Draft Rumblings: Falcons in Fascinating Spot
In his first draft as Falcons GM, Tom Dimitroff holds the keys to the top 10 in Saturday's NFL Draft. Yeah, the Dolphins have the first overall pick, but the Falcons hold the swing pick - No. 3 overall - because so much will hinge on what they do.
The prevailing hunch - and the fear if you're the Baltimore Ravens - is that Atlanta will take Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan. If we assume that Jake Long and Chris Long go 1 and 2, this means the Falcons would be passing on Glenn Dorsey, Sedrick Ellis and Vernon Gholston in this scenario.
If Dimitroff goes the other way and takes Dorsey, the Ravens - quarterback-hungry and sitting at No. 8 - do handsprings and Atlanta still gets a critical building block.
There will be howling if Atlanta passes on Ryan. Chris Redman, Joey Harrington and D.J. Shockley comprise the depth chart at the moment. That's not a recipe for huge success. But there's another trump card in Dimitroff's pocket to play. With seven of the top 103 picks and 11 overall, Dimitroff can still get Atlanta a big quarterback upgrade and take Dorsey. How? Call the Jets.
Chad Pennington's tenure in The Apple is pretty much up. Clearly New York is moving toward Kellen Clemens as its starter meaning that one of the league's most accurate, tough, smart and professional quarterbacks is being phased out at the age of 31.
Does he have a popgun arm? Absolutely. But if Atlanta can get a deal done for Pennington on draft day and use a second-round pick on Chad Henne, Brian Brohm or - best case - Joe Flacco they'll hit on two key spots and add a pro's pro to the offense in Pennington. Then the newbie quarterback can watch how Pennington runs the team before taking over.
There's been talk of the Ravens possibly moving up to get a crack at Ryan. My sources tell me that's unlikely. They think the other quarterbacks have serious upside as well and don't want to sacrifice valuable picks later in the day to make that move up.
TUESDAY EARLY LINK
There's a really fascinating story from former NFL executive Mike Lombardi talking about the team-building mindset of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
In it, Lombardi says, "Belichick's evaluation technique falls along the same lines of another Boston icon, Red Auerbach. The legendary Celtics coach once said of scouting: "I get my information from my eyes, not my ears." Belichick has given me the same advice in the past. Once I jokingly complained to him about him not being an open book. "You get everything you need on Sundays," he said. "Every question you guys have gets answered on Sundays when we play the games - schemes, personnel - everything."
After I moved in 2006 from covering the Patriots beat for the Providence Journal to covering the league for NBCSports.com, Belichick asked me how it was going. I told him that it was time-consuming getting to know the scouts and GMs from all 32 teams. "Watch as many games as you can," he instructed. "You can sit there all day and talk to GMs and scouts but they are only going to tell you what they want you to know."
*****
I'll be back this evening with updates on what we're hearing as the draft approaches.
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Drilling deeply into the mantle layer of America's Passion, NBCSports.com's Tom Curran offers up quick hits and insights on all things NFL.
I think the NBC crew exagerated somewhat the knee problems of Tiger Woods. True that he winced a few times and seemed to favor his left leg at other times. But, all of a sudden, he was no longer wincing, no longer favoring the leg. Either he took some anti-inflammatory pills along the course or his onlooking father interceded on his behalf from above! I happenned to get the same operation he had. There is no way one could bend his knee so easily while reading a putt with that type of reported injury. I do not dispute his greatness, but to throw away a club in disgust after a missed shot did impress me too much. But at least, I did not see him spit this time!
Go Rocco, go!