Buckeye News Around the net for 08/05/08
Antonio Pittman, Jay
Richardson, Tyler Everett, Paul E. Brown, Na'il Diggs, Orlando Pace, Beanie
Wells, Todd Boeckman, Terrelle Pryor, Troy Smith, Vernon Gholston, Ben
Hartsock, Mike Vrabel, Joey Galloway and Ashton Youboty.
By Bill Smith
The Good
Antonio
Pittman has gotten a lot more reps for the Rams with Steven Jackson out of
camp with a contract dispute. With no
end in sight to the holdout, Pitman should continue to get reps in both
practice and in preseason games.
Jay
Richardson has been making his case at training camp to be more than a
first-and-10 and short-yardage defensive lineman. Richardson may emerge as a pass rushing
option as well.
Calvin
Watkins, of The Dallas Morning News, reports Dallas Cowboys FS Tyler Everett is competing
for the No. 5 and No. 6 cornerback jobs on the roster.
Bengals
president Mike Brown good-naturedly joined the Carson Palmer-Ohio
State flap during the
team's pre-camp luncheon, reminding the Bengals quarterback that Brown's
father, Paul E. Brown, coached the Buckeyes for three seasons.
"I was
going to talk to him through you," Mike Brown told reporters. "He may
not know my dad coached at Ohio
State and beat USC
two years in a row. 33-0 and (28)-12, and if he wants to make something over
that, he knows where he can find me."
Paul E.
Brown, Bengals founder, coached Ohio
State 1941-43. Brown said he knew Palmer's comments were in
fun and went on to praise the team's sixth-year quarterback
Report of
The Sporting News: OTHER BATTLE FRONTS: Na'il Diggs vs. Landon Johnson
for starting SLB — Diggs started the last two seasons for the Panthers and
doesn't seem ready to give up that job easily. Even though the Panthers gave
Johnson, a former Bengal, a three-year $10
million contract this offseason, Diggs is holding him off for the starting job.
It won't be easy because teams tend to want to get the guys they pay big money
to on the field. Diggs had best not suffer another training-camp injury. LB Na'il Diggs is moving to the strong side
after the team's decision to move Thomas Davis to the weak side.
LT Orlando
Pace has been protected early in camp as he returns from a torn labrum that
was suffered in the opening game of the 2007 season. For an O lineman, a torn
labrum is about as serious an injury as you can get except for one in the
knee. Until it is completely healed it
prevents a player from lifting which is absolutely critical for the
position. As expected, left tackle
Orlando Pace participated at the start of practice and did a lot of the work in
the early parts of practice. In the team segments, he took two snaps and then
gave way for the rest of the segment to Adam Goldberg. "It was good to see
Orlando out
there," coach Scott Linehan said. "We will modify his work, like we
are doing with (defensive tackle) Adam (Carriker). Adam did get more reps than Orlando." Pace had
surgery last season for a torn labrum, while Carriker had shoulder surgery in
January.
Head coach
Scott Linehan said OT Orlando Pace (shoulder) is playing quite a bit of snaps
during training camp. He noted if the team had a game this week, Pace would be
available to play some snaps in it. However, he also noted that Pace is not at
100 percent healthy yet. "My feeling is he is going to be good to go for preseason
and obviously the regular season," Linehan said.
The media
and the OSU fans are expecting a lot more from Beanie Wells this
year. Given several factors in his
favor, he most likely will not disappoint us.
According to College Football Today's Trevor Matich “Beanie Wells at 6-1
237 has it all. He has the power to
pound it inside but he has the speed to outrace you to the endzone as
well. Last year he did it with a sore
ankle and a wrist that required surgery after the season. Expect even more this year from a healthy
Beanie.”
There are
other reasons we can expect more not only from Beanie but also the rest of the
offense. The O only lost 2 players from
last years team. A full year of
experience will help QB Todd Boeckman.
The addition of a change of pace from Terrelle Pryor should make
it harder to defend OSU. Given the
suspensions of Georgia
players and the hard schedule, by Oct. 1, the winner of the OSU/USC (9/13) game
should be #1.
The Bad
Mike Duffy Baltimore Ravens site published the following
article:
Troy Smith is biding his time at Ravens training camp.
Cool, calm
and collected, the former Heisman Trophy winner isn’t letting the media hype
surrounding the quarterback competition in Baltimore get to him. Speaking to the media after Monday’s morning practice,
Smith’s chilled-out demeanor came through when he was asked about the
possibility of starting the Ravens’ preseason opener against the New England
Patriots Thursday.
In line
with his stoic pocket presence, Smith took a team-first stance.
“It doesn’t
matter,” he said. “This is preseason. There’s a lot still to come out of this.
I know that we’re pretty much going to get about the same amount of playing
time. The cards will fall whichever way they do, and hopefully our preparation
will get us a win.”
Coming out
of offseason minicamps, many thought Smith would be the starter at Gillette
Stadium. Since then, there has been fluctuation based on day-to-day performance
in each practice.
He has
split equal training camp reps with the first team with Kyle Boller and Joe
Flacco, a deliberate strategy according to head coach John Harbaugh. At this point, even Smith acknowledges that
he still has room to grow.
“We, as a
team and as an offense, have so far to go,” the second-year veteran explained.
“My development is coming along but still, I’ve got a long way to go. This is
an incredible offense and an incredible opportunity for this city. We’re
looking to win some games.”
Harbaugh
refrained from naming his starter in the early session, but did indicate he had
a player in mind. Even if that is Smith - who helmed two games last year,
earning a victory in the season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers - the
Ravens are viewing the first preseason contest as more of an audition, not a
finality. To the former fifth-round
draft pick, competing for a victory is more important that the depth chart this
early in the year.
“We want to
get a win,” he said. “We’re already being counted out in just a preseason game.
That, at times, can work against you, but we’re using that as a positive. We’re
going to step into the situation and go to New England
and try to win that game.”
Pro football Weekly reports that the Ravens may be coming
back around to Boller. Kyle
Boller's efficient play early in training camp has enhanced his chance to win
the Ravens' starting QB job, the way we hear it. Boller outplayed second-year
pro Troy Smith and rookie Joe
Flacco in the early stages of camp, largely by limiting his mistakes. Smith's
play, according to a source close to the club, was up-and-down early in camp,
with Flacco faring the worst of the quarterbacks who are competing to start. Of
course, much can change in Baltimore's
four preseason games, and the quarterbacks' performances in those games will be
given significant weight by the coaching staff. But there is little doubt
Boller has helped his stock by limiting his errors early on.
Word out of
New York is
that rookie Vernon Gholston has been slow in adjusting to linebacker
after playing his college ball at defensive end, but that his speed off the
edge has been readily apparent. He offers a defensive element the Jets haven’t
had in years.
Sporting
News said that “LB Vernon Gholston is "swimming" so far, according to
coach Eric Mangini, as he tries to catch up. Gholston missed the first day of
practice as well as the prior week of rookie orientation.” LB Vernon Gholston took some snaps with the
first-team defense this week in practice.
PFW reports
that Falcons quarterbacks may be looking away from the TE tandem of Ben
Hartsock and Martrez Milner on passing downs this season. Observers of the
team’s training camp said the pair might be the worst group of tight ends in
the league. They don’t have good hands and have dropped passes frequently, although
we hear they have shown some ability as blockers.
Karen
Guregian, of the Boston Herald, reports New England Patriots LB Mike Vrabel
(undisclosed) is still on the Physically Unable to Perform list and did not
participate in practice Wednesday, July 30.
Ira Kaufman
and Anwar S. Richardson, of The Tampa Tribune, report Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Joey
Galloway (groin strain) did not practice for a fourth consecutive day
Tuesday, July 29. The Buccaneers believe Galloway,
36, will be back on the field within days. Head coach Jon Gruden said Galloway ran 20 100-yard dashes Monday, July 28, and
looked pretty good.
CB Ashton
Youboty, whose soft play has been a thorn in the Bills’ side since his
rookie season of 2006, is no certainty to make the team.
The Ugly
We
have reported about the OSU players that have been in the news recently for all
the wrong reasons. However, other
schools are as much trouble if not more.
Georgia—four
players suspended in two separate incidence.
Penn State—six players suspended this off
season and an investigative reporter hit piece on network TV. USC had the OJ problem (Simpson and Mayo) and
the trial of Reggie Bush started this week.
What is going on?
This week
we will have an editorial about why so many more players are in trouble now
compared to those that were 20 years ago.
Be sure to check back for that.
Bill Smith is a
former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com. He has
also published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and
edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com