Yesterday I predicted a bright and sunny future for those of our players that did get drafted, right after predicting a bright and sunny weekend for those of our players that were in the draft. As it turned out I overrated the draft chances of nearly every single one of the players I made any sort of prediction on. I'm a fan, go figure.
Anyway, today, I will tell you all about our undrafted free agents. If I missed any, sue me; either that or just tell me nicely and I'll fix it. I'm getting the list from this site right here, which seems pretty thorough. Also I am not going to bother with the players going in for tryouts before they get signed, including, say, Byron Glaspy. I like thoroughness, and the likelihood of me missing a number of such players, combined with the unlikelihood of said tryout culminating in an NFL career, is reason enough for me not to worry about it.
Interestingly, we had more players actually get drafted than sign as undrafted FA's.
Oh, before I start: consider all of these as coming with the obvious caveat that the vast, screaming majority of undrafted free agents typically fail to make so much as a practice squad. Therefore when I talk about someone's likelihood of making a roster, that should be taken as "relative to the likelihood of the average undrafted free agent making the same roster." Anyway.
Antonio Appleby - Patriots
One of the best pieces of news here is that the Pats play a 3-4, so Appleby won't have to learn his way around first. I think if a 4-3 team had signed him, there's no way he'd have made it with that team, considering the odds that undrafted FA's face plus the learning curve of a new defense.
That said, not only did Appleby end up in the right defense, he also ended up on the right depth chart. The tough part is that the Pats' starting ILB's are set in stone, so there's no chance for anyone ahead of him to move up causing openings below etc. etc. The nice part is that the players listed as backups on the Pats' depth chart aren't setting any worlds on fire. One was a UDFA his own self just last year and made his way right into the lineup as a rookie. The other has a very thin resume. New England didn't sign any other linebackers after the draft and didn't draft any inside 'backers during it. Appleby, if he stays signed by fall camp and if the Patriots don't sign anyone else (that is another caveat that applies to all three of these, should have a chance to compete for one of those precious final roster spots. I think he can stick with the Patriots at the very least as a practice squad guy.
Alex Field - Giants
The Giants did sign another DE after the draft, and furthermore, drafted a guy who could slide up to play DE in the right situation. You might remember him. Field, therefore, is in direct competition at the very least with Penn State's Maurice Evans. The problem here is not the depth chart or the competition though - it's that Field really was not even a standout college player. Steady and unspectacular is how you'd describe him. He is bigger than most of the Giants' current defensive ends, so he's got that going for him, but not so big that a move inside is a viable option. Unfortunately I don't think Field has an NFL future.
Kevin Ogletree - Cowboys
Hu boy. Ogletree is going to be unfortunately remembered by UVA fans for quite some time as the quintessential don't-leave-early cautionary tale. Ogletree was compared to Tavon Mason immediately upon making his decision and again after the draft passed him by; the next Cavalier to unwisely leave early will assuredly conjure up Ogletree's name. It's a shame too because with so many standout WR's leaving the ACC this year, Ogletree had a terrific shot at making a real name for himself in conference play. Many of the usual arguments in favor of leaving early (could have gotten hurt next year, scheme might have caused production to drop, etc. etc.) are now easily fended off with, "Yeah, that would suck, he might not get drafted then." Worse yet, Ogletree didn't make anyone's list of "best undrafted free agents." (That's ESPN's - he also didn't make Yahoo's, which if I could find, I would link. Grrr.)
Anyway, the flip side is that Ogletree got all sorts of feedback telling him he'd be drafted. Somewhere. By someone. And not just the seventh round, either. And it was from the NFL advisory board, not some slimy agent. Everyone thought his leaving was a bad idea, but not because he wouldn't get drafted; it was because he wouldn't get drafted high enough. Even the most pessimistic people about his chances probably didn't see that one coming.
But, Ogletree was one of the first UDFA's to find a landing spot. And he landed somewhere with a lot of uncertainty. Despite some skepticism among the fans, Jerry Jones stood by his wide receiver corps and stayed true to his word; the Cowboys used only their last of 12 picks on a wide receiver. Jones appears to mean what he says about his WRs; problem is, not many other people think his WRs can live up to his faith in them. They certainly crapped out last year.
We know Ogletree's talents, and his ability to play NFL ball is much less in question than Appleby and Field. There's probably room for one more receiver besides the six already listed on the roster; if so, Ogletree is currently in direct competition for it with fellow UDFA Julian Hawkins and 7th round pick Manuel Johnson. Any more space for a WR depends on how long the guys currently there remain Jones' boys. The speed at which Ogletree got picked up by the Cowboys suggests there's probably some amount of interest around the league for his services, and Ogletree will find a home on a practice squad if he's not on a roster.
Programming note: I'm entertaining family this week starting tomorrow. So daily posts all three days this week are so unlikely as to be considered nigh-impossible. I will try and get one out there on one of these days, and just to make it up to you I'll put something up on Sunday too.
Showing posts with label appleby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appleby. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, October 20, 2008
weekend review
Not a lot of newsy stuff this weekend. Which is nice. Saves you and me time. Let's see what there is.....
No official word on the injuries to Antonio Appleby and Ras-I Dowling. Groh doesn't sound mightily encouraged, but then he has never been accused of overbubbly optimism. Poster Battman at TheSabre offers some hopeful news on Appleby, for what it's worth. I'm not gonna lie: Appleby would be a painful loss but we can do without him; Darren Childs played a respectable game in his absence. Dowling, on the other hand, is the second-best player on the defense after Sintim. Without him our pass coverage takes a serious hit and we're left open to the big play.
From Bottom 10 to Boise. ESPN had us pegged as a target of mockery earlier in the year, and readers of Heather Dinich's blog-like column probably tired of her weekly jabs. Win a few games and suddenly you make the weekly bowl projections. At great risk of sounding ingrateful considering where we stood three weeks ago: I don't want to go to Boise and play Boise State. Mark Schlabach tosses a bone our way as well, though it's not hard to figure that he thinks we'll no longer be a factor after this week.
Oh, and the unwritten, unspoken, and nonexistent blogger code says I have to link this, although the probability approaches 1 that you've already seen it. The next time a ref blows a call somewhere, just remind yourself it could be ever so much worse.
Movement on the recruiting front. The recruiting board sees an update this week, as follows:
- Added LB Luke Kuechly. Kuechly has us in a final four that also includes BC, Stanford, and Duke. That's the good news. The bad news is that "the coaches seem really nice" is not the most ringing of endorsements. He's listed as "good" chance for now, but we'll see.
- Added a list of schools under Joshua Evans. Previously it just said "many" there. He's still not exactly the best chance for a commit that we have this year. Florida is usually mentioned next to his name, and they are supposedly going after him hard.
- Added UNC to Brennan Williams' finalists. Odd timing, considering Williams' official to Charlottesville was this weekend. ($)
- Changed Tajh Boyd's finalists ($) to BC, Tennessee, Oregon, and PSU. Seriously, let's not get our hopes up here.
Now for the already-committed players and their weekend games.....
DOMINIQUE WALLACE: I never get tired of reading about this guy. 155 yards, four touchdowns, and for good measure an interception as Chancellor stays undefeated with a win over Courtland.
ROSS METHENY: Uh-oh. Metheny was 27/45 passing for 403 yards (yowza) with 2 TDs and 2 picks. But Sherando lost the game 17-14, and worse yet Metheny tweaked his knee. He was walking around after the game, but still. Metheny is probably guaranteed to redshirt next year anyway, but you never want a guy to get hurt even slightly if he's in the succession line at quarterback.
TUCKER WINDLE: Had 4 carries for 43 yards and a catch for 19 as CC defeated Garringer 42-19. (Again, you'll just have to kind of click through....and again, Windle will be a linebacker in college.)
A spin on the ACC merry-go-round....
FSU knocked off NC State 26-17, which is pretty easy these days, and Scalp 'Em knows he is on an island by calling it not an ugly win. State Fans Nation sees his team bringing a spork to a gun fight.
Maryland shut out Wake Forest 26-0. Turtle Waxing is still pretty depressed about the Terps' chances, but they've got nothing on the raincloud hovering over Old Gold & Blog.
Georgia Tech joined the Make Clemson's Season Miserable parade by beating them 21-17. As GT is this week's opponent, look later this week for a Q&A session with The LegacyX4.
Miami rallied to beat Duke, 49-31. So, transitively speaking, the Canes should beat us by 49, which would be cruel one-upmanship over last year's 48-0 spanking.
Boston College took down the Hokies this week, ha. Gobbler Country is jumping aboard the Fire Stinespring bandwagon, as if the overcrowding is not already breaking all applicable fire codes and threatening to crack an axle. CGB illustrates the point.
Lastly, one note. One slight change has already happened to this week's Blogpoll ballot, as USF gets bumped from 14th to 17th. Go check it out and continue to help me fix it so that it can be the bestest ballot ever.
No official word on the injuries to Antonio Appleby and Ras-I Dowling. Groh doesn't sound mightily encouraged, but then he has never been accused of overbubbly optimism. Poster Battman at TheSabre offers some hopeful news on Appleby, for what it's worth. I'm not gonna lie: Appleby would be a painful loss but we can do without him; Darren Childs played a respectable game in his absence. Dowling, on the other hand, is the second-best player on the defense after Sintim. Without him our pass coverage takes a serious hit and we're left open to the big play.
From Bottom 10 to Boise. ESPN had us pegged as a target of mockery earlier in the year, and readers of Heather Dinich's blog-like column probably tired of her weekly jabs. Win a few games and suddenly you make the weekly bowl projections. At great risk of sounding ingrateful considering where we stood three weeks ago: I don't want to go to Boise and play Boise State. Mark Schlabach tosses a bone our way as well, though it's not hard to figure that he thinks we'll no longer be a factor after this week.
Oh, and the unwritten, unspoken, and nonexistent blogger code says I have to link this, although the probability approaches 1 that you've already seen it. The next time a ref blows a call somewhere, just remind yourself it could be ever so much worse.
Movement on the recruiting front. The recruiting board sees an update this week, as follows:
- Added LB Luke Kuechly. Kuechly has us in a final four that also includes BC, Stanford, and Duke. That's the good news. The bad news is that "the coaches seem really nice" is not the most ringing of endorsements. He's listed as "good" chance for now, but we'll see.
- Added a list of schools under Joshua Evans. Previously it just said "many" there. He's still not exactly the best chance for a commit that we have this year. Florida is usually mentioned next to his name, and they are supposedly going after him hard.
- Added UNC to Brennan Williams' finalists. Odd timing, considering Williams' official to Charlottesville was this weekend. ($)
- Changed Tajh Boyd's finalists ($) to BC, Tennessee, Oregon, and PSU. Seriously, let's not get our hopes up here.
Now for the already-committed players and their weekend games.....
DOMINIQUE WALLACE: I never get tired of reading about this guy. 155 yards, four touchdowns, and for good measure an interception as Chancellor stays undefeated with a win over Courtland.
ROSS METHENY: Uh-oh. Metheny was 27/45 passing for 403 yards (yowza) with 2 TDs and 2 picks. But Sherando lost the game 17-14, and worse yet Metheny tweaked his knee. He was walking around after the game, but still. Metheny is probably guaranteed to redshirt next year anyway, but you never want a guy to get hurt even slightly if he's in the succession line at quarterback.
TUCKER WINDLE: Had 4 carries for 43 yards and a catch for 19 as CC defeated Garringer 42-19. (Again, you'll just have to kind of click through....and again, Windle will be a linebacker in college.)
A spin on the ACC merry-go-round....
FSU knocked off NC State 26-17, which is pretty easy these days, and Scalp 'Em knows he is on an island by calling it not an ugly win. State Fans Nation sees his team bringing a spork to a gun fight.
Maryland shut out Wake Forest 26-0. Turtle Waxing is still pretty depressed about the Terps' chances, but they've got nothing on the raincloud hovering over Old Gold & Blog.
Georgia Tech joined the Make Clemson's Season Miserable parade by beating them 21-17. As GT is this week's opponent, look later this week for a Q&A session with The LegacyX4.
Miami rallied to beat Duke, 49-31. So, transitively speaking, the Canes should beat us by 49, which would be cruel one-upmanship over last year's 48-0 spanking.
Boston College took down the Hokies this week, ha. Gobbler Country is jumping aboard the Fire Stinespring bandwagon, as if the overcrowding is not already breaking all applicable fire codes and threatening to crack an axle. CGB illustrates the point.
Lastly, one note. One slight change has already happened to this week's Blogpoll ballot, as USF gets bumped from 14th to 17th. Go check it out and continue to help me fix it so that it can be the bestest ballot ever.
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