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

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.

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?

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.

The D

This was originally intended to go on the Shag but given that many posters want just a Q&D  post to start off with and I’m more of a let’s start with detail kind of guy, let’s see what we can talk about with this generously vague title.

In my previous thoughts, I have trumpeted the arrival of David Ash, praised the improvement I have seen in the O from the Holiday Bowl to spring practice, essentially pushed the improvement of one half of a team based largely on new personnel assets and projections, etc.

In other words, I was being a salesman for an unfinished product.

The Defense needs no such coddling or projecting.  We have all the players on board that we need or want to field the best defense in the league and one that could compete with the best college football has to offer:

Starting with my favorite position, DT, the level of talent just stands out more than I’ve seen since VY’s championship run was bolstered with the presence of such stout, but let’s be honest, hardly the most athletic run of DT’s we’ve had with Rod Wright, Larry Dibbles, Frank Okam, Thomas Marshall, Tully Janzsen, but fortunately Roy Miller to round out the cast.  Still the sight of Wright running for a TD after Bomar got Bomared was well worth the price of admission that day in Dallas.  A stout group with the ability to hold their ground with the best of the field that year.

This year’s team fields DT’s with talent in every player that makes each standout in special ways.  Start with Brandon Moore and his explosive power and surprising agility, continue to Dez Jackson and his Roy Miller type athleticism and explosiveness combined with 460 pound bench press, then roll in Chris Whaley with his RB agility, Henry Melton size, and a striking ability that is impressive given his youth to the position.  Round that off with the all around ability of Ashton Dorsey and you have 4 DT’s that are starter worthy from day one, though Whaley needs more reps to compete for a starter’s role over situational pass rushing roles.  Adding in a special talent like Malcom Brown expands our depth in multiple ways but still leaves me wanting to add more talent in the upcoming 2013 class, that unfortunately took a hit tonight with Justin Manning’s decidedly anti-UT twitter rant and no clear cut super star DT beating down our door to visit.  It could be A’Shawn and we’re done.

DE:  Welcome to the land of plenty and then some.  Jeffcoat, Okafor, Reed, Wilson, Ridge incoming.  Best set of starting DE we could ask for and I couldn’t ask for more than what JJ and Oak have done.  With JJ out in spring, Reed and Wilson got the reps they needed and while I can’t say how much they have improved simply because I wasn’t there every day to watch them play, I have to believe there was some improvement and Reed did show up for the spring game, Wilson was there physically, but would have like to have heard his name called out a little more.

LB:  If there is plenty to see, there is definitely plenty to work with at this position with our starting 3 set and the backups more talented than most other team’s starters.  Cobbs and Hicks are the directors, Edmond the smasher, and guys like Tevin, Kendall Thompson, and Benson are waiting in the wings to spell the starters or haunt the opposition, whichever way you want to put it.  Six athletic linebackers that can start for anyone in the league, though Benson may decidedly trail the other five athletically.  With these guys already on board, it would be easy in my mind to start a redshirt trend at LB, not just at QB, but how do you keep a Dalton Santos off the field?  How do you keep a 6’3″ 250 pound monster who runs 200 and 400 m in track and field in addition to throwing shot and discuss and runs 4.56 in the 40 and wants to get FASTER?  He is already more athletic than most of his teammates he has yet to step onto the field with.  Then you have the intriguing Drew Kelson clone Peter Jinkens whose highlight reels show a player that is both intelligent, super athletic, and could line up anywhere from situational DE to safety.  I don’t have enough brain power to even contemplate the kinds of lineups Manny must be playing with inside his head:  Let’s see, obvious passing down, Moore lines up as a zero tech NT, Okafor and Jeffcoat duh, Cobbs blitz, Hicks drops, Edmond inside gap control blitz –> remind players to return QB missing body parts.

OK, maybe we’re not going to be THAT good in the front seven, but we might get close to it.

The DB’s:  There is no beginning nor end to something this deep and talented.  Like an endless ocean dropoff, you have to see it and swim it to believe it exists.  NINE starting capable CORNERBACKS.  I count NINE players on the roster that have the speed, agility, hands, hips, and technique to start at cornerback.  Only Mykelle Thompson and Eryon Barnett are DB’s that I would say are strictly safeties at this point, and for Mykelle it is largely just an repetition issue.  Should Coach Akina push him to focus more on being ready to go at corner, I don’t doubt he would become yet another CB capable DB in the mold of a Kenny Vaccaro or Sheroid Evans.

With the talent assembled as described above, I see a solid top 20 national defense with the tools to easily be a top 10 defense depending on effort and play calling (come on Manny, prove your worth and don’t call something boneheaded when you know you can call on your players to out talent the opposition).