NFL makes a HUGE deal about the results of the combine.

[Bobblehead]

I think scouts have the ability to see NHL prospects to play a lot more games than NFL prospects. A hockey season probably has 4 to 5 times as many games for scouts to see a player and evaluate. If a hockey player has one bad game, there is still a strong possibility for a scout to see him when he has a good one, not to mention lots of different situations. In Football, with so many teams playing on weekends, it is tough to see more than a game or two of a prospect unless that prospect it taped. And even then there may not be the opportunity for a full evaluation when certain positions may only get the ball a handfull of times in a game.

I think the interview process is very important in both leagues, but hockey has just so many more opportunities to see a player that it makes a head-to-head skills evaluation less important

[Montana Moe]

I have hardly paid attention to the Draft, being so involved in Flames hockey. I know the Saints need defense, but I'm a big fan of picking the best available player.

Meachem seems to be progressing nicely in the off-season, so hopefully that will be like having a 2nd first round pick. I feel pretty good about the Saints drafting strategy, they have had some solid contributions out of their rookies the past couple of years. (Some not so solid, just like everyone else.)

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

Chief fans - what are your thoughts on Larry Johnson sticking around? Im unfamiliar with his contract situation. Are you guys concerned at all that he might be a distraction this season if the team performs poorly? I thought I remembered him being somewhat of a head case even when the team was decent.

LJ signed a big contract last season. So this will be the second year of that contract. Looking back on it now, I wish the Chiefs would have waived bye, bye. I think Sylvanfan pointed out last year that it would be in the best interest of most NFL teams to let their UFA RB's go. They are never as productive on their second contracts as they are on their first when they are young and fresh.

LJ is still a real good back, but he can't do it all him self. He was obviously getting frustrated before he got hurt. Continually running into a wall of defenders play after play. The play calling last year was pretty disgusting as well. But that is easy for me to say watching from my Lazy Boy recliner. I'm not to sure about LJ's state of mind. DFF listens to Kansas City Sports talk radio, he might have more info than me.

[Sylvanfan]

LJ actually wasn't that bad last year when he did play given the line that the Chiefs have. Pretty much anyone should have known going into last year that after a year where he set an NFL record for carries, and than his team lost it's all pro guard, after having lost their all pro tackle the previous year that his production was going to be down, and that injury was a likely possibility. The saying is correct in that Football is a great game but a lousy bussiness. Running backs take a lot a beating and after about 3 years of a heavy work load their best days usually are behind them. Really of all the positions in football, I think running back is a young mans position more than any other.

[burn_baby_burn]

The Chiefs were defiantly under some pressure last off season. They had just come off a season where they made the playoffs unexpectedly and they needed to keep the perception with the fans that they could compete. Even though HBO's show Hard Knocks called them the worst team in the NFL. They still didn't want to let LJ get away. Last summer on Sirius 124 they would always ask Chiefs fan callers who would you keep? LJ or Jared Allen. I assumed at the time that the Chiefs could easily keep both. Now I wish the Chiefs brass would have kept Jared Allen.

Do you get the Chiefs Pulse in your email Sylfanfan? Talk about propaganda over the Jared Allen trade. They make it sound like Carl Peterson made smartest trade in NFL history.

[Sylvanfan]

No, where do I sign up for it? Not that I'd be surprised about what they say. How many picks do the Chiefs have this year anyways, it should be quite a few now as they just picked up 3, had another one from the Michael Bennet trade, and I can't remember if the one for Trent Green was for this year or last year. I'd heard 5 of the first 82 picks were Chiefs picks so did the Chiefs already get rid of one of their original 2nd or 3rd rounders (picks 37 & 69)?

[SteveToms]

Are some of you guys up for some sort of Mock Draft Contest? We all do a Round 1 Mock and see who is most accurate?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by SteveToms

Are some of you guys up for some sort of Mock Draft Contest? We all do a Round 1 Mock and see who is most accurate?

I'd be down.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Last thing about Allen...since you mentioned Gunther, his agent went crazy relating exactly how much Jared Allen LOVES Gunther Cunningham. Loves him. He says he's surprised Jared hasn't filed some sort of paperwork to adopt him as a second father. So this was not a decision that Jared took lightly.

As for LJ, I agree with Burn. They should've moved him last year. He's the player at risk, not Jared Allen. He is a me first player, period. He can't block...or won't, one of the two. He has below average hands for a running back. He wants to run the ball and nothing else. Now he hasn't been in trouble off the field recently, but he has had his scrapes and he doesn't exaclty run with a great crowd. I also agree with Syl. He was pretty good last year despite having a shell of an O-line in front of him. At some point as a manager, you have to make the decision to look to the future and quit spinning your wheels. Carl Peterson has been spinning his wheels for a few seasons now. Most Chiefs fans want his head.

The Chiefs should take the best available player at #5 and it ain't Matt Ryan. I just hope they don't take Clady!

[burn_baby_burn]

Here are the stories Syl. I found all the stories on Chiefs Pulse are just stories posted at kcchiefs.com. Chiefs have 13 picks I believe.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/04..._chiefs_allen/

The Vikings, by acquiring Allen from the Chiefs, must be counting on the NFL’s sacks champion to make them a Super Bowl contender. You don’t guarantee $31 million to any player unless he’s just helped you win a championship or gives you a great chance to go all the way in the very near future.
For the Chiefs to pay that kind of money to Allen would have been a tremendous risk for the very reason that Allen wanted long-term security. Should he suffer a major injury, the Vikings could wind up without a premier pass rusher and the three draft choices they traded to the Chiefs. They also would face a salary cap headache.
The Chiefs could have kept Allen as their franchise player, but they’d be counting on another big season from a player who wouldn’t want to be here. Allen’s eagerness to leave could not have helped Carl Peterson’s bargaining position, and the Vikings must have swallowed hard before parting with so many dollars and draft choices.
A first-round pick and two third-round picks represent fair value for Allen. Yet under the circumstances, it’s mildly surprising the Chiefs got that much.
Coming off a 4-12 season, the Chiefs would have been misguided to pay so much to anybody, short of a quarterback with the promise of a Super Bowl written all over him. You pay that kind of money to a player who’s the missing piece of a championship puzzle. The Chiefs are so many players away from a championship that not even their 13 draft picks this weekend can provide them all.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/04...e_good_or_bad/

Here’s the question everyone is asking: was it a good deal or a bad one?
RUFUS DAWES: “A promising one, in this way. There is no better time you could do it. The Chiefs are not a player away, or several players away. To think that Kansas City could take a former fourth round player and turn a trade of him into a first and two third round picks in one year’s draft would on the surface be recognized as a pretty good deal, no matter how good a veteran player you were dealing away was.
“Jared Allen was one player on a team that produced a 4-12 season. If he returned, the team’s record while maybe improved would not be so to the extent that Jared Allen was solely responsible for it. Now, the players the Chiefs pick will determine if it is a good deal or not. So, it’s promising in that way.
“It’s dishonest to look at any trade of Jared Allen as some Carl Peterson-Jared Allen feud. Consider it on its merits: what does it do for the Chiefs, or better still, what can it do?

[Displaced Flames fan]

My hopes for the Broncos at #12....

1. Ryan Clady-OT- Boise State. Perfect match for the Broncos offense.
2. Chris Williams OT-Vanderbilt Lots of good tackles up top Williams would be a great fit too.
3. Keith Rivers LB-USC - Weak spot to be sure. Maybe they could move Boss outside with Rivers. Bet he'll be gone.
4. Rashard Mendenhall-RB-Illinois...I think he's the best back in the draft and I would like to see Travis Henry gone.
5. Anquan Bolden- WR- Phoenix Cardinals. Yes please!!!

Hoping to see the following in the lower rounds too:

Earl Bennett-WR-Vanderbilt
Lex Hilliard-RB-Montana
Taylor Mehlhaff-K-Wisconsin

[burn_baby_burn]

Sorry DFF, I think the Chiefs will take Clady at number 5. If they don't decide to take Branden Albert. If by some miracle Chris Long is available at the 5th pick, sounds like the Chiefs will take him. But hard for me to second guess the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.

[SteveToms]

Those up for doing a Mock Draft Contest, post your first round mock in this thread.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by SteveToms

Those up for doing a Mock Draft Contest, post your first round mock in this thread.

Actually just start a new thread for it, this thread is already pretty long. Adding in a few more 35 or more line posts will just make it really long and it could be tough to follow as there will be in between comments. I think that would work better. I won't be doing a mock draft, I don't know the college guys well enough, but I'll certainly watch with interest.

[SteveToms]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Actually just start a new thread for it, this thread is already pretty long. Adding in a few more 35 or more line posts will just make it really long and it could be tough to follow as there will be in between comments. I think that would work better. I won't be doing a mock draft, I don't know the college guys well enough, but I'll certainly watch with interest.

Alright

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

Sorry DFF, I think the Chiefs will take Clady at number 5. If they don't decide to take Branden Albert. If by some miracle Chris Long is available at the 5th pick, sounds like the Chiefs will take him. But hard for me to second guess the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.

I've heard that Herm likes Gholston a lot. I have a feeling they'll take Ryan if he falls to 5 though. Don't think they should. They will be one of the most intersting teams to watch this weekend.