Andre Smith... Oh, man

Let the drama that happened in college pass. Whatever the reason for the character questions, Andre Smith is a man and he may not have been the culprit. Coaches aren't saints. Nick Saban used video conferencing with players when coaches weren't allowed to drive to meet with players (bending the rules a little). Nobody is perfect.

My beef with Cincinnati drafting Andre Smith is that, well, he's fat! Yes, I know every lineman in the NFL is considered obese, but he is more than the rest. At 6'4" and 332 lbs. he fits the averages of other tackles in the NFL, but he's on the short-side and the heavy-side (bad combination). Also, while watching some highlight clips during the Draft, he seemed to be a step late a few times, and seemed to only do the minimum needed. If a player is a step late in college, he'll be two or three steps late in the NFL. Maybe a better guard (possibly pro bowl caliber) than tackle.

For my fanhood I hope I'm wrong. Andre, make me the idiot please!

Measurements Can Be Deceiving

The Pittsburgh Steelers got one heck of a steal in the 7th Round of the NFL Draft! Drafted number 226 overall, A.Q. Shipley from Penn State won the Rimington Trophy (college football's best center!). There were five centers (if you include Matt Unger, C, Oregon) picked before Shipley. Why is that?

The NFL, in general, is over-obsessed with their combines. They want to know how high you can jump, how long your arms are, how dense your bones are after you eat a bowl of cereal on the Sunday that your mom is in town and wants you to take her to the grocery, the mall, then to church... OK, maybe not the last thing. I am afraid Shipley missed out on a lot of bargaining power from being drafted so late because he is "only" 6-feet and 1-inch tall and scouts say his arms aren't as long as "the prototypical center." His ability to lead won't let this draft be forgotten.

His resume shows his mettle. I already mentioned the award he received for the nation's top center in college football. But how about the stat that he anchored an offenive line that only gave up one sack per game, fourth in the nation in that category (nfl.com). They don't keep personal stats for linemen, officially, so it's hard to say what he can do one-on-one. But, centers are usually given responsibilities like identifying the defensive front, calling protections, and changing schemes. When an offensive line is fourth in the nation at protecting the quarterback, you can bet the center had a hand deep in the mix!

One day, every team in the NFL that picked a center, even some that picked any linemen, over A.Q. Shipley will be kicking themselves over the missed opportunity.

Injustice in Highlights

Most of you may be familiar with Espn's Top Ten Plays. They are a recap of highglights of the day, week, weekend, month, year, Thanksgivings, New Year's Days, bowl games, playoffs... any category they choose. Espn recently aired a Top Ten that put a diving catch in baseball number 1 over a goal in soccer that was kicked in from about 40+ meters! OK, wait! The goal wasn't just kicked in. The player was performing a slide tackle as the opposing team was attempting to make a run down the field. It was a brilliant defensive play that put a GOAL on the scoreboard! Pretty darn impressive and much more than a diving catch in baseball. Could America be so narrow-minded about their sports that they can't even admire something incredible like this goal? Even if you don't really understand soccer that much, you know they don't light up the scoreboard with goals. Appreciate the goal; click the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RSpVaL9EjE GOAL!!!

Sorry, I could not find a clip of the diving catch...