Defense End/Rush Linebacker

Florida

6-3 266

40 time (projected): 4.69

Draft board overall prospect rank: #57

Draft board defensive end rank: #7

Overall rating: 77*

1/21/10: He doesn’t have amazing athleticism, but he has an amazing motor and that’s really half of the battle. He would fit very well as a rush linebacker or a cover 2 defensive end. I think a lot higher of him than most places do and he’ll probably be drafted in the 4^th round at the highest, but he has borderline 2^nd round skills. His fundamentals are very sound.

12/12/09: Scrappy is a word used most with baseball and basketball players, but Jermaine Cunningham is a scrappy football player.

            11/27/09: Jermaine Cunningham is one of my favorite underrated college football players. He was a big time recruit out of High School and picked the University of Florida, where he has yet to establish major statistical success. He doesn’t have great measurable size or measurable speed, but I have been extremely impressed with him when I have watched him. He hustles every single play and has a great heart. He’s a great leader on the football field and though his sacks totals aren’t extremely high, they are consistently above average. He’s often in the backfield and uses his hands very well. He breaks up passes and also has an interception which leads me to believe that he’ll be a very good rush linebacker in the NFL, which would negate his lack of elite size and allow him to display his full range of speed rushing moves. He also uses his hands in the trenches on passing plays to negate his lack of size. He pushes off of offensive linemen very well and he has very long arms which makes him tough to block. He is a sound tackler and is not easily broken because his arms are both long and strong and he wraps up properly. He hits hard as well and has a good number of forced fumbles especially for his size. He’s an extremely smart player as well. The major knock on him is obviously his size. He can be driven off of the line quickly and though he never gives up on a play and is constantly trying to break blocks, that will hurt him in the NFL. However, if he moves to rush linebacker, that won’t be an issue. He also fits extremely well as a cover 2 defensive end because he has a good repertoire of speed rushing moves, he plays faster than he times, and because of his great uses of his hands and his arms. He was arrested in December 2007 for an altercation in a sandwich shop, but as bad as that sounds, that seems to be a one time isolated incident, and thus somewhat excusable for an NFL prospect (I said lettuce, dammit!). His character on the field with his hustle and his willingness to play through injuries, played the entire 2008 season through a hyper extended knee which also could be to blame for less than excellent production that year, makes up for that incident. He is a small guy, but uses everything he has to get the job done and he’s a consistent senior with 3 strong college seasons. He’ll make a good rush linebacker or cover 2 defensive end in the NFL, but might not be drafted, because of his lack of elite production, elite size, or an elite 40 time, until the 4^th round.

NFL Comparison: Alex Brown

Zuttah is a pretty average guard, ranking 25^th according to ProFootballFocus last season, allowing 2 sacks, 15 pressures, and committing 8 penalties in 12 games at left guard for Tampa Bay last season. Given that, 4 years, 16 million seems pretty reasonable for him. The Buccaneers have needs at almost every position this offseason and they didn’t want to make left guard another one of them. They have a lot of cap space so credit them for resigning Zuttah before he could hit the open market.

Grade: B

Wide Receiver

Tulane

6-0 206

40 time: 4.57

Draft board overall prospect rank: #65

Draft board wide receiver rank: #7

Overall rating: 75*

             3/27/10: Jeremy Williams would be one of my favorite wide receivers of this draft class if it weren’t for two things, an ugly history of injuries, and the lack of experience and consistency as a result of those injuries. Williams has very nice reliable hands and good experience succeeding and putting up huge numbers in a Pro Style offense. Last year he caught 84 passes for 1113 yards and 7 touchdowns for a team that didn’t have a great passing game. He had 84 of his team’s 234 catches, 1113 of their 2436 receiving yards, and 7 of their 13 passing touchdowns. All of their, remember, is in a true Pro Style offense so the learning curve is going to be much smaller for him when he gets drafted. He has good hands. He runs good routes. He knows how to get open and, more importantly possibly, he doesn’t necessarily need to be open to catch the ball. He’s very good at making catches against tight coverage and made his quarterbacks look much better than they actually were last year. He doesn’t have breakaway speed. In fact, his speed is fairly sub par and that hurts him at the next level, but he does have experience running on end arounds and returning kicks and showed very good open field presence on those, though his speed is still fairly limited and I wouldn’t call him a running back in the open field with the way he breaks tackles. He breaks a few, but not a ton. He’s a very smart player. He’s very humble by nature and he catches the ball at it’s highest point with an NFL caliber leap. However, the injuries are there. He has 2 ACL tears in his career at Tulane. This not only doesn’t bode well for his future, as scouts try to predicate what he will be like in the future and how that knee will hold up, but it also makes him a bit of a one year wonder. He’s looked good in flashes before, but he really only has one good year of production, and even that was against not the toughest competition. I would take Jeremy Williams in the second round, probably, though I, obviously have not gotten a chance to check out his knee myself, nor would I know what I was looking at if I did. If individual team doctors give a favorable review on his knee, he could go as high as the 2^nd round, and remember, all it takes is one. Then again, if that doesn’t happen, he could slip to the 4^th where he could be a huge steal if he stays healthy. He has borderline 1^st round talent if he can stay healthy and adjust to a tougher level of competition, which is probably going to be a lot easier than some college style offense guys trying to transition to a real Pro Style scheme.    

NFL Comparison: Nate Burleson

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here

The Jaguars needed to resign Mincey, otherwise they would need two new defensive ends this offseason, with all of their needs on the offensive side of the ball too, because they weren’t serious contenders for Mario Williams or John Abraham. Given that, I think they got a great deal for Jeremy Mincey, who emerged as one of the better 4-3 ends in the league this season.

ProFootballFocus ranked him 12^th among all 4-3 defensive ends as he had 8 sacks (19^th) and 38 pressures (7^th), while being above average against the run (14^th). Less than 7 million per year (4 years, 27.2 million) is completely reasonable for someone like that. The best part, if Mincey proves to be a one year wonder, only the first year (9 million) is guaranteed, so they can cut him without penalty at any point after the season.

Grade: A

Defensive End

Oklahoma

6-2 262

Draft board overall prospect rank: #105

Draft board overall defensive end rank: #16

Overall rating: 67 (late 3rd)

40 time: 5.13

4/12/10: When you look at Jeremy Beal’s stats, you’d think he could be a first round pick as a pass rusher. He has 27 sacks in the last 3 years, including 11 in 2009 and 9 in 2010, but he’s not very athletic and he’s having a terrible offseason. He struggled in the Senior Bowl and Senior Bowl practices, getting swallowed up by bigger offensive linemen in the trenches and causing people to wonder if he was only a linebacker at the next level.

He played some linebacker at Oklahoma, especially on running downs, because of his inability to play in the trenches consistently, so this isn’t a new problem. If he couldn’t play in the trenches in college, he’s going to have a lot of trouble consistently playing in the trenches in the NFL. Given this, it was good that he played some linebacker in college, as it will help him transition to rush linebacker in the NFL.

What won’t help him as a rush linebacker at the next level is his 40 time. He ran a 5.13 at The Combine. He struggled in coverage drills and he’s really not athletic at all with a 28 inch vertical and arms that are short. I don’t think he’s much more than a nickel rusher at the next level, but given his track record of success in college, I think he can be a very good nickel rusher.

NFL Comparison: Dewayne White

Wow this is a surprise. I would have though Saturday would sign with the Broncos in Denver and rejoin Peyton Manning, but I guess I can see why he went to Green Bay. After all, they did recently win a Super Bowl and they do have a gaping hole at center. The Packers are getting Saturday for 8 million over 2 years and I’m assuming only one of those years is guaranteed.

He’s still a great player who ranked 5th on ProFootballFocus last season and he’s a much safer option for the Packers than an unproven rookie or unproven career backup Evan Dietrich-Smith. Scott Wells ranked 4^th last season so unless Saturday declines, they probably won’t notice much of a difference and he’s a lot cheaper than Wells (4 years 24 million), though Wells is much younger. I definitely understand why the Packers did this.

Grade: A

By Sean Geddes  

Today, the Steelers waived kicker Jeff Reed, and signed Shaun Suisham. Reed is currently 13^th all time in field goal percentage and tenth among active kickers, but his misses this year, some in big time situations, combined with his off field antics and recent verbal lashing of fans, all put together signaled the end of the Reed era in Pittsburgh.

I have been a Reed fan, on the field, for many years. His accuracy in a stadium known for tricky swirling winds has been something to marvel at. Opposing kickers, before Sunday night’s game, were making kicks at Heinz at a 77% rate, Reed’s numbers have spoken for themselves.

I was of the opinion that this was Reed’s last year in Pittsburgh anyway, if for nothing else due to his salary aspirations. I did not foresee the Steelers paying any kicker top flight money for the position, especially after that bar was raised in the offseason by the Raiders and Sebastian Janikowski.

Jeff was brought in during the 2002 season, to replace an injured and ineffective Todd Peterson. He was reportedly called in for the tryout while he was milking cows trying to make end’s meat after failing to secure a job during a tryout with New Orleans. Off of the field, Reed has been active in the Pittsburgh area, raising money for multiple charities, as well as being a regular at Pittsburgh Penguins hockey games.

Since his time in Pittsburgh began, Reed has made 81.9% of his field goals. As I already wrote, this is good for tenth most accurate active kicker and 13^th most accurate in the history of the league. He has never missed a single post season kick in his career.

In his place the Steelers have signed Shaun Suisham, who I have affectionately called Squeeze-ham since his days in Washington. Over the course of his 5 year career, Shaun has made 79.1% of his kicks attempted. He is 21 of 21 from inside of 30 yards, 21 of 26 from 30-39 yards, 23 of 33 from 40-49 yards and 2 of 6 from 50+ yards out. He has never attempted a kick at Heinz Field as a professional.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/

Go back to Steelers Fan Spot 

Guard/Center

USC

6-3 301

40 time (projected): 5.15

Draft board overall prospect rank: #153

Draft board guard rank: #9

Overall rating: 59*

            Jeff Byers was one of the more highly recruited centers of the decade before he committed to USC, who moved him to guard. He missed significant amounts of time in his first two years, but as soon as he got healthy, from his junior year on, he was every bit the player he was expected to be, making the All-American 3^rd team in 2009 and playing both guard and center on a high level. The issue: somehow, no one noticed, even though he was playing on USC’s massive stage. He gets a bad rap for being undersized, but even when he was playing at 290 in the Senior Bowl, he was stopping nose tackle sized guys one on one. He didn’t have their physical size, but it didn’t matter. At the Combine, he bulked up to 303, more than enough to play left guard in the NFL in most schemes, though he would be best off in a zone blocking scheme. He has an amazing work ethic and he’s extremely tough. His motor never shuts off and he has great footwork, mobility, and smart leverage. He’s a very efficient blocker using every bit of his size to his advantage. He turns 25 later this year, which limits his upside a lot, but he’s a very solid, what you see is what you get guy and what you see is a solid depth guard. He has the smarts to play center as well and I could see him as a starting center in this league, in addition to being a solid depth guy at guard. He is one of my favorite late round prospects and would be a solid addition for any team getting him, assuming the injuriy issues from his past don’t come back.

NFL Comparison: Ben Hamilton

*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here

I’m torn on this one. Jeff Backus sucks and at 35 in September, he’s not getting much better. Last season, he allowed 7 sacks, 36 pressures, and committed 11 penalties. The Lions really need to draft a new left tackle. However, this is a thin left tackle class and the Lions don’t pick until #23. There probably won’t be a tackle capable of starting on the left side available at 23 so the Lions may have to draft someone who is a project or wait a year to address the position. There also weren’t any proven left tackles on the open market.

They didn’t have another option on the roster and Backus at least gives them continuity. It’s not a very long deal (2 years) and there probably isn’t a lot of guaranteed money. Besides, Backus is versatile and can play right tackle and guard, where they also need some help. I still feel 5 million per year is a bit rich for him, but it’s not the worst move in the world.

Grade: C

By Michael J Morris 

If you haven’t heard, Jed York, the owner and president of the San Francisco 49ers still believes that his team is going to take the NFC West.  

“We’re going to win the division,” York vowed Monday morning in a text to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

York also indicated that Mike Singletary would remain head coach of the 49ers…at least for another week.

The 0-5 start by Singletary is the worst start for a San Francisco football team since Bill Walsh’s first season as the 49ers head coach in 1979.  That ’79 49ers team went 7 straight games without a win.  

Singletary is safe for now but it isn’t because he deserves to keep his job.  He hasn’t been fired yet because there is nobody on the staff with the capability to turn the team around and there is nobody on the market that would be willing to take such a job. 

The remainder of the schedule is soft but even if the team won 8 of the next 11 games they would only be .500. 

Either York knows something we don’t or York had such a rough Sunday night that it spilled into Monday morning.  Either York is confident, and knows something that nobody else in San Francisco is aware of, or he is simply crazy.  And I, like most I would assume, take the latter. 

While Singletary’s job may be in place right now, you can only go so long without winning games before you starting making moves and this week the 49ers will need to do something sooner rather than later.  

As much as I have tried to defend the guy, Alex Smith’s time in San Francisco is running out.  Singletary stated that Smith would be the starting quarterback come Sunday but if it gets ugly early on in the game expect Carr to take his spot. 

On Sunday night against the Eagles, Singletary and Smith got into on the sideline; to the point where other players and staff got between the two of them.  An altercation like this is something you would expect from a quarterback and disgruntled receiver, not a quarterback and a head coach.  After the public displays of affection, Smith undermines Singletary by sending himself in after back-up David Carr was told by the coaches to get on the field.  Down by ten, Smith would then drive down the field and bring the 49ers within 3 points, before a last minute interception that would end up being the fifth and most recent loss for the 49ers. 

Smith, now in his 6th season, is yet to put a complete game together.  At times he looks like Steve Young or Joe Montana, showing flashes of brilliance when the team needs it, but unfortunately his flashes of brilliance have come at a minimum.  Smith has failed to put 60 minutes of productive football together.

If Smith would like to keep his job, the quarterback that came out for that short while post-altercation will need to play that hungry and inspired football that drove him down the field on Sunday night against the Eagles.  That same quarterback that drove his team eighty yards for a score in 52 seconds against the Saints a couple weeks ago on Monday night.  Not the quarterback that holds onto the ball for far too long while in the pocket and throws forced balls on a continual basis.

For an owner who still has his sights on winning the division, Singletary may be more willing to switch things up.

If Smith can come out on Sunday and put together a flash of productive football he may make it into week seven.  But if Smith is unable to do so, expect Carr to take his spot early and Singletary not to look back. 

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