Random tidbits 8-3
Posted: Fri Aug 3, 2007 12:07 pm
Some tidbits from around the league. A lot of this is from a lengthy IM session I had with a football writer y'all are familiar with. I'm in Cleveland for the HOF festivities and I also have run into a lot of the same people I see at the Combine--Browns camp yesterday was like a field trip for lower-level front office people and agents.
--Steelers: look out for Lamarr Woodley, he's for real. If you talk to anyone who's been at their camp, he's the first thing anyone talks about and it's glowing praise. He's got the full package of pass rush moves and is much more powerful than anyone expected, plus he has the playbook down. Alas, the other rookie they're really counting on, LB Lawrence Timmons, is really in a hole. His groin is injured a lot worse than they're letting on and he might start the season on the PUP list (out first 6 games). Even before he tweaked it they were disappointed at how slowly he was learning the defense.
--Browns: I'll give you two quotes about Joe Thomas, one I got during a brief talk with Kamerion Wimbley, the other should be in the papers today or tomorrow. Wimbley said, "Wow, man. Joe Thomas is a monster. I beat him with an up and under move once. Now every time I try to go low into him he just swallows me up. It's like going up against Jonathan Ogden every play." And McGinest said Thomas is as good as Orlando Pace was when he came into the league and is "probably going to be the best rookie tackle you've ever seen". Willie's been around a long time and knows his great tackles. FYI--Wimbley is a real bright dude.
--Giants: The writer I talked with believes Strahan will be playing for the team but won't show up until the last preseason game week. In short, nobody believes the retirement talk, not the Giants org, not his teammates, not any of the media who cover them. And he will not get a new deal because the Giants don't want to set that precedent of caving in for stunts like this.
--Raiders: I'll give you the quote..."Someone really needs to take control away from Al Davis because he has lost it. This signing of Culpepper is completely pointless. It's showering over-market money at a guy you hope doesn't make your team. If he thinks Culpepper can come in and mentor Russell he clearly doesn't know either guy very well. Now all Al has done is make the negotiating with Russell's people even more acrimonious and torpedoed all fo Lane Kiffin's great work with McCown. Josh McCown has looked great so far. It just lends further credence that the Raiders are still going to be the worst team in the league." That's cut/pasted from an IM chat, slightly edited for typos and clarity.
--Panthers: the acquisition of Chris Harris might not seem that big, but this should pay off real nicely for them. He's not great but he's also almost never in the wrong spot and he's a very good run blitzer, something they've wanted but lacked. Also, Jon Beason's holdout should end either today or Monday--they're just trading on-field benchmarks for voidable years and up-front $$. This holdout has probably cost him a chance to start before their bye week though and has him already in John Fox's doghouse.
--Bucs: More from my IM session, slightly paraphrased..."The fact that Jon Gruden hasn't already declared Jeff Garcia as his man should be read as 'Jeff Garcia is not his man'. That QB clusterf*** is depressing. They have one of the best deep threats in the game in Joey Galloway and they don't have a QB who can throw the ball 30 yards without hitting the clouds. Chris Simms really looks done to me. He's scared about getting hurt and it shows in everything he does. They should unload him now and let him try to regroup somewhere else."
--Bears: Their offense has been dominating their defense so far. Really. They've got two legit deep threats in Bradley and Berrian and Rex throws the ball deep better than he does short and with better mechanics. Greg Olsen is drawing Todd Heap comparisons. Hester is making his move to offense look genius. The only negatives I've heard from their camp are that they're not as good at DE as anyone thinks they are (read: expect regression from Anderson and little from Ogunleye) and their OL is already looking old and not fresh, and none of their backups are NFL-caliber players.
--Steelers: look out for Lamarr Woodley, he's for real. If you talk to anyone who's been at their camp, he's the first thing anyone talks about and it's glowing praise. He's got the full package of pass rush moves and is much more powerful than anyone expected, plus he has the playbook down. Alas, the other rookie they're really counting on, LB Lawrence Timmons, is really in a hole. His groin is injured a lot worse than they're letting on and he might start the season on the PUP list (out first 6 games). Even before he tweaked it they were disappointed at how slowly he was learning the defense.
--Browns: I'll give you two quotes about Joe Thomas, one I got during a brief talk with Kamerion Wimbley, the other should be in the papers today or tomorrow. Wimbley said, "Wow, man. Joe Thomas is a monster. I beat him with an up and under move once. Now every time I try to go low into him he just swallows me up. It's like going up against Jonathan Ogden every play." And McGinest said Thomas is as good as Orlando Pace was when he came into the league and is "probably going to be the best rookie tackle you've ever seen". Willie's been around a long time and knows his great tackles. FYI--Wimbley is a real bright dude.
--Giants: The writer I talked with believes Strahan will be playing for the team but won't show up until the last preseason game week. In short, nobody believes the retirement talk, not the Giants org, not his teammates, not any of the media who cover them. And he will not get a new deal because the Giants don't want to set that precedent of caving in for stunts like this.
--Raiders: I'll give you the quote..."Someone really needs to take control away from Al Davis because he has lost it. This signing of Culpepper is completely pointless. It's showering over-market money at a guy you hope doesn't make your team. If he thinks Culpepper can come in and mentor Russell he clearly doesn't know either guy very well. Now all Al has done is make the negotiating with Russell's people even more acrimonious and torpedoed all fo Lane Kiffin's great work with McCown. Josh McCown has looked great so far. It just lends further credence that the Raiders are still going to be the worst team in the league." That's cut/pasted from an IM chat, slightly edited for typos and clarity.
--Panthers: the acquisition of Chris Harris might not seem that big, but this should pay off real nicely for them. He's not great but he's also almost never in the wrong spot and he's a very good run blitzer, something they've wanted but lacked. Also, Jon Beason's holdout should end either today or Monday--they're just trading on-field benchmarks for voidable years and up-front $$. This holdout has probably cost him a chance to start before their bye week though and has him already in John Fox's doghouse.
--Bucs: More from my IM session, slightly paraphrased..."The fact that Jon Gruden hasn't already declared Jeff Garcia as his man should be read as 'Jeff Garcia is not his man'. That QB clusterf*** is depressing. They have one of the best deep threats in the game in Joey Galloway and they don't have a QB who can throw the ball 30 yards without hitting the clouds. Chris Simms really looks done to me. He's scared about getting hurt and it shows in everything he does. They should unload him now and let him try to regroup somewhere else."
--Bears: Their offense has been dominating their defense so far. Really. They've got two legit deep threats in Bradley and Berrian and Rex throws the ball deep better than he does short and with better mechanics. Greg Olsen is drawing Todd Heap comparisons. Hester is making his move to offense look genius. The only negatives I've heard from their camp are that they're not as good at DE as anyone thinks they are (read: expect regression from Anderson and little from Ogunleye) and their OL is already looking old and not fresh, and none of their backups are NFL-caliber players.
