Running Back 

Buffalo

6-2 213

40 time (projected): 4.56

Draft board overall prospect rank: N/A

Draft board running back rank: #15

Overall rating: 59*

College career highlights:

Second Team All-MAC (2006,2007)

First-team All-MAC (2008)

Honorable Mention All-American (Sports Illustrated) (2008)

Injury report (9/14/09): Starks will miss the season with a shoulder injury, which hurts because he was a mid round prospect at best before the injury. I hope he gets drafted though because he’ll make a nice 3rd down back in the NFL.

            8/6/09: James Starks isn’t going to be an every down back in the NFL, but he’s an excellent pass catcher for someone of his size, catching 52 passes for 366 yards last season at 213 pounds. He fits in the NFL as a nice pass catching third down back and with more teams going to running back by committee, this guy has a place in the league. He runs powerfully and gets a powerful first burst, but lacks that breakaway speed. He isn’t going to run a very good 40 for his size at the combine which will hurt him. If he puts on 10-15 more pounds, he can be a goal line back in addition to a 3^rd down back. He changes direction well and has good quickness and elusiveness, but lacks good straight line speed and is nowhere near a homerun hitter. He had good production last year, but did it against lesser competition than most prospects. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep up his production without Drew Willy at quarterback. You’re in trouble if you’re an NFL team using this guy as your feature back, because that’s just not who he is, but he has a place in the league and a value in the mid rounds. I doubt many teams will use more than a 5^th or 6^th round pick on him, but he’s worth a 4^th. 

NFL Comparison: Tim Hightower

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

James Jones allows them to keep their Super Bowl winning receiving corps intact, plus rookie Randall Cobb coming in. Aaron Rodgers must be thrilled. They got him on a fairly reasonable deal as well, 3 years 9.4 million.

Grade: A

With all the injuries the Panthers had at linebacker last year, Anderson was forced into a larger role. He responded with 130 tackles, 101 of which were solo tackles. And yet the Panthers were able to resign him for 7 million over 5 years less than the 29 million over 5 the Buccaneers gave Quincy Black. This is a great, cost effective move for the Carolina Panthers.

Grade: A

McClain is a solid player who plays inside when the Ravens run a 3-4 and outside when the Ravens run a 4-3. On ProFootballFocus, he ranked 22^nd on ProFootballFocus’ outside linebacker rankings. This seems like a pretty reasonable deal for a player who is the definition of average. He got 10.5 million over 3 years.

Grade: B

JaMarcus Russell was released today. For Raiders fans, this is a great day. The only feeling better for a fan of a team than the day your first overall pick bust finally gets cut is actually having your first overall pick pan out. However, for me, this is a sad day. Who am I going to make fun of now? JaMarcus Russell was the worst quarterback in the NFL last year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse quarterback keep his starting job for longer. I guess the straw that broke the horse’s back was when he showed up weighing 290 pounds (even higher according to some reports) to offseason workouts. I would have thought it would have been when he was eating skittles on the sideline after getting benched, but that’s just me. Plus, he looks like Fat Albert, which is automatically hillarious.

Hey hey hey 

However, like from all things, I have to move on. JaMarcus Russell was great fun to laugh at, but he is not in the NFL anymore. Of course it would help if someone just as awful came along. Hopefully there will be some awful quarterback next year to follow. Let’s look at the candidates.

Trent Edwards- Buffalo Bills

This is assuming he doesn’t get beaten out by Brian Brohm, Ryan Fiztpatrick, or Levi Brown in training camp, in which case any of those 3 quarterback would be potential candidates. Edwards is not an awful quarterback and I think he could be a solid quarterback behind a good offensive line, but the Bills have far from one. In 7 starts last year, Edwards took 23 sacks, part of the reason for why he only started 7 games. He’s a solid accurate quarterback with a 61% completion percentage for his career, but struggles to complete long passes or lead long drives. He had a yard per attempt average last year of 6.4, despite a 60% completion percentage and only threw for 6 touchdowns in 7 starts. In games he started, the Bills scored an average of 13.4 points per game, 10.1 if you don’t count a game against the lowly Bucs. Consquently, the Bills went 1-6 in those games, beating only the Bucs.

Alex Smith

Sure he did fine last year, but that’s largely because he ran a spread offense. If he struggles to grasp the under center offense the Niners will use this year, he could be pretty bad. Remember, in his first 3 years in an under center offense, he was a Russell esque 435 for 800 for 4779 yards, 19 picks and 31 interceptions. It’s not likely, but he could regress and struggle again in that style of offense.

Vince Young

Remember, before last year, he was 444 for 775 for 4964 yards, 22 touchdowns and 32 picks. It’s pretty unlikely, but he could regress.

Matt Stafford

Stafford threw 20 picks last year. This should not be an issue as he was a rookie and even Peyton Manning threw 20+ picks as a rookie, but you never know. He might never rebound. It’s certainly happened before.

Mark Sanchez

Bascially the same as above, but he did show some promise in the playoffs last year and has an amazing supporting cast. I say unlikely, but as a Pats fan I certainly wouldn’t mind.

Josh Freeman

Basically the same deal as Stafford.

Jake Delhomme

Delhomme only has had one bad year in his career, but if he repeats what he did last year, 178 for 321 for 2015 yards, 8 touchdowns and 18 picks, he’ll definitely be pretty close to Russell esque. Also, the fact that he was banished to the Browns is not a sign that his career is going in the right direction.

Byron Leftwich

I actually think Leftwich could do a solid job in Pittsburgh as Big Ben’s replacement for 6 games. He was pretty solid for them in 2008 as a backup in limited action. However, what he has done everywhere else could be cause for concern and cause for possible laughs as he starts 6 games for the Steelers, unless he gets beaten out by Dennis Dixon in camp.

Curtis Painter

Probably will never start for an extended period of time, but maybe Peyton Manning will tear an ACL or something. You never know. Russell may be the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen play a long period of time, but Painter is the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen play for a short period of time. He couldn’t win one game in two tries with a supporting cast that Peyton Manning went 14-0 with, something especially pathetic considering one game he was given a lead to start and another game was against the Bills, who ended up blowing them out. Painter’s 2009 stats: 8 for 28 for 83 yards 0 touchdowns and 2 picks. That’s a solid 9.8 QB rating.

Matt Leinart

Leinart certainly has the supporting cast to be good, not to mention a lot of success in college, but he hasn’t done well in the past and he had all of those things then too. Maybe two years on the bench behind Kurt Warner have matured him, because that seemed to be his biggest issue last time he started, but last time he played, it wasn’t pretty. In his career he is 340 for 595 for 3983 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 20 picks. Even last year, in the few games he played as a backup, he threw 3 picks to 0 touchdowns and had a YPA of 5.6

Charlie Whitehurst

I want to give Pete Carroll the benefit of the doubt here. He really seems to like this kid. He traded the equivilant of 2 3^rd rounders for him. However, he’s a 28 year old former 3^rd round pick who has never thrown a pass in the NFL, so I have my doubts. It might be too much to hope that he’ll be completely awful and I can laugh at him, but hey, I can dream.

Jason Campbell

Why not? I happen to think Campbell will do awesome in Oakland (assuming we’re grading on a curve). He hasn’t been anywhere near as bad as people think he is and the Raiders’ scheme fits his arm well. However, maybe the Raiders’ will suck the life right out of him. Maybe they’ll let him do whatever he wants and he’ll gain 50 pounds. Plus, the Raiders are probably the only team on this list that would start an awful quarterback for long enough for it to be true comedy.

Jay Cutler

The NFL leader in interceptions last year with 27, which is automatically hillarious. He has an awesome arm and should only get better with time as he becomes more familiar with the Bears’ offense, but you never know. That 5 interception performance against the Niners last year was one of the funniest non-Russell moments of the year.

Good to see the Broncos are actually focusing on needs this offseason. They were awful against the run last year and their lack of a true nose tackle had a lot to do with that. Williams has his flaws; that’s why the Chargers cut him. He’s 34 and coming off of a major injury, but with so few nose tackles on the market and in the draft, they almost needed to sign him. He should be a nice 2 year stop gap and 16 million over 3 years isn’t a ton to pay for a 2 year stopgap at one of the most important positions on a 3-4 defense. They could still draft a nose tackle this year if one falls to them, but they no longer are tied to the position and have to make a reach. They can instead focus on filling other front 7 needs and getting some help at receiver.

Grade: B+

This deal is a bit complicated so before I give grades, I’m going to break it down for you. Washington already owes Philadelphia either their 4^th or 3^rd round pick in 2011, based on Donovan McNabb’s performance, as a result of the McNabb deal a few months back. If Washington sends Philly their 3^rd, which happens if Washington wins 9 games, makes the playoffs, or McNabb makes the Pro Bowl, they would send New Orleans their 4^th and get a 7^th rounder from New Orleans. If Washington sends Philly their 4^th, New Orleans gets Washington’s 3^rd and send a 5^th back to Washington. If Brown makes the Pro Bowl this year, Washington gets New Orleans’ 2012 6th rounder.

Trade for Washington: Remember when I bashed the Redskins draft because they took a high upside project left tackle at #4 over the NFL ready guy, despite the fact that this team was already built to win in the present. That moves looks a lot better now. Brown is coming off an injury plagued season in 2009, but he’s one of the best left tackles in the league when healthy and he was well worth the risk of a mid round pick. He can start at left next year for them, allowing Williams to start at right for the time being, and if everything works out well, he can move to right if Williams comes into his own as a player, and the Redskins would have probably the two best bookend tackles in the league. Donovan McNabb must be thrilled.

Grade: A

Trade for New Orleans: They had to move Brown. He wanted a long term deal and they didn’t want to give it to him. They have Jermon Bushrod who was decent in Brown’s absence last year, as well as 2010 2^nd round pick Charles Brown, a talented young left tackle prospect. I would have expected them to get more out of Brown, but they were in a tough position as he was refusing to sign his tender.

Grade: B

Quarterback 

Washington

6-3 231

Draft Board Overall Quarterback Rank: #4

Draft Board Overall Prospect Rank: #80

Rating: 72 (mid 3rd round) 

40 time: 4.52

4/16/11: You’re probably thinking, Locker went 39 of 41, why are you knocking him? He had what was called a “deliberately easy” work out. Do I really want a signal caller who doesn’t challenge himself? Where’s the confidence? It’s also worth noting that the Seahawks were the only ones who sent their head coach to watch him and the Titans were the only ones who had decision makers, upper level executives, there. I would be really surprised if he went 12^th to Minnesota like some are projecting. He’s probably a 2^nd rounder. 

2/15/11: Jake Locker lost a lot of money returning to Washington for his Senior Season. He was being talked about as a potential #1 pick, over Sam Bradford, last year and probably wouldn’t have fallen out of the top 10. The Redskins might have drafted him, as Mike Shanahan admits he really liked Locker as a prospect coming out last year, though the Redskins eventually traded for Donovan McNabb.

Now, he’s being talked about as a potential 2nd or 3rd round pick. I think the absolute highest he’s taken is 10th by the Redskins, who, after a falling out with Donovan McNabb, need a new quarterback. However, I don’t know if they’d use the 10th pick on him because I can’t think of any other team that would draft him in the top 20.

Seattle at 25 makes sense as he’s a hometown kid who played in a system run by Steve Sarkisian at Washington. Sarkisian happens to be a former assistant of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Someone could always trade up into the bottom of the first round, but if he gets by Washington and Seattle and no one trades up, he’ll fall into the 2nd round.

I was never that high on Locker. I had a 2nd round grade on him last and before he decided to return to Washington, citing his lack of footwork and accuracy. Since returning to Washington, his accuracy problems haven’t improved, at all. His completion percentage dropped from 58.2% to 55.4%. He completed 4-20 against Nebraska. 5-16 in a rematch against Nebraska. 10-21 for 68 yards against UCLA. 7-14 for 64 yards against Stanford. Those are all terrible games.

Lot of people like to blame his lack of elite stats on his supporting cast and though his supporting cast is somewhat to blame, a lot of the blame has to fall on Locker. His footwork is terrible and he often overthrows open receivers. He often misses open receivers entirely in his reads. His accuracy didn’t improve with a better supporting cast at the Senior Bowl, not in practices or the game. He almost kills two receivers on two separate wild throws in the game. 

When asked about his accuracy at the Senior Bowl, about how he’s never completed more than 60% of his passes in a season, he didn’t respond with a reason, like stats don’t show the whole picture. He said it’s because he hasn’t been playing under center for that long, making an excuse (plus he’s been under center for 3 or 4 years, so it’s a bad excuse at that). 

I also question Locker’s leadership. His record at Washington was 15-26, a lot of which does have to fall on the shoulders of the quarterback. He also choose to return to Washington rather than challenging himself at the next level in 2009, which I see as a sign of weakness and lack of confidence. 

What Locker does have is a cannon arm, great athleticism, and mobility, and experience in a Pro Style West Coast offense. However, that doesn’t make him an NFL quarterback. It makes him a project, someone who’s not ready to step in right away. I’m not questioning the upside. I’m questioning whether he’ll ever make good on it.

NFL Comparison: Brian Brohm

I don’t know what happened to Jake Delhomme last year. He literally imploded in on himself and destroyed the Panthers’ chances at the playoffs just a mere few months after they signed him to a massive extension. He completed 56% of his passes, which isn’t awful, but a 6.3 YPA and 18 picks to 8 touchdowns were what really did him in. The Panthers wanted to get rid of him so badly that they cut him this offseason despite the fact that doing so would actually cost them money. All that being said, he’s really only had one bad year. Take away last year and he has 115 career touchdowns to 76 career picks. They aren’t giving up a large of sum to get him and it’s not like they had anyone better on the roster. This move allows the Browns to either trade Brady Quinn and then draft a younger backup with more upside, or keep Quinn as an expensive backup. Who knows, maybe getting cut was exactly what Delhomme needed to get himself right and if that’s the case, the Browns now have a quarterback for the first time in what feels like forever.

Grade: A-

Running Back 

California

5-10 199

40 time: 4.35

Draft board overall prospect rank: #15

Draft board running back rank: #1

Overall rating: 87*

1/17/10: He could fall below CJ Spiller in the draft because of his concussion late in the season, but he’s a more complete player than Spiller. He’s got more explosive legs, he’s a better runner in between the tackles, and his 40 time is probably going to be faster. They are comparable players in terms of pure speed, but Spiller is more of a straight line runner while Best has better running back skills like initial explosion and good change of direction.

                9/6/09: To put it bluntly, Jahvid Best is fast. In terms of game speed, he may be the fastest player in college football. He has an excellent arsenal of quickness, speed, and moves and had a YPC average of 8.1 last season. He’s also a solid pass catcher. At a time with the wildcat and crazy offenses of the sort, speed guys like Best are becoming more and more valuable. Another season like last year’s and Best is probably a first round pick. In a way, Best is similar to Joe McKnight, CJ Spiller, and Noel Divine, the three big name speedsters who could come out this year, but I think he’s faster than all of them in terms of game speed. As for his timed speed, expect it to be somewhere between 4.31-4.35, with a possibility of a sub 4.3 time. Because of his speed, he’s a threat for a big play every time he touches the ball, but he’s also at risk for 1 or 2 yard clunkers every time he touches the ball. He’s not very big at 5-10 195. Normally you like your running backs to be about 200 pounds in the NFL and Best comes up just short. Even Chris Johnson, Tennessee’s speedster, is 200 pounds. He’s not a great in between the tackles runner and might never become an every down back in the NFL, though in an era with running back by committees and the wildcat offense, that doesn’t mean he’s not valuable and that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of going in the first round. He has good hands when means you could line him up in the slot to through off defenses. He has an injury history and had 2 surgeries this offseason, though after his first game this season, in which he had 137 yards on 10 carries and 2 touchdowns, it appears he has shaken those injuries off. Still, with his small frame you have to wonder if he can take an NFL caliber beating. In the end, this guy is a first day lock with his speed and has the potential, with another big season and a big combine, to make the first round, though, at this point, the early 2^nd round seems a little bit more realistic, as he hasn’t proven he can carry the load by himself. His career high for carries in a season is 194 and he only has 233 carries in his whole college career.

NFL Comparison: Jamaal Charles

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