NFL Draft, Cowboys and Texans both have to be shocked

No I havent been awake all night (for a change).  Just got up and realized the first round of the NFL draft happened and I only needed to watch 20 minutes of it to be shocked by what happened:  The Cowboys made a great choice. Think about those words.  The COWBOYS, with Jerry and Junior Jones running the dog and pony show, made a great and the right choice by trading away their second round pick along with #14 in round 1 for the #6 pick and turned that pick into Morris Claiborne.  The best corner in the draft and one of the best corner prospects of the last half decade is coming to Dallas.  I was near speechless when the pick happened.  These are the Cowboys and our secondary is almost mandated to be retreads, converts, convicts, or the mentally challenged.  Worse yet is having Newman as your senior leader of the secondary!

So now, out of the blue, surprising even Jerrah, comes Morris Claiborne.  Oh he who is the Valedictorian of the bottom 10% of Wunderlicktorians.  5’11.5″ (Let’s just call him 6’0″ in cleats), 188 pounds, 4.39 40, 9’10″ broad jump, 4.12 shuttle, six INT’s in 2011, 11 career INT’s, 28.8 yard KO return average last year including 99 yard KORT, and Louisiana HS state 110 m sprint champ in 4A with 10.76 sec time.  In other words, a real cornerback with no real deficiencies.  Maybe his 34.5 inch vertical could be better, but even I can tell from his highlights that how he jumps in real game situations versus standing and jumping at the combine are totally different situations.

So I have to give, reluctantly and painfully, an A to the Cowboys for this move and even for the first three rounds of the draft no matter what they do in round 3.  The best defensive player in the draft and the #3 player overall was available at #6 and more importantly, the Cowboys only had to give up a single pick, albeit a second rounder to get the best athlete, best defensive player, and #3 overall player overall into a Cowboy uni, and to boot address a very questionable position on the team that now suddenly has Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne added to Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick.  Carr and Jenkins will start especially as Claiborne rehabs from wrist surgery, but Claiborne takes Jenkins job by the middle of the season.  Scandrick fills the nickel role and with adequate safeties on the roster, including Poole, the secondary seems fairly set.  Barring catastrophic injury, the Cowboys could field one of the better secondaries of the coming year and allow the DC to be like Manny Diaz and focus on creating front seven mismatches.  Once again, I can’t believe that I am actually happy with a Jerrah Jones draft choice.

Had the Cowboys remained at 14, Jerrah was very emphatically clear that he would draft whatever defense was available and at the top of the board.  That meant we would have picked a front seven talent or a safety, then focused on more defense at #45.  What we should have done is secured the OL for the next decade by drafting DeCastro at 14, Konz or another young pounder at 45 and then you have the OL set for a decade, similar to Aikman led OL’s.  We would have ended up, however, with a hodgepodge of defenders and likely a player like Dontari Poe who has great athleticism but not the production to match.  Hate those kinds of players.  So now in the third round, I see the Cowboys going line but secretly hope that Keenan Robinson sneaks into a Cowboys uni.  At some point in the draft, I do hope they pick Baylor’s Terrance Ganaway for the backfield and sign Fozzy Whitaker to a FA contract for the future.

I think the Texans’ fans have to be shocked that Mercilus (who came up with that very appropriate name) Wiley was available and was picked.  His production  (16 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, 22.5 TFL’s, surprisingly no INT’s) won him the Ted Hendricks award as the top DE in the nation and this despite losing the tip of his index finger to a crushing weightlifting accident prior to the start of the season.  Tough kid with tough mind set that admittedly benefitted from the Illini scheming that moved him around the line to give him the best match ups against the O.  Doesn’t matter IMO because he produced and took advantage of the advantages given to him instead of half-assing his effort and going for the average play.  Can he control one position and one side of the field if the Texans don’t continue the pattern of moving him around the D to maximize HIS talent.  No one can be sure, but his effort level has never been questioned so I will bet he will succeed.

This is the first time in years that I can give both the Cowboys and Texans an A for their first round draft efforts.  Well done boys and now put out the product on the field and let’s bring the championship of pro football back to the greatest state in the union!

Don’t just Survive, Thrive

I want to take a moment away from sports to make a small announcement that this Thursday, April 26 marks the one year anniversary of my diagnosis of terminal Stage IV lung cancer.  Part of me wants to give a big F you to the first oncologist who gave me six months to live and told me to start making plans to kick the bucket, then proceeded to mismanage everything that could be mismanaged.

However, to be honest, this past year has been the happiest of my short 41 years of life and so I choose to reflect on the wonderful people I have met and the wonderful things that we are working to accomplish to ensure mistakes made on myself and many others never have the chance to be repeated.

So on this rather ordinary Thursday for most people, I want to shout out to everyone ENJOY LIFE!!!  What a blessing God has given us and what a shame it would be if we choose to treat this or any other day as just another day.  It is not!  It is another day full of opportunities and chances to meet people whose simple presence in your life could alter it and enrich it from the simplest to the most wonderful ways you could possibly contemplate.

Grab life by its Horns and ride it the way God intended you to do so!

Follow my fight at http://www.CrushMyCancer.Blogspot.com

understatement [ˌʌndəˈsteɪtmənt]

n

the act or an instance of stating something in restrained terms, or as less than it is

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

example:

With tight end Darius Terrell’s recent decision to transfer, depth at the H-back/tight end spot is becoming problematic for the Longhorns.

Good to be King

Recently we have seen stories about kids wanting to transfer and being restricted as to where they are “allowed” and yet we see John L. Smith leaving a job he just took a few months ago to be a one-year caretaker for Arkansas.

I have no issue with having kids sit out a year when they transfer, but as we continually see coaches move back and forth with little impunity how is it they are allowed to hold their athletes to much stricter standards and rules than the manner in which they conduct their professional and personal lives.

John L. Smith? Really

For all of its stories history and current talent and drive, John L. Smith is the best hire they could make for U of A?  In a year where they could take the SEC West legitimately they dig up JLS?

Well, here’s your one year caretaker, that hopefully can just step out of the way of Petrino Jr. running the O and the staff running the D.  If he intends to come in and clean house, well talk about shitting on the crapper.  It seems like he intends to come in and literally just be a figurehead, but if that is the case, why even waste the money on someone who has no intended contribution to the upcoming season?  To fire up the kids with a guy most won’t know as shit from shinola?  Will he instead confuse the situation even more as the kids won’t know who is really the HC or will he split the team as many viewed the current interim coach as the most logical interim HC choice?

Literally, Arkansas just threw an extra KIng onto the chess set, firmly planted him in place with money and an office, and told the pawns, “be prepared to fan out!  You have two pseudo-kings to guard and fight for now!  Be loyal to both but be aware they are both independent!  Good luck kids!”

Recruiting Class of 2009: End of the entitlements?

Perusing some of the other websites on line, I saw a question about what went wrong with the class of 2009 and it did get me to start thinking, what happened with that class if anything and where do we currently stand with it?  The class as originally signed:

LB Tariq Allen
OL Thomas Ashcraft
CB Eryon Barnett
CB Marcus Davis
QB Garrett Gilbert / 2
WR Marquise Goodwin
TE Trey Graham
DT Calvin Howell
DT Derek Johnson
DE Dominique Jones
OT Paden Kelly
DE Kyle Kriegel
TE Barrett Matthews
DE Tevin Mims
LB Patrick Nkwopara
OT Garrett Porter
WR Greg Timmons
DB Kenny Vaccaro
OT Mason Walters
RB Chris Whaley

Well, it becomes pretty self-explanatory just with a cursory glance at the list.  Too many big time busts, especially earthworm burner (Jon Gruden’s description of GG’s throws in the Rice game) G. Gilbert.

Only the highlighted four players are playing anywhere near where they should be playing while the rest are a who’s who of who?  With only 4 significant contributors and the rest gone or space eating, it is a wonder that we didn’t have a much record in the two seasons since that class matriculated on campus.  Nine ESPN top 150 players, yet still only four heavy contributors and notice only two starters out of those four.

Ugh.

Byrnes out at A&M?

S.A. Express-News reported that this morning. Anyone know why? Can’t wait to hear how the collies  spin this.

The commitment and Daeshon Hall

Since Hall apparently wants to still look around even after giving us commitment, I was wondering what the board thought of his situation and commitment in general.  I don’t blame the kid for wanting to take a peak at some other options, but he could have done so before committing to us.  He is certainly a talented enough of a player that you don’t tell him to take a flying leap now.  He reminds me an awful lot of Alfred Williams of Colorado, circa 1993 with those long arms, basketball frame, and ability to just reach out and touch someone with all that length.

I believe Mack just makes it clear that his scholarship offer is no longer 100% guaranteed and that the U of the T can now look at other prospects that may have been put on the backburner.  That being said, this year just doesn’t look to have many good in state DL prospects so Hall may have figured he had a safe sot at looking around.

Any comments on possible sleepers?  Mike Mitchell of Plano?

Wildcatter’s List

UT Wildcatter asked me on Recruitocosm to rank the remaining teams in the Big 12, TCU,Boise St., and WVU in order based upon last year’s teams. 

I thought about it a bit and it turned out a little tougher for one simple reason.  Aside from  Oklahoma State and Boise State I found myself thinking for most of the teams “they would have a great season if not for………” . Examples, OU would have had a great season if not for the loss to Tech at home and the injuries, UT would have had a great season if not for the injuries, Baylor would had have a great season had their been more competitive on the road, TCU would have had a great season had they slept walked for most of the season, etc…….Trouble was that a good record gets often confused for the quality of a team or more accurately a teams performance.

In putting together the list I decided to focus on results, biggest wins at home, biggest wins on the road, and if the team had moments that they wish they could have back. I tried not to penalize a team for having a bad week as much as if they really didn’t have say an impressive win away from their campus. Additionally, I tried to keep the moments a team had back to a game and not say a specific injury (I understandTexasfans could point to say Foz’ injury, but was that anymore catastrophic to the season than say Gilbert?).

Here is my list and some of the reasons I had for each,  feel free to throw your stones, your list, or whatever you deem appropriate.

1)     OklahomaState–  I still am not convinced they were a great team last year as much a great offense with an opportunistic defense.  They formula works well enough to win a lot of games, but I am still not ready to put them in the category of a great team and to be honest the last great championship team in my mind is the 2006Floridateam.

• Biggest Home Win – OU by 34 just for reasons of the mental roadblock, Baylor by 35, and the win over KSU in a game that the Cowboys had found a way to lose in the past.
• Biggest Road Win – at UT versus a focusedTexasteam and the bowl win versus Stanford. I don’t usually give too much emphasis to bowl games because we often times have seen lately that in the non title games one teams doesn’t show up. In this game both did and Stanford has got some talent.
• One That Got Away –IowaStatemost likely cost them a chance to play for the BCS title. 

2)     BoiseState– I realize I am going to catch crap for this one, but this isn’t a MWC 

Conference decision, but as much an indication of how much any of the other teams really failed to distinguish themselves.  My case for Boise is that outside of the OU win over FSU the Broncos win over UGA in the Georgia Dome was the biggest non-conference win of the year and while beating a Denny Erickson team in a bowl is not exactly a Heruclean task they absolutely beat the crap out of ASU in a game they could have just mailed it in after the TCU loss. The other thing to remember is that there was talent on thisBoiseteam. Not only did they have Kellen Moore and Doug Martin, but they have five defenders who are viable draft prospect (three in their defensive line).

• Biggest Home Win – here is the biggest argument against BSU. Aside from TCU they played no one of note at home. They did beatNevadawho beat them, but it would have been much bigger news had they not beat the crap out of them after 2011.
• Biggest Away Win – beating UGA in the Georgia Dome. Yes, defeating a Mark Richt team early in the year is easier than at the end, but they still went intoAtlantaand beat the Dawgs in what was a big opener for both.
• One That Got Away – TCU’s win cost them a BCS spot thought I don’t think they would have played in the title game.  One thing to note however is thatBoisegot a huge break at the end of the game they even allowed them to try the field goal so this wasn’t quite like the loss toNevada. To be blunt, they flat got beat at home.

3)      WVU – This is the start of six teams that might have played one or two great games last year, but played some really, really bad football. The Mountaineers did win their conference and their bowl which put them over the top, but they also somehow lost toSyracuseby 26 and the Orangemen struggled last year to beatToledo, Tulane, andRhode Island.  The other thing that sticks in my mind is they were down 28-7 to LSU and it was going to be 34-7 if LSU doesn’t drop a sure touchdown pass.  Yes, they came back and posted more yards, but LSU really took the fight to them in a game they had marked as a spotlight game inMorgantown.

• Biggest Home Win – Pitt because it is a rivalry game and what was at stake.
• Biggest Away Win – you could possibly say atMarylandor Cincy, but the one to me was at USF with the title at stake.
• One That Got Away – they outgainedLouisville, but special teams cost them.

4)      OU – I know people are going to say I am crazy and I am sure Baylor fan would go nuts, but the Sooners have one thing that KSU or Baylor don’t have and that is a non-conference win on the road against a quality opponent. Yes, FSU might have been over rated, but they were far better than almost any of the schools played out of conference let alone on the road and the Sooners beat the crap out of them.  The loss to Baylor inWacolast year took a great effort by RGIII to beat the Sooners and they just seemed to stop caring some time during the Bedlam game.

• Biggest Home Win –Missouriand A&M.  They played their five most difficult opponents last year away fromNorman.
• Biggest Away Win –Texas,FloridaState, andKansasState. When the Sooners were good last year they did dominate and they did just that in these three games.
• One That GotAway-TexasTech was a strange game from the start and it really looked like OU never really was ready to play that game after the weather delay. 

5)      KSU – the Wildcats didn’t’ get a great deal of respect last year and I am still torn between were they just a really clutch team or a team that caught breaks last year.  What I do know is they just didn’t have that impressive win on the road and playing Baylor away fromWacowas much different than inWaco.  To be blunt, this is a team that  got blown out at home by OU, should have never been in the game inAustin, and never really challengedArkansasin the Cotton Bowl.

• Biggest Home Win – A&M and Baylor though both teams were different on the road than at home.
• Biggest Away Win –Missouriwhich says all the needs to be said.
• One That Got Away -  atOklahomaStatethough in the end they just couldn’t keep up with the Cowboys and I am not sure what else they could have done in the game.

6)      Baylor – the Bears were tough at home and not very good on the road.  In fact,

as impressive as they played at home they were equally unimpressive on the road having to come back from 20 down in the 4^th quarter to a horrible KU team, losing by 27 at A&M and 35 at Okie State, and giving up 56 to a bad UW team that finished their last 6 games 2-4 in an underwhelming PAC – 12. 

• Biggest Home Win – TCU, OU, and UT were all spotlight games for the Bears.
• Biggest Away  Win – I refuse to say coming from behind by 20 in the 4^th toKansas proves you are a great team
• One That Got Away – loss at KSU.

7)     Texas– I was really torn between TCU andTexas. The deciding factor was that

played up to an 8-5 schedule filled with injuries and a disaster at the quarterback position against a tougher schedule than a sleepwalking TCU, but I am not sold that had they playedTexaswins that game.  We all have gone over the UT season last year and the best part of it is that it is over.

• Biggest Home Win – BYU and that says all you need to know about the home schedule thoughTexasdid play their two best games (KU and OSU) at home.
• Biggest Away Win – sorry, but I can’t say at UCLA, but there is no doubt the A&M game for a variety of reasons. The bowl game was big, but they didn’t beat a very goodCalteam.
• One That Got Away -  sorry, but you can’t say any quarterbackTexascould have signed in placed of Gilbert,  Easily has to be KSU. They could have won theMissourigame they really didn’t respond well to the loss of Foz. They flat out dominated the Wildcat offense and actually had some offense that game.

8)      TCU – Pat said early on he was worried about this team and was struggling to get  a handle as to whether or not there was the leadership this team would need and the answered turned out to be no.  The defense played terribly against Baylor and struggled all year, they slept walk through the much of the middle of the season, and even in winning the conference they ended up in the worse of the two bowl options available to them.

• Biggest Home Win – saying BYU inArlingtonsays all you need to know about the Frogs home schedule.
• Biggest Away Win –BoiseStatein easily their best game of the year.
• One That Got Away – losing to Baylor might have been disappointing, but losing to SMU at home in OT might be one of the worst losses by a CGP team in quite some time if not ever. 

9)      ISU – tougher at home than on the road and a team that isn’t great, but really aren’t bad anymore. 

• Biggest Home Win – theOklahomaStategame gets the attention, but for pride purposes don’t overlook the win overIowa.
• Biggest Away Win – sorry but winning inLubbockover a bad Tech team or at UConn just isn’t too exciting.
• One That Got Away – winning at KSU really would have been a big step for the program.

10)  TT – showed some promise early and then just imploded.  That could apply to  the Horns offense, OU’s title hopes, or Tech’s season.  It would have been interesting had a couple of early games gone different.

• Biggest Home Win – it would beNevada, but this wasn’tBoiseavenging a bad loss in 2011 that cost them a BCS slot.
• Biggest Away Win – OU in one of the most bizarre games I have seen in a bit.
• One That Got Away – both A&M and KSU were games Tech could have won, but gave up touchdowns offer special teams and turnovers that turned both games.

11) WYO– yes I Know they went 8-5, but who did they beat?  Heck, who was any

good they played close?

• Biggest Home Win – N/A.
• Biggest Away Win – feeling generous SDSU and Air Force can be a tough place to play, but both of those teams were down last year.
• One That Got Away – they came within 11 points of TCU thanks to 5 Frog fumbles, but did a game really slip away when your defense gives up over 600 yards of offense?

12)  SDSU – Dear Brady, We miss you. Do I really need to say anything else?

• Biggest Home Win – Wazzu, but this isn’t exactly one of the Ryan Leaf teams or even the team that UT faced in the same stadium.
• Biggest Away Win – at Air Force.
• One That Got Away – Brady Hoke

13)  AF – Dear Fisher DeBerry……………

• Biggest Home Win – nothing really to write about here.
• Biggest Away Win – at Navy when the Midship missed a 35-yard extra point.
• One That Got Away –Wyoming

14)  KU -  Dear Fat Man, oh wait………

• Biggest Home Win -McNeeseState, yeahMcNeeseState. How fun Charlie.
• Biggest Away Win – a 3 point loss atIowaStatewhen you consider their other road games resulted in 42, 42, 38, 43, and 54 point losses.
• One That Got Away – Baylor which is why I rated them #6. No one you should be down 20 in the 4^th quarter to a team this bad.

 The Rest – does it really freaking matter. When you are worse than a team that gave up something like 700 yards rushing you really need to consider dropping football.  CSU’s biggest win at home was over Northern Colorado, UNLV somehow beatHawaiiand lost toNew Mexico, andNew Mexicobeats Vegas and gives up almost 500 yards rushing to Sam Houston while losing to them.

Some times you just get lucky

Well, after pimping Bo Wallace for months, it’s a bit disheartening to see that he seems to not be handling adjusting to major college life so well.  Getting drunk and going at it with frat guys really isn’t the kind of productive spring you would hope from your future starting QB.  On the other hand, the video (now gone off YouTiube) was pretty impressive in his ability to absorb a good shot to the choppers.