Scouting Combine 2009

It's been a while since I've posted anything... It's a mixture of sadness now that football has gone, craziness in school, and lastly trying to get involved in watching basketball which seems much boring this year except for what the Jazz has been doing... The Scouting Combine is next best thing to watching football because a person is able to see the next future superstars in the NFL... I wasn't invited because I'm already a superstar in the NFL :) (I wish...) Anyways I watched all of the combines twice especially the only two Utah Ute players Sean Smith and Paul Kruger... I wanted to see how they did and if they would help themselves raise their stock in the draft... I still am saddened to think that these two talented players could be playing next year for the Utah Utes... But I think that they are ready for the next step in the their career... Here is how they did...

Sean Smith

He came in at 6'3 and a half weighing at 214 pounds... There was something about him at the combine... He came in with a chip on his shoulder ready to prove something... He was ripped from when I saw him in the Sugar bowl... That told me that he took the preparing to the next level... If you knew Sean, Dude is already confident... But he came as a different person...Quiet (in a confident way) yet he proved his presence there because you can see it in his eyes... Prior to the combine a lot of people thought because of his size that he would be a better fit to play safety...

Sean came back with, "shoot I'm here to play whatever position...whether it be RB, DB or even Safety...I'm here to prove that I can play with the big dawgs." What a perfect answer...

I was impressed with the way Sean Smith came out and did what he did in the combine... I give him a "A-"... He ended up running his fastest 40 at 4.47 seconds... (which is way faster than what I thought he would run...) He surprised a ton of people who didn't know who he was... I've read many articles on draft experts picking Sean Smith to go in the first round... For example one ESPN analyst had 2 paragraphs on Sean saying that he was impressed with the "fluidity" movements he makes with his hips... Obviously this is probably the most important asset as a DB to be able to move your hips and Sean showed that... I'm excited to see where he ends up because the Eagles have two first round picks but I don't see the Eagles picking up another DB unless they switch him to Safety... (Sorry I ramble on sometimes but just thinking here) Any who... Sean was talked up by everyone you can think of... It went from the NFL network crew to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED TO ESPN ANALYSTS TO NFL TEAM DRAFT ANALYSTS... Sean did what he needed to do to be noticed...

Paul Kruger

He came in at 6'5 weighing at 263 pounds... I gave Paul a "B-" grade for his combine because he didn't do anything to raise his stock and he ended up dropping his stock in my opinion... He ended up running his fastest 40 at 4.85 which was a middle of the pack number... Nothing stood out... He also only did 24 reps of 225 which is pretty low for a DE... Again nothing stood out... One thing that went positive was that he showed he can do the practice, cone, bag drills with ease... I've looked at many opinions on Paul Kruger and one NFL analyst predicts that Paul goes late 2ND round... Which before the combine, he was projected late first round to early second round... So I think that he will go either mid or end of 2ND round... Who knows if he would've stayed for one more year??? He would've potentially became an early 1rst round pick...

I know that any NFL team that ends up picking Sean Smith or Paul Kruger will happy with the choice... Both are mature guys and are ready to make an impact... Can't wait to see where they end up and how they do for their NFL careers...

Superbowl 43

Well...Well...Well... What a great superbowl!!! There were some spectacular plays made by both teams... Me being a fan of neither team... My respect definitely grew for both and I expect both of them to be a threat next year...

Who did I cheer for???(some of you may have asked) Like I wrote in my last post, it was for the Pittsburgh Steelers... What was crazy, is that everyone who was at our Superbowl party was all cheering for the Arizona Cardinals except for my mother-in-law and one of my brother-in-laws... That made the environment a little frisky... When it comes to football, I get a little mouthy sometimes a little too mouthy(sorry Pat)... But all in all it is part of loving football and being passionate about it... This game definitely lived up to its hype and it had my in laws house shaking... Let me get off into a tangent real quick...

I just wanted to thank my mother in law and father in law for having that AMAZING Superbowl party!!! The food like always was amazing... We had BBQ meatballs, pork(the best meat ever especially the way my father-in-law makes it), soft shell and hard shell tacos, spicy buffalo wings and BBQ weeines... That didn't include all the yummy mouth watering desserts... Starting with Heather's famous cookies and brownies, doughnuts, and to top it off was vanilla ice cream... THERE WAS SOME GOOD COOKING... Thanks again to all who shared their cooking talents...

"Warren Sapp shouldn't be a analyst..."

Ok...Ok...Now back to football... I had the opportunity to listen to most of the NFL analysts from ESPN, NFL Network and also watched the game again this morning... I get the feeling that most the analysts expected a win from the Steelers... All the predictions were way overboard... For istance, Warren Sapp said, "I expect the Steelers to make this Superbowl forgettable...45-17..." I was like what the... Come on Warren... That was the worst prediction ever given in my opinion... There are some of these EX-players that shouldn't be analysts... Warren Sapp is on that list... Just to go off on another tangent... Did you see what I predicted what the score would be and who would win??? I guessed the score right on 27-23... I read an article on what kind of money was made for those gamblers... There was over 200 million dollars made just by guessing the winner and taking the spread... TOO BAD I'M NOT A GAMBLER though... Anyways I will give you MY GAME CHANGING PLAY OF THE GAME AND ALSO THE PLAYERS OF THE GAME ON BOTH TEAMS...

Amazing speed...

Unbelievable hops... He has everything you want in a WR...

Stating with the Cardinals... Kurt Warner amazed me in every aspect of his game... He was unbelievably quick to get that ball out... There were some jaw dropping throws he made that most NFL QBs couldn't make... He made great decisions and he led his team down the field when they needed it most... Now Larry Fitzgerald... Where was he the first quarter??? Yeah he was shadowed the whole game by Troy Palumalu... I knew that he was gonna break out sooner than later... He did in the second half starting with a leaping grab in the endzone... This man is not human... Even if YAO MING FROM THE ROCKETS WAS GUARDING HIM... HE STILL WOULD'VE MADE THE CATCH... THE GAME CHANGING PLAY OF THE DAY FOR THE CARDINALS was late in the fourth quarter... Steelers up 20 to 16... Steelers were playing cover two, zone blitz where Harrison suppose to drop back like a middle linebacker... Steelers rushed 5 and had 6 to cover... Arizona had a perfect play call and perfect formation... They had one TE and 3 wideouts... Leaving man to man coverage and remember the cover two.... Arizona motioned Fitz to the slot... They did just a simple slant route and Fitz was gone... No one could've caught him(ok maybe HUSSEIN BOLT "the Jamaican sprinter")... Another SPECTACULAR PLAY BY FITZ...

Warner still plays with heart...

CARDINALS MVP'S: Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald and on the defensive side Adrian Wilson and Karlos Dansby who was responsible for the only INT... They both played lights out like this was their last game... These two men are the reason why Pittsburgh sub par running game never got going...

Big Ben

This is some ballerina catch... Unreal!!!

Now on with the Superbowl winners: the Pittsburgh Steelers... Let me start out with there Defense... They were flying around... Lamar Woodley and Harrison were harassing Warner throughout the game and more in the second half... This tandem in my opinion is the best in the NFL... They compliment each other so well... They both play a like... Down hill and with a chip on their shoulder... On the offensive side of the ball... Big Ben was amazing along with the Superbowl MVP Santonio Holmes... Big Ben did what he does best... Buys time with his legs and keeps his eyes down field and strikes... Now holmes looked like a top notch receiver and he will be for many years to come... He's only 24...

Warner being harrassed...

Santonio Holmes the "MVP"

Steelers MVP's: Big Ben and Santonio Holmes were making it rain especially on the final drive... Don't you think that Big Ben's name should be up their with the great QB's in this league(Peyton Manning and Tom Brady)??? In my opinion I think he should be up there... He's now responsible for 18 game winning drives... UNBELIEVABLE... On the defensive side, Harrison and Woodley... Harrison made history with that return for 100 yards... You never hear that a Defensive End/OLB run back for a 100 yards... Usually its a DB or a Safety... That was the Game changing play of the game for the Steelers... Also Woodley was responsible for stripping Warner at the end of the game to keep them from coming back... Him and Harrison was all over Warner...

Lastly, I'm sad now that football has come to a close and look forward to the NFL DRAFT, SIGNING DAY FOR THE UTES AND ALSO THE DAY FOOTBALL STARTS AGAIN... :(