WHAT'S GOING ON WITH FOOTBALL RIGHT NOW?
By mark rogers
February 28, 2010
On the surface, things are calm and smooth. Not a whole lot going on.
Underneath, however, there's a world of life and activity that can satisfy the football appetite if you're patient enough to put on a protective wet suit and some goggles and go diving.
It's a little more difficult than watching the NFL Redzone channel during the season when you can put the remote down, open the bag of chips and let some technician in who-knows-where flip to all the different games for you.
Those days are over until September.
For now we have to actually do some work to find our football news.
To review:
The Cowboys are in good shape this off-season. Team officials have been quoted saying that the goal of the draft is to just pick the best player on the board when it's their turn. That's good news and usually leads to some pretty good drafts...something Jerry Jones has been pretty good at over the years.
Terrell Owens' contract will not be renewed by the Buffalo Bills. He's about to 37 years old. His stint with Dallas seems like ancient history.
A handful of college programs have already started spring practice.
Texas Tech will enter spring drills with a lot of the same players but a completely different look. Not since Mike Leach first came to town has their been such a buzz in Lubbock. The offense seems to be in pretty good shape with Taylor Potts and Steven Sheffield to compete for the QB job. RB is a stable position. And you know they have big O-linemen and great WRs.
The question will be on defense where new DC James Willis will try and take a heavy defensive 2009 recruiting class and turn the Raiders into a defensive power.
There have been rumors about Texas joining the Big 10. You have to wonder why and how those rumors were started to begin with, but Texas has denied having any discussion with the floundering conference up north.
It would actually be a pretty entertaining move in my opinion. UT would join the conference as the immediate front-runner (in my opinion) and it would allow a TCU or Houston to join the Big 12 and position themselves a little better for a BCS appearance. Anyway, it's not going to happen, but I wouldn't be sad if it did.
On the football field at UT, it's all about the QB situation and replacing the NCAA's all-time winningest QB, Colt McCoy. Garrett Gilbert is the starter for sure, as of now. The true sophomore earned the trust of coaches, teammates and fans by his gutsy performance in Pasadena. Side note: Gilbert's dad, Gale, is the only player in NFL history to play in five straight Super Bowls...he lost ALL FIVE. Four with Buffalo and then with the Chargers the next year. Can you imagine? What are the chances? Brutal...
The big question is the No. 2 spot. Will Sherrod Harris, the senior, be able to outplay two incoming freshman in Case McCoy and Connor Wood?
Offensive Line will be the other big position for UT to worry about. They lose a lot of experience but have some ridiculously talented athletes waiting to take over. Apparently Mack Brown is intrigued with the two-back systems like Alabama runs so we could see a major move from a predominant spread offense Texas has run since VY was in town.
Tre Newton has the starting running back job, but there are several guys that could earn some meaningful minutes and really make an impact (i.e. sophomore Chris Waley, DJ Monroe, Cody Johnson and others).
Texas also has to replace one of the greatest WR in school history: Jordan Shipley.
Moving on...
The NFL combine started this week. I've been watching and recording as much as I can. I can't get enough.
I was very impressed with running backs Jahvid Best, CJ Spiller and Ben Tate (Cal, Clemson and Auburn respectively). Overall the RBs this year are all ridiculously fast and ridiculously huge. Really a great group.
Colt McCoy looked good running around, but he didn't throw (he wasn't medically cleared). Neither did Tim Tebow who continues to take huge criticism for his throwing motion, which he is apparently "tweaking" for his pro day in Gainesville in a few weeks.
Notre Dame WR Notre Dame was impressive, too. He broad jumped 10 feet. I watched it in slow motion. It looked fake.
I would love to have an "Everyman's Combine" where a bunch of average Joe's go out and time 40s, do vertical jumps, run cone drills, etc.
It would be hilarious to see how the Couch-coaches would do on all those measurables. I wonder if I could run a sub-5 second 40...doubt it. I do know my vertical is probably somewhere in the teens...embarrassing.
Some other things going on include the standard off-season arrests and court appearances by more than too many of our current student athletes.
Now that recruiting for 2010 is over, you'll start hearing more and more about junior days which will be pivotal for schools' 2011 recruiting classes.
OK, guess that's it for now...
This USA/Canada hockey game is can't-miss TV...incredible stuff.
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