Texas Tech star Harrell heads to CFL

by | Jul 17, 2009 | College Football, NFL Draft, NFL Random Thoughts

Graham Harrell, the latest record-setting quarterback from Texas Tech University, has signed a contract to play for Saskatchewan in the Canadian Football League.

Nothing against the Roughriders (or is it the Rough Riders), but how can 14,000 yards passing and 119 touchdowns against 30 interceptions during a four-year college career not even warrant a training camp tryout in the NFL?

I realize Mike Leach runs a passing offense that skews some of those numbers. I also realize the stellar numbers of guys like Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons and Sonny Cumbie haven’t translated to success in the pros.

But in a league where backup guys like Dan Orlovsky, Quinn Gray, Cleo Lemon and Anthony Wright get recycled year after year after year, wouldn’t a fresh face like Harrell warrant a tryout?

Harrell completed better than 70 percent of his passes his last two seasons. He led the Red Raiders in chasing the national championship against traditional powers like Oklahoma and Texas by posting a six-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio. He threw for nearly 2,000 more yards than Kingsbury did – breaking his school passing yardage record five games into his senior season – in a similar number of attempts and completions.

He can run – he eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark as a rusher his senior year of high school – so he’d at least have an opportunity to complete in the new, fangled Wildcat fad that’s spread across the NFL. And he was considered a leader at Texas Tech.

I’m not saying all or any of those facts will make him into an NFL superstar. Is it possible he could join the ranks of all the other Texas Tech “system” quarterbacks and be junk in the pros? Absolutely. It might even be likely.

But the fact that this guy isn’t going to get a chance to prove or disprove those theories is confusing and disappointing. Not even a spot on someone’s practice squad? Really?

Somebody give this guy a shot.

Anyone interested in 2010 mock draft?

by | Apr 28, 2009 | NFL Draft

I think we here at Zoneblitz made clear when we published our mock draft for this year’s annual player auction that we think they are relatively pointless and almost impossible to do well. We’ve done them two years in a row now but we don’t publish them until a week or so before the event takes place.

That said, there are already those out there analyzing what the 2010 draft will look like. This Sports Illustrated writer apparently believes the Chargers will beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl and that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are going to be two of the teams to beat in college football this season.

Check out his full first round mock, if you are interested.

NFL draft brings fantasy speculation

by | Apr 27, 2009 | Fantasy Football, NFL Draft

The NFL draft and the bulk of free agency are over meaning it’s now possible to start making some projections for the upcoming fantasy football season.

Certainly there will be some guys who come out of nowhere during the season ahead. But with the draft 24 hours into the rear-view mirror, some situations have definitely cleared themselves up.

For one, there will be no more running back by committee in Denver.

The Broncos surprised many “experts” by eschewing defense with their first pick in favor of Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno.

Moreno has a chance to make a fantasy football impact right away. He’s fast, he can catch the ball and he was drafted high enough where, unless he totally flubs, he’ll be the starter and main man in the Denver backfield starting with his rookie year.

Thus, while Josh McDaniels managed to mangle his quarterback situation, he has ended one of fantasy players’ most frustrating situations – the long-standing timeshare running backs employed by former coach Mike Shanahan.

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Britton not happy about fall to second round

by | Apr 27, 2009 | NFL Draft

New Jacksonville tackle Eben Britton enters a good situation with a solid quarterback and a top-notch back after getting taken by the Jaguars in the second round Saturday night.

He wasn’t happy about dropping to the second round, however. It’s probably a good sign of his competitiveness, but he might want to back off on the threats.

“If one of those draft guys lined up across from me they’d be dead,” Britton told the Orlando Sentinel.

And that was just part of the rant. Gotta like the fire.

Lions rebuild without touching trenches

by | Apr 26, 2009 | NFL Draft

A new era in Detroit Lions football started Saturday afternoon with the selection of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, and as the old saying goes, the more things change the more they stay the same.

The Lions not only started the draft by selecting a skill player. They had three picks on day one of the draft and, despite the depth available on both the offensive and defensive lines, Detroit managed to emerge without helping themselves in the trenches one iota.

That’s not to trash on the guys the Lions did take. They must see Stafford as a potential franchise quarterback. I like Stafford, though I don’t see him being a top five NFL quarterback. I think Brandon Pettigrew has the potential to be a sneaky steal at tight end – and he is a solid, solid blocker as well, so perhaps they did gain SOME help. I don’t know a lot about safety Louis Delmas, whom the Lions snagged with the first pick in the second round. But he also doesn’t play in the trenches.

It’s not that any of these guys are bad players. Again, they all, especially Pettigrew, reportedly are decent value picks. It’s just been said here at Zoneblitz and in other places that teams like the Lions, off the only 0-16 team in history, need to rebuild in the trenches first.

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Vikings abdicating ‘culture of accountability’?

by | Apr 26, 2009 | NFL Draft

It’s been nearly four years since the “Love Boat” adventure several Minnesota Vikings players allegedly participated in on a Lake Minnetonka boat ride and nearly as long since the team instituted it’s “Culture of Accountability.”

The idea of this cleaned up culture exists to the degree that Rick Spielman, the team’s vice president of player personnel, told the Star Tribune two-plus weeks ago that the team eliminated 78 players from its draft board with “red dots” due to character and/or injury issues – a number he said could grow as the draft approached.

That’s all fine and good – but it makes me curious. If the guys the Vikings eliminated didn’t include Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt, just exactly what did the 78 guys they took off the list have to do in order to earn the so-called “red dot?”

I’ve never met Percy Harvin. He is, reportedly and probably undoubtedly, incredibly talented.

But his alleged character issues are well reported, as well. He failed a drug test at the NFL Combine, a move many say – and I agree – proves that he is either heavily addicted to something or is too arrogant or unintelligent to lay off illegal substances for the roughly one-to-two months it would take to pass a test everyone at the Combine knows is coming.

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