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Some “insider” tidbits for y’all...

--We approached two different draft scenarios today where the Browns trade Brady Quinn. The first was to San Francisco for the #10 pick and a swap of 2nd round picks (Cleveland’s top pick in that round). It is generally believed that this is what Michael Lombardi was talking about in his report that the Browns have a legit 1st round offer for Quinn. The other was to the Lions and their #20 pick, but that is only if the Lions don’t take Stafford #1. I would put the odds at 90/10 that Quinn gets moved, though it might not happen until draft day. Cleveland would love to get that SF pick to take Malcolm Jenkins. And my assumption that they will take at #5 whichever of Orakpo or Curry that KC doesn’t take was taken as gospel, which is pretty cool. And scary, because it is just an assumption :gulp:

--Braylon Edwards to the Giants is all but a done deal, though it won’t get culminated until draft day. Looks like a 1st, a 4th, and Dominik Hixon but that’s just grapevine chatter.

--The Bengals are indeed shopping Ocho Cinco in hopes of picking up another 1st round pick. They really like Knowshon Moreno but will not take him #6. I’ve heard Philly and Tampa Bay have shown legit interest. They will not move him if the deal won’t net them Moreno, Crabtree, or Kenny Britt.

--Percy Harvin is dropping like a rock. The team I’m with took him completely off their draft board after interviewing him and checking out his medical reports. He comes across as an arrogant punk who has already made it, and he just brushes off questions about his long injury history, or how he gained so much muscle in such a short time. He’s not a real WR, he’s not a real RB. I could see him falling to the top of the 3rd round.

--Widely discussed rumor that Jason Peters is on the move from Buffalo appears to have legit legs. Interesting that one of the suitors is the Texans, who drafted Duane Brown last year and have one of the better RTs in Eric Winston, but I’ve heard it now from two different places. I still think Philly or Seattle are the most likely, with Philly giving up their 2nd 1st rounder or Seattle giving up their 2nd and next year’s 2nd (that’s a somewhat educated guess).

Some draft floors that I find curious. A draft floor is what is regarded as the last possible slot a player will be drafted. I’ve spent most of the last two days involved in debating these inside an NFL draft room:

BJ Raji--33
Jason Smith--8
Vontae Davis--73. Yes, 73! That’s the Packers 3rd round pick.
Brian Cushing--44. But most scenarios we’ve done thus far have him no later than 23.
Malcolm Jenkins--15
Brandon Pettigrew--43. His ceiling is 13.
Rey Maualuga--37, and in several scenarios he has fallen to the late 20s.
Hakeem Nicks--51
Alphonso Smith--40. NFL teams are higher on this guy than most pundits know.
Louis Delmas--46, and it’s looking more and more like he won’t go in the 1st. He is the only safety given a grade above 3rd round here.

Some later-round prospects bubbling up:
Stephen McGee, QB, Texas A&M
Brian Hoyer, QB, Michigan State
Dorrell Scott, DT, Clemson
Corey Smith, LB, Cincinnati
Courtney Greene, S, Rutgers
Brandon Underwood, CB, Cincinnati
Andy Kemp, G, Wisconsin

Back to the salt mines, these 14-hour days are killing me.

Thanks. Much appreciated as always. Some quick questions.

What would you put the odds of the Lions taking Stafford at right now? And what would you say the floors are for Stafford/Sanchez/Freeman?

I've seen Everette dropping in a lot of mocks, something I really dont get. Is there anything behind this? I'd love for him to go to the Bucs at 19.

Like always, the majority of the top 10 and half of the 1st round is looking to move down. Any rumored buyers to move up?

You really think it's that likely the Browns trade Quinn? Sheesh! I hope to God you're wrong.

Would what mean the Browns are going to go into the season with DA or would they draft Sanchez.

I was hoping that Braylon would net more. I wonder if this means Crabtree at #5 now.

Very interesting about Harvin. Thanks for the inside scoop as usual.

That's too bad about Harvin. He's electric, but lots of question marks is definitely going to hurt him. I would hope he falls to top of 3rd and for the Jags to scoop him up, but I fear the concerns about his character might be too much for the Jaguars, and they might be one of those teams who took him off their board.

Rotoworld is reporting Harvin tested positive for marijuana. I assume this revelation was included in your "dropping like a rock' statement?

I would not trade a 1st for Chad...when you take into account his salary / age..no way..
boldin on the other hand...same with Peters...

Harvin has also sucker punched at least two of his teammates. One being Fayson who transferred out of Florida.

Harvin come on down to #49! The Bears can use him!

Icness wrote:Some “insider” tidbits for y’all...

That's the best insider info I've seen anywhere on the net. Thanks for that. Interesting that you have the Bears going LB with their 3rd round pick. I can see Angelo drafting another guy who drops because of injury and redshirting him like he seems to like to do recently.

emperorjones wrote:

Icness wrote:Some “insider” tidbits for y’all...

That's the best insider info I've seen anywhere on the net. Thanks for that. Interesting that you have the Bears going LB with their 3rd round pick. I can see Angelo drafting another guy who drops because of injury and redshirting him like he seems to like to do recently.

I think we need the immediate help, not a "redshirt". I can definitely see LB somewhat high though. Urlacher is declining, and Hillenmeyer lost his job to Roach last year.

^^ agreed. I would rather go safety in the 3rd round after grabbing a WR at 49 - but I would not be surprised if JA didnt see things my way.

I wonder why Nicks seems to be dropping? Is it just the weight gain? That seems somewhat silly to me seeing that he hasn't had an issue during the season with it. I hope he does drop to us. Mel Kiper says he has massive hands and thats all I need to know!

Thanks a lot for the info. Fascinating stuff to read and so much better than that generic, watered down info given by the other so-called "insiders" on the other sites.

To address the rumor of Quinn to the Niners...I really don't get this at all. How is Quinn worth #10, but Matt Cassell only worth a 2nd round pick? I mean, the Pats trading Cassell made sense because Brady is coming back. But the Browns have Derek Anderson making Quinn obsolete. What does that say? Maybe Quinn ain't that good. He certainly hasn't proven himself to be anything special yet, and he is entering his third year in the league.

Not to mention, the Niners have Shaun Hill to be their starter this season. Sure, most people don't think much of him but he has proven himself to be at least adequate in the way he has played when given the opportunity. And while he is not the QB of the future for the Niners, he is good enough so that the team wouldn't give away a potentially huge building block pick at #10 when they have needs at RT, NT, OLB, CB, and S.

Plus, SF has three QB's already, including the guy that went #1 a few years ago and whom the front office believes is still young enough to become a QB for the team in Alex Smith. Behind him is Damon Huard, a guy that can at least be counted on as a backup QB. Which one should get cut if the Niners trade the #10 for Quinn-- the guy they just signed in Huard, the guy they are paying millions to this season in Smith, or last season's starter in Hill?

Quinn to the Niners #10 pick just doesn't hold water. It sounds like a rumor put out there by the Browns to try to get Denver or maybe the Jets bite on giving away their first round pick for Quinn. But when all is said and done, Quinn ain't gonna fetch a first rounder. He is a backup with just enough luster on him to make teams interested, but if he was that good he wouldn't be on the block in the first place. My guess is that if he gets dealt its for a 3rd rounder.

Well the cap number is a difference. Cassell will make $14 million, and on top of that, you wanted the Chiefs to give up their first round pick?

I think the Quinn to San Fran deal makes perfect sense. I really think they are a QB away from winning that division.

Rafael122 wrote:Well the cap number is a difference. Cassell will make $14 million, and on top of that, you wanted the Chiefs to give up their first round pick?

I think the Quinn to San Fran deal makes perfect sense. I really think they are a QB away from winning that division.

The Chiefs gave up what they should have for Cassell. It was beneficial for both sides. NFL teams have so much cap room nowadays that $14M for one year is really not a huge issue if you believe that you are getting your franchise QB. I'm sure that his next deal will be for a vast quantity less.

Regarding Quinn's value in relation to Cassell...Cassell threw for 3700yds and 21 TD's last year while Brady Quinn threw for 518yds and 2 TD's. Cassell has proven that he can perform and Quinn hasn't. And like I said earlier, its not as if Quinn has Tom Brady forcing him out the door. Its Derek Anderson, who ain't exactly a world beater.

I do agree that the Niners could use a QB, but listen to the SF fans who say that much bigger needs should be met before giving up a bounty for a QB that is anything short of a sure bet. We have no pass rush, we have the decrepit Marvel Smith penciled in as starting RT, and we've got a 15 year vet as our 2nd CB. If you have an adequate QB already, you worry about the other issues first, especially when you have a coach that is preaching smash mouth offense and defense.

In closing, I will eat my hat if the Niners acquire a QB using any pick within the first three rounds, lest a great bargain be available (which doesn't include Quinn for the #10).

Rafael122: As a niner fan, they totally dropped the ball in not getting Cassell. And now they're rumored to trade for Quinn...I hope this is just teams blowing alot of predraft smoke on their actual intentions. I'd rather the Niners trade for Derek Anderson for some reason. He kinda reminds me of Big Ben without the big game playmaking abilities.

The Niners will NOT draft a QB in the first round. They will take the best O-line(Oher-will trade down to get him though) or Best Pass Rusher/ Defensive lineman(Orakpo or Maybin)

In the second round, they should gamble and take Percy Harvin if he's available. He's definitely a high risk/high reward type of pick. If not him Max Unger would be my second choice

In the third and fourth round, they will draft for needs: WR, QB and Safety...

Icness are you still hearing the Browns are dealing Edwards?

So far we Browns fans have seen Braylon being rumored to at least 3 teams and Brady being rumored to 8 or 9 teams. We've also been rumored to want to draft pretty much every single one of the top 10 prospects.

This new regime either lets any and all info leak (not likely) or they are as tight lipped on what they want to do as any team ever and no one has any idea what they are going to do.

Anything new on Tyson Jackson? Supposedly he's shooting up draft boards like none other lately, and I want some steak with this rumor.

Braylon to the Giants is as good as done. They won't announce it until draft day. I've heard that from Giants people, from Pro Football Weekly people, from other teams. It sounds like they are working out the exact picks but have a deal in principle. And that is why the Browns are going to draft Crabtree, a prospect I would put at about 90% right now. I will be very surprised if Braylon is a Brown beyond Saturday

They are indeed shopping Quinn but they won't move him just to move him, if you know what I mean. Same as the Bengals and Chad Johnson, but more probable. What I've concluded (I'm borrowing this in part from Pat Kirwin) is that Kokinis and Mangini don't see any real difference between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, and they know Quinn has a much higher market value so that's why he's on the block. Plus they just paid DA a $5M bonus. And for all the stuff about "The Jets would never deal with Mangini"--total BS. They are DESPERATE at QB and they'd take it from Mangini or the Patriots or Dolphins or Hugo Chavez and Kim Jong Il if they had one. That type of argument is very overstated by local talk radio sycophants everywhere, one of the things I learned quickly in working with teams. If they think a deal can help the, they don't give a crap who the deal is with, with two notable exceptions: Pittsburgh will not deal in the division, and the Bears and Packers won't do business, nothing of significance anyways.

PhilipNelsonFan wrote:Anything new on Tyson Jackson? Supposedly he's shooting up draft boards like none other lately, and I want some steak with this rumor.

He could very well go at #3. Cincinnati would strongly consider him at #6, as would Oakland at #7. I would be very surprised if he lasts beyond SF and #10.

I just finished the DE big board and it's on the main page, so you can get an idea of what I think of him. He is so far and away the best of the non-hybrid ends, and I would wager an imported beer of your choice he winds up with more sacks over the next two seasons than Orakpo. I like Orakpo's ability to play in space and close on the ball as much as I like his edge pass rushing, which I think will get blunted at the NFL level.