Draft '06 review

The 2006 NFL Draft-A Final Review of day 1


Now that the draft is over, we can begin to look at which teams picked who and why.
Most teams are faced with the challenge each year of needing to go beyond selecting the best player available at each position. This was never more obvious then in this year's draft where the Jets used both their first round choices on offensive linemen. But what about teams that make picks that has you scratching your head saying, "Why did they get him for?"

The Packers had many holes to fill, and traded the talented receiver Javon Walker for a #2 pick to Denver, yet they choose LB A.J. Hawk with their #1 selection, the 5th overall. It's quite clear that Green Bay felt they needed more help on the defensive side of the ball, and had been zeroed in on Hawk for over a month. Many considered Hawk the best defensive player in this draft and were it not for Mario Williams' stock rising so fast, could have been a top 3 pick instead of #5. Are two spots a big deal? It’s only worth a few million dollars.

With the two Bay area teams selecting 5 and 6, I'd have loved to have a copy of the Chronicle from Sunday morning to read the rants of Raiders fans griping about the selection of Michael Huff. While Mr. Huff is a fine talent and the top rated DB in this draft class, he went a bit too high at #7. Same for Donte Whitner to the Bills with the next pick, and Ernie Simms to Detroit following at #9.

Rounding out the top 10 was the second major surprise of the draft. Matt Leinart was not the happiest person in Radio city music hall that early afternoon. When he wasn’t selected #3
by the Titans, we knew he would fall. We didn’t think he'd get past the Raiders at #7, but we knew all along that Oakland owner Al Davis never picks QB’s in the first round. The Cardinals are one happy team however, because they got someone who now has something to prove to the 9 teams that passed him up.

The steal of the first round could be Jay Cutler at #11 to Denver. While he played at Vanderbilt, Cutler has a rep as a hard worker who makes things happen. People have begun to make comparisons to Tommy Maddox, who was drafted in John Elway‘s 9th season, as Cutler has been drafted in current Qb Jake Plummer’s 9th season. I can assure you that Cutler is no Maddox.

Others who reaped the benefits of a twisted draft board in the first round:
Dallas obtained OLB Bobby Carpenter with the 18th selection. His bloodline speaks for itself.
New England selected RB Laurence Maroney with the 21st pick. After Bush, Maroney was in a three-way tie as the next best back in this draft.
After the Steelers traded with the Giants to move up seven spots, they selected wide receiver Santonio Holmes. This was the first year in some time that the wide outs didn’t rise up higher in round one. The other two RB’s considered to be in the top of the draft class were also selected late in round one. DeAngelo Williams went to Carolina at #27, and then Joseph Addai became an Indianapolis Colt at #30.
Round two saw 3 receivers and one "slash"type go to teams that all needed to add speed the position. Chad Jackson was considered to be the best wide out in this draft by many.
So much for that train of thought. He went #36(4th in round 2) to New England.
Eight picks later at #44 the Giants obtained Sinorice Moss, the younger brother of Santana Moss, also a Miami Hurricane wide out. Sinorice told us in a telephone press conference last week how happy he was to be coming to a team that wanted him. There was even talk of him being the Giants first pick after the trade down with the Steelers.
Others who did well the rest of day one: The Jets got what could be a steal in Oregon QB Kellen Clemens, who has incredible zip on his passes according to several insiders. Dallas got Notre Dame TE Anthony Fasano. The Ravens selected OC Chris Chester from Oklahoma. Tampa Bay got Jeremy Trueblood, the OT from Boston College.

Finally, some round three selections that made sense: The Cardinals selection of TE Leonard Pope of Georgia, who was thought of as a round one talent. Miami taking Derek Hagan, the Arizona State wide out. San Diego's selection of QB Charlie Whitehurst of Clemson, and Tampa Bay choosing Notre Dame Receiver Maurice Stovall. The Texans tried to get big at the beginning of the 3rd round with back-to-back Offensive Linemen, Charles Spencer of Pitt, and Eric Winston of Miami.

Next: Day two Gems

Madonna Launches Concert Tour - "Beautiful Stranger" Video

Starting at the Forum in Inglewood, Madonna will launch her concert tour.

Madonna's simply one of the most popular pop-icons. See her perform in this Austin Powers Video "Beautiful Stranger":

"Golden Girl" Cal's Olympic Star Natalie Coghlan and Writer Michael Silver and Talk About The New Book

My friend Michael Silver spent much of his life litterally dumped into the pool of water that is the culture of the Cal Women's Swimming Team. He dived in to write about Seven-Gold-Metal Champion Swimmer Natalie Coghland, and came out with a great book called "Golden Girl."

I took a video of their book presentation held at The Book Passage In Corte Madera in Marin County.

Here's the video.

Stephen Colbert In "The 1 Second Film" Made At Sundance 2005

These guys are attempting to raise $1 million by making one second film clips but all tied together. Their video making the rounds is funny, and has an even higher level of relevance because Stephen Colbert carved out a great role in the film.

Check it out:

The NFL Playbook: The Poorly Written Document A Rookie Faces - The Mike Martz Playbook

It's rookie mini-camp time, and like your third date with that girl you always liked it marks the time to get excited all over again -- only this time about the upcoming football season.

But for a rookie it's a hard time, especially because they have to memorize the contents in the playbook they're given. If they're Detroit Lions first year offense players under offensive coordinator Mike Martz, they're forced to absorb the contents of a playbook that's over 400 pages -- and poorly written.

How do I know? Because I'm reading the St. Louis Rams offense playbook from 1999 -- there's little different from the offense shown in this playbook and what the Lions and Washington Redskins players will learn this year.

This is what the Lions' Wide Receiver Mike Williams has to remember:

"We will number our holes according to the points of attack with EVEN numbers going to the right and ODD numbers going to the LEFT."

"Numbering of Backs: QB is #1, R is #2 regardless of set; H is #3 regardless of set."

Williams has to remember not only what a "Zero" route is (a shallow pattern into the short middle of field just five yard deep) but how to run it against "Retreat Zone", "Retreat Man" ,"Cloud" , "Trail", "Bump" , and vs. "Quads" -- all are types of defensive coverage approaches.

He has to know the difference between "Trade Deuce Right" and "Trade Double Right" (the fullback is next to the weakside tackle in the former and in the slot between the weakside tackle and the split end in the latter), and that's just in the "D Variations"

The what?

But hey, I'm reading the playbook. He's got to remember this stuff.

What ads to this is the playbook itself is so poorly written. There's not an extensive table of contents. The plays are not well organized. Indeed, there should be a chapter for each kind of pass there is. And each play should have it's own page and segmented so that each offensive player knows what they're supposed to do in that play. Kind of like the Cal offense.

I've got that playbook too. It's the best organized playbook I've ever seen. Each play has it's own page. There's a page on special strategies. For eample, Cal calls it's two minute offense "Bonzai" -- who can forget that? There are also special chapters on screen passes.

How do I know this? Because I'm looking at Cal's offensive playbook, too.

In fact, It's clear to me that some NFL teams should study their college counterparts for playbook design ideas. The 2005 Notre Dame Offense playbook is well-segmented, yet detailed and there's no play that's simpler than what's ran in the NFL. Moreover it' reveals a varied offensive attack that has just one weak spot: an apparent vulnerability to defenses that play multiple-fronts and zone blitz.

But heck, if you've got to get to that level of complexity to beat Notre Dame, that's saying something for their playbook. The only other answer is to have better athletes, but that's another story.

Rookies coming into the NFL have to learn a new playbook and absorb a lot of information. Since the concepts in the NFL are really not more advanced than those at colleges like Notre Dame and Cal, why not make the playbooks easier to read?

There's no sense in fooling your own players.

24 Star! - Pernell Harris Is Agent Harris Of Fox TV's "24" - Video

If you remember the scene in 24 where Jack Baeur crash lands on an island, then you may remember an African American FBI agent on that plane. You may also remember him as the person who asks Baeur to "stand down" with his gun pointed at Mr. Baeur.

That man is "Agent Harris." His real name is Pernell Harris and lives and works in Oakland, California. He's currenly Assistant GM at Gold's Gym in Oakland. In my next video, we'll include scenes from 24 featuring Parnell. But for now, here's the video interview of Parnell Harris:

Damon Connolly For Assembly - Marin County

My good friend Damon Connolly's running for assembly in Marin County, California. I took this brief video at one of the many house parties thrown for him this year. Ever the gracious host stopping to talk to all of the attendees, Damon managed to give me some of his time to encourage you to vote June 6th and to explain who he is and that his main concern is getting the state to give kids -- he's a father of two girls -- the best education possible.

Here's Damon Connolly: