dew1679666265

We've always had pipelines into states like California, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana - which is where Fulmer pulled most of his best players from - but I'm not sure what this new staff will focus on.

The story headline asks if he's a Hall of Famer. I don't think so, but it might be a decent debate.

Jim Chaney was the TE coach for the Rams last year - I doubt he made any connections in the college ranks while there, but it's possible. And it is likely that we'll lose a lot of the battles Kiffin is engaging in this year, but like I've said, if there's one thing this staff should be able to do it's recruit.

This isn't a start to another heated confab, but something I have heard and has been confirm, but apparently Nick Saban talked to and convince AJ McCarron NOT to visit Tennessee. In fact I think AJ's words were "No problem." First time CNS has even asked much less convinced a prospect to not take an offfical, seeing as h encourages prospects to enjoy "the process" of recruiting. What does this have to do with anything, will there is rumors that Nick Saban is talking to Trent Richardson about not taking the trip to Tennessee. I still think Trent takes an offical to Tennessee, if for nothing else to stay in the ear of both Tana Patrick and Patrick Patterson (CNS encourages his prospects to recruit other players). (Note: TR is about as lock to UA as you can get, and he is very public about his commitment to Bama, seeing as he has worn Bama gear just about on a daily thing since his commitment, not to mention LSU is now recruiting TR very hard to a point that Les Miles may turn off LSU's current RB commit Mike Ford, and next yr's TR, in Seastrunk, I believe that's the name). So, I think Tennessee has to be a little bit concern about having an Alabama lock in an offical with two players who are still uncommitted, yet are considered Alabama lean, Patterson and Patrick. Yeah, I had heard that McCarron was not going to visit Tennessee. Of course, Kiffin doesn't seem to think we need a QB - though I disagree with him. I thought the same thing about Eric Gordon before he committed - an extreme longshot at best. I'd say the likelihood of Kiffin winning on any of those guys this late in the game is small, at best, but if this staff can do anything, they can recruit. One of Kiffin's first visits after being named head coach was to Marsalis Teague. He's definitely pursuing him. And if we were to get Reid our secondary could be: Eric Berry Eric Gordon Greg Reid Demetrice Morley =P~

That position was filled by Jim Bob Cooter last year. I'll miss Jim Bob. you can't make this stuff up. One of the greatest (or worst) names I've ever heard.

That position was filled by Jim Bob Cooter last year. I'll miss Jim Bob.

yeah at this point i'm kinda hoping that tennessee gets really dirty under kiffin and they end up getting hammered by the ncaa. He sounds like a guy who will toe that line quite a bit, but hopefully never cross it. I don't have the slightest problem with the Mitch Browning thing. As long as he's going to class, it's legit.

I guess it's never too late to go back to school . . . :-)) I had heard rumors about Gonnella possibly coming on, but I had no idea what we'd do with him since I didn't think we had a Director of Football Personnel. Will Gonnella be a coach one day or is he more of an administrator? That's great recruiting news, though I'm still holding my breath that Kiffin can wrangle in Marlon Brown. And I've got to say that Pearlie Graves is an awesome name.

Ready for this one, dew? Former Minnesota and Syracuse OC, Mitch Browning has reportedly enrolled at Tennessee as a grad student and is expected to be a Graduate Assistant on Lane Kiffin's staff. Holy crap! The man has nearly 30 years of coaching experience and he's going to be a grad assistant on our team? That is awesome. I gotta give Kiffin a ton of credit here - he's basically adding an extra coach to the staff - over and above our limit - and basically at no extra cost (minus a scholarship of some type, I assume). Is there any rule against this?

Michigan has hired former Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson as DC.

Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks has resigned. This was a bit surprising to me, but it'll be interesting to see the Colts not seeking out the tiniest players from the smallest colleges out there.

Is the weather cold enough up there yet that living in ND could lead to death?

Apparently that Thursday deadline to declare wasn't a strict deadline - or this guy just waited a few days to officially announce and had already turned in his paperwork. Anyway, against the advice of Head Coach Jeff Tedford, TE Cameron Morrah has declared for the draft.

Never going to happen. He's going to the Giants, bank on it. They're apparently strongly considering bringing Plaxico back. If they do, I doubt they bring in another extremely high paid WR - especially since they'll still have Toomer, Hixson, Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss. FWIW, I thought I heard Coughlin say they weren't bringing him back. In any case, there's a good chance he's in jail when next season starts. Finally, Toomer is old and the other guys aren't making very much. They can afford to bring him in if they want to. The last news I saw was that they would consider bringing him back if he's not in jail. And I listed the rest of the guys as depth more than anything. They're fine at WR if they still have Burress. Without him, they definitely need Boldin.

Personally, I don't see a lot of room for growth in his game. He doesn't have a ton of raw power and it seems like low-to-mid twenties is his ceiling home run wise, though he gets forty doubles a season so that's fine. What you see is what you get with him, and that's certainly a damn good baseball player. Interesting. Well, I guess the worst case with Markakis and his new deal is your paying $11 million for a guy to give you a 130ish OPS+ for the next six years. Baltimore's gotta be happy.

Never going to happen. He's going to the Giants, bank on it. They're apparently strongly considering bringing Plaxico back. If they do, I doubt they bring in another extremely high paid WR - especially since they'll still have Toomer, Hixson, Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss.

The problem with Cruz is the years, not the salary per season. He probably wants a 3 year deal at 5m per season at least. We all seen with Howry that a reliever can do a very good job for a few years and suck the last season, and make that contract seem pretty crappy. Plus the fact that he already kinda failed in Chicago, some don't believe he can handle the pressure. Howry was three years older than Cruz when he signed the three-year deal with us. If we gave Juan three years this offseason, he'd be 32 when the contract is up - as opposed to Howry being 34 (going on 35). I actually was not one who hated the DeRo deal when we signed him. I was apprehensive at first, but after looking into him I thought he had a chance to become good. And it's not a mancrush on DeRo, it's acknowledging that his expected regression this year (down to .810-20 OPS) is likely the best we could possibly hope for from the Miles/Fontenot platoon. Basically, DeRo's worst is the Miles/Fontenot platoon's best. That's not exciting.

Nobody is ever a shoe-in to miss 70+ games when they don't have a current injury. You don't know how Bradley changed work out plan this offseason will effect him or not. Also not playing CF and playing in a smaller ballpark could help him as well. Yes he missed that many games from 05-07, doesn't mean he will this year. Plus I already pointed out to you that Hoffpauir=good last year, Johnson=as good or better then DeRosa against LH pitching. Were not going to lose nearly the production you might think in the outfield even if Bradley is hurt for 70+. Plus who knows if Hendry is done adding a bench players, he could sign a Eric Hinske type to battle Hoffpauir in spring training for all we no. Harden is a shoe-in to miss time before we found out he was injured, same with Prior and Wood when they were starting for us. A fragile player is a fragile player. I'll be shocked if Bradley plays more than 100 games for us. We'll see if Hoff/Gath/Johnson are successful this season, though I doubt it. It bothers me that we're hoping against hope that we're maybe as good as last year. That's the perfect example of a downgrade during the offseason - when your best case scenario is maybe close to as good as last year.

What he did last year falls pretty much in his career norms. Being 28 he might get a bit better, but I don't see any sign of it.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series? Tampa Bay. They'll sweep the Cubs? Or will the Cubs get swept in the first round again? Who said the Cubs will make the playoffs? :) If they don't, I don't want you as official NSBB prognosticator. :wink:

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series? Tampa Bay. They'll sweep the Cubs? Or will the Cubs get swept in the first round again?

pujols vs. marquis and hampton. i think i'd take pujols. right, because the cubs got rid of pujols while signing marquis and hampton. good comparison. We did get rid of Josh Hamilton, though.

Fontenot would get 240 or so AB's again, even if DeRosa had to play RF alot. Remember the only reason why Fontenot got so many AB's last year was because Soriano was out with a freak HBP injury. DeRosa had to have 184 AB's as an outfielder last year, because Soriano only played in 109 games. So even with Bradley around he was unlikely to get that many more AB's in the outfield. When you factor in what Hoffpauir hit in 73 AB's last year and how Reed Johnson crushes LH pitching. I really don't think losing DeRosa for the outfield is gonna hurt all that much. I think the bigger concern should be what if Fukudome is actually the second half 08 hitter all of the season next year? Then we gotta play Gathright or Reed everyday. But a combo of Johnson/Hoffpauir/Gathright can cover 50-60 games that Bradley misses just fine IMO. Thats if he misses that many games. He's almost a shoe-in to miss 70+ games. That would be 70+ games that DeRosa would play RF and Fontenot 2B. Now, Hoff/Reed/Gath will play those 70+ games and be decent to crappy in the process. Plus, we'll see more ABs than we'd like of Aaron Miles.

pujols vs. marquis and hampton. i think i'd take pujols. I disagree. The combined offense between Marquis and Hampton would add onto the fact that they can pitch (sometimes for Hampton) and Pujols cannot. Marquis and Hampton are the definition of versatility. :wink: Just in case anybody was confused.

Is he a Type A or B? It does bring up an interesting question. Is Cruz/Ceda better than Gregg/draft pick? A. I would rather Cruz over Gregg, but the 1st rounder is likely worth more than Ceda. I'd rather have Gregg and the 1st rounder. You're probably right. It didn't occur to me that Cruz was a type A. I'm curious to see what type of money Juan gets - that could sway me if he gets a similar deal or less than Gregg.