Football Fan Spot

  Middle Linebacker Boston College 6-3 242 Draft board overall prospect rank: #7 Draft board middle linebacker rank: #1 Overall rating: 91 (Top 10 pick) 40 time: 4.50 Games watched: Clemson/Boston College, Boston College/Maryland Positives ·         Incredibly productive (534 tackles, 35.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, 10 pass deflections, 7 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles…

  Spotlight #1: Western Kentucky RB Bobby Rainey Spotlight #2: LSU G Will Blackwell 1st quarter 13:11: Blackwell with a pancake block to help seal a big hole for the back. 12:30: Blackwell powers a guy forward to open up some space on 2nd and 32. 11:09: Rainey doesn’t have…

  Spotlight #1: Mississippi State RB Vick Ballard Spotlight #2: LSU G T-Bob Hebert  1st quarter 14:53: First play of the game, Vick Ballard gets stuff in the backfield. Nowhere to go for him because LSU’s defensive line just overpowered Mississippi State’s. 13:58: Hebert gets good push on his first…

Spotlight #1: LSU CB Morris Claiborne  Spotlight #2: Florida DT Jaye Howard  1st quarter 7:10: Jaye Howard is able to get into the backfield on the goal line, but he’s not able to bring down the ball carrier on his first effort. On his second effort, he gets a combined…

  Spotlight #1: Alabama OLB Courtney Upshaw Spotlight #2: Alabama C William Vlachos  1st quarter 5:56: Vlachos misses a 2nd level block and lets a guy into the backfield on 3rd and 1, but he can’t bring down Richardson by himself. 4:37: Vlachos having a bit of trouble early with…

Spotlight #1: FIU WR TY Hilton Spotlight #2: Louisville TE Josh Chichester  1st quarter 14:53: TY Hilton with the 36 yard return. So fast. Note that it’s “TEAWHY” not “TIE” Hilton. 9:58: Louisville runs to Chichester’s side between the left tackle and Chichester the tight end and he paves the…

  A month ago, I would have seen the Redskins signing of London Fletcher to a 2 year, 10.75 million dollar deal with 5.25 million guaranteed as a great deal, but middle linebackers are not being highly valued on this free agency market. Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne, and Stephen Tulloch…

  51 million with 30 million guaranteed over 6 years is a lot for a guard, but Mankins is worth every penny. He is one of the two or three best guards in the league, if not the best. He played amazingly last season for someone who had been holding…

By Dean Holden  Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings: A Test of Embattled Psyches  How is it possible for two 0-2 teams from the same division to be so very different, yet have the same basic goal when playing one another? Before this week, I would have said it wasn’t possible. But here we…

  9/3/11: The Lions won their last 4 last season to close 6-10, but had a points differential of a team that should have finished 8-8. They added Nick Fairley, Stephen Tulloch, and Justin Durant to their front 7 and they get Matt Stafford back from injury. The questions were,…