These two QB's are easily the best two in the nation right now. Last night during the Louisville and Kentucky game it was obvious that Woodson and Brohm were going to showcase their ability. Yes the defenses were horendous, but with that said both QB's made plays for their teams and put both teams in a posiiton to win.
First Woodson. Woodson showed last night that he DOES HAVE a much stronger arm than Brohm. He doesn't have near the accuracy because you could see that a lot of passes from Andre were either high or high and behind. He was having trouble trying to lay the ball in to the receivers hands and instead he was tatooing WR's trying to make the ball stick. Woodson's footwork was solid but were he proves to be a top 10 pick is his delivery. It's impeccable. He has a short wind up with a flick of the wrist sort of like Michael Vick's. His ball has easily the most velocity of all college quarterbacks. You could also see that on deep balls Woodson could drop the ball right over his receivers shoulder. Woodson last night solidified himself as a top 10 pick. With more than one team needing a QB in this years top 10 both Brohm and Woodson will be taken very early.
As for Brohm. Brohm last night showed his coolness and calm demeanor. We all knew about his ability and his uncanny accuracy and release. His first INT this year was more about trying to make something out of nothing than it was a bad decision. Brohm threw off his back foot into double coverage as he was pushed out of the pocket to his right. It was an easy pick for the Wildcats. But after the INT you could see the professionalism in Brohm. He never once got out of control again, he did not once throw into double coverage or tried to fit the ball into tight spots again. He made perfect decisions and turned a very bad called game by Coach Kragthorp into an excellent showcase for Brohm's skills and talents. No matter how down Brohm and his Louisville offense was he never let up, completing pass after pass without any mistake. He didn't throw down field and get nervous or hesitate. Brohm was methodical and took what the defense gave him. With less than 2:00 minutes left in the game Brohm took his offense down and scored the go ahead TD. It was another 60+ yard TD drive. And he did what you would want your QB to do, and that is put the game in your defenses hands. Brohm played a perfect game after his INT in the 1rst quarter.
Last night made something readily apparent, the defense of Lousiville cost Brohm a chance at a perfect season and gave a perfect ending to Woodson's Kentucky career in college. Another facet of the game that was exposed was that WR Mario Urrutia is nothing more than a 4th rounder who at best will be a slot wideout in the NFL. Harry Douglas has more consistency but he couldn't outrun any CB on the Wildcat defense. As for Woodson, he was all alone himself too. His offensive line is more than just plain bad they make poor decisions as well. Both these quarterbacks showcased their skills last night to a national audience and they didn't dissapoint. These two are easily the two best QB's in the nation, and will make excellent NFL franchise players.
Good luck to the Atlanta Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs.
In terms of the NFL scouting services could the USC starting LB corp be the best ever? Keith Rivers would have been a 1rst rounder had he come out this year. Sorry Carolina, Pittsburg, and Buffalo (P. Posluszny 2nd round) fans but Keith Rivers is better than all 3 of your LB choices, but he really isn't why I'm posting this. Rivers we all know about, actually any draftnik has known about Rivers since his soph. year 2 seasons ago, the other two future superstars are Brian Cushing and the baddest MLB the NCAA has seen since Brian Urlacher, Rey Maualuga.
Can there be or was there a better LB unit that played together in terms of all three being selected in the 1rst round of the NFL Draft? I doubt it.
Like I said, Rivers we all know about, but Brian Cushing could be the next big 3-4 LB that comes out of college. He certainly can rush the passer as we saw last year with more blitzing responsibility, but he can also cover like a typical 4-3 LB. Brian Cushing is going to be what Bobby Carpenter was supposed to be in Dallas. Cushing at 6-4 245lbs is the perfect strong side 3-4 LB. He can play the run and rush the passer along with having to play in coverage. San Fransico could certainly use him opposite Manny Lawson on the strong side. Also Miami, New England, and now that Arizona is using 3-4 looks would all love to have Cushing manning the strong side. He has 4.6 speed and pretty smooth hips for a big white boy with great size. And coming from a winning program, you can't teach leadership and confidence like he has.
My favorite LB though on the USC defense is hands down is MLB Rey Maualuga. There isn't a nastier player in all of college. Nobody and I mean nobody plays with fiery passion and pure aggression that Maualuga plays with. He plays like a certain San Diego player by the name of Shawn Merriman. Shawn plays with an utter disregard for destruction and chaos. And so does Rey. Maualuga plays to hurt someone and when you see him play you can see that pure hatred for the opposing team. Also not to mention that he is probably the most athletic LB at his position in the entire nation. Maualuga can run in the high 4.5's at 6'1 250lbs. along with being able to have the ability to cover running backs and tight ends and he also adds the up-the-middle pass rush that Ray Lewis uses. Maualuga also has the leadership qualities that most his age just don't aquire without experience. He seems to have been born with it and as a true junior has certainly showed it. With that said there is a small amount of anger control issues he has to be able to control off the field. Let's just say he isn't one to back down from a fight. I'll just leave it at that.
I seriously can't think of a better three to have as your starting linebacking corp. All three of these guys is a potential superstar at the NFL level. And all three will be a 1rst round pick. I don't even think the great Miami U. teams had all three starting linebackers go in the same 1rst round. If you have a chance to actually sit down and watch the Trojans this year and watch them please pay attention to the LB corp. Now there will be other linebackers who will get more publicity than Rey, Brian, and Keith such as James Laurinaitis and Dan Conner but know this niether of them is better than Maualuga or Rivers, maybe Cushing, but only because he's more of a 3-4 OLB. I know it's hard to notice them while watching USC especially with all the hype and question marks that will be around the offense this year, but trust me these guys will wow you. So sit back and watch the fireworks.
Is it just me or are the Detroit Lions making sure they are set for the eventual early departure of Rob Marinelli. It seems to me that Matt Millan is setting up Marinelli to take the fall if the Lions don’t make a significant improvement in 2007. Rob Marinelli is known as a defensive, hard nosed coaching mind that is more o####eneral than a NFL coach. And if a track record counts for anything it looks to me as if Millan will have no qualms about giving Rob Marinelli the pink slip in favor of keeping Mike Martz around.
This upcoming season will likely unfold like this, the Detroit Lions will win no more than 6 games at absolute best and in all honesty that would be making a vast improvement compared to last years fiasco. But to the Detroit Lion fans 6 wins won’t be enough to keep the boo birds and paper bags from coming out to Ford Field and the fans this year more than any other year will demand a change. Most likely the fans will want the head of Matt Millan on a plate, but if past track records are taken into account the fans won’t get that. What will happen is that Rob Marinelli will take the fall just as Mariucci did before him and Matt Millan will escape firing buy the skin of his teeth……again.
If all this should happen and obviously this is pure speculation, the next coach that will be looked at to take the Lions gig would already be under employment by the organization. That person would be Mike Martz. Mike Martz could be setting up a coup as we speak now that he has legitimate offensive weapons to scheme for. With the drafting of Calvin Johnson and quarterback Drew Stanton in this past Saturday’s draft the offensive coordinator is making his move for more power. As we all know the offensive schemes of last years Detroit Lions was based totally around the mind of Mike Martz. Without Martz the system would have been worse than the defense in terms of productivity. Jon Kitna had a career year last year in terms of statistics, and their best offensive playmaker, Roy Williams, also had a career year which ended him up in Hawaii for the first time. The front office also made some big personnel moves by adding offensive right tackle George Foster and adding a punishing big back in T.J. Duckett. The signing of former St. Louis Rams and Georg Foster says more about where this team is going than anything else. With that signing Matt Millan was following the success of what Martz had in St. Louis. In St. Louis Martz had two 1rst round tackles in Orlando Pace and Alex Barron as he now has in Detroit with George Foster and Jeff Backus. The signing and then the success of Mike Furrey also says a lot about what kind of players can succeed in Mike Martz’ system. Another one of Mike Martz’ disciples, Kevin Curtis, was a highly touted free agent, but ended up singing with Philadelphia. But the attempt at the Curtis acquisition speaks volumes of how much confidence Matt Millan has in Mike Martz and his past accomplishments.
In the NFL, defense might win championships but as we all know offense sells tickets. And believe me when I say this, Mike Martz knows how to sell tickets. He once was the ring leader of “the Greatest Show on Turf.” During that time in St. Louis he was considered a master mind, mad scientist of offensive schemes. If you look at some of the past contenders in the last 5 or 6 years you will see that offensive teams have succeeded and sold more tickets than defensive minded teams. Just look at the success of a few teams like Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Minnesota (1998-2003) and Kansas City (with #### Vermeil) compared to the defensive teams like Buffalo, Miami, New York Jets, Jacksonville, and Washington (except 2006). All of these teams were based solely on scoring more than their opponent. And all of these teams are widely successful in terms of generating funds and profits. Of the five teams I mentioned two are past Super Bowl winners, with St. Louis going to two Super Bowls and three NFC championship games. And who was the offensive mind behind all three St. Louis teams? That’s right, Mike Martz. He might have left St. Louis on bad terms and he might have left the defense in even worse shape, but he still sold tickets. Did you know last year was the first year that a Rams home game wasn’t sold out? That never happened with Martz. Now, I’m not saying that Scott Linehan isn’t a solid coach, but Mike Martz is a proven winner of a Super Bowl as a coordinator and a NFC Championship as a coach.
Take a look at what Mike Martz has to work with in Detroit. First of all he has that veteran presence in Jon Kitna which Martz absolutely loves. But now Martz has Drew Stanton which will now be his new project he can tinker with and mold into his QB of the future, not Marinelli. Martz, in the newly drafted stud Calvin Johnson, now has his two wide-outs just as he did in St. Louis with Tory Holt and Isaac Bruce. His running back situation is a little cloudy, but Martz has confidence in Kevin Jones to succeed in his system. Jones is a very good all around back. Kevin possesses not only the ability to run between the tackles but also has the ability to catch passes and make plays out of the back field just as Mike Martz likes. If he can stay healthy Jones will have no option but to succeed. Martz’ offensive line needs a little work, but with the signing of George Foster that gives him a decent to solid option at the right tackle spot on the o-line. And never mind the tight end spot, because as we all know Martz doesn’t need no stinkin’ tight end.
Okay, I know this is pure speculation, but you can never count out Mike Martz. Everyone knows that Martz loathes being an offensive coordinator and wants more than anything to be a head coach again. I truly believe that his next gig will be the head coach of the Detroit Lions, and I definitely don’t think that is a bad thing for the Detroit fans though. Mike Martz can make you relevant again in terms of offense, he can turn offensive stars into superstars and good players into great players. He can devise game plans that can be very entertaining to the average fan. He might not have a clue on what to do with a base 4-3 or how to stop the run, but damn it he can score 30 routinely. In short Martz can sell tickets and as we all know selling tickets would be considered a success to the Ford family and their adopted son Matt Millan. Martz can only be a background figure for so long before being the main character, this could be his year to break through and steal the coaching job from Rob Marinelli.
What happened this past weekend? What happened to the comparisons to Tom Brady and the label of the most NFL ready quarterback? What happened with Miami praying to the football gods that a certain someone falls in their lap? In essence what the hell happened with one of the most hyped Notre Dame quarterbacks this league has ever seen?
Well this is what happened. It was around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 28th 2007 and the Cleveland Browns were on the clock for the 3rd overall draft pick. Simply put, the Browns pass on the Charlie Weiss’ protégé for a Wisconsin offensive left tackle named Joe Thomas. So on to the next team who is looking for a formidable quarterback. As for the next picks; Tampa Bay, Arizona and Washington they weren’t interested in spending their 1rst round pick on a quarterback. Minnesota on the other hand is relying on a 2006 2nd round pick out of Alabama State, Tarvaris Jackson. But Minnesota had luck of their own when Adrian Peterson fell to them at the 7th pick, so their 1rst pick of the draft was a pretty simple one. They simply took one of the most talented and most athletic players in the entire draft and probably the best pure running back to come out of college in the past decade in Peterson. So Minnesota was the second team who chose not to take the Notre Dame alum. Atlanta was next at 8, and obviously they have Michael Vick, so they weren’t interested. But old reliable was on the clock next with the 9th overall pick. Miami had been in the same boat as Oakland, Detroit, and Cleveland. They all need a starting franchise quarterback who will be the face of the organization for the next ten years. So Miami was not only a given but, they were incredibly lucky they didn’t have to move up to grab him. But then comes the first curveball of the draft. Miami passed on Quinn. WHAT?! Was the reaction of every expert, fan and analyst Mel Kiper of ESPN was absolutely stunned at the Dolphins and then started to berate them because of their obvious blunder. When the camera panned over to Brady Quinn a picture was worth a thousand words when we saw his reaction the minute Miami passed on him for Ted Ginn Jr. “Wow that was unexpected.”
So now what? Now what is the next move for a quarterback who is obviously dropping faster than a fat kid doing a belly flop? In an unprecedented move by Roger Goodell, the commissioner moved Brady and the rest of his family to an undisclosed room at Radio City Music Hall to shield him and his family from the prying eye of the media and the fans. It worked, not even ESPN or the NFL Network could get to him whenever they please. It was looking bleak for the Heisman Trophy candidate. Until the commissioner had announced another trade, where the Dallas Cowboys were to give up their 1rst round pick (22nd overall) for the Browns’ 2nd round pick (35th overall). Finally the wait was over and the so called “most NFL ready quarterback was off the board” and just in time too, because hadn’t the Browns moved up the Kansas City Chiefs would have certainly made the pick on Brady Quinn.
So was Cleveland the winner of the draft? Five years from now do you think we’ll be saying that the Cleveland Browns stole the 2007 NFL Draft? I certainly do, well at least for right now. Let’s just take a look at what happened from afar. Their 1rst pick was an excellent one, with the selection of a franchise left tackle. That pick was a no brainer. But as for their second 1rst round pick, the #22nd pick, I believe the front office absolutely played the game the way it was supposed to be played. Some television analysts have commented on Scott Pioli pulling this same thing in Baltimore with Ozzie Newsome for Kyle Boller. But if you think about it, when Kyle Boller was coming out of college there wasn’t anywhere near the admiration for him as there was for Brady Quinn. Nobody called Kyle Boller a top 3 pick, nor dared to call him the 1rst pick overall. But with Quinn the Cleveland Browns got two top 5 picks in terms of value. How in the hell couldn’t Cleveland do that? Some fans and analysts have been saying the Browns gave up too much, because let’s be honest the Browns aren’t exactly playoff contenders, especially being in that division with Cincinnati, Baltimore and Pittsburg. Well that’s true but there is no guarantee that the Browns would have a shot at Chad Henne and to be as real as possible the Browns aren’t going to have another top 3 pick to have a shot the #1 QB next year, Brian Brohm. So in essence the Cleveland Browns took the gamble and bet on Quinn and Joe Thomas for their next two draft classes. And you know what? The Browns did great. Think about what they did. Washington gave up a 1rst round pick when they moved up to select Jason Campbell. The Buffalo Bills gave up a 1rst round draft pick when they moved up to select J.P. Losman, and Baltimore, like I mentioned before, gave up a 1rst round draft pick to move up to get Kyle Boller. I don’t know about you, but none of those three have nor had the same kind of ability or potential that Brady Quinn has. That is why Cleveland did the right thing. I know Dallas is praying to the football gods that Cleveland goes 0-16 so they can get a shot at Darren McFadden, but in reality that isn’t going to happen. So, Dog Pound, live it up. You guys stole the 2007 NFL Draft, and you didn’t have to do it by selecting Troy Smith.
The Texans may have had one of the best consecutive defensive drafts this side of the millennium. People obviously outside of Houston absolutely despise Charlie Casserly because many believe he was the ring leader behind the Mario Williams pick. But if you, the reader, take the time out, register and read some of the threads and posts in the Houston Texans official website you’ll find out how real Texan fans feel about Mario. The short story, we love him. As much as I would like to counter any argument and explain how great Mario will be, this years draft is just half about him. The 2007 NFL Draft for the Texan fans is more about our new team badass; Amobi Okoye.
At 6’2 305 lbs. the 19 year-old Amobi Okoye has quickly become one of the most intriguing prospects the league has seen. Before his senior season this past year Okoye was literally a speck on the NFL prospect radar. No one knew nor cared who he was. The only thing that even made him interesting was that he was a 19 year-old senior. Other than that Amobi was seen as a nobody. But then came his senior season and like any other true football player looking to turn scout heads and raise GM eyebrows he busted onto the seen with a new attitude and competitiveness. Amobi put extremely high numbers up for a 19 year-old kid, not a man yet, a kid. Okoye set a high standard during the 2006 season posting career bests in tackles (55), sacks (8), tackles for loss (15) and forced fumbles (3). With these outstanding stats coupled with his incredibly high ceiling for potential scouts surely took notice of this ####ian native.
After the 2006 NCAA season Amobi Okoye was being heralded as a top 25 pick, but still behind Alan Branch, #1 ranked DT. Then the pre-draft schedule and workouts where scouts, general managers, and coaches could get a chance to poke and prod the athletes started. This was the time where Amobi Okoye was going to distinguish himself from the rest of the defensive tackle competition…….And he did. He started his massive assault on the DT field at the Senior Bowl where he continuously dominated offensive lineman, not only in one on one drills, but during full pad scrimmages and then during the Senior Bowl game itself. Amobi Okoye was now moving himself up into the top 15 range and quickly making a case for himself as the top DT in the 2007 draft. The next scheduled event where he could show off his extreme athletic ability would the NFL Combine at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is where he would show off his strength, agility and most importantly his explosiveness. During his combine workouts he once again impressed scouts, general managers, and coach’s alike running a 5.07 40 yard dash. He also showed his explosiveness during his sprint with 1.81 10-yard and 2.96 20-yard increments along with his 30 inch vertical and 9-foot-3 broad jump. His agility was no joke either with a time of 7.46 in the 3 cone drill. Not to mention his 29x225lbs. bench press. He really showed his athletic ability along with his strength and he had wonderful interviews with teams that showed his maturity and great character. His Louisville Pro-Day also showed very good numbers with a sub 5.00 40, 4.97. Amobi also upped his bench press total with 33x225lbs. But more importantly during all of these workouts and pre-draft events Okoye showed his personality. Amobi showed his maturity beyond his years and I believe that is what impressed coaches the most. Think about it this way. Going into the off-season workouts most analysis had Alan Branch as the number 1 DT, but Amobi Okoye took advantage of all of these face to face times with NFL front office people while Alan Branch disappointed workout after workout and interview after interview. Once the dust had settled Amobi had positioned himself as the #1 ranked DT.
When the Houston Texans were on the clock on Saturday for their 1rst round pick I was praying that the they would take Amobi instead of taking Alan Branch. I was literally praying on my hands and knees. This draft pick was the single most important pick not for the Texans or the Houston fans, but for Mario Williams. This pick was going to signify how the Texans felt about the Mario Williams pick. The 10th overall pick was going to be either be a focal point of the defense or be a focal point of the offense and since Adrian Peterson didn’t fall to the #10 spot Amobi Okoye was the perfect fir for them. Amobi Okoye and Mario Williams are going to be one of the most dominating defensive sides of the line there is in the entire NFL. The kind of athletic ability these two defensive players own is unbelievable and almost inconceivable. The only other team that has 2 dominating players in a 4-3 scheme with that much ability is Carolina with Julius Peppers and Kris Jenkins. This combo is as important to the Texan defense the way Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp were for the Tampa Bay Bucs defense. Amobi Okoye has the ability to not only play in the one gap system but he also has the potential to occupy two blockers and let Mario Williams face a single offensive lineman. This combo may not produce as much in this upcoming year because of the youth factor that’s involved with Okoye, but the following seasons the two, Mario and Amobi, will be a combo to be reckoned with. Both have incredible speed and burst off the line, and both have incredible athletic prowess.
The offensive line needed help but neither Joe Thomas nor Levi Brown was within range for the Texans to take. The next best thing was to build around their all world talent Mario Williams and they did with a phenom 19 year-old Amobi Okoye. I, as a Texan fan am seriously happy with this pick. I wished we’d have had a 2nd round pick, but with our 1rst round pick being so good I’m confident the Texan front office has done the right thing for this organization. Great pick Texan front office, great decision, just watch people, Okoye and Mario are going to be Pro-Bowl mainstays for years to come.
