Here We Go Again

As if the Flyers haven't had enough goaltending controversy this season yet another goalie has gone down with an injury. Early in the season it was Ray Emery that got hurt and ended his comeback year. Then, after only a few games Brian Boucher gets injured and thus entered the unknown Michael Leighton. He has done a tremendous job filling in after being picked up off of waivers from Carolina on Dec. 15. He was 16-5-2 with a 2.48 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Those are good numbers and obviously the Flyers organization agreed considering they did not pursue a goalie at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, now the injury bug has caught Leighton which leaves Boucher to start. Philadelphia called up Jeremy Duchesne to fill in as Boucher's back-up. Do these two goaltenders sound like viable options in the midst of a heated playoff push? No. The Flyers organization need to get their heads on straight and realize they will not win another Cup until they get a legitimate tender. It wasn't Clarkie that won the Cup, it was the play of Bernie Parent. Two names that are floating around in the off-season are Tomas Vokoun and Jaroslav Halak. Both are legitimate goalies and would provide the Flyers some consistency in net that they have been lacking for years.

Another QB?

The Eagles QB coach and offensive coordinator were both in attendance to watch QB John Skelton out of Fordham throw at his pro day. Its interesting that the Eagles are scouting another quarterback seeing that they already have three on their roster. Is it possible that they are eying up Skelton to be the next QB in line and they hang on to McNabb this year but trade Kolb while his value is high? It seems unlikely because the locker room prefers Kolb and the organization has been grooming him to take over for three years now. But if they decide to move Kolb and keep McNabb for one more run then eying a player that could down the road be a starter in this league and select him in the middle rounds could turn out to be a very smart decision. But there are a lot of ifs about this scenario. First, they would have to be confident Skelton will be the guy of the future. Second, they would have to have a good season next year to save face for keeping McNabb. Third, they have been grooming Kolb for three years and spent a second round pick on him. It will be very interesting to see if this interest in Skelton amounts to anything and leads to the Eagles moving one of their QBs.

A Final Encore

Domonic Brown, a 20th round pick out of high school turned down a full ride to the University of Miami for football to pursue a career in baseball. He was protected by the Phillies when they made trades for Cliff Lee and most recently, Roy Halladay. Today proved why the Phillies decided to keep him over arguably more popular Michael Taylor. (Taylor was 6'6" and had tremendous speed and batting for average ability.) But the organization favored Brown and he made them look good today against the Tigers. He was 3-3 with a walk, two home-runs and four RBIs. Ironically, after the game he was sent down to the Minor League Camp. This spring Brown didn't let any of the hype about his talent or expectations and comparisons to Darryl Strawberry get to his head. He batted an outstanding .435 with two home-runs, eight RBIs, three walks, and only five strikeouts. He displayed tremendous athleticism in the field as well tracking down fly balls and throwing out base-runners with his strong arm. Standing at 6'5" and 200 lbs. he is an athletic specimen with five-tool talent. Interestingly, since he is a lefty batter one would think he would thrive against righties and struggle against lefties. But, this spring was the exact opposite. Brown batted .583 against lefties and .250 against righties. How he fares against right handed pitchers will be something to watch as he starts in the minors this season. He will be fun to track this year and possibly even see him get a late-season call up. Let's hope the strong spring rolls over into the regular season for Brown.

Another 3rd Round Option

Besides Rolle and Ward another safety that may be available in the 3rd round for the Jags to take is from a school very close by. Major Wright (FS,Florida) is a tough, strong player that can deliver a big hit and make a play to energize the defense. That was something the Jags defense definitely lacked this past season.

Jaguars Mock Draft

Round 1: Derrick Morgan-(DE, Georgia Tech) Lets hope he is a better choice than when they traded up for Derrick Harvey.
Round 2: No pick
Round 3: Myron Rolle-(S, Florida St.)/T.J Ward (S,Oregon) Rolle might be gone by this point at the rate his stock is rising, but Ward is a pretty good consolation prize. He is a solid safety that went down with an injury this past season, but when he plays he is a solid tackler that does a good job watching the QB's eyes. He is not a wow player but the Jags need smart, athletic players that have a strong foundation of toughness and instincts.
Round 4: John Skelton-(QB, Fordham) Getting a QB in the 4th round that can develop into a NFL starter one day is a steal. The Jags have David Garrard right now. He can be sufficient for the time being, but he will never be the long-time answer nor will he ever be an elite QB. Skelton has the size and arm strength of a prototypical NFL QB. He needs to spend time learning at the pro level and develop his entire skill set instead of depending on his arm strength. But, with the time and patience he could one day take over QB there and provide a staple in their anemic pass attack.
Round 5: Eric Olsen(C, Notre Dame)/Ciron Black(OG, LSU) The "heart and sole" of the line is known for his nastiness and and versatility. I love linemen that play with a mean streak and are nasty. I'm sure NFL line coaches feel the same way. The Jags could use a player with nastiness to help inject some meanness into a lackluster line. If Olsen isn't there Black would be a solid pick and possibly even a steal in the 5th round. He is a solid pass blocker and is a massive maneater that can create space for the small MJD.
Round 6: Dexter Davis(DE/OLB, Arizona State) Had 31.0 career sacks...3rd most in school history...That says enough for a team that only had 14.0 sacks last season.

Changing of the Guard?

The ESPN Scout inc. came out with their updates Top 32 prospects for the upcoming draft. If you take a close look at it you will discover some interesting statistics. There are two Rutgers players in the Top 32, OT Anthony Davis (ranked #5 overall) and CB Devin McCourty (ranked #31 overall). Both of these players continue to generate draft buzz and look to climb into a solid round 1 pick after the scouting combine.
If you took another look you would notice there is only one Penn State player in the Top 32, DT Jared Odrick (ranked #28 overall). It is surprising to see Rutgers, a school that annually loses it's top in-state prospects to Penn State, with more players in the Top 32. Granted OLB Navarro Bowman has been in and out of the Top 32 and will most likely be a 1st round pick this year, but still, in the updated Top 32 there are less Nittany Lions than Scarlet Knights. Who would've thought? Well Greg Schiano has done a great job at Rutgers bringing in solid talent and molding them into top players.
If you took another look there is only one more Oklahoma Sooner than Rutger Scarlet Knight. Before five years ago that would never have been possible to fathom and now its a reality. There are two Alabama players in the Top 32. That's right, the same team that just won the National Championship with the same amount of Top 32 players than the Scarlet Knights of the lackluster Bis East.
How about the team Alabama played in the National Championship? Texas only has two members of the Top 32 as well.
I could continue to go on and on with very well known teams lacking supreme talent, but that's not my point. My point is that with the new scholarship rules the top teams of the NCAA are not able to hoard all the talent in the country. Therefore that talent is trickling through to the second tier teams. As a result these teams are now becoming more competitive and making the overall college football field a lot stronger across the board. In the near future look out for some fairly unknown teams to overtake the traditional giants. Just ask Notre Dame who by the way have no players in the Top 32.

Spotlight: Devin McCourty (CB, Rutgers)

I grew up in New Jersey watching Rutgers from the stands singing "Hoo Rah Hoo Rah Rutgers Ra" every game watching the program slowly ascend the rankings of the college football elite. They are still not there yet, but if you look at the amount of prospects being drafted now and where they are being drafted compared to five years ago, you can see the program getting much stronger. The prospect I'd like to focus on is cornerback Devin McCourty.
His brother, Jason, is now playing for the Tennessee Titans. He was a sixth round draft pick last year, but do to little depth in the secondary he started part way through the year.
Devin, who was back in school in 2009 because of a redshirt his freshman year, took advantage of the sole spotlight. He had 80 tackles and ten pass breakups this past season and anchored the defense that lost multiple players to the NFL last year. Also, McCourty is a tremendous special teams player, which will raise his draft stock because he can come in from day 1 and contribute in ST while making the adjustment to being an NFL CB. He is a very sound player and does not have many holes in his game. He isn't flashy and wont stand out except on special teams where he can block punts and change a game. But, at corner he will do his job quietly and efficiently. He is getting comparisons to Ronde Barber from Tampa Bay. That is a pretty good player to be compared to. Barber has been to multiple Pro Bowls and is very consistent in his play. He is also a great leader and a very talented defensive back.
McCourty also is very good against the run. He is a strong tackler and is able to consistently wrap up the ball carrier. That is the biggest weakness of most NFL corners. Asante Samuel has missed the most tackles I have ever seen and I think is one of the worst tacklers in football. Any team could use a corner that is sound in coverage, man and zone, and also attacks the run, tackles well and can read the quarterback well. He can blow up screen plays, which is Sheldon Brown-esc. The bottom line is McCourty is a very solid player with leadership ability and few, if any, holes. He can immediately contribute on special teams and he wont be far off from contributing on defense as well. Any team that takes him will have a very strong, well-rounded corner for years.