- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Messages
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- The Dude
[textarea]Turf monster. "I love the 'Turf,'' Tavon Austin told me with a smile last weekend. His first five NFL games, and nine of his first 11, will be on the fake stuff. I know everyone is waiting for him to get hurt, and I know they're bigger, faster, and stronger in the NFL, but remember Austin missed one practice and zero games due to injury in four years at West Virginia.[/textarea]
[textarea]Now that Dimitroff trade from 30 to 22 makes sense. Desmond Trufant's September foes as an Atlanta starting corner or nickel: Drew Brees, Sam Bradford, Ryan Tannehill, Tom Brady.[/textarea]
[textarea]I did write in my SI piece (in the Jason Collins-cover issue, dated May 6) that the Rams had two fallback players if they didn't get Alec Ogletree late in round one. Those two players were UCLA defensive lineman Datone Jones and Kentucky guard Larry Warford. Now, they got Ogletree after trading down to 30 with Atlanta, so the point is moot. But here's what I think would have happened in different scenarios: After St. Louis traded to 30, if Ogletree were gone but Jones available, the Rams would have taken Jones at 30. If both were gone, I think they would have traded down at least once and maybe more. They would have strongly considered the Vikings' offer that New England ended up taking, figuring they likely could have gotten Warford with the two that Minnesota dealt to New England. And they had been in touch with the Ravens, who'd offered their fifth-round pick to move from 32 to 30.[/textarea]
[textarea]Many have said the Rams are going to have one of these risky high picks -- Janoris Jenkins, Alec Ogletree -- blow up on them, the way Pacman Jones and Albert Haynesworth blew up on Jeff Fisher in Tennessee. I didn't use it in the story for space reasons, but COO Kevin Demoff admitted to me that it was likely that one of these days they'd have an issue with one of the high-risk guys, and it was simply the cost of doing business when you take a talented player who has had issues.[/textarea]
[textarea]As I've done a couple of times when writing about the Rams, I want to be open about my relationships there. Kevin Demoff is the son of my agent, Marvin Demoff. Jeff Fisher has Marvin Demoff for an agent. I understand some of you would think I am giving favorable treatment to them, and it is human nature to think that. I try my best to be impartial. Many of you think I am not. I look at it this way: If my relationship with Kevin Demoff and Fisher helped me spend the first round inside the Rams' draft room -- and of course it didn't hurt -- then read the story and weigh whether it was worth it. I believe it was.
[hil]More happened in that round than in any of the other four draft rooms I've been in on past draft days, and I conveyed that in my story. The story, by the way, will be online by midweek this week[/hil]. Otherwise, I'd encourage you to buy the mag. Lots of good stuff in there this week, including Pete Thamel's piece on traveling to India to write about an Indian basketball phenom. But I digress -- there are times I'm going to have to write about people I am closer to than others. It's something I think about when I do it, and I try to be vigilant to be as fair as possible. You will have to be the judge as to whether I accomplish that.[/textarea]
<a class="postlink" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130506/rookie-minicamps-peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback/#ixzz2SU8XX9yD" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/ne ... z2SU8XX9yD</a>
[textarea]Now that Dimitroff trade from 30 to 22 makes sense. Desmond Trufant's September foes as an Atlanta starting corner or nickel: Drew Brees, Sam Bradford, Ryan Tannehill, Tom Brady.[/textarea]
[textarea]I did write in my SI piece (in the Jason Collins-cover issue, dated May 6) that the Rams had two fallback players if they didn't get Alec Ogletree late in round one. Those two players were UCLA defensive lineman Datone Jones and Kentucky guard Larry Warford. Now, they got Ogletree after trading down to 30 with Atlanta, so the point is moot. But here's what I think would have happened in different scenarios: After St. Louis traded to 30, if Ogletree were gone but Jones available, the Rams would have taken Jones at 30. If both were gone, I think they would have traded down at least once and maybe more. They would have strongly considered the Vikings' offer that New England ended up taking, figuring they likely could have gotten Warford with the two that Minnesota dealt to New England. And they had been in touch with the Ravens, who'd offered their fifth-round pick to move from 32 to 30.[/textarea]
[textarea]Many have said the Rams are going to have one of these risky high picks -- Janoris Jenkins, Alec Ogletree -- blow up on them, the way Pacman Jones and Albert Haynesworth blew up on Jeff Fisher in Tennessee. I didn't use it in the story for space reasons, but COO Kevin Demoff admitted to me that it was likely that one of these days they'd have an issue with one of the high-risk guys, and it was simply the cost of doing business when you take a talented player who has had issues.[/textarea]
[textarea]As I've done a couple of times when writing about the Rams, I want to be open about my relationships there. Kevin Demoff is the son of my agent, Marvin Demoff. Jeff Fisher has Marvin Demoff for an agent. I understand some of you would think I am giving favorable treatment to them, and it is human nature to think that. I try my best to be impartial. Many of you think I am not. I look at it this way: If my relationship with Kevin Demoff and Fisher helped me spend the first round inside the Rams' draft room -- and of course it didn't hurt -- then read the story and weigh whether it was worth it. I believe it was.
[hil]More happened in that round than in any of the other four draft rooms I've been in on past draft days, and I conveyed that in my story. The story, by the way, will be online by midweek this week[/hil]. Otherwise, I'd encourage you to buy the mag. Lots of good stuff in there this week, including Pete Thamel's piece on traveling to India to write about an Indian basketball phenom. But I digress -- there are times I'm going to have to write about people I am closer to than others. It's something I think about when I do it, and I try to be vigilant to be as fair as possible. You will have to be the judge as to whether I accomplish that.[/textarea]
<a class="postlink" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130506/rookie-minicamps-peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback/#ixzz2SU8XX9yD" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/ne ... z2SU8XX9yD</a>
