SI's Austin Murphy makes some observations after an afternoon at USC practice:
...[Mark] Sanchez, a 6-4, 215-pounder who is scary good. Sanchez has an inch and 20 or so pounds on Booty, and a little more on his fastball. His release is so quick, it's a blur.
A big, bruising tailback with a gliding, upright, Dickerson-like carriage, punishing the Trojans' starting defense. The mystery back was none other than Darnell Bing, the starting strong safety, who averaged 12.5 yards per carry as a tailback at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High, where he played both ways.
...the Trojans haven't gotten the inside push they came to take for granted last season from Mike Patterson and Shaun Cody... But defensive tackles Sedrick Ellis and LaJuan Ramsay have come on strong in the second half of the season.
Preparing for battle [SI.com]
The dust has settled in New
York, the 2005 NFL Draft is done.
You probably already heard that Mike Williams was chosen by the Detroit Lions when he slipped to #10. While we're sure that Mike was somewhat disappointed, we know that #1 will come out on top--especially with the particularly nasty Williams & Williams combo in Detroit (not to mention Charles Rogers coming back and emerging Kevin Jones in the backfield). Meanwhile, Vikings fans will be left spending the next 10+ seasons regretting the selection of Troy Williamson at #7.
But after Mel Kiper's hysteria settled down (ESPN's draft guru had Williams #1 on his OVERALL board, and nearly had a coronary when Williams dropped to 10) and all was said and done, a grand total of five Trojans heard their name called by NFL teams on Saturday and Sunday--including two 1st rounders and two 2nd rounders.
Here's the complete list:
And you can be sure that Matt Grootegoed will get an invite (and make the team) with some lucky NFL team.
Congrats to all of the new Trojan NFLers--you're in good company fellas.
NFL Draft:
Full Coverage [ESPN]
There was some national media at Thursday's (4/7) practice including Kirk HerbStreit from ESPN and a reporter from Sports Illustrated.
The ESPN Gameday host was there as part of a Spring Football Tour which will air the week of April 25. Other teams will include Iowa, Florida, Texas and Notre Dame.
Chauncey Washington continues to impress. Running backs coach Todd McNair said,
"He is tearing it up man, he is doing his thing. He is a combination of both of the other two. He has some of the power LenDale has and some of the
speed Reggie has."
Sedrick Ellis and LaJuan Ramsey, among others, have been effective replacing All-Americans Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson.
Kicker Troy Van Blarcom was finally accepted. Van Blarcom is expected to challenge sophomore Mario Danelo to replace Ryan Killeen and fill USC's vacant
placekicker duties.
The draft goes down in late April, but Fanball has hypothesized a mock draft (assuming no trades), where the Minnesota Viking take Mike Williams with the 7th pick to fill the immediate void left by Randy Moss. And DE Shaun Cody going first round at the 31st pick to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Yahoo also weighs in with its picks. Should Braylon Edwards go to one of the first three picks before the Chicago Bears can draft him, Mike Williams might not be around for the Minnesota Vikings at the 7th pick. Yahoo's mock draft has Shaun Cody going to the Jets at the 26th pick.
2005 NFL Mock Draft [Fanball.com]
Submitting
his rough draft [Yahoo! Sports]