ESPN’s Kiper recommends Kyle Wilson or Brandon Graham
Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson comes up with an interception against Idaho at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow last November. (Joe Jaszewski/The Idaho Statesman)
ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper was in draft day form for the national media today.
He did a two hour conference call, taking questions from writers from around the country. Kiper was pretty strong throughout.
I was caller No. 12 in the first half hour and asked him about the Georgia Tech kids and who might be available when the Falcons select in the first round.
“I think Kyle Wilson, the cornerback from Boise State would make a lot of sense at that point,” Kiper said. “Considering
Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham, wears the same number as John Abraham.
the way that he played at Senior Bowl practices. He’s another kid with great character. He studies the game. He’s a very hard worker.
“Certainly, he would be in the mix. (Defensive end) Brandon Graham from Michigan would be another guy to consider there. Where they are picking at . . . they can solidify a need area from the players on the board.”
I mentioned Oklahoma State cornerback Perrish Cox and Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, but Kiper would not sign off on them at No. 19/20 for the Falcons.
HE’S CLEAR ABOUT TEBOW: Kiper is steadfast in his analysis that Florida’s Tim Tebow is not an NFL quarterback.
“I said that directly to his face,” Kiper said. “I think he’s an H-back. Is somebody going to draft him as a quarterback? Yeah, I think they will, but in the second or third round.”
The Godfather Gil Brandt blesses Musgrave move
St. Louis media mogul Bernie Miklasz and Gil "The Godfather" Brandt.
It happened a little after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Gil Brandt, who’s affectionately called “The Godfather” of the NFL by his listeners on Sirius radio, blessed the Falcons’
With his injured right foot in a padded brace Matt Ryan looks on as quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave confers with Chris Redman on the sidelines during 2nd half action against the Buccaneers at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com
promotion of Bill Musgrave to assistant head coach.
Brandt, the former Cowboys executive, who helped make them America’s team, is now a member of the media. In addition to his Sirius gig, he writes for NFL.com. He’s a walking encyclopedia and a noted historian of the game.
Before taking a call from Dr. Falcon on the Late Hits show, Brandt, unsolicited, went into a blessing of the Musgrave move.
“He’s a young man that grew up in Colorado,” Brandt said. “He went to high school in Colorado. Then went on to the University of Oregon. I believe he was a fourth round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys (correct) and I’ll tell you what, this guy is a good, good football coach. I think that he will add a lot to that offense of the Falcons.
“He’s a good coach, there is no question about it.”
Dr. Falcon wanted to know how the Falcons, in the NFC South with the pass-happy Super Bowl champion Saints (4th in the league, 272.2 yards per game) and run-happy Panthers (3rd in the league at 156.1 yards per game), plan to continue rebuilding the defense. He seemed to want a free agent signing of Julius Peppers and was intrigued by Alabama’s Shaun “Mount” Cody.
The Godfather didn’t bless either of those potential moves.
Nick Saban signing autographs at the Senior Bowl. (D. Orlando Ledbetter/Dledbetter@ajc.com)
“Nick Saban told me that the (lowest) weight they could get him down to was 356 pounds,” Brandt said. “I think the guy tires. I’ll tell you what, you are going to have a hard time. . . these players that once they leave college and lead a more settled life when they get into the NFL, historically they gain weight.”
Cody tipped the scales at 370 pounds at the Senior Bowl.
“If you were assured you were going to be able to keep (his weight) down. . .he’d be alright,” Brandt said.
You have to stay with the Godfather, because like a great jazz musician he’ll go on a freestyle riff.
“But I’m going to tell you something, that guy Kroy Biermann from the University of Montana, the third year player, he’s a pretty good football player,” Brandt said. “He’s a very, very good football player. . . I think what they need is No. 1, a defensive linemen. No. 2, an outside linebacker, who can go sideline to sideline. That is what would probably help them the most right now.”
Brandt noted that the move to draft Jamaal Anderson hasn’t worked out for the Falcons, but he didn’t recommend throwing barrels of money after the problem.
“Here’s the problem if you bring in Peppers,” Brandt said. “How do you justify to players on your team that are pretty good football players when you bring in someone who makes $21 million or whatever the price is. You are going to have other players look at that and they’ll say ‘I might not be as good as him, but I’m 50 percent as good. Where’s my $10 million?’ That makes it tough.
“Peppers is an athlete. He played well this year. Against Minnesota he was unbelievable, but that’s a tough, tough number to digest.”
Musgrave checked in this morning. He left his cell phone at the office last night. We’ll share later some of the thoughts of the Falcons’ new assistant head coach.
Falcons promote Musgrave to assistant head coach
Bill Musgrave, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback coach, was promoted to assistant head coach on Tuesday, the team announced.
Musgrave will remain in his role as the quarterback coach.
Bill Musgrave
Musgrave, 42, has worked with some of the league’s top quarterbacks, including Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning. This offseason he was coveted by several teams, but elected to stay with the Falcons.
He is currently in charge of developing Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who won the league’s rookie of the year award in 2008. Musgrave has been with the Falcons since 2006.
“Bill has been an integral part of this coaching staff and this is a well deserved promotion,” said Falcons head coach Mike Smith in a statement released by the team. “We will look to utilize his tremendous amount of coaching experience for years to come.”
Before joining the Falcons staff, Musgrave was the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins in 2005. He has also served as an offensive coordinator on four occasions with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2003-04), Virginia Cavaliers (2001-02), Carolina Panthers (2000) and Philadelphia Eagles (1998). Musgrave started his NFL coaching career as a Quarterbacks Coach with the Oakland Raiders in 1997.
Musgrave, a fourth round choice by the Dallas Cowboys in 1991, played in the NFL for six years. He played in two Super Bowls, winning a title with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.
(Musgrave is in a meeting right now. We’ll talk to him later today and update this post. —dol)
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95 comments Add your comment
MCook
February 16th, 2010
4:48 pm
Bottom line.. why are the Falcons the only one showing remote interest???
Shockley
February 16th, 2010
4:55 pm
Hey Zimmer,
Look homer, Shockley came in did a great job his senior year at UGA. But face facts, football is a business. If he was good enough he wouldn’t have sat behind Greene who didn’t cut it in the NFL and he wouldn’t have been pushed behind a rookie John Parker Wilson. Don’t see the other teams lighting up the Falcons phone to pick him up. Heart and courage are great but not enough to play in the big league.
Dean
February 16th, 2010
5:21 pm
Maybe Richard Bush is DJ’s dad?
Falcons promote Musgrave to assistant head coach | Atlanta Falcons … | Drakz Free Online Service
February 16th, 2010
5:39 pm
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Ivan
February 16th, 2010
5:52 pm
“..The “practice squad player” will eventually get a shot elsewhere and everyone will then see this “practice squad player” is very capable of quarterbacking an NFL franchise (as the “practice squad QB”.)
—Fixed in parenthesis
Eric Von
February 16th, 2010
6:26 pm
Still doing great work, D. Love the Falcons stuff and I’m not even a fan! Get in touch with your old fans back in Miltown.
Troy Zimmerman
February 16th, 2010
7:15 pm
Why are some getting so emotional because Shockley has fans & well wishers. I’m a fan of good football & some good football players. I like and respect that comment from Ivan 2/16/10 @ 5:52pm. Just wish the kid well, just look @ where the racial type comments are coming from, it doesn’t appear to be from Bush or well wishers such as Ivan & myself. This has to be the most divisive fan base I have ever seen. Why would Rick bring up race……Why, Why, Why????could it be because that’s what he see’s @ every turn. I do not know, but he along with some other’s should do a self evaluation or listen to Keith Olbermann commentary on MSNBC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0IBBXocQRw
D. Orlando Ledbetter
February 16th, 2010
7:32 pm
Eric Von: Thanks for checking in from the Brew City and showing us some love.
I see you are all were cutting up in here today. I had to check for local invites to the combine. The list is pretty long:
Geno Atkins, Georgia, DT
Eric Berry, Tennessee (Creekside HS), DB
Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech, S
Jermaine Cunningham, Florida (Stephenson HS), DE
Rennie Curran, Georgia, LB
Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech, RB
Kareem Jackson, Alabama (Macon Westside HS), DB
Reshad Jones, Georgia, DB
Brandon Lang, Troy (Tucker HS), DE
Boris Lee, Troy (Clinch County HS), ILB
Trevard Lindley, Kentucky (Hiram HS), CB
Darius Marshall, Marshall (Baldwin HS), RB
Sam Maxwell, Kentucky (Hart Co. HS), OLB
Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech, DE
Eric Norwood, South Carolina (North Cobb HS)
Jeff Owens, Georgia, DT
Pat Paschall, North Dakota State (Chattahoochie HS), RB
David Pender, Purdue (Charlton County HS), DB
Perry Riley, Louisiana State (Stephenson HS), DE
Chris Scott, Tennessee (Lovejoy HS), OL
Cameron Sheffield, Troy (Portal HS), DE
Malcolm Sheppard, Arkansas (Bainbridge HS), DT
Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech, WR
Torell Troup, Central Florida (Salem HS), DT
Lorenzo Washington, Alabama (Grayson HS), DE
falcon
February 16th, 2010
7:38 pm
Have the Falcons ever heard of the screen pass?
Troy Zimmerman
February 16th, 2010
7:58 pm
We wish ALL of these State of GA products & affiliated students posted above well in their potential NFL careers
Singletary
February 16th, 2010
9:55 pm
It is hard for me to imagine that the offense of 2008 looked so dominating & innovatively coached, but last year’s version made us question OC down to water boy. Are the West teams really that inept? The NFC South teams are built like each other particularly in the trenches. (You saw how the Eagles manhandled both of our lines, particularly blitzing and rushing Redman. They’re just bigger. How long does it take to grow a NFC East line like that?)
Rocky Mountian Falcon
February 16th, 2010
10:35 pm
Is it football season yet?
Big Ray
February 16th, 2010
11:48 pm
Bill Musgrave gets promoted (watch your butt, Mr. Mularkey) and the conversation turns to DJ Shockley? Uh….
falcondfan4life
February 17th, 2010
8:46 am
Question: Is he still the Qb coach? This is kind of unusual to be the assistant head coach and not be a coordinator.
florida falcon
February 17th, 2010
9:04 am
@Rick-C’mon man, quit the african american QB crap. The NFL has won with black QB’s (and coaches) for a while now. I grant you there are people out there that believe what you are implying. However “those” people are fading away year after year. We gave the keys to the city to Vick and he had more than enough chances. I think our organization want s to win-period. Regardless of the color. And to anyone that doesn’t understand what I mean by “those”, i’ll clarify it-”Those” are racists both black AND white (and Yes everyonther color in the spectrum! that has narrow minded people).
On another note- how I wish the Aint’s would cut Drew Brees and bring back Aaron Brooks!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
February 17th, 2010
9:07 am
Falconfan4life: He told me his role doesn’t change. The title allows him to get a raise and will keep other teams from swooping in and trying to lure him away.
NCFalconFan
February 17th, 2010
9:46 am
Why can’t we all get along? I don’t understand the constant questioning of starter QB. At least half the league would love to have our starting QB on their roster. And for all of you Shockey lovers, if he could be a “starter” in this league why didn’t any of the 31 other NFL teams signed him when he was cut by the FALCONS?
MJ
February 17th, 2010
9:55 am
You do realize his name is Terrance Cody…right? Go AJC!
nativefalcon
February 17th, 2010
10:14 am
Great Move by the falcons, Musgrave is a keeper and if Mularkey ever leaves, he will be te Offensive coordinator. Now all we need to do is grab Arron Kampman and grab a outside LB with out first pick in the draft, for Petersens eventual replacement.
Yah right
February 17th, 2010
10:17 am
Richard Bush
February 16th, 2010
12:59 pm
I do indeed come in peace & with both subjective & objective football knowledge.
______________________________________________________________________
Richard, I would say that the “objective football knowledge”, is up for interpretation. Based on your first blog. you were here flaming for your boy. DJ was put on waivers an no team picked him up. It is about talent nothing more nothing less. You need to get over it.
aDrummer
February 17th, 2010
10:30 am
I heard that the Chargers wanted to trade Cromartie for a running back?? I think we could use him what y’all think?
thanks Norwood
February 17th, 2010
10:32 am
You’re a good player. I even have your jersey. But we have to send you to San Diego for Cromartie.
JeanE
February 17th, 2010
10:33 am
This seems like a deserved promotion to me: please oversee Mr. Mularkey and overule him constantly! That guy is the worst playcaller ever and I used to get peeved with Dan Reeves and his drawplays but Mularkey is worse! I also totally agree with the guru, Brandt and that we should not sign Peppers. Let him go to the Pats. I think the “Beerman” is a player, too so let’s allow him to develop. Do need D-line help, though, the Jamal the 2nd experiment should be OVER.
Halsey
February 17th, 2010
10:34 am
It’s being reported that the Chargers are looking to trade Antonio Cromartie. The Falcons should check that out. Even if he’s had a couple of bad years, CB’s with his talent are hard to come by.
truth
February 17th, 2010
11:01 am
Bush………good luck with your team the aints re-signing those free agents.
truth
February 17th, 2010
11:10 am
Who gives a flying fluzzy fart about D freakn J Shockley. He proved time and time again he is NOT starting QB material. Good lord is this fan base ever gonna move on from MV7 and DJ.
Ivan
February 17th, 2010
11:55 am
Say “No” to Peppers.
JB FALCON
February 17th, 2010
1:23 pm
I threw the idea about Cromartie in here about a week ago and it’s just now being considered an option? Hello 6′2″ CB, Bye Norwood?
tree rollins
February 17th, 2010
2:09 pm
Time to start talkin’ running backs with the Falcons (and defensive line as always). I think it’s time we take inventory at RB and bring in some fresh blood to challenge Mr. Turner. Turner looked overweight to me all season and hit the line slow every time. Snelling will never be an NFL starter and Norwood will always be part time because of durability and strength.
tree rollins
February 17th, 2010
2:12 pm
fyi the Falcons are one of the last teams in the NFL to feature run-first pass-second as their philosophy. Just look at the playoff teams and see if this is where the trend is going. To top it off our RB position was flaky at best all season. Hope Mr. Musgrave brings some fresh ideas to this offensive philosophy!
alanfalcon
February 17th, 2010
4:15 pm
Ah, all the coaches that don’t matter are speying their lack of knowledge once again, I wonder where we would be if we tried to follow all their suggestions.
hiramsaint
February 17th, 2010
5:58 pm
well you followed smitty’s suggestions and went from 11-5 to 9-7 and who knows what next year, 6-10? blanks footstool is no coach and thats where you gotta start
D. Orlando Ledbetter
February 17th, 2010
7:33 pm
Been ignoring the Cromartie talk on purpose. He wouldn’t come up and tackle in the Jets game. He looked like he was running away from contact on a couple of tackles. Translation: He’s not the Falcons type of guy.
D3
February 17th, 2010
7:59 pm
DOL – Magnificent blog as always my brother! You set the bar high, and I certainly appreciate the shout-outs as well. Originally, Kiper had the Falcons taking Sergio Kindle in his first mock. Has that changed, or does he believe Kindle will be gone?
Kyle Wilson – Normally, I usually like Kiper’s picks, but I am not a fan of either of these picks. Kyle Wilson did nothing whatsoever to convince me that he is a first round corner in the Senior Bowl, except for drop a super-easy interception that hit him in the hands. I was led to believe that TD was a major CB snob, is there anything to lead you to believe otherwise to take a big flyer on a guy like Wilson when we Owens, Grimes, Williams, Houston, Jackson, and Hill under a new secondary coach? Which, by the way, had no problems coming out and saying that their skill sets were poor.
Brandon Graham – I could understand this pick much more, but I still don’t like it. Drafting a defensive end in the first round (or anywhere for that matter) is one of the biggest learning curves from College to the NFL. There is simply no guarantee that Graham could come in and do any better than Biermann, or Sidbury Jr. for that matter, in his first year. Meanwhile, Mike Peterson ranked 50th out of 53 total Defensive Ends in terms of production of 4-3 OLB’s, turning 34 this year, and fading fast. Clay Matthews Jr., Brian Cushing, and Brian Orakpo all made the Pro Bowl in their rookie year (Cushing was Defensive Rookie of the Year).
Halsey
February 17th, 2010
8:18 pm
CBs with Cromatie’s talent are too valueable a commodity to simply ignore simply because he looked bad in his recent game. Obviously the guy’s play has dropped off since 2007, but it’s not like the Falcons have a lot of options to find a CB with his talent. The guys they could Draft are no more or less of a risk than he would be.
Mr Charlie
February 17th, 2010
10:32 pm
I love DJ, and hope he does get a chance somewhere/sometime, class act all the way. I
It was very unfortunate that he hurt his knee just when he had a chance to get some playing time. Green never got his shot either, I would have like to see him too. It is hard to overlook what Cromartie did in the Jets game, could you imagine if he did that here in that situation? I have never seen and NFL player do that in a game, ever.
drmondo
February 17th, 2010
10:33 pm
When I read about Cromartie, I thought about trading Norwood to SD for him. Here are the problems with that. First, Cromartie has some character issues and the Falcons have steered clear of those type of players in the last 2 years. Second, if SD resigns Sproles, why would they want two scatback-type RBs instead of a bruiser?
Congrats to Musgrave on the promotion. I hope he does light a fire under Mularkey. I’m an ATL transplant living in upstate NY where I had the unfortunate honor of watching Mularkey kill the Bills with poor play calling and coaching. I was pleasantly suprised in ‘08 with the offense, but last year raised doubts about his abilities again. If Musgrave can scare/cajole/force our OC into opening up the offense a bit, that would be great.
On DJ, I thought he was going to be a great backup for “He-who-will-not-be-named” because DJ seemed to be a less gifted but more intelligent version of the former starting QB. Since the offensive scheme called for a mobile QB who could run, DJ made sense as a backup. Even taking into account his injury, DJ hasn’t really shown much to warrant thinking of him as more than a 3rd stringer in our current scheme. He’s a nice guy and I have nothing against him, but I can’t believe he has any real future as a starter for most NFL teams. I’d love it if he could prove me (and the 31 teams who didn’t touch him after he was cut) wrong, but I don’t see it happening.
Thanks for the updates DOL. Keep them coming!!
Big Ray
February 18th, 2010
1:14 am
Matt Ryan is our starting quarterback. End of story.
On the draft, I’d rather take a defensive lineman or a good outside backer than a 2nd tier cornerback. Kyle Wilson is a player, but does he help instantly? Does he help more than the guys we have? Don’t think so, but that would be my opinion. Kiper knows he’s talking about all the same. I just don’t totally agree.
Sid
February 18th, 2010
9:14 am
Jeez I do not want them to go after Peppers…………
Chaseolla'
February 18th, 2010
10:23 am
D-Led
What do you think of Antoine (Mccartie?) being released from N-England as a possible free agent CB for Birds, he has apparently fell out favor, Td should have experince w/ him
Thanks
cutter
February 18th, 2010
11:44 am
Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie is allegedly $25,000 behind on child support after missing his Feb. 1 payment.
Cromartie, just 25 years old, has at least seven children with six different women in five states. Well on his way to Shawn Kemp/Travis Henry territory, the Chargers have grown tired of his off-field issues and soft play. He’s going to bring a ton of baggage to any team that takes a chance on him in 2010.
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
cutter
February 18th, 2010
11:48 am
Do we want very good players or very tall players which is it?
cutter
February 18th, 2010
11:56 am
Mel Kiper’s 2009 mock.
Mel Kiper’s first round 1-16
Pick Team Player Position College
1 Detroit Matthew Stafford QB Georgia
2 St. Louis Andre Smith OT Alabama
3 Kansas City Mark Sanchez QB USC
4 Seattle Michael Crabtree WR Texas Tech
5 Cleveland Aaron Curry LB Wake Forest
6 Cincinnati Jason Smith OT Baylor
7 Oakland Jeremy Maclin WR Missouri
8 Jacksonville Eugene Monroe OT Virginia
9 Green Bay Malcolm Jenkins CB Ohio St.
10 San Francisco Aaron Maybin DE/OLB Penn St.
11 Buffalo Brandon Pettigrew TE Oklahoma St.
12 Denver B.J. Raji DT Boston College
13 Washington Brian Orakpo DE Texas
14 New Orleans Vontae Davis CB Illinois
15 Houston Everette Brown DE Florida St.
16 San Diego Knowshon Moreno RB Georgia
See for yourself how many he got right.
keeping it Real
February 19th, 2010
2:30 pm
Bill mus-grave good coach ,Matt Ryan no heart all punk when heat is applied!All want to be!!
P. Bull Terrier
February 21st, 2010
3:10 am
Why does a discussion about DJ upset some people so much? Ir seems natural for fans to keep an eye on the home town guy who, by misfortune or lack of ability, has dropped to the back of the pack in the QB depth chart. Since DJ is still part of the Falcons team, it seems that they have made some type of decision about him. Is there hope for the DJ fans? Is there reason to think he might be able to work his way up to #3 or #2? If so, what is that reason. Has something changed? If the is no reason to think he can move up the depth chart, why are we still hanging on to him?