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Email Update 7/31/02 Volume 3 Issue # 47
Today's E-Mail is brought to you by FFChamps.com, Winner's of FF
Index Magazine's Expert Poll and sponsor's of the $5,000 Champ's
Challenge. They are good guys, and know what they're
talking about, check them out! Recently, I sat down with them to get
some of their insights for the upcoming year. You can read the
Interview right on our site, check it out!
Joe Bryant
Here's what they have to say today:
Will Michael Vick be the first QB taken in 2003?
Vick may be a top 5 or 6 QB THIS YEAR. Let's look at the facts.
He is probably the most physically gifted athlete ever to play the
position, possessing more speed, strength and agility than even
Randall Cunningham had in his prime years. To see how dominant
Michael Vick and others could be go to - www.FFCPI.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. Footballguys.com Becomes a Pay Site
2. Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware close to signing?
3. Detroit Lineman OK
4. Terance Mathis Role with Steelers
5. Javon Walker Shines
6. D'Wayne Bates Turning Heads
7. Warren Sapp to play offense?
8. Thomas Jones Confident
/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/
1. Footballguys.com Becomes a Pay Site
Footballguys.com officially becomes a pay site on August 1st. All
material posted from August 1st through the Super Bowl can only be
accessed by being a subscriber. The cost for the season subscription
is $20 (less than a $1 a week). Here is the link:
Buy Now
Just to reiterate what this means:
- All material posted on the website for the rest of the season will
be available to subscribers only. The Daily Email archives will
remain free through the preseason.
- Daily emails remain free through September 7th and are sent via
Yahoo groups. Subscribers wishing for no break in coverage need to
sign up for the yahoo groups free email list (signup on front page)
as well as their subscription. Subscription info will be mailed to
members in early September.
- The Message Board (Footballguystalk.com) will remain free all year.
- Some of you may be experiencing login problems. Please address all
concerns to [email protected] with this subject line: CAN'T
LOGIN. For quick processing, attach your 2Checkout or PayPal receipt.
- For those that will not be joining, please take advantage of all
the free material we have already offered. Everything posted before
August 1st will remain free for the entire year.
- Successful Log-in will return to the front page. This gives the
appearance that nothing has happened, but you should now be able to
click on links designated with the dollar symbol and access the
mterial.
David Dodds
/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/
and now onto some news:
2. Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware close to signing?
Clipped from the Baltimore Sun article:
For the first time in five months of negotiations, agent Roosevelt
Barnes can see the goal line.
Barnes, who shares representation of Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware,
stopped by Ravens training camp yesterday as a last-ditch effort to
restructure the contracts of the Pro Bowl linebackers and left a 2
1/2 -hour meeting smiling.
"This is the closest that we've been all summer," said Barnes, who
will return to McDaniel College for another round of talks today. "I
think we have a pretty good shot at getting something done."
Under their current contracts, Lewis is scheduled to earn $4.75
million in each of the final two years, and Boulware is expected to
make $4.3 million in the last year of his deal.
By restructuring, the team would lower the cap impact by dropping a
player's base salary and giving him upfront bonus money, which is
prorated over a longer contract. The Ravens have estimated they could
gain $5 million of much-needed wiggle room under this year's salary
cap and could possibly add three to four veteran free agents to one
of the league's youngest rosters.
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
This team has been killed during the whole free agent market because
they can't get this done. Since all they really need is an offensive
line, a QB, a RB and a few receivers they should be fine when they
free up the extra money.....LOL. This team is in big trouble this
season. The money will let them sign first round pick Ed Reed and
possibly go after someone like Antonio Freeman.
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3. Detroit Lineman OK
Clipped from the Detroit Free Press article:
Backus, the Lions' starting left tackle, left practice with a painful
knee injury Tuesday morning, but several hours later he received good
news.
An MRI indicated no structural damage, and the injury was described
by a Lions spokesman as a bone bruise on the left knee.
It was not immediately known how much practice time Backus will miss,
but coach Marty Mornhinweg said he doesn't expect it to be
significant.
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
James Stewart was already going very low in drafts. This news would
have catapulted him even lower. Az-Zahir Hakim, Bill Schroeder and
James Stewart all represent good value in drafts this year. None are
great players, but taken extremely late all could produce decent
results.
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4. Terance Mathis Role with Steelers
Clipped from the Pittsburgh.com article:
"A lot of people say I can coach when I'm done," said
Mathis. "There are a lot of things I can see and a lot of ways I
try to make other guys better. Kordell and I just had a conversation
about football one day. After we were done, he said, `I gotta
have you. I gotta have you.'
"My job is to make a quarterback's job easy and I'm going
to tell you how to do it. You've just got to trust me. And I hope
eventually he's starting to see it come about, because I'm
going to make his job easy. If he's comfortable with me,
we're going to have fun and we're going to win a lot of
football
games."
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
He is old, slow and won't catch much with Plaxico Burress and Hines
Ward as the top two WRs. But Terance Mathis will help provide
veteran leadership to a very young team. He is expected to play a
big role in helping rookie Antwaan Randle El develop this season.
/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/
5. Javon Walker Shines
Clipped from the Packers.com article:
The Green Bay Packers haven't had a rookie receiver make this
kind of an impact on training camp in more than a decade.
Perhaps that's because it's been that long since they used a
first-round pick on a receiver. But maybe, just maybe, top pick Javon
Walker could be as special as the last receiver the Packers drafted
in the first round, Sterling Sharpe in 1988.
Like many players, Walker was solid during his first two minicamps,
but there's been no drop-off once the pads came on. If anything,
Walker has been even better. He's displayed veteran knowledge of
the offense, savvy as a route runner and sure hands as a pass
catcher. At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, he's a giant target for
quarterback Brett Favre.
"He is everything we thought he was and then some," offensive
coordinator Tom Rossley said. "We're extremely pleased."
The Packers haven't put any pressure on Walker to crack the
starting lineup as a rookie, but if he continues to progress at this
rate, he'll be difficult to keep off the field.
"He's going to play a lot," receivers coach Ray Sherman
said. "I'm not going to say he couldn't start. I'm
not going to say he is going to start. He's a tremendous talent
that's going to be on the field. I'll put it like that."
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
Javon is extremely talented, but scored a lousy 9 on the Wonderlic
and watched his stock drop. He now claims he did not try on that
test, but that doesn't make a lot of sense. But everything we are
reading regarding the Packers is that this kid has picked up the
complex offense. He only has Ferguson and Driver ahead of him. We
are starting to believe the hype that maybe he can break into the
starting lineup this seson. He has clearly shown more upside than
Ferguson and Driver.
/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/
6. D'Wayne Bates Turning Heads
Clipped from the Star Tribune article:
So for now, put aside the fact that nine-year veteran Derrick
Alexander was signed to be the guy to fill the shoes of the retired
Cris Carter. Or that Bates had a total of 15 catches in three seasons
with the Bears.
Bates has taken an opportunity and run with it -- over the middle,
behind safeties and into the spotlight.
"He's winning the job," said wide receivers coach Charlie
Baggett. "Derrick's going to have to beat him out."
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
Mike Tice is disappointed in Derrick Alexander. But we believe the
coach when he tells us he likes what he sees in Bates. We still
believe Derrick will win the starting job in camp, but Bates will get
his share of opportunities.
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7. Warren Sapp to play offense?
Clipped from the St. Petersburg article:
Coach Jon Gruden and a number of coaches on offense have discussed
using Sapp on offense as a tight end, fullback or guard, in addition
to his duties on the defensive line.
Sapp, recruited as a tight end at the University of Miami, made an
appearance at fullback as a Bucs rookie in 1995.
"There's a chance that I'm going to ask Warren Sapp to do a lot of
things," Gruden said Tuesday. "It might be at fullback, it might be
at guard, it might be at tight end. You haven't seen it yet, so you
would be speculating."
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
In 16 member leagues that require each owner to start 6 TEs, Warren
Sapp might be a consideration. OK, not even then. This story in my
opinion is a way to hype the new Bucs. I can easily see Sapp
becoming part of the goal line and short yardage package. But even
if he does play TE or FB - It will primarily be to carve out a hole
for Pittman/Alstott
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8. Thomas Jones Confident
Clipped from azcentral.com:
You're no good. You're scared. You're a bust.
It's been an irksome chorus. Thomas Jones won't come right out and
say he's angry, or hurt, or both. He doesn't have to. It's in his
eyes, in the tone of his voice, in the shortness of his answers to
questions.
His body language says he's incredulous that people are writing him
off after two seasons, two truncated seasons. In each, the keys to
the Cardinals' running game were handed to him, then repossessed by
Michael Pittman, who no longer is on the premises.
With Pittman now in Tampa Bay, the hard reality is this: The
Cardinals are handing the ball back to a guy who lost the job twice,
and nobody else on the roster has ever carried the ball in an NFL
game.
"I'm excited about the opportunity, that's basically it, man," Jones
said. "I'm ready to get the ball, ready to make some plays."
[[[[[[[[[[ OUR VIEW ]]]]]]]]]]
It's easy to find reasons to think Thomas Jones will be terrible this
year too. But he could emerge as a great back just as easily. The
team has no other options. He clearly will get the touches to have a
great season. He just has to average a lot more yards per attempt.
That's all for now. See everybody tomorrow,
David Dodds
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