Shanahan reaches into past to form new backfield

Mike Shanahan was known in Denver for cranking out productive running games out of spare parts, like a coaching MacGyver.   The approach didn’t seem to travel with him to Washington last year.

So instead of relying on a broken-down veteran like Clinton Portis, Shanahan is starting anew with a couple of sleeper prospects.  He used a fourth-round pick on Roy Helu  from Nebraska and a sixth-round pick on Evan Royster from Penn State.

Then Shanahan started to compare them to former Pro Bowlers.

“Coach Shanahan, he said to me when they drafted me that I remind him of Terrell Davis,” Royster said via Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

Helu was one of our favorite sleepers heading into the draft, and could be the best bet in a wide open competition to start with Royster and “veteran” Ryan Torain.

“With Helu we have something we haven’t had: speed, and he has great hands,” Shanahan said.  Then Shanny compared Hulu to Portis as a young player.  ”I look at Helu as having that type of ability, that type of speed.”

We’re not crazy enough to believe The John Beck Experiment could work, but we are crazy enough to believe Shanahan can get his MaGyver mojo back putting together a young, unheralded backfield.

source:  PFT.com
author:  Gregg Rosenthal

Bin Laden’s death could raise stakes in the lockout

We don’t like to stray off topic, even when caught up in the rare sense of national unity and celebration that has arisen from news of the killing of the man who masterminded the 9/11 attacks.  But there’s one thread connecting the death of Osama bin Laden and pro football.
With the NFL schedule carefully crafted to permit several weeks that are missed on the front end due to a lockout to be made up during bye weeks and/or by the tacking of extra weekends onto the back end of the regular season, the finality that has come from the completion of the protracted mission to capture or kill bin Laden makes it even more important that the NFL properly commemorate the 10th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history.
With bin Laden still living, the event still would have been incredibly significant, and the league’s failure to play a full slate of games that day — including the Giants and Redskins squaring off in D.C. and the Jets hosting the Cowboys in primetime — would have been yet another P.R. debacle for the NFL.  With bin Laden gone, September 11, 2011 will have an even more powerful impact on our country, and the sense of indignity to the American people resulting from a lockout that wipes out the 9/11 games will escalate.
Here’s hoping that the owners and NFLPA* leadership realize the potential consequences, and that they commit to finally working out their differences.  Especially since the government — whether judicial, legislative, or executive — may be much more inclined to ensure that the 10th anniversary of 9/11 won’t occur without the NFL playing as scheduled its first week of the regular season.

source:  PFT.com
author:  Mike Florio

Jim Schwartz calls Nick Fairley “that big guy that looks like Urkel”

Thick glasses and a bow tie don’t exactly exude toughness, so when Nick Fairley showed up to the NFL draft looking like a nerd out of central casting, some folks did a double take.
One of those folks was Lions coach Jim Schwartz — but he didn’t see what Fairley was wearing until Detroit already made Fairley its first-round draft pick.
“First, if we had seen what he was wearing . . . with those glasses, we might have passed on him at 13,” Schwartz said. “I got more texts yesterday after we picked him that said, ‘Why did you pick that big guy that looks like Urkel?‘”
Of course, Schwartz also noted that when you’re a 300-pound wrecking machine of a defensive lineman, people are usually not going to call you a nerd to your face.
“Well, none of those people are here, and I think if they were here, none of them would say the same thing, and I know no quarterbacks said that last year,” Schwartz said.
For Lions fans, there’s a sense of excitement about the prospect of pairing Fairley and Ndamukong Suh — enough excitement that no one really cares that Fairley dresses like Urkel. It beats the way things worked during the Matt Millen era, when the Lions drafted guys who played like Urkel.

source:  PFT.com
author:  Michael David Smith

A handy post-draft rundown of teams needing quarterbacks

Supply and demand drove the price of quarterbacks too high in this draft.  That doesn’t mean the demand has satisfied.

While seven quarterbacks were taken in the first three rounds, two of them were taken by teams with established starters.  (Jacksonville and New England.)   The Bengals took Andy Dalton, but that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily give up on Carson Palmer.

Plenty of teams that had no legitimate quarterback option before the draft are even more desperate now.  And many of the teams that took a rookie quarterback early will still be looking for veterans.   Here’s a quick rundown:

Buffalo: It looks like they’ll ride or die with Ryan Fitzpatrick.   But coach Chan Gailey says they’ll look to add another QB to the roster.

Arizona: They didn’t take a quarterback, increasing speculation they will go hard after Kevin Kolb.  Matt Hasselbeck and Marc Bulger could also be options.  John Skelton sits atop the depth chart for now.

49ers: Jim Harbaugh wants to bring Alex Smith back, but it’s uncertain if Smith will want to be the bridge to Colin Kaepernick.

Titans: They surprised everyone by taking Jake Locker.  Now they just need a veteran quarterback to play before Locker is ready.   Vince Young will be booted, and Kerry Collins is unlikely to be back.

Vikings: Taking Christian Ponder won’t quiet any Donovan McNabb speculation.

Redskins:  They surprisingly didn’t show any interest in bringing in a rookie.  Would you believe they like John Beck?

Dolphins: They want to give Chad Henne another shot, but also want to give him competition.  Look for them to try to acquire Carson Palmer.  That could be tough to pull off.

Seahawks: Like the Cardinals, they are a complete mess at the position.  They don’t have a youngster or a legitimate veteran.  They will try to keep Hasselbeck, but could also compete with the Cards to acquire Kolb.

In short, it remains a seller’s market.

source:  PFT.com
author:  Gregg Rosenthal