Top Performers: '08

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http://www.gnextinc.com/ousoonersblog/2008/04/top-performers-08.html

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Gonzo Opens Up the Mailbag!

First off, before we get underway with this, just a heads-up in case you haven't been reminded of how great Adrian Peterson is in a while.  NFL Network will be replaying the Vikings/Bears game from Week 6 in. . .oh. . .about an hour and a half or so (9 PM Central).

But since I've gotten some good, solid questions from you kind folks out there, allow me to take a moment to answer some of them here.

We'll start out with an e-mail from a fan that left no name.  All I've got is an e-mail address, and I'm not going to put that out here.  I only do that to people that are jerks. . .to this point, that only covers idiot fans of other teams.  Anyway, his question is this. . .

I have been a Vikes fan for 33 years and finally get a chance to see them. I live in Montana and am making a trip to Minni to catch them against the Pack. Any suggestions on where to go and what to do while there for the game would be appreciated.

Well, sir, unfortunately I've only been to a game in Minneapolis one time in all my years of being a Viking fan. . .and I was 15 years old, so I didn't have a heck of a lot of say over what we did or where we went that weekend.  I guess the obvious answers would be to see the Mall of America and make sure to dine at either Matty B's, Benchwarmer Bob's (which is spectacular), or Joe Senser's place.  Outside of that, I'm not sure.

However, I'd like to call on all of you folks out there that HAVE been to the Cities to see the Beloved Purple on numerous occasions to offer up a few suggestions as to where our friend could go and some of the things around Minneapolis that you'd recommend.  I'm sure that we can figure out a few things.  Please use the comments section of this very post for that purpose.

Our next question comes from Walt.

Hey there,

I guess this is technically a "Vikings" question, but rather a "Daily Norseman" question...

Is there anyway I can get email notification of new posts in this blog?

Unfortunately, Walt, as of now there is not.  When the site upgrades. . .which will hopefully occur shortly here. . .that might be an option, but I'm not 100% sure.  That's something I'll have to ask the SBNation higher-ups about.

However, in lieu of e-mails, you can use what the kids today call an "aggregator" to let you know when this site or any of your favorite sites are updated.  What an aggregator does is takes the feeds from various blogs (you can find the addresses for our feeds down at the very bottom of the right-hand column of the blog here), and when you check the aggregator, you can see when it's been updated.

A couple of examples of aggregator programs are BlogLines and Google Reader.  Many of them will allow you to track as many sites as you want.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that every Vikings site listed in our link section has feeds that you could plug into an aggregator program for ease of viewing.

Well, I took long enough to explain that, didn't I?

Let's move on to an actual football question from David.

Other than defensive end, what position do you anticipate being the greatest area of concern in the upcoming draft. My take is that after defensive end, contrary to popular demand for a QB or WR, we need to go after an offensive tackle. Ryan Cook is just not getting the job done and with Mount McKinnie's recent problems he may or may not be shown the exit. After those two we are dangerously shallow at one of the most critical positions on the team. As much as I would love to see them go after a QB or WR in the second round, I believe that a Chad Henne or Andre Woodson may be available in the third round. I also firmly believe that once you get past the first 45 picks, the ability to differentiate the WR's becomes much more difficult and we may be just as likely to draft talent in the 6th round as we would in the third. What are your thoughts going into the draft as to where the team should focus?

Good points, David.  For the most part, I agree with you.  The Bryant McKinnie situation makes offensive tackle the Vikings' obvious #2 priority in this draft, if not a #1a to the more obvious #1 need, which is defensive end.

As I've highlighted in previous posts here, the signing of Bernard Berrian and the maturation of Sidney Rice mean the Vikings don't have to spend an early pick on a wide receiver.  Given this year's WR class, that's a good thing, because there might not be a receiver with a first-round grade in this entire group.  The highest-rated receiver now MIGHT be Devin Thomas, and he's extremely raw.  But there are a lot of second and third round caliber receivers out there, and with our extra third round pick, we could easily get a WR there.

I think that the first two picks will be a combination of a DE and an OT.  Which one we get in which round depends on who's available at #17.  If the top 3 DEs (Long, Gholston, and Harvey) are gone and the Vikings could get a Chris Williams or a Jeff Otah, they might opt to go that direction in Round 1 and get their DE in Round 2.

But, in an ideal world, I think the Vikings' first two picks will be a DE and an OT, and they'll spend their two #3's and their #4 on a WR, a TE, and a QB.

And with that, the mailbag will close for this time around.  If you have any questions you'd like to answer with my Carnack-like abilities, just drop the line to DailyNorseman AT GMail DOT com.

Have a good rest of your Sunday, ladies and gentlemen.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.dailynorseman.com/story/2008/4/13/20298/4509

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Quick Bytes: Monday Morning (sort of) Edition

Quick Bytes: The daily digest of everything you need to know about the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I know, it's been a week since I ran this.  I had a trip to Florida to attend to, as well as some other odds and ends.  Don't worry though, with less than 14 days till the Draft, we're in this full time from here till Mr. Irrelevant.

:  Jaguars This Week and Vic Ketchman ran an interesting idea.  What if the Best Available Player is a cornerback?  The draft is pretty deep in first and early second round cornerbacks and the Jaguars could be sitting there with a corner at the top of their board.  I've got Mike Jenkins, Dominique Rogers-Cromerte, Antoine Cason, Leodis McKelvin, Justin King, and Aqib Talib as all first round guys, there's a good shot one of them is there at 26.  More to come on this...

:  Nothing makes me sadder than when a writer that I greatly respect says something terribly foolish.  In this case it's Rich Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News.  In his "mock draft", he has the Jaguars selecting Quarterback Brian Brohm in the first round because we need "Quaterbacking depth to compete in [the] AFC South".   His mock draft does sort of create a "worst case" situation for the Jaguars, though according to his mock I'd assume that the Jaguars would take Calais Campbell, rather than a quarterback.  Unless we're doing something like this

: The State of Florida "owes" two million dollars to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.  With the state budget growing impossibly tight this funding is looking like it will be cut.  This stems from the inability of the Jaguars and the City of Jacksonville to make any progress on a stadium naming rights package.  For the record, Alltel spent about 800,000 a year for the rights.  The Team/City now want to split five million per year.  Huge inflation, right?  The New York Giants get 20 million a season for theirs.  Hopefully the new schedule (next week?) will have some big time home games that attract a little attention.  Susie Wiles of the Mayors Office says: (On there being no sponsors in sight): "That certainly does not help, but again in a down economy it becomes exponentially more difficult. So we are dealing with a state that is short of money that is causing us to be even more short of money and a downturn in the economy, which means naming-right sponsors, anybody would tell you, will be harder to come by,"

:  Go buy season tickets, if you can.  There is no better way to keep the Jaguars afloat in Jacksonville than by filling the stands with season ticket holders.  

:  The Jaguars, by the way, almost broke even in 2007: Prescott said the team came close to breaking even in 2006, but "at the end of the year, had a slight loss.'' He expects similar results for the 2007 season once the books are closed. The Jaguars were 28th in league revenue last year.

:  North Carolina Defensive End Hilee Taylor will be in Jacksonville this week for a visit.  He's a late round sort of guy, New Era Scouting has him as a 4th-5th round guy.

There you go, something to chew on this morning to get you through "the Mondays".

-Chris

Read The Full Article:
http://www.bigcatcountry.com/story/2008/4/13/192432/765

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Pacman update: Trade may be completed this week

According to Adam Schefter of the NFL Network, the much-speculated Pacman trade to Dallas may be close to becoming reality.

Read The Full Article:
http://mvn.com/nfl-titans/2008/04/13/pacman-update-trade-may-be-completed-this-we
ek/

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SB Nation 1st round Recap and 49ers Looking
Forward

EDITOR'S UPDATE 9:45AM - While there are still some picks to be posted, I'd like to see what people have to say to this question. If you had to choose specifically between Jerod Mayo, Shawn Crable and Quentin Groves, which would you take and why? I'm also going to post a poll on this.

---

Thanks to the hustle of Mocking the Draft and a few of our editors, we've completed the first round of the 2008 SB Nation Mock Draft.  Head on over to Mocking the Draft to check out a review of the draft.

In the meantime, Matt Miller has put together his list of the 50 best players remaining (in the link above).  I think this will kill our chances of getting Jerod Mayo, for those who wanted him.  However, there are still plenty of talented players left.  The second round starts up tomorrow and if it's like last weekend, we'll see two picks tomorrow and two picks on Sunday, meaning our 8th pick of the second round will be the first one posted this coming Tuesday.

So, with a few days to figure out what we want, I thought I'd throw this thread open for the weekend (barring any breaking news) and get people chatting it up.  Looking at Matt's Top 50 list, I see several names that I would have no problem selecting:

1. Jerod Mayo, ILB, Tennessee
   
2. Shawn Crable, LB, Michigan
   
3. Devin Thomas, WR, Michigan State
   
4. Quentin Groves, OLB, Auburn
   
5. Brandon Flowers, CB, Virginia Tech

I realize other sites could check ours out and steal some of our ideas, but considering it's just a mock, whoop-dee-damn-doo.  Feel free to throw out any ideas you might have for that second round pick.  I know who I would like, but let's see if there is any kind of consensus here.

EDITOR'S UPDATE 7:45PM - Devin Thomas just went to the Rams.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.ninersnation.com/story/2008/4/11/205234/875

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Draft provides a chance to replace Faneca

The Steelers looked for help in their offensive line, wanting to further protect their franchise quarterback and keep their renowned running game at full tilt. Yet, with a late pick in the first round, it's rarely easy finding the ideal...

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http://www.steelersfootballblog.com/2008/04/draft-provides.html

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Champion sparkplug

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http://www.giantfootballblog.com/2008/04/champion-sparkp.html

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Stoops Impressed With OU's Defensive Play

Oklahoma Sooner Football Articles and Notes

Clayton continues to impress: Converted safety Keenan Clayton continued to make his push at strongside linebacker Saturday by playing, according to Stoops, every snap of the scrimmage. "Keenan Clayton did an excellent job," the coach said. "He's turning into a really solid player." Clayton made four tackles, picked up one of OU's six sacks and created one of the Sooners' three defensive touchdowns. (Tulsa World)

Small crowd: The official attendance for yesterday's Red/White game was 23,306.

Coach Stoops impressed with corners play: Cornerback Brian Jackson and safety Sam Proctor also broke up a pair of passes and the offense?s lack of big plays. "I thought their positioning was great. I thought the corners were excellent," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "Guys like Sam Proctor had big days that really showed. They were in position all day and that?s pleasing to see as a coach." (Norman Transcript)

Injury Report: Players who missed the scrimmage: Cornerback Quinton Carter (hamstring), defensive end Auston English (shoulder), linebacker Austin Box (elbow), wide receivers Ryan Broyles (collarbone) and Adron Tennell (knee), offensive tackle Duke Robinson (ankle), safety Nic Harris (shoulder), defensive end John Williams (heel) and tailbacks DeMarco Murray (knee) and Chris Brown (knee). (The Oklahoman)

Fan calls first offensive touchdown in scrimmage: [Shae] Farmer is the Carrollton, Ga., resident who won an auction to call four plays during Saturday's scrimmage. He didn't know exactly what play he wanted to call, but Farmer knew he wanted tight end Jermaine Gresham going deep. So the call came down from the coaches' box for a play-action pass. Quarterback Sam Bradford laid the ball out perfectly for Gresham to run under it and the tight end beat two defenders to the goal line for the first offensive touchdown of the game. In fact, it was the only offensive touchdown until a pair of scores in the final three minutes of the game. Farmer and his wife, Kimberly, had no interest in attending Saturday's game, though they planned to come to Norman at some point, maybe this fall. After hearing about the SoonerSports.com auction, the two decided to post a bid, joking with each other about how funny it would be if they won. And they did. But the $2,900 he paid to call four plays was only part of the battle. They still had to get to Oklahoma, a 13-hour drive from their Georgia home. "I crossed into Oklahoma state lines for the first time (Friday)," Farmer said. "This stadium is gorgeous. It's unreal. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to even get over here and see something like this. You see it on TV, then you get here and it's everything you thought it could be. "It's well worth it." (The Oklahoman)

Defense impressive in spring game: SoonerSports.com

Coach for one play, that's all he needed: Norman Transcript

Stoops says experiment with no-huddle is 'still a work in progress': The Oklahoman

Bradford relives Tech game, saves touchdown with tackle: The Oklahoman

Coaches were correct -- Defense didn't miss a beat: The Oklahoman

Grading the Red-White game: The Oklahoman

Franks anchors strong OU defense: Tulsa World

No QB fuss -- Sam's the man: Tulsa World

Sooner thrill -- Calling TD play: Tulsa World

Oklahoma's defense supplies big plays in spring game: Dallas Morning News

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gnextinc.com/ousoonersblog/2008/04/stoops-impressed-with-ous-defensive
.html

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Building a TEAM

Thoughts to consider after perusing this:

Matt Forte RB Tulane ?

It is hard to see Our New Orleans Saints doing the Jeremy Shockey or Lito Shepard trade after the moves made in the off season.

but....???

The commentary from Mel Kiper is classic. Most of Our New Orleans Saints fans I have spoken with are not so excited about Jeremy Shockey. Canal Street Chronicles has some of the better prognostication reading if you need to catch up here. Not only there but also Canal Street Chronicles keeps it fresh almost daily for the blogoholic. Transactions.

It is clear that Coach Gibbs has gotten a mover and shaker in Ed Orgeron. Our New Orleans Saints are making some solid defensive moves unseen in some time.

Let's beak down the facts:

Brian Simmons LB contract terminated

Olindo Mare K released

Steve Gleason S retired

Freddie Thomas CB unsigned, unrestricted free agent

Jay Bellamy S unsigned, unrestricted free agent

Aaron Glenn CB signed UFA

Mark Brunell QB signed UFA

Eric Johnson TE re-signed

Dan Morgan LB signed UFA

Jonathan Vilma LB Acquired from New York Jets

Jonathan Goodwin C re-signed

Jamar Nesbit G re-signed

Aaron Stecker RB re-signed

Terrance Copper WR re-signed

Carlton Brewster WR signed

Martin Gramatica K re-signed

Travis Jones hired as assistant defensive line coach

Aaron Kromer hired as running backs coach

Dennis Allen promoted to secondary coach

Greg McMahon promoted to special teams coordinator

Ed Orgeron hired as defensive line coach

Kevin Dudley signed to reserves/futures contract

Billy Miller TE re-signed

Devery Henderson WR re-signed

David Patten WR re-signed

Bobby McCray DE signed unrestricted free agent from Jacksonville

Randall Gay Jr. CB signed unrestricted free agent from New England

Scout.com lists all UFA's in a ranked order here.

Look at these unsigned, unloved UFA's

Jason Elam K

Kyle Turley OT

Junior Seau LB

Karlos Dansby OLB

Nnamdi Asomugha CB

Takeo Spikes OLB

Read The Full Article:
http://blackandgoldpatrol.blogspot.com/2008/04/building-team.html

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Jurevicius Recovering From Staph Infection

Brian Russell.
Ben Taylor.
LeCharles Bentley.
Braylon Edwards.
Kellen Winslow.

and now...Joe Jurevicius.

It was confirmed on Friday by the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Jurevicius contracted a staph infection following his knee surgery in early January. The good news is that Jurevicius is recovering well and is expected to participate in the team's activities in May and minicamp in June. Jurevicius has already stated that he may retire after this season. One funny thing though: I seem to recall a couple of months ago that there were rumors started and promoted by fans that the entire demeanor from Jurevicius and the team seemed to indicate that something was wrong (the fans suggested a staph infection). That's why this didn't really come as a big surprise to me, and I'm sure it wasn't a surprise for some of you either.

Hopefully this is as far as it goes with the dreaded staph infection curse. After being plagued with team injuries and staph infections for several years, the Browns were one of the healthiest teams in football last year on offense.

I completed my own personal first round mock draft over at Pro Football Critics. I hated not being able to pick for the Browns in that draft just as much as I hated not picking for the Browns in SB Nation's amazingly sophisticated ongoing mock draft. Be sure to check both of them out.

In the coming days, I'm going to research the Internet for as many decent mock drafts that go into the fourth round, and take a look at what others believe our "first pick" might be. As the draft draws nearer, I'll discuss trade possibilities and who I'd like to see the Browns take. I wish I could provide some more updates than I've been doing, but without any early draft picks, the buzz on the Browns is about as low-key as you can get right now.

P.S. I apologize for making you stare at Kenny Wright's ridiculous picture for over a week (who, according to one user, is not a defensive back).

Read The Full Article:
http://www.dawgsbynature.com/story/2008/4/12/235622/374

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