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News Archive
Apr. 4 - Jun. 30, 2008
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Yes, we know, there's been no news here for two whole weeks. But we couldn't make the Javon Walker story any more clear or melodramatic than the news media already have, and the only other real piece of news was the signing of a "camp arm," Dublin's own QB Sam Keller. As Jason Jones aptly wrote in his blog, Keller will help out in camp and then, if he's done well, probably hope to land a spot on the practice squad.
Today, however, we see an item that merits wider dissemination. The cheap-o Chiefs have decided to retire CB Emmitt Thomas' No. 18—only 30 years after he ended his career with them. It's one thing to have a policy like the Raiders', of not retiring numbers, period, because in a general sense that slights no one (or slights all the great players equally). But to wait thirty years, and then retire the number just when the guy happens to be going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a veteran candidate—well, that's just downright cheesy in our view.
Source(s): ProFootballTalk.com ("Rumor Mill")
We're late with this piece of news, but then again, it's not exactly earthshaking. Last Thursday, undrafted rookie free agent LB Shane Simmons of Western Washington was waived, and in his place the Raiders brought back former Raider Grant Irons. Irons hasn't played a down of football since 2005. He spent the latter half of the 2006 season on injured reserve with a herniated lumbar disk (ouch!!) that didn't respond quickly to treatment. The Raiders declined to tender him as an unrestricted free agent in the spring of 2007, and he was entirely out of football last season.
Coach Lane Kiffin said Irons has rehabbed really conscientiously and is in "phenomenal shape" for someone who hasn't played in two years. Irons, the son of one-time starting OLB Gerald Irons (1970-75), will be given a chance to compete with Robert Thomas and Sam Williams for the strong side linebacker spot.
It's a curious signing, however, because Irons was tried as a linebacker before and found wanting. He was part of the great Rob Ryan 3-4 experiment, with Irons and Tyler Brayton playing outside backers. Both men stand 6-6 and weigh 280 or 285, and neither had remotely enough agility to provide adequate pass coverage; opposing teams victimized the Raiders with a steady diet of flare and sideline passes to their backs. So we have to wonder how Irons, who weighs 285 pounds, will succeed this time. Unless the Raiders simply intend to pull their SAM linebacker off the field on every play that might be a pass.
"Raiders Mourn John Rauch," reads the headline on the team's web site. Rauch, as head coach, led the team to its first truly great season in 1967, when the Raiders went 13-1 and played in Super Bowl II against the Packers. He died of a heart attack yesterday at his home in Florida. He was 80.
It's a little known fact, because of the glamor attached to the John Madden years and the organizational propaganda surrounding Al Davis' coaching stint, that Rauch had the best winning percentage of all Raiders head coaches. After coaching in Oakland he went on to hold the same position in Buffalo.
And, despite a 33-8-1 record over the 1966-68 seasons while Davis was serving as AFL Commissioner—Rauch followed 1967 with a 12-2 1968 season—the unvarnished truth is that Rauch was run out of the job by Davis after 1968. (Notice how the AP obituary refers to "tensions" between Davis and Rauch after 1968. How do you think such "tensions" would be resolved?) It's one of the less glamorous episodes in Raiders history.
[Clarification: In Rauch's own words, he quit to take the head coach position at Buffalo. When we say Rauch was "run out" of Oakland we refer to a situation in which Davis' constant meddling in Rauch' efforts to coach the team made the Raiders job intolerable for Rauch, a self-described "football man" rather than a politician-type. See Rauch's own account of it, as told to writer Rich Pagano, in the John Rauch feature elsewhere on this site.]
Number change: DE Derrick Gray is back in No. 92 again, according to the roster published at www.Raiders.com. This is less newsworthy than it is odd—Gray, an undrafted rookie free agent, is unlikely to make the final 53-man roster, but as near as we can tell, he has switched now between Nos. 73 and 92 at least twice, most recently when the departure of Akbar Gbaja-Biamila on May 20 left No. 92 free.
Where Are They Now Dept.: Ex-Oakland fixture Barry Sims, still a free agent, will work out for the Rams on Friday, according to Scout.com. He also had visits scheduled this week for Baltimore and New England, and worked out for the Whiners Monday.
Source(s): Gridiron Gateway (Scout.com)
As had been expected, undrafted rookie free agent QB Brian White of Portland State was waived by the Raiders today. The move had been anticipated because White did not participate in the team's full squad mini-camp held on June 3-5.
Signed in his place was RB Tony Jackson, who spent a short period in 2006 on the Oakland practice squad, and then was signed to the off-season roster last year, only to be cut several days before training camp opened. He has played both tight end and fullback in the past; the Raiders currently show him on their roster as a running back assigned No. 42. He's 6-2 and weighs 255; he played collegiately at Iowa.
Backup quarterback—still auditioning: We missed reporting it in this section, but last week the Raiders put in a waiver claim for ex-Bucs QB Bruce Gradkowski. They weren't successful; he was awarded to St. Louis. Today, as Chronicle beat writer David White points out in his blog, Quinn Gray, whom the Raiders pursued but failed to sign back in March, is once again available after being cut by the Texans. Watch the Raiders pursue him, once again demonstrating their utter lack of confidence in Marques Tuiasosopo.
Source(s): "Silver&Black Blog" (San Francisco Chronicle)
As Raiders fans can't help but know if they've spent even thirty seconds on the Web today, top draft choice RB Darren McFadden signed a six-year contract late yesterday. It's covered extensively in the Articles section, with the specifics of the contract provisions available in this Chron blog post.
Note that the term (length) of the contract is a full six years, rather than the deal having a voidable sixth year as we've seen in some past drafts with, e.g., Tyler Brayton and Nnamdi Asomugha.
DE Dwight White of Pittsburgh's famed Steel Curtain defensive line died today of complications arising after back surgery. A blood clot in his lung is suspected, according to Wikipedia. He was only 58.
While we heartily disliked the Steelers dating back to their ferocious rivalry with the Raiders spanning the late '60s through the mid- to late '70s, we also respected them. The Raiders-Steelers contests were invariably intensely physical, with neither team conceding so much as an inch to its opponent without the other team's offense needing to mount the maximum possible effort. And the games weren't only physical, they were memorable and thrilling. The Immaculate Reception remains one of the top two or three games in Oakland history and is probably the single most memorable individual play in Raiders lore.
Dwight White was no dummy, by the way. After retiring from the NFL he went on to have a very successful career as a stockbroker.
Source(s): Associated Press, Wikipedia
Where Are They Now Dept.: Former Raiders FS Stu Schweigert landed another gig on a football field. Washington, which is contemplating moving safety LaRon Landry from free to strong, signed Schweigert as an extra option.
The roster casualty to open up a spot for Schweigert was a linebacker.
Washington's defensive coordinator said he didn't yet know where Schweigert would play, and that it was too early to make that decision yet.
Source(s): Associated Press
Former Raiders bust WR Mike Williams, confronted by the Tennessee coaching staff to either lose some serious weight or think about a different profession, is said to have reported to training sessions at least 30 pounds lighter. Williams confessed to having played last year at 260 "easy."
It seems Titans O/C Mike Heimerdinger thinks he can still salvage something out of Williams, but wants him to work with the team's strength coach, Steve Watterson, all summer "so he can run more than two routes in a row. If he does that, then his weight will be down. If he stays with Steve all the time. It can't be a hit-and-miss thing, take a couple days off, then come back and do it. There has to be a consistent thing to it because he's very talented," Heimerdinger said.
Source(s): CBS Sports
FS Stuart Schweigert, whose open field tackling ranged from barely adequate to abominable, was released yesterday by the Raiders. He had lost his starting job last season following a hip injury, and with the off-season arrival of tackling machine S Gibril Wilson, there was no way Schweigert was going to see the field enough to begin to justify a $2.6M salary due him for 2008.
As it happens, and as makes perfect sense, the coaching staff is moving Wilson to strong safety and moving the willowy Michael Huff from strong to free safety, a position where his speed, range and coverage skills will come in much more useful. So Schweigert's competition would have been Huff, ultimately, and we expect Huff will do quite well at what looks to be his more natural spot, free safety.
And OLB "AGB" didn't even have a chance to get his new jersey worn in (see News for May 19). He was released along with Schweigert. The word is his performance during the rookie mini-camp was unimpressive. (Though we wonder how he would have qualified for the first mini-camp, having been a sometime starter for a year before in Oakland.)
Source(s): San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, "Inside The Oakland Raiders" blog (Bay Area News Group/InsideBayArea.com)
Where Are They Now Dept.: Remember WR Kevin McMahan from Maine? Chosen in 2006, he was one of several "Mr. Irrelevant" draft picks the Raiders had during this decade.
He was signed yesterday by Kansas City.
Source(s): CBS Sports
Reader Steve Holliday brought to our attention a jersey number switch . . . Peripatetic LB Akbar Gbaja-Biamila has switched numbers again, this time to No. 92, which became available when rookie free agent Derrick Gray gave up 92 for No. 73.
No. 73 had belonged to OL Adam Spieker, who was waived by the Raiders last week.
Someone at the Raiders HG was listening to us . . . (We're just kidding, but it wouldn't have hurt them.) We refer to the suggestion here in the News section a few days back that the Raiders try Edgerton Hartwell in the middle and move Kirk Morrison to the strong side. It appears they're going to take a look, at least, at exactly that, or so think both Chronicle beat writer David White and Bay Area New Group guru Jerry McDonald. Assuming Hartwell's knees and Achilles' hold up, it makes perfect sense.
Source(s): "Silver&Black" blog (San Francisco Chronicle), "Inside The Oakland Raiders" blog (Bay Area News Group/InsideBayArea.com)
Why DE Greg Spires was cut by Tampa Bay last February? Simple: money. The man was due to make $3.8 million in 2008. Whew!
Source(s): "Buc'em.com" (www.bucem.com), cited in today's RealFootball365.com blog post
An excellent article by Sports Illustrated's Don Banks from last Friday answers the question, when is a roster limit of 80 no longer a roster limit of 80? The answer is, once the roster exemptions previously allowed by NFL Europa are gone and 80 really means 80, not 86 or 87. We commend the article to readers' attention.
Where Are They Now Dept.: Ex-Raider Tyler Brayton's strength against the run is being counted on in Carolina, where the coaches hope to move Julius Peppers from left end to the right side, allowing him to rush the passer from the open (weak) side while leaning on Brayton to provide stouter run support opposite the opposing team's strong side. Details here.
We read somewhere today—Jerry McDonald's blog, perhaps?—that DE Greg Spires hasn't signed with the team yet. And to be precise, all that was originally reported was that the Raiders had reached agreement with Spires. The team has got to be right at its roster and/or salary cap limits, and that may be causing a pause before the club commits to signing Spires.
We saw also that the Raiders have inquired about Koren Robinson but have yet to get a response. We didn't think the team would be able to pass up a chance to at least talk to his agent. But, talented as Robinson is, he has also shown a real proclivity for self-destruction over his career. And the Raiders have not proven to be the league's best baby-sitters exactly (Darrell Russell, Barret Robbins and Dave Dalby come to mind).
There's a post we'd like to call to readers' attention, which appeared yesterday (May 9) in the "Shutdown Corner" blog published on the Yahoo! Sports site. It's titled "Howie Long didn't want his son to be a Raider?". On this site, naturally, it appears on the Articles page.
The post draws upon a Dr. Z mailbag column from SI.com, if you're into taking things back to their source.
We dislike the blog's author and readily admit it—this is a jerk who ridiculed Herschel Walker for writing about his DID disorder, thinking it was funny. But the facts stated in this post, assuming they are true and accurate, are somewhat shocking, and could readily explain why Howie Long might not be overly fond of principal owner Al Davis.
As is the case most years, ESPN.com wizard John Clayton is the first (we believe) to publish the rookie pool allotments for 2008. The concept is explained on our Rookie Salary Pool page, and Clayton goes over it each year, too. (So, too, generally, does Mike Florio in his "Rumor Mill" blog.) Based as it is on the number and slotting (position) of each team's draft picks for a given year, Kansas City—with 12 draft choices, and No. 5 in Round 1—led the parade for this season with $8,221,790. But don't envy them: Clayton observes, "Not only do they have two first-rounders to sign, but they have a second and three thirds."
The Raiders, who tied for the smallest draft class this year, were awarded $4,119,700 to sign their rookies—a figure roughly in the middle of the league. Note that this pool covers all rookies, not only the ones who were drafted, so it puts a practical ceiling on every NFL club's ability to sign endless rookies.
Source(s): "Silver&Black" blog (San Francisco Chronicle)
Semi-official word from the Raiders, relayed via both Jerry McDonald's and Jason Jones' blogs, is that Ed Hartwell will be given a shot at earning a starter's role at the "Sam" position—the strong side linebacker filled largely by Robert Thomas last year. The rationale given is the desire/need to improve the team's run defense.
We hate to be party-poopers, but anyone who's watched much of the Raiders the past two years has seen that MLB Kirk Morrison, as great as he is in pass defense, is less than stout against the run. And at 240 pounds, that's not likely to change. Morrison doesn't have a big enough frame to add much more weight (neither do Thomas Howard or Robert Thomas, for that matter). It's rare to see Morrison stop an opposing runner going forward into the hole; he virtually always drags down opponents' runners from behind. Not what you what a middle linebacker doing.
It may be heresy, but we'd try Hartwell in the middle and Morrison on the strong side, where his athleticism and good hands could aid in pass coverage. Recall that Morrison had a very good rookie season playing on the outside while Danny Clark was still on the team.
Yesterday the Raiders embarked on yet another wannabe rehab project in the form of MLB Edgerton Hartwell. The Chronicle and Jerry McDonald's blog reported the gist of this guy's story—a monster start to his NFL career with the Ravens, then a big free agent contract with Atlanta, followed by three years of injuries. His most recent contact with an NFL team was with Cincinnati, which signed him in May, 2007, then gave him an unconditional release by Cincinnati just before the beginning of the 2007 season. Hartwell sat out the regular season.
Now about to turn 30, both he and the Raiders are hoping he can come back. In his sophomore season (2002), at Baltimore, filling in when Ray Lewis was hurt, he had a mind-boggling 191 tackles for the season. He's doubtless worth a minimum salary, incentive-laden contract, and we'll bet that's just what he got. Good move for the player and the team.
Hartwell is built like a traditional middle linebacker "oughta" be built—6-1, 250 lbs. Well, actually another inch or two in height wouldn't hurt, but we like our inside backers at 250 or more. Think back to Matt Millen . . .
Source(s): "Inside The Oakland Raiders" blog (Bay Area News Group/InsideBayArea.com), San Francisco Chronicle, Yahoo! Sports
Over the last few months, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat has pretty well dropped off the face of the earth as far as covering our beloved Raiders is concerned. Once one of six Bay Area dailies that could be counted on for articles about the Raiders on most days, it has by and large ceased Raiders coverage entirely save republishing an occasional Bay Area News Group or Associated Press story.
So it's good news that, at least for draft time, The Press Demo's Phil Barber has been given his pen back again, so to speak. You'll find a bog post by him dated Apr. 21 and articles from the 21st and 23rd, all linked in the Articles section.
Barber's one of the better writers who used to cover the Raiders, so enjoy him while you can!
We used to say it often here on the site, but grew tired of the repetition: scroll down, readers, well beyond the fold. It's why browser color schemes enable differentiation between new links and visited ones.
We very often can't cover all the sites we visit every single day, so we play catch-up with some of them. Also, some sites post things late in the day, sometimes after we've been and gone. Readers should never assume that everything new is necessarily at the top of a given section; rather, we order links by date of publication.
Case in point why you should always check back a few screens: there's a good deal of good material from the 18th (yesterday) on the Sporting News site that we've only gotten to today. It's linked in the draft section here on this site. There's a radio interview with Chris Long that's less than inspirational, but still, it is Howie's kid. And there are position previews for several groups by ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio, who's very knowledgeable and opinionated enough to be interesting.
Mindful of yesterday's note in this section that free agency for RFAs had ended, we saw today that Pro Football Weekly reports that OLB Isaiah Ekejiuba was re-signed on April 15. He was tendered at the low level—$927,000—so per the CBA that's what the Raiders must pay him.
That leaves just four free agents for the Raiders, all unrestricted. Of the four, we'd venture to guess that the only one who might yet be re-signed (and only if the Raiders can't find a more suitable backup for JaMarcus Russell) is QB Daunte Culpepper. Personally we liked RB ReShard Lee a lot, but he looks to be a victim of a numbers game at his position.
Late update: Today closed out restricted free agency for 2008. There's a good piece by ESPN.com wizard John Clayton analyzing this year's trends.
For all you trivia freaks, Raiders.com has answered the burning question, what jersey number will new corner DeAngelo Hall wear this year? No. 23, says the roster.
It had been clear from the lengthy period he was shown as without a number that no one was going to take the team's franchise player's number away. We refer to No. 21, worn by Nnamdi Asomugha now and previously, in Atlanta, by Hall.
The team's newest Raiders, cornerbacks Michael Waddell and Duane Starks, remain number-less for now.
Source(s): Raiders.com
Another free agent signing to report, plus a correction.
Signed yesterday was CB Michael Waddell, a three-year vet drafted in the fourth-round by Tennessee in 2004. He played in all 16 games in both 2004 and 2005, then suffered a ruptured patellar tendon (kneecap) requiring surgery and spent the 2006 season on injured reserve. He attempted a comeback in 2007 but was waived after training camp.
The Raiders have obviously decided to take a gamble on his knee and probably gave him a very low-risk contract. Waddell is 5-10, 180, 27 years old and attended North Carolina.
The correction is that Duane Starks was signed on the 15th, not the 16th as we reported yesterday.
Source(s): Raiders.com, NFL.com, Rotoworld.com, San Francisco Chronicle
The Raiders finally re-signed S Jarrod Cooper today. He's an extremely important member of the special teams coverage units.
The Raiders also re-signed veteran CB Duane Starks, 33, today. He was on the team for the first three games of 2007 but was released when the roster exemption for late-arriving rookie QB JaMarcus Russell expired.
Starks signed a one-year contract, undoubtedly for the veteran minimum. Because of an arcane provision in the salary cap, that almost certainly means he'll get the fat salary but the team will only have to pay (and count against the cap) the cost of a third-year player; this year that's $445,000.
Source(s): San Francisco Chronicle, Pro Football Weekly, "Inside The Oakland Raiders" blog (Bay Area News Group/InsideBayArea.com)
Where Are They Now Dept.: One-time promising young FB John Paul Foschi, released by the Raiders in 2006 in one of then-coach Art Shell's inscrutable personnel moves, signed a two-year contract with division rival Kansas City today.
Source(s): Associated Press
With the draft set to kick off two weeks from yesterday and little in the NFL news world except draft speculation, we'll focus today on updating our draft links section and our summary of pundits' predictions whom Oakland will take at No. 4.
Late update: There's an informative article available that touches on the Matt Stover-led effort to find a replacement for players union chief Gene Upshaw. Stover's e-mail made the news this week when it was leaked to the media, but Liz Mullen writes that it was fallout from a failed coup attempt against the former Raider which occurred at the union's annual meetings in Maui in mid-March.
The article which started the brouhaha came from ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Apr. 9.Source(s): SportingNews.com, ESPN.com
Late update: We wrote earlier (at the foot of today's news) that we'd seen at least one report that Miami is talking with Vernon Gholston's agent(s). We've since read multiple confirmations of that, and that a Florida paper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reported the Miami negotiations with both Jake Long's and Gholston's representatives today, so it's pretty well established fact, and not guesswork, we'd now say.
Source(s): SportingNews
"Rumor Mill" editor Mike Florio, who's now also a frequent contributor to SportingNews, has kicked up a nice ruckus with one of his latest "league source" reports. (Aren't they always anonymous?) Florio wrote yesterday that there are "strong indications" that the Raiders will select Ohio State DE/OLB Vernon Gholston in the coming draft. Florio made it emphatic enough that both the SacBee's Jason Jones and Yahoo! Sports picked it up today, almost as if it's gospel truth.
Meanwhile, Pro Football Weekly, which has at least as much credibility as Florio and arguably more, wrote yesterday that principal owner Al Davis is "intoxicated" with Darren McFadden, not Gholston. Says PFW, quoting a Raiders source, Davis is down on Ohio State players since he traded up to take Rickey the DUDley back in 1996 and Dudley fizzled big-time. That's an entirely plausible theory. Dudley actually flopped as a Raider twice—remember that then-Head-Coach Norv Turner brought Dudley back to Oakland's 2005 training camp, after he'd played in Tampa Bay for a few years, to see if he could contribute, but the Ohio State product didn't make the team's final cut on Sept. 3 of that year.
It all goes to prove that at draft time, what sells is guesswork, and everybody engages in it—everybody.
If you think this is convoluted, consider the shell game Bill Parcells is playing in Miami, which has the No. 1 pick. He has not-very-secretly met with representatives for Michigan T Jake Long but not with agents for Virginia DE Chris Long, in whom Miami is thought to be just as interested. And to hedge his bets—some think Parcells will try to play off the top four or so players against one another in order to get a better contract with his ultimate selection—late today we saw at least one report that said (guessed?) that Miami is talking to Gholston advisors as well.
Source(s): ProFootballTalk.com ("Rumor Mill"), Pro Football Weekly
Guessing as to when the league may release the 2008 schedule, Florio noted, "NFL Network is still scheduled to air at 4:30 p.m. EDT on April 17 a two-hour edition of Total Access, which presumably is the tentative time for the release of the schedule and the analysis of the matchups."
Source(s): ProFootballTalk.com ("Rumor Mill")
Source(s): Associated Press
Arkansas RB Darren McFadden visited Alameda yesterday. It doesn't mean the Raiders are likely to draft him, necessarily. As one of the beat writers—don't remember which—observed, you can bet the Raiders will have each of the top six or seven prospects in for a visit, interviews, etc. before draft weekend rolls around.
For what it's worth, Raiders writer par excellence Jerry McDonald states the case for drafting McFadden very well today in his blog post—while adding that tomorrow he'll offer the case against.
Our own preference: probably NT Sedrick Ellis from USC. We think defensive tackle is the greatest position of need, and Glenn Dorsey of LSU, the top-rated tackle, will be long gone before the Raiders pick at No. 4. The clincher for us came on the FOXSports video clips from USC's Pro Day—linked in our draft section on April 6, when they appeared— where Ellis is asked which team he'd like to go to. He replies, "Oakland." He notes he's a "Southern California boy" and says he thinks he could help the team in Oakland.
We like that. He's not scared off by the bad publicity the Raiders have had this off-season. And although earlier polls had Ellis lower than a top 5 pick, in his Pro Day last week he shaved three-tenths of a second off his already-good 40 time. For a 300-pounder, the guy can motor! He's moving up in the list with every passing day now, so we don't think he'd be a reach.
Source(s): InsideBayArea.com, "Inside The Oakland Raiders" blog (Bay Area News Group/InsideBayArea.com), FOXSports.com
In comments from Lane Kiffin included in a San Francisco Chronicle article, beat writer David White wrote: "Strong safety Michael Huff 'is on our plans, definitely' Kiffin said after the 2006 first-round pick was floated as a trade candidate. 'Michael playing back and Gibril (Wilson) playing down.' "
That translates to Huff moving to free safety and new Raider Gibril Wilson, who played at free last year for the Giants, switching to strong safety. It makes sense given Huff's speed and body type.
And there's been no official comment from the Raiders organization, but it's evident that they let Chris Carr go for a little over $900K by not matching Tennessee's offer. Stoopid . . . They're giving millions to questionable producers like Kwame Harris and Kalimba Edwards. Carr, in only three years as a Raider, became the team's all-time leader in kickoff returns. Remember that the Raiders have had some pretty dynamic returners over the years—it used to be an Al Davis signature, that any Raiders team had powerful return units. Guys like Greg Pruitt, Harold Hart, and Kenny King were dynamite returners, and little Chris Carr passed them all in just three seasons.
We often only see interesting items a day or two (or more) after the fact, what with the time we spend physically maintaining this site.
We commend to our readers a piece from April 2 by Ira Miller, an excellent writer who knows his stuff, about the labor issue that is likely to dominate NFL news in the later part of this year—whether the owners choose to opt out of the CBA. Miller provides background and corrects some common misunderstandings as well as offers an appraisal of the present balance of power in labor relations between owners and players. Whether or not you're in agreement, Miller's article is definitely worth reading. We've linked it here, but it's also in the Articles section for April 2.
Source(s): The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
There was a very interesting piece of commentary in a draft column yesterday on the Pro Football Weekly site.
Raiders fans who've been following the big name players expected to go early in the first round in this year's draft probably know that there are two big-time prospects at defensive tackle, LSU's Glenn Dorsey and USC's Sedrick Ellis. Nearly all pundits rate Dorsey over Ellis, with Dorsey considered a top three pick and Ellis in the top ten to twelve. Dorsey's heavier and thought to be somewhat more dominant. What reservations there are about Dorsey have to do with a hairline tibia fracture he had and whether it's entirely healed.
Southern Cal held its Pro Day this week and, writing about NT Ellis, PFW's draft expert Nolan Nawrocki observed,
The Saints' new D-line coach, Ed Oregeron, who helped recruit NT Sedrick Ellis to USC, put Ellis through a series of workouts, and the Saints could use help on the inside. However, after Ellis dropped 11 pounds from the Combine to his pro day and cut his 40-time more than two-tenths of a second from an average hand-held time of 5.3 at the Combine, Ellis is not expected to last until the Saints' selection at No. 10.
"He's the real deal," one longtime evaluator said. ""He battled (Chiefs DL coach Tim) Krumrie hard. He got after it in his positional workout. He worked out great. Oakland might have to look at him a little more closely after how he performed today."
The Sports Xchange's Rob Rang, also in attendance, was similarly impressed by Ellis' improved times and other measurables which helped his stock.
You can find these original articles on the draft links page (current articles section) for April 3.
Source(s): Pro Football Weekly, The Sports Xchange/CBS Sports
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