NFL - Are you ready for some Football - Draft and Off Season

[Imran Siddiqui]

RT is supposed to be where your best run blockers play.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_tackle

The right tackle (RT) is usually the team's best run blocker. Most running plays are towards the strong side (the side with the tight end) of the offensive line. Consequently the right tackle will face the defending team's best run stoppers.

[snoopy369]

Good think wikipedia knows so much about blockers.

LT is skilled in BOTH RUN BLOCKING AND PASS BLOCKING. RT is primarily skilled in run blocking. It is relatively rare to find someone who can do both (as they are very different), hence why a skilled LT is hard to find.

Having an LT who can run block means you can run to either side (instead of only strong side), making it much harder for the defense to stop you. As it says, usually the opponent will stack your right side with run stoppers... but with a skilled LT in there, they can't (or if they do, you just run left).

[Imran Siddiqui]

He is adequately sized to play LT in the NFL. Cherlius is not.

Uh... Cherlius is 6'7'' and 314 lbs. Jake Long is 6'7'' and 313 lbs.

[snoopy369]

I meant skilled... stupid typing.

I honestly don't know that much about the specifics for why he's assumed to be a RT and Long a LT. I rely on talking heads for this sort of stuff, as I don't follow B.C. football

Actually, isn't it agility/speed that determines pass blocking skill (as opposed to size and then speed for R.B.)? Perhaps that's the difference. I'll check combine scores.

[snoopy369]

Cherilus apparently had a horrible combine ... one site I saw said he 'Struggled in the 3-cone drill, running out of control and stumbling around. ' Pretty much everywhere projected him as a very late 1st round or liekly 2nd round pick... and scouts.com had him as the most overrated OT on the board.

[-Jrabbit]

If Detroit wanted a RT, they could have taken Otah, who is a mountain of a man and a pure run blocker. Cherilus has the potential to become a LT, which I assume is why they went that way.

I don't know much about the round 2 LB Dizon, but my sense is Dan Connor from Penn State (who fell to the 3rd) would have been the better choice. In fact, they could have taken Ray Rice in the 2nd and still gotten Connor.

My sense is that the Lions would have been better off with Mendenhall and whatever RT/LB combo fell to them. I give Detroit only a C+. Dropping to 17 got them more depth but IMO they didn't take advantage by grabbing the guy who fell to them -- the same guy who everyone thought they were praying for at 15. Still, it's an improvement over past Millen drafts.

[snoopy369]

Cherilus is a terrible pass blocker, and every site I've read (including SCOUTS inc, ESPN, etc.) has indicated he is a RT and only a RT.

Connor may have had something funny about him - he kept falling and falling well below where he was expected to go (early to mid 2nd).

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by snoopy369
You might have been better off picking a WR...

It's like picking a Kicker in the 1st round. Yeah, he might be God's Gift to Kickers, but you just don't spend a 1st round pick on him, because better value is found later. Same with RT... the top RT in the league is still well behind most LTs in terms of value to the team (and this is noted in the paychecks). There's a reason you put old guys past their prime at RT.

But a punter, that's different. Ray Guy comes to mind.

[-Jrabbit]

Having drafted Darren McFadden, Oakland has given Dominic Rhodes his unconditional release.

They held onto Justin Fargas, LaMont Jordan and Michael Bush.

[SlowwHand]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this seem like bull****? Probation? Players get screwed, but the supplier gets probation.
Not only that, he's planning a lecture tour.
I really don't understand.

Plano steroids supplier stentenced to 3 years' probation 11:32 AM CT

11:42 AM CDT on Thursday, May 1, 2008


By JASON TRAHAN and GARY JACOBSON / The Dallas Morning News
jtrahan@dallasnews.com; gjacobson@dallasnews.com


SHERMAN – A Plano man was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation for his role as the ringleader of one of the largest steroids trafficking networks in the country.

Mr. Jacobs also was fined $25,000.

During his sentencing hearing, David Jacobs, 35, told U.S. District Judge Richard Schell that he has cooperated fully in the case and was sorry for what he did. He admitted that steroids could be harmful if misused.

Mr. Jacobs told the judge what he has been saying publicly for weeks: That he sold steroids that wound up in the hands of NFL players.

After the hearing, he told the media that he was not prepared to publicly name names.

"I know a lot of them are scared," he said. "I don't want to ruin anyone's life."

Mr. Jacobs has already said he sold steroids and growth hormones to ex-Dallas Cowboys lineman Matt Lehr, now with the New Orleans Saints. Mr. Lehr's attorney has said that Mr. Jacobs has "peddled these tales to the government unsuccessfully" and has said prosecutors do not plan to indict his client.

Prosecutors have only said the investigation continues.

Mr. Jacobs has also said he knows some North Texas police officers have used steroids, but he has not publicly named names.

Two other co-defendants – Matt Williams and Amber Jarrell – also were sentence to 3 years of probation. Mr. Williams was fined $10,000, and Ms. Jarrell was fined $1,000.

A year ago, investigators with the Food and Drug Administration's office of criminal investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and others shut down Mr. Jacobs' steroids network, which has been described as one of the largest in the country.

On Thursday, Mr. Jacobs said he would make himself available to high schools to speak to young people about the risks of steroid use.

"It's not worth it," he said.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think it's a deal for cooperating and naming names.

[Lord Avalon]

I don't see how players get screwed, unless you're talking about potential players who could fill roster spots currently being taken by steroid users.

[-Jrabbit]

Pacman News Update...

Alleged shooter says he was framed by Pacman Jones

02:22 PM CDT on Thursday, May 1, 2008, Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A man charged with shooting three people outside a Las Vegas strip club denies he was involved and accused suspended cornerback Pacman Jones of ordering the shooting and framing him to avoid identifying the real shooter.

Arvin Kenti Edwards of Renton, Wash., is being held in a Washington state jail on $1 million bail pending extradition to Nevada. He talked with WTVF-TV in Nashville by phone for a report that aired Wednesday.

Jones was traded to the Dallas Cowboys by Tennessee last week.

Edwards told the TV station in a telephone interview that Jones lied to police about the Feb. 19, 2007, shooting at the Minxx club that left an employee paralyzed and two other people wounded. Edwards said Jones paid someone for the shooting but that it wasn't him.

He accused the cornerback of lying to help his plea deal as Jones tries to return to the NFL. Jones was traded by Tennessee to Dallas last week.

Whether this is just some guy trying cover his butt or not, it's a good thing Dallas didn't change its plans to draft a decent CB...

[SlowwHand]

They still need a WR. Someone have a list of free agents? I need to start working the phone.

[-Jrabbit]

What, TO and Crayton, with Hurd and Glenn back. The Boys will be fine.

BTW, what was the reaction to taking Felix over Mendenhall down there?