OU’s Robinson ready to come home
PINE ISLE, LAKE LANIER – Yeah, I’m getting this blog up because I’m officially shamming today. Playing in coach Mike Smith’s Hacks vs. Jacks golf tournament. Doing what they call in the journalism game: networking.
However, I talked to Big George “Duke” Robinson, the Washington High kid, who went on to star at
Duke Robinson, a former star at Washington High, is fired up about his workout with the Falcons. (Courtesy of the University of Oklahoma)
Oklahoma. He’s working out for the Falcons on Thursday.
What a cool kid. I’d talked to him before in a mass media setting at the NFL scouting combine, but our little chat on Tuesday was very nice.
He seems to have a real good head on his shoulders. I wanted to know why he went all the way out to Oklahoma. (Full disclosure: I like the Sooners. My first cousin, the great Weldon Ledbetter played fullback there for coach Barry Switzer 1979 to ‘83. He was a 7th round draft pick by Tampa Bay and went on to block for Herschel Walker with the New Jersey Generals in the USFL.)
“I wanted to get away from the things that were surrounding me,” Robinson said. “I wanted to change my life and see how far I could get. It worked out well for me. I’m proud of myself and my family is proud of me.”
Will the Falcons be singing "Tears of Clown" if they pass on Robinson?
Robinson, who is related to the great Motown singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson (his great uncle), is projected as a late first round or early second round pick. So he really doesn’t make sense for the Falcons, who appear to be set at guard with Justin Blalock and Harvey Dahl. The 24th slot appears too high for Robinson and he likely won’t be around when the Falcons pick at 55 in the second.
But the Tony Gonzalez scenario could come back into play on draft day with the Falcons trading down out of 24 and amassing second round picks. Then Duke, who’s 6-foot-5, 329-pounds, could be up!
Of course, he’d love to play for the hometown team. He’s also worked out for St. Louis, Cleveland, Miami and Pittsburgh. Most teams have him as a guard and some think he can play some right tackle.
“Right now, I’m just trying to stay focused,” said Robinson, who worked at Braves game selling peanuts and baseball caps in his youth.
He thinks that Oklahoma’s multiple sets and pro passing attack has helped his pro stock. (The Sooners have moved on since cousin Weldon was pounding the ball between the tackles from the Wishbone).
“We ran a lot of stuff,” Robinson said. “No-huddle, regular huddle-up offense. We had some great athletes.”
The Falcons went to Oklahoma in the second round last season and appeared to have found a middle linebacker in Curtis Lofton.
“We are cool,” Robinson said. “I played with him for three years. He’s my dog, but he knows I’ll put that hat on him, too.”
“Tears Of A Clown”
By William “Smokey” Robinson
a.k.a. The King of Motown
Now if there’s a smile on my face
It’s only there trying to fool the public
But when it comes down to fooling you
Now honey that’s quite a different subject
But don’t let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
Cos really I’m sad, Oh I’m sadder than sad
Well I’m hurt and I want you so bad
Like a clown I appear to be glad ooh yeah
CHORUS:
Well they’re some sad things known to man
But ain’t too much sadder than
The tears of a clown when there’s none around
Oh yeah, baby baby, oh yeah baby baby
Now if I appear to be carefree
It’s only to camouflage my sadness
And honey to shield my pride I try
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
But don’t let my show convince you
That I’ve been happy since you
Cos I need to go, oh I need you so
Look I’m hurt and I want you to know
For others I put on a show …CHORUS
Just like Pagliacci did
I try to keep my surface hid
Smiling in the crowd I try
But in a lonely room I cry
The tears of a clown
When there’s noone around, oh yeah, baby baby
Now if there’s a smile on my face
Don’t let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
Don’t let this smile I wear
Make you think that I don’t care
Cos really I’m sad..
(I know, shamelessly stealing the lyrics thing from the DOB, but it works here. HOMAGE PAID TO THE DOB!!!)
Where do you think Robinson will go in the draft? The Falcons don’t appear to need an offensive lineman, but would Robinson be a good pick for them? Can you ever have too many good offensive lineman?
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217 comments Add your comment
VICK SUPPORTER 2
April 16th, 2009
2:47 pm
OBVIOUSLY 2009 IS A REALITY CHECK. MY QUESTION IS:
WHO GETS BLAMED FOR THE 2009 FAILURES UPCOMING. INTERESTING INDEED.
ONE THING JIM MORA DID DO WAS TAKE A TEAM TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN HIS FIRST SEASON IN ATLANTA – WHAT DID THE GREAT SMITH AND GM DO? “1 AND DONE”!
I GUESS MORA AND MCKAY HAS THAT ON THEIR RESUME :
JG
April 16th, 2009
2:48 pm
Rookie Year Matt Ryan,
3,440 Yards Passing 16 TDs 87.7 Rating 11-5 record.
Even 104 rushing yards with 1 TD
Rookie Year Michael Vick,
785 yards Passing, Yes Passing, 2 TD’s. 289 Yard Rushing, 1 TD. 7 Wins 9 Losses. 62.7 QB rating. In which Vick played St Louis, Miami, Buffalo, Arizona and San Fran… Tough Schedule there Vick Supporter 2! HA!
I think Matt Ryan is a much better QB with the Same Receivers, that Vick had. But, Since you know more Than ESPN, CBS Sportsline, and the NFL Network. You should just stay in your dreamland. Where do you think Vick will be in five years when Matt Ryan is playing in a Superbowl?
Hopefully, out of trouble.. and out of Bankruptcy.
JG
April 16th, 2009
3:11 pm
Hey,
What is the Name of the Team that Vick plays for now? oh that is right, He doesnt.
The Real GM
April 16th, 2009
3:12 pm
The Dumbest move that the Falcons have made so far is the release of a potential superstar wideout in Laurent Robinson that will come back and bite the shit out of us in the near future. Anywhos the next move I think we should make is trade our soul to move up in the top 5 to secure a legitimate LB in AARON CURRY out of Wakeforest he plays the LB position like a DB.
Intramural Team is Aggressive
April 16th, 2009
3:13 pm
Roddy White and Michael Jenkins statistics when Vick was throwing the football: Neither over 40 catches, neither over 500 yards.
Roddy White when anyone but Michael Vick was throwing the ball: 80+ catches, 1200 + yards
Michael Jenkins when anyone but Michael Vick was throwing the ball: 50+ catches, 500+ yards.
Number of receivers Vick could throw to: 2 (Finn and Crumpler)
Number of receivers Ryan can throw to: 5+ including Peele
I loved Vick when he was quarterbacking as well VS2, but Ryan is FAR from a bust, and frankly, I’d trade highlight reels for wins any day of the week.
The Real GM
April 16th, 2009
3:15 pm
Aaron Curry SELL OUR SOUL to get into the top 5 picks.
The Real GM
April 16th, 2009
3:16 pm
If we want a Championship AARON CURRY.
What ever we have to do .
oldbrave
April 16th, 2009
3:24 pm
hey guys just cool it let the gm do what he thinks best , everybody wanted dorsey last year and he did nothing for kc look what rayan did
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
3:28 pm
Come on guys, please do not let a few malcontents allow us to lose focus. This is a Falcons blog that has cleaned it’s act up. Please do not let it get back into the gutter. Most of us are genuine Falcon Fans who enjoy the banter about our beloved Falcons.
D3, finished your paper yet bud? Keep to it!! You won’t regret it in the end.
I am leaning towards the hybrid OLB/DE in the 1st round. Was almost convinced about the Pettigrew pick (D3, Stirg, I think you guys are leaning that way). I still think we are going to pull the trigger on that deal for TG. Perhaps TD is doing some more negotiating.
I know we won’t be able to get our hands on Maybin and I am a little skeptical about English, not about his ‘ability’ but rather his ‘dur-ability’. If we pick him then I have to assume the due diligence by the medical staff will have been done. Who is to tell we may do the same thing we did last year i.e. pick who most of us thought was a 2nd rounder in the first round (Sam Baker) and maybe pick Clint Sintim. Then we will all realize: 1) Sintim may be better than we all think or 2) we know now that we don’t know everything about these players and how good they maybe.
One thing we need to remember, do not trust everything you see on film. To the naked eye a player may seem a poor prospect, but to a well trained coach’s eye he may see a player with a fixable flaw and sometimes that is all it takes to turn a decent player in college into a very good NFL prospect. That is why you need the Scouts to spot the “diamonds in the rough”
To all the naysayers and doom and gloom preachers……..if irrational, baseless and ridiculous statements could be a ship, you guys would make a very big fleet……
Go Falcons!!!!
Nuff respect everytime…..!!!!
tbhawksfan
April 16th, 2009
3:51 pm
So Happy to have Ice, but I’d in the best of worlds I’d also love to have Dorsey doing nothing in the middle of our D line.
D3
April 16th, 2009
4:04 pm
OK, gentleman….little disappointed here. This blog has reached a new level by not taking the hate bait. No need to respond to rudimentary, incipient arguments whose sole purpose is to distract and agitate. By feeding into their line of reasoning, you are acknowledging that their arguments have merit, and we all know that not to be true. But, hey, sometimes you can’t help it. Let’s get back to some good, intelligent football talk…….
The schedule is what it is. We knew we were gonna have a harder schedule, just didn’t know where they would fall. Men, this is what we want. We want the chance to see how good we are against the best. I think expectations should be tempered somewhat, but remember, all of our NFC South enemies have roughly the same schedule. There will be some learning curves for sure, but to be the best you gotta beat the best, period. If New England is the class of the league, than I look forward to seeing how we stack up, even if we don’t win. 10-6 should win the division. The most important thing to do is to “Defend the Dome,” which we did D— good last year. 7-1, could have easily been 8-0 if not for our D’s last minute collapse. Which will be improved this year for sure.
Keep the good positive vibes rollin’ and ignore the non-sensical arguments. More draft talk later…..
In the meantime, check out Marko Mitchell WR from Nevada. 6′3″5/8, 218, 4.47. Good, soft hands.
WHAT?
April 16th, 2009
4:41 pm
D3 you are correct. Back to being positive.
JG
April 16th, 2009
4:42 pm
Question,
With this hold out by McClure, Can we trade him for a Second or Third Round Pick?
Maybe pickup Woods or Caldwell, and hope they can start?
I would love to get some young talent in there with Ryan to grow with him and have the same connection that Manning and Jeff Saturday have…
JG
April 16th, 2009
4:53 pm
With this McClure holdout, does it mean we definitely Trade out of our 1st round pick to pick up extra 2nd round and 3rd round picks?
Unbelievable, it is always something..
Ken Strickland
April 16th, 2009
4:56 pm
RICHBRAVE-no I don’t know anyone in the Falcon organization, but you can bet your life if any of us are aware of these players, TD and Smitty are definitely aware of them.
BIGEASY-birds of a feather flock together. Haters like you, WILLSTER and MV2 seem to go out of your way to avoid talking about last yr’s success. It’s so painful for you to accept the REALITY of the Falcons success last yr, you go overboard engaging in WISHFUL THINKING and focusing your energies on the predictions and the IMAGINARY failures of the Falcons upcoming season. I GUESS IF ONE LACKS THE KNOWLEDGE, INTELLECT AND/OR INSIGHT TO ENGAGE IN INTELLIGENT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT FOOTBALL, ONE THROWS STONES.
RENO 911-thanks for the info and the corrections.
Everyone seems so willing to write the Patriots gm off as an automatic loss for the Falcons, so I did a little research and guess what I found out. The Patriots schedule was just as weak if not weaker than ours. They played only 4 teams with winning records and one of those, the Jets, were 9-7. Two opponents, the Rams and Chiefs, were 2-14. Two others, the Seahawks and Raiders, won 4 and 5 gms respectively. With a weak schedule like that, the mighty Patriots could only manage the same 11-5 record as the Falcons.
Then I decided to look at the records of the teams on next seasons schedule. The all mighty Cowboys 9-7, the Giants 12-4(lost 3 of last 4), Redskins 8-8(lost 6 of last 8), Bears 9-7, Bills 7-9(lost 6 of last 9)49ers 7-9, Jets 9-7(won 1 of last 5), Eagles 10-6 and Dolphins 11-5. After our bye week, we had no trouble handling the 3 teams within our division, Tampa Bay, Carolina and New Orleans. If this is the NFL’s 4th toughest schedule, the Falcons will have no trouble repeating last yrs 11-4 record. GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
irvin
April 16th, 2009
5:21 pm
I agree that NE is at the top of the class, but in reality they are a system offense that revolves completely around the QB. Brady’s coming off the knee injury. We just have to make sure that we can keep the pressure on him for 4 quarters and we can easily win that game. GO FALCONS!!!
Reno 911
April 16th, 2009
5:39 pm
Irvin- agree that it’s possible to beat the Pats in NE, but it’ll have to be with a good pass rush generated by the front four (using the Giants’ model from the SB). Not sure if we have the four that can generate the necessary pressure. I’m a Falcons fan, but I’m not too optomistic. Frankly, I think that unless we get some more beef in the middle that can also provide a decent pocket push against the pass I think the first half of the Falcons’ schedule will be painful. Shoot, maybe Trey Lewis will come back playing like a monster. Who knows?
Stirg d'Nahsif
April 16th, 2009
5:53 pm
I watched ESPN earlier and the commentators broke down the top ten picks in the upcoming draft. Judging from their knowledge of the game, I would agree with their selections. What intrigued me most, however, was the number eight spot. For some reason, unanimously, they all suggested that Jacksonville is most willing to give up that position. In other words, we (Falcons) could trade up and move into the number eight position, where (they feel) Raji will still be available. Is it worth it? Fellows, y’all want to entertain this? Is is worth lobbying for?
Reno 911
April 16th, 2009
6:02 pm
The most interesting theory I’ve heard (here: http://www.walterfootball.com/mattblog090415.php, plausible or not) about the Jax pick at #8 is that they will take Mark Sanchez, if available, because the owner wants to sell and/or move the franchise to LA. That’s total conjecture, but it’s interesting fodder. Like I said yesterday, once you get past pick #15-18 or so, there aren’t anymore “gamechanger” or “cornerstone” defenders left in this draft. It’s worth the Falcons thinking about if Raji slips past 5-7, I guess. The price might depend on whether Sanchez is still on the board by then. Price is always set by demand, and if that guy’s still there at 8, there will be a lot of demand (Broncos, Jets, Bucs, maybe even the Panthers).
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
6:06 pm
This blog ate my last 3 posts. This is really frustrating. D3, I concur, in fact I had the same line of argument in 2 of my last 3 posts (hope this one goes through….D Led I need some help here…) As D3 says, keep it real Falcon Fans. We have been having real intriguing and fascinating banter over the last few blogs. Let’s keep it going. Ken, my brother as hard as it is to do, please do not stoop to another person’s level. We have far more class than that.
I have been leaning more and more to a hybrid (Lord knows I have had so many different directions that I have gone since this draft discussion has started). So I am thinking more and more like Maybin/English/Matthews Jnr./Michael Johnson.
1) Maybin will not be there and we will not do the anti-New England thing and trade up.
2) English should be there but what I have a fear about is his durability rather than his ability.
3) Matthews Jnr. may or may not be there. He has the bloodlines and the work ethic but does he really have the upside or is it a flash-in-the-pan? I know D3 you are sold on him. However, to rid us of that decision I think he’ll be taken by Houston.
4)Johnson has all the attributes but can he really be the hybrid and is he cross-trainable as Smitty loves his players to be. However, certainly if we want a pure pass rusher, he’s our man.
After all this I have just used all arguments why we may not select any of the foursome just named. Will continue this thought later.
Go Falcons!!!!
Nuff respect everytime!!!
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
6:15 pm
Continuing where I left off. I sent out the following ad…..Wanted….Hybrid with exceptional athletic ability and speed. Can be cross-trained. Must be able to rush the QB and if necessary drop into coverage and be stout against the run.
Guess who responded to the ad? I’ll delay that until the end. After I saw the application I remembered what we did in last year’s draft. The Dynamic Duo pulled one on us. They got a player who most of us thought would be drafted in the second round, Sam Baker. A lot of us thought he was a”reach” and barring injuries he had a pretty respectable season.
So Falcon Fans I will now reveal the applicant to you. D3 you mentioned TD and Smitty are already locked in on their man…that man is CONNER BARWIN!!!
With the 24th pick the Falcons select …..CONNER BARWIN!!; 6-4; 256;4.59 40;40 1/2″ vertical; 10′ 08″ broad jump.
He’s the pick folks.
Go Falcons!!! Nuff respect everytime!!
Stirg, booyaka!!! booyaka!!!
irvin
April 16th, 2009
6:31 pm
Trading that far up for Raji is interesting to say the least. I just don’t think it’s really plausible considering all that we may have to give up. I’m really with you on the T.Lewis thing Reno. I hope he comes back and plays lights out. IMO, we should get a solid 320+ pound run stuffer behind him for good rotation. I believe that our run defense will fix itself with some strong, young 2-gap defenders on the roster. My major concern is with our pass rush, or lack there of minus big Abe. If we were to lose him( knock on wood) we wouldn’t be left with much. I’m pushing for a durable pass rusher with our first pick. I like Johnson but I do believe he is a bit of a reach.
falcon21
April 16th, 2009
6:34 pm
Question for Ken. If JA is moved from DE to DT as of now how do you think our D Line would line up and if JA cannot handle DT who do you think would be the starters?
Reno 911
April 16th, 2009
6:36 pm
Heck yeah, Nookah. I knew there were going to be more of us on the Connor Barwin wagon. The thing about Barwin is, the team’s going to have to be patient with him while he learns some points that most players come in already knowing. He’s only played D for one year and is still pretty raw, but he’s a physical anomaly and, like I said in another post, can play a pretty serviceable TE for 10 snaps a game in a 2x TE set. He’ll be a good defender, I think, just not next year. One thing he will be able to do first year is play 3rd down DE opposite Abe and burst some speed around the corner, but may be a little ways away from being a dependable Will OLB. But I like the pick. (I’m just hoping he’s not a Mike Mamula-like workout warrior, who never ends up playing up to his physical skills.)
irvin
April 16th, 2009
6:37 pm
Barwin’s lack of snaps on defense really concern me, and we all know it takes a beast to play defense in the NFL. But at the same time, you just can’t help being intrigued by this guy. So confused.
VICK SUPPORTER 2
April 16th, 2009
6:40 pm
CAN A TEAM REALLY BE DONE BY THE 4TH GAME. THAT WOULD BE THE BIGGEST COLLAPSE IN THE HISTORY OF THE NFL. WITH THE NEW FACE OF THE FRANCHISE, A 4-GAME ROAD SWING SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM. SURELY THEY CAN BE THE LOWLY COWBOYS AND GIANTS, OTHER WISE HE IS THE BUST I PREDICTED.
DOOM DOOM DOOM
KEEP POSITIVE GUYS
GO FALCONS! AND TAKE THE BRAVES WITH YOU
D3
April 16th, 2009
7:15 pm
Supes – thanks for the props, bro’. I’m like a attention-deficit order kid in a candy store due to all this draft/schedule/TG talk. Getting close to the week mark. I’m gonna need some methadone to help my withdrawals after the buzz of the draft has subsided.
WHAT? – no need to feed into that BS negativity, because if nothing else its just boring. No stimulation, same argument over and over. You’re better than that brother.
JG – is this McClure holdout official? As we’ve learned from the TG trade, until we see it on NFL.com or ESPN NFL, than there’s little reason to buy into whole-heartedly. We’ll see.
Ken Strick – nice NE opponent research. Everybody’s afraid of NE and assume its a loss, but I can’t wait for that game. How do we truly measure up to the “class” of the NFL? Can’t wait to find out.
Reno – you’re definitely justified in being a little apprehensive about the first 5 games. That definitely will probably be a bell-weather of sorts, but we play the role of underdog well. And despite some love from several pundits, the Falcons are just assumed to take a ‘huge drop simply because we have a ‘harder’ schedule. I say to the pundits: keep the doubts coming, it’ll only inspire our ‘boys.
Stirg – interesting scenario, but I’ll have to take a big ol’ pass on that. Moving from #24 to #8 would take heaven and earth and Raji is not worth it, IMHO. Many ‘experts’ even mention how much he benefited from your boy Ron Brace taking up double teams allowed him to dominate. If anything, I say trade down, but if Pettigrew, Matthews, Cushing, Maybin, or English are there, I say grab’em.
Nookah – what’s up my brother? Have you tried some fresh brewed Labatts? Check it out if you get a chance. I told you there was a blog eating monster roaming through the shadows on this blog. It literally ate like 4-5 of my posts one night. WTF?
As always great arguments all around. I was completely sold on Matthews, but just a sliver of doubt creeped back in when I watched Mike Mayock break him down. Said he will have to improve his run support ability, which was one of our big weaknesses. So I got you there. Maybin most likely will be gone, but I’ve seen a few of him slipping. Just depends. If he drops past the Broncos and Bills, he may slide to us. English’s stock is rising in my draft world. Dudes a beast and could learn under Peterson for a year and drop his hand down as a DE for different looks. MJ would be worth a 2nd pick, not a 1st, IMVHO. He probably will be a beast at some point, but his hybrid ability will be limited in a 4-3, and you would think he stole Mayock’s cat the way he slams him. Mayock’s a tape junkie, and evidently MJ had a TON of bad tape and takin’ plays off. Hey, I’m sold on Barwin. The guy’s abilities are off the chart and you just can’t pass on a guy like that. Great reference on Sam Baker. That pick got crucified by pretty much all the ‘experts,’ and he rocked it out as True Rookie Left Tackle in the League. I like it. But, if Pettigrew or Matthews there, I still gotta go with my top 2. Me thinks that Matthews might go right before us. If its Barwin, I’ll send you Red Stripe gift certificate.
Can you taste the brew and anticipation on Draft Day? For you beer conisseurs, check out Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo Ale. A little hoppy, but finishes clean. And on that note…………
8 DAYS, 16 HOURS, 44 MINS, & COUNTING!!!!!!!!!!!111
D3
April 16th, 2009
7:18 pm
irvin – definitely agreed, meant to put that point in about Barwin myself. Do we draft a semi-project @ #24 or go with the sure thing.
DOL’s supposedly got some good stuff for us tomorrow. Just hope he changes the Sintim pick (sorry DOL).
VICK SUPPORTER 2
April 16th, 2009
7:32 pm
MOSS—-BRADY—–TAYLOR
marko
April 16th, 2009
7:33 pm
JJ, I meant to tell you I pretty much agreed with your forecast for next season. If anything, I’m a little more optimistic. I predict a hard cold winter in Tampa. I don’t see any way we don’t take the series. We’ll have a normal football season, we’ll win one or two we figure to lose, and well payback the football gods by losing one we should win.
Stop the presses! On the Buck & Kincaid dog & pony show, Dimitroff declared that he had his man. Or lady let’s not be sexist here. This morning I wrote that if he had his man, that meant he was fairly sure that he or she would still be there at twenty –four. Following this to its logical conclusion, he needed to be sure that the player he coveted would still be there when we made our selection. This would rule out the possibility of his waiting for a higher ranked player to fall through the gaps. Up till this point I hadn’t spent much time considering early second round picks as ours are at twenty-four and fifty-five. There didn’t seem to be much point in paying attention to that part of the draft as we weren’t going to be selecting there. That’s where I’ve missed the boat; Thomas doesn’t select players based on where others think they should be picked. He makes his own decisions. From this we can assume that Thomas Dimitroff is not married.
Looking at the men and women that I’d previously overlooked, I made a startling discovery. There weren’t any women. This is sad, I can only guess that we haven’t progressed as far as a society as I had assumed. It’s tragic because I’m of the opinion that Rosie O’Donnell would make a fine nose tackle.
Looking over the list I narrowed my choice to Conner Barwin. It’s said that at Two hundred and fifty plus pounds he has run sub four point five forties. I’m skeptical about this claim as scientist have pretty well proven that white boys can’t run that fast. Last year Conner was a tight end, and a very good one at that. This year they moved him to defensive end and he recorded eleven sacks. This year the Falcons will move him to linebacker. Three positions in three years would be overwhelming for some, but not Conner he spends half times curing cancer. All this stuff is fairly common on the planet Krypton where Barwin was born. Anyway that’s the way I see the Falcons going Nine days from now. Of coarse I reserve the right to change my mind as I’ve just run across this kid from Tulsa Tech that turns green every time the officials get him upset.
D3
April 16th, 2009
7:59 pm
Quick Comedy: been thinking this for awhile, but had to finally put it up. Anyone ever noticed that BJ Raji looks A LOT like the dude from “Lost” in the face? Obviously try to get past the skin pigment, maybe I’m high on sleep deprivation. See for yourself:
BJ Raji
http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/01/23/1232769189_1497/539w.jpg
Dude from ‘Lost’
http://cimg2.163.com/ent/2006/10/4/20061004140911fd66f.jpg
New Mock from Draft Countdown has our boy Pettigrew going to Bills…..D—it!
http://www.draftcountdown.com/sub/Mock-Draft-A.php
D3
April 16th, 2009
8:04 pm
Quick Comedy:
been thinking this for awhile, but had to finally put it up. Anyone ever noticed that BJ Raji looks A LOT like the dude from “Lost” in the face? Try to get past the skin pigment, maybe I’m high on sleep deprivation. See for yourself:
BJ Raji
http://cache.boston.com/resize/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/01/23/1232769189_1497/539w.jpg
Dude from ‘Lost’
http://cimg2.163.com/ent/2006/10/4/20061004140911fd66f.jpg
New Mock from Draft Countdown has our boy Pettigrew going to Bills…..D—!
http://www.draftcountdown.com/sub/Mock-Draft-A.php
D3
April 16th, 2009
8:11 pm
Our old buddy Steve Wyche has finally come around……Pettigrew it is!
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d80fcaea2&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
falcon21
April 16th, 2009
8:52 pm
Thanks for the info D3, good reading but Pettigrew to me just does sound like the logical pick. There is alot of positive with the pick. It would make a really good offense even better but we need D. and the player we need may not be availble. Trade down trade up, heck I don’t know . As someone said earlier, I’m confused!
Pete
April 16th, 2009
9:10 pm
Sorry, but Eben Britton, Arizona, would be FIVE times a better pick than Duke Whoever Robinson.
With Britton on the right and Baker on the left, the Falcons would have one of the premier O lines in the NFL for the next 8 to 10 years.
falcon21
April 16th, 2009
9:12 pm
Does not sound. sorry!
VICK SUPPORTER 2
April 16th, 2009
9:17 pm
I HOPE D.J. GETS TO START AT LEAST 1-PRESEASON GAME THIS YEAR. SINCE THE NEW FACE HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN THE STARTING JOB, THERE SHOULD BE NO THREAT OF D.J. OUT PERFORMING HIM THIS PRESEASON.
irvin
April 16th, 2009
10:11 pm
Britton isn’t much of a pass blocker. At least not as a left OT. Who knows how he would do on the right side. Doesn’t matter anyways as we have solidified our O.Line and will not waste a first on a tackle.
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
11:22 pm
Yeah D3, I’ve had the Labatts. Pretty good brew. A’int nothing like an Ice Cold Red Stripe and an NFL Draft (no pun intended).
D LED, don’t listen to the rumour, I am not a sales rep for Red Stripe, just proud of my heritage!!!
GO FALCONS!!!!
Nuff respect everytime!!!
D3
April 16th, 2009
11:24 pm
So, in honor of DOL’s super-jacked Mock 5.0 coming out…..
Mock Draft Cinco.1
1)Brandon Pettigrew – TE/ yep, made the switch
2)William Moore – S
3)Cody Brown – OLB
4)Roy Miller – DT
5a)Keenan Lewis – CB
5b)Marko Mitchell – WR
6)Zach Potter – DE
7)Ramon Foster – T
Aim the torpedos and fire away! See you on the flip side boys. And on that note……………
8 DAYS, 12 HOURS, 35 MINS, & COUNTING!!!!!!!!
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
11:27 pm
Oh I should also tell you guys we’ll get a backup DT in the later rounds….Roy Miller from Texas it is.
Nuff respect!!
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
11:38 pm
D3, I like your 4th round selection (see my last post). I guess you posted just before I did.
Nuff respect!!
Stirg d'Nahsif
April 16th, 2009
11:38 pm
Good one, Reno 911. They did enter Sanchez’s name into the equation. That’s what made Jacksonville entertain any trade offers. There is a sudden big buzz over Sanchez and pundits are mocking him as high as number four to Seattle. Otherwise, Jacksonville would consider Jeremy Maclin for their number eigth pick. It seems, without Sanchez available, Jacksonville will consider any and all trades.
Irvin, like how you think. Run defense, especially on Anderson’s side, will fix itself. Although pass defense does need improving, I think our book ends, Abraham and Anderson, will prevail. I made an entry, some weeks ago, regarding the maturation of a defensive end. Enter Michael Johnson here. I don’t think Johnson would last to the second round but he’d make a great pupil to replace Abraham in the coming years. From that research I did, we know that this may be the year that Anderson (and Abraham, again) serves us 10+ sacks. Lets not forget Davis; that’ll contribute to your solution of two-gap tackles. Move Anderson inside, on passing situations, and swing Davis to the end.
D3, once again, you’re on point. Thanks for reminding me of that tandem. It was I, even, that suggested Raji may be overrated because of Brace’s contribution. Still, D, you can’t deny what Raji brings to the table. Even with Brace in the consideration for Raji’s performance, why is he still being mocked in the second round? Seems to me, if he’s that good, he should be marked within a few picks of Raji (sort of like the USC linebacking corps’ scenario). Again, if you want a prosperous company, you recruit the best employees. If Raji is available for the taking, I say pull the trigger. …And Pettigrew is finally your mocked “24″; you’ve come around. Did I have anything to do with that?
marko: Rosie O’Donnell, nose tackle; good one! LMAO
Nookah, so you like Conner Barwin, yeah. I must admit, I’m not to familiar with the cat. Do you like him for the position more than you like Michael Johnson? Let me know something before I start campaigning for either one. I’m rolling with your suggestion; I trust your judgement. I always trust a man that shares a Red Stripe.
Ken Strickland
April 16th, 2009
11:51 pm
NOOKAH-I’ll bow to your wisdom and leave these haters to themselves.
FALCON21-JAnderson won’t be switched to DT, but rather used as a hybrid, so to speak. He’ll be used at DT as an inside pass rusher, same as last yr. On passing downs, Anderson and Babineaux will provide the inside pass rush and JAbraham and either KBiermann or our draft pick will provide the outside pass rush. Otherwise, Anderson will likely be a part of the regular DE rotation.
MAARKO-I don’t know if we should take another chance on a former TE turned DE. Remember, our current DE JAnderson was a converted from TE, and we see how much difficulty he’s had with the switch, after excelling in college.
There isn’t a player in this draft that’s worthy of us giving up the multiple picks it would take to move up 16 slots in the draft. Raji is bigger and might be stronger than Jerry, but that doesn’t mean he’s a better pick for us than Jerry. Raji certainly isn’t good enough to sacrifice as much as we’d have to sacrifice to get him, especially with the possibility that Jerry could be available at #24.
It’s no accident that TD and Smitty have stocked the roster with versatile safeties like Coleman, Harris, DeCoud and Fudge, who have the talent to play cover 2 zone DEF. With LMalloy gone, there isn’t a traditional SS on our roster. Also, with overweight, short winded DT GJackson and aging SS LMalloy gone, efforts will no longer have to be made to compensate for their limitations. Let’s face it, with Grady, we were vulnerable to screens, play action pass plays, and unable to do much, if any, DL stunting. Having those limitations removed will automatically improve our DEF.
Nookah
April 16th, 2009
11:56 pm
Stirg, did you see my 6:06 post? This is what I said about MJ……Johnson has all the attributes but can he really be the hybrid and is he cross-trainable as Smitty loves his players to be. However, certainly if we want a pure pass rusher, he’s our man……….
I gave Barwin the edge even though he’s just played defense for 1 year but I think he has the attributes and high upside, just what the Duo is always looking for. TD/Smitty likes fast, athletic, heady, versatile and high character guys. He has been described as a Mike Vrabel clone and that’s not a bad compliment. Believe me, I too like MJ but I am giving Mike Mayock the benefit of the doubt. He’s closer to the info than I am. However, if we picked him, I would not complain as I have faith in this management team but my pick is Barwin.
Oh, by the way I know nothing more than you do just doing my research and trying to think out of the box. Remember TD put’s up a lot of smoke screens.
Go Falcons!!!
Nuff respect!!!
irvin
April 17th, 2009
12:21 am
Thanks Stirg. I agree with your assessment on Anderson. I always believed that it would take him every bit of three years to come around. I would say anywhere between 8 to 12 sacks will be the number for him this year. Just so you guys know, T.Lewis played mostly UT in college. His strength is in penetration, but when he came to Atlanta the coaching staff discovered that he could anchor the double team at nose guard. He has only gotten stronger while rehabbing that knee. Good point about Grady K. Strick. Lewis is a major upgrade over big Grady, and he has the agility to chase down those screens and blow up the draw.
Big Ray
April 17th, 2009
12:24 am
STIRG,
Very interesting comments about trading up and what not. I think Raji is worth it. He may not be a Warren Sapp, but if he’s anything like that guy, he’s worth trading up to get. As for Ron Brace, I believe there is always a player or two who gets mocked lower than his teammate for various reasons. I think Brace is solid, but not as quick as Raji. That, and the DT position isn’t considered that deep in this draft. Other positions have come to the forefront for whatever reason, and I think that’s one of the reasons why Brace “became” a 2nd-rounder by way of mock draft. Or, I could be wrong…
KEN STRICKLAND,
Don’t let them draw it all out of you. I know it’s hard to resist. But you can only call an ignorant person ignorant so many times before it begins to make you look crazy. And you ain’t crazy. Don’t let ‘em bother you so much. Sometimes a casual slap is so much more effective and satisfying than a furious punch. Know what I mean? Speaking of which…
BIGEASY830,
I can’t blame you for not liking the fact that we keep talking about last year. After all, you couldn’t have possibly enjoyed last year. Not with the Falcons winning as much as they did. I mean, a new coach, a new GM, busted up veterans, rookie QB, and youngsters we didn’t recognize. It was a perfect situation for somebody like you, right? Wrong. We won 11 games. You’re right, we most likley won’t win 11 of them this year. Maybe that will make you feel better! I mean, that IS why you’re still around, right? To see the anticipated failure? Well, considering the team will be smarter, more cohesive, and more experienced, and all you have to go on is a tough schedule, do you think your odds of satisfaction are better…or worse?
VICK SUPPORTER 2,
While I’m sure you will pretend to not have seen this, I have to say, you’re not doing such a good job. No, really, you’ve done a good job all last year of supporting Vick and harassing the board as much as possible. And you brought us such good luck with all of your faulty loss predictions?
But….I thought you were here to support Vick? Shouldn’t you be helping him get his bankruptcy recovery plan straight (and suitable for presentation in court) or finding him a better job than the construction gig he’s being offered? What kind of supporter are you? You’re spending all your time trying to get feedback from us! Traitor….
D3,
Sorry. Couldn’t help it. I’m deviant by nature…
irvin
April 17th, 2009
12:38 am
Nookah- I still think that Barwin’s pass rush is very raw in comparison to Johnson’s. But could you imagine Barwin’s athleticism as the SAM? He would be able to keep up with TE’s in coverage and would be a beast blitzing from that position. It may take him some time to get with the program but with a dominate front four and Peterson to help guide him at LB, he may become a certified play-maker.
What if we were somehow able to get both of those guys on the first day? Our D would be absolutely sick! GO FALCONS!!!
Big Ray
April 17th, 2009
12:39 am
NOOKAH,
You like Barwin over Johnson? Interesting. Now, assuming we keep all the picks we currently have (and don’t do any trading), where do you see us picking up Barwin?
STIRG,
Something else occurred to me. This is in some ways, the age of the linebacker, but we’re moving towards the age of the “Extreme Safety.” You know how this goes, it’s kind of like going with whatever’s trendy. Defenses have been going more and more with linebackers that are versatile. I recently read an article talking about how the middle linebacker position is fading into the background, and the versatile outside linebacker is coming to the forefront.
I think that is why you will see several linebackers (like the USC crowd) lumped closely together on mock drafts. I also think you’ll see a “run” on linebackers in the draft, and probably on receivers and safeties, too. But you won’t see that on defensive tackles. You see, it’s the linebackers that also are talked about as doubling as defensive ends. Look at the guys who are mentioned in both positions: Aaron Maybin, Larry English, Cushing, Matthews, Barwin, etc. The only reason why Maualuga is part of that tight cluster is because he is considered hands-down the most dynamic middle LB in the draft. Laurinaitis is second, but he is a bit of a distant second (as far as hype/excitement factors).
The hybrid DE/OLB is the “it” thing. And right on the heels of it is the hybrid safety that can just about play like a linebacker, but is also absolute murder in coverage. HOWEVER, there are few safeties in the draft, and none of them seem to be (at least at first glance) like an Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu. We might see one emerge like that, but none look that special just yet, that we know of.
And so, the linebacker position is IT. Defensive tackles (at least the good ones) are rarely known as being all that versatile. You rarely find a run-stuffer that can also play on the end and rush the quarterback quickly. And even fewer are known as 3-technique types (or more), meaning that they only have certain moves that they use to get past blockers and into the backfield. Not to mention some are tuned specifically for 3-4 sets or 4-3 sets.
And if you are stuck on a particular set, then no matter how good a guy is, if he just doesn’t fit your primary defensive scheme, then you can’t really use him.
Again, that’s where the linebackers come in. More versatility. Allows you to change/adjust your schemes. More game-changing ability. Especially when you’re talking about dropping back into coverage, something you’re just not going to expect or get out of a DT. So, DTs are judged almost exclusively on stats. Doesn’t matter if you drew double teams all year long, for 2 years straight. Those doing mock drafts don’t see that. What they see is how many tackles for loss, and how many sacks.
And that’s why I think you’ll see guys like Raji and Brace that far apart. Victims of circumstance, if you will.
Big Ray
April 17th, 2009
12:40 am
Irvin,
Hope you’re right. We really need the help down there in the trenches. Lewis may be just the guy…