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*Are you looking to get a "Jump Start" on the competition for the 2006 NFL Draft... well don't get shutout of our premium coverage of the next 11 months leading up to next April's Draft... that's right, we are actually one month into scouting, evaluations and receival of information, including game tapes, workout data, as well as bio and contact updates for senior eligible prospects... our staff can help you organize and contribute to your team's fall schedule, player rep recruiting list or media coverage throughout this next cycle, so that you will be far ahead of the curve and competition when crunch time comes... please feel free to contact our office over the coming weeks for more information via email ([email protected]), as well as by calling (504) 415.9979... if you have found these reports helpful to date, please get on board now for the "2006 NFL Draft Coverage"... as we approach the summer the costs will increase to meet the market value that is set by our initial subscribers and clients, so with close to 2000 total reports produced over the past four-plus years... our goal is to continue the stream-lined path of information between colleges, post-season all-star games, trainers, player reps and professional contacts; NFL, NFLE, CFL and AFL.
*POST-SEASON ALL-STAR GAME CONSIDERATION... if you have a senior eligible prospect that you would like to help nominate for post-season all-star game consideration, please forward his information to our staff over the next 2-4 weeks, as our initial listings and evaluations will be forwarded to the staff members of every major college all-star game following the July 4th weekend... ([email protected]).
THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT & RESPONSE:
A few weeks back we received an auto-response back from the email account of Colorado-based agent Robb Nelson, which contained the sad news that his son, Hunter, had passed away after a long battle with an illness known as Struge-Weber Syndrome, a brain neurological disorder that causes painfull seizures... Hunter bravely fought through and gave his family and friends many great memories despite battling this illness since the time he was just seven months old... you can contact Shirley Patenaude at [email protected] or pass along your own notes and donations to the Nelson Family, 9785 Maroon Circle, Ste. 350, Englewood, CO, 80112... I would like to thank Jack Hart and the Shrine Game Staff for making a donation after reading the initial report, as well as several fellow agents that have passed along kind words and donations of their own... we will continue to keep the Nelson family in your thoughts with the hope the added publicity will help find a cure for this disease sometime in the near future, as there is only one Sturge-Weber Research Clinic in the country, as of today, which is located at John Hopkins Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.
POST-SEASON ALL-STAR GAME UPDATE:
The East-West Shrine Game will have an update available for all NFL teams, regarding the room accommodations and location of the game headquarters for this year's contest... if you need more information, please contact [email protected] or william @shrinegame.com... you can also email us at [email protected], so that we can make sure each of the 32 NFL teams have been apprised of the update.
PROSPECTS FOR NORTH OF THE BOARDER:
Players that would be interested in being evaluated by CFL teams, who are starting their pre-season games later this week, can contact our office direct via phone or email... if you would like one of your clients to be evaluated for possible workouts or signings in the CFL, please forward our staff an email that includes the following... (Name, Position, Current Size, Workout results, Pro/College Experience, Agent and Player contacts)... all responses will immediately be sent to the front office personnel of select CFL teams that have requested such information from us.
NFL SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT UPDATES:
The NFL has set July 14th, 2005, as the official date for this year's Supplemental Draft... Former CLEMSON wide receiver ROSCOE CROSBY (#25) will be holding a private workout that may be attended by several NFL teams on Friday, June 10th, before having his formal "Pro Day" workout on either July 1st or July 6th... since the league office has not officially announced Crosby as being eligible for the upcoming draft NFL teams are only allowed to view him workout, but not allowed to have 1-on-1 contact or conduct an actual workout, so one of our staff members will be recording his workout numbers on Friday... this initial workout will be done in the Columbia, South Carolina area, as he performs various events, including the 40-yard dash, vertical, bench press and then also catches passes from a "Live" quarterback, as part of the initial workout, which is an exact version of his daily routine... the entire workout on Friday will be taped, and then converted to DVD's for interested teams to review... more information about his July workout can be received by contacting his advisors over the next few weeks... Former USC defensive tackle MANUEL WRIGHT (#92) has setup his "Pro Day" workout for Friday, July 8th, as he continues to train in Colorado in preparation for that event... his workout will take place on either the campus of USC or the Home Depot Center, starting around 10AM in the morning... currently, he is 6060, 302 pounds, and has had one private visit with a team last week, according to his agent... he is also available for physicals, paperwork or phone interviews, leading up to the actual workout... more information about his July 8th workout can be received by contacting his agent over the next few weeks... Former Kentucky linebacker CHAD ANDERSON, who recently added his name to the mix of prospects to be evaluated for next months draft, has not set an official time or place for his workout, but we hope to receive an update from him within the next few days... there are a few other prospects that are investigating their current "Standing" with the college or university they attend in terms of their eligibility to play this fall, but as of today they have not forwarded the necessary paperwork to be evaluated by our staff for the Supplemental Draft.
CAMPUS COMMENTS:
KENTUCKY will likely be without sophomore offensive tackle AARON MILLER, who the staff has said left the program for personal reasons... they hope he will return at some point, so he can continue his career with them, but for now the All-SEC Freshman will not be part of their plans for this fall... several potential football prospects were taken in this past week's MLB Draft, including Texas Tech wide receiver CODY FULLER (LA-Anaheim)... UCLA safety JARRAD PAGE (Colorado)... MICHIGAN quarterback CLAYTON RICHARD (Chicago-AL)... Fuller has terrific speed, but is said to be concentrating still on playing football first and foremost... Page was taken as more of a "Flyer" prospect when you consider he hit less than .200 for most of this past college baseball season... he will be one of the team's starters in the secondary come the fall, so a football career seems more likely for him... meanwhile, Richard, who was taken the earliest of the three (8th round), will forego playing football this fall in the hopes of being signed and sent to the minor leagues after the current NCAA baseball tournament... his 6-foot-5 frame has allowed
the pitcher's status to soar, since the start of the season, as he is seen having the potential to be either a front-line starter or possible closer in the future... speaking of baseball, a consensus Top-5 high school prospect in the country, LSU signee, RYAN PERRILLOUX, who played three sports in high school, has openly said he would like to play both football and baseball, while at LSU... there has been some speculation that should he be asked to red-shirt this season that his career path could take a sudden change to the "Diamond" rather than the "Gridiron", as he has been touted as being a possible "Five Tools" player in baseball... either way at least one of Baton Rouge's teams will grow even more athletic once this phenom hits campus this summer... there are several other new freshman faces could help carry the offensive weight for their new teams this fall, four such names to get acquainted with are OREGON running back JONATHAN STEWART... WEST VIRGINIA running back JASON GWALTNEY... USC wide receiver PATRICK TURNER... MIAMI tight end DAJLEON FARR... Stewart is a punishing, north-south runner with a strong, compact build and workhorse back mentality... they have a crowded back field, but the 5-foot-10, 224-pound Washington native should contribute early... Gwaltney was nearly stolen by Coach Carroll and his staff out at USC before deciding on West Virginia... the absense of Kay-Jay Harris will open the door for immediate results for the Long Island, NY native... he has an impressive blend of size, speed and power... the 6-foot-0, 234-pound runner could be this year's Big East Freshman of the Year... Turner is sure to produce his own highlight reel over the next 3-or-4 years... at 6-foot-5, 210 pounds already as a true freshman he stands every chance to become a red-zone threat and big-time playmaker even with the current talent the Trojans have at wide receiver... Farr most likely will see the least playing time as a true freshman, but his natural skills for his position are unmatched in terms of his age... he's already 6-foot-6, 240 pounds... still growing into his body, as he was about 225-230 pounds the past two years... over the course of his career he could certainly end up becoming a player along the lines of Ben Troupe (Tennessee)... sitting behind Greg Olsen and Buck Ortega for one season will help him grow as a player, as his blocking technique still leaves room for improvement... if you are looking for some names that could jump back into the prospect mix this fall two of them could come in the form UTEP running back TYLER EBELL and AUBURN running back TRE SMITH... Ebell sat out last season after transferring from UCLA, but appears to be set for a strong senior campaign, which could feature 1,200-1,500 yards under the direction of head coach Mike Price... Smith returns off of a medical red-shirt, which should allow him to play a critical role for the Tigers this season thanks to the loss of Ronnie Brown (Miami) and Carnell Williams (Tampa Bay)... he may not be the team's full-time starter, but his speed, quickness and hands out of the backfield are sure to see him used as the team's all-purpose back in the fall.
BREAKDOWN & EVALUATION FOR WORLD BOWL:
Our continued growing efforts to create strong working relationships with professional teams and organizations at all levels of football has taken us across the sea, as one of our staff members has been sending scouting and evaluations of each week's opponent to one of the coaches of the BERLIN THUNDER, who will attempt to repeat as champions of NFL Europe on Saturday... what follows is an example of what was sent each week, as requested, as this final evaluation/scouting report details the Thunder's World Bowl opponent, the AMSTERDAM ADMIRALS... it may also lend to the viewing enjoyment of our audience, since they will have some added details that would not be evident without viewing this report...
ADMIRALS TRENDS:
In losses to Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg... all of them were road games... against Frankfurt... they actually led 14-0 in the 1st quarter... but Frankfurt controlled the LOS, both ways... ran the ball 41 times and the Admirals gained only 94 yards on the ground... Admirals had 11 penalties in that loss... and were only 1 of 8 on third down conversions... gave up two sacks... and had two turnovers... Frankfurt used a heavy dose of running... along with select passes to the TE's, as six of 17 completions went to the TE... Admirals lost the time of possession by over 15 minutes... against Berlin... game was tied at the half, 10-10... Admirals ground attack gained 142 yards on the ground, but averaged only 4.6 yards per carry... and gave up two sacks... Cash, Martin and Booth averaged well over 15 yards per catch on 12 receptions, but only one touchdown... Berlin's TE's caught three passes in that game... Berlin's defense created four turnovers... Berlin won the game, but was only 1 of 9 on third down conversions... against Hamburg... Admirals again started off with 14-0 lead, but lost momentum in the 2nd quarter and eventually lost in OT... they gained 106 yards on the ground, but averaged just 4.1 yards per carry... Hamburg's offense rushed for 166 yards on 33 carries... Hamburg TE's caught four passes... Admirals did not get any first downs thanks to penalties... also lost time of possession by nearly 10 full minutes... allowed six sacks... had a total of five turnovers...
OVERALL -- In their three LOSES... opponents were able to control the time of possession... keep the Admirals offense off the field... and wore down their defense by running the ball 33 and 41 times in two of the losses... the Admirals have 11 turnovers in those three losses... have allowed ten sacks... opposing TE's have caught a total of 13 passes... the Admirals were not allowed to take advantage of stupid penalties... twice took 14-0 leads only to lose... as the offense sputtered since it never got back into rhythm after the first quarter outbursts...
ADMIRALS STATS:
Admirals are 6-0 if they score over 24 points... 0-3 if they score 24 or less... all of their losses have been close games, but they have not been able to get over the hump in the 4th quarter of those contests... while they have averaged 5.8 yards per play offensively... they are surrendering 5.6 yards per play on defense... so while they have run more plays on offense their defense when kept on the field gives up yardage... teams are actually completing a higher % of passes against them 53.6% then they are completing on offense 53.4%... they have gotten a total of 24 first downs thanks to opponents penalties... they have four scores on returns; three of them being defensive touchdowns... big scoring quarters for them have been 2nd and 3rd... meaning they adjust well from the 1st quarter and beginning of the second half.
ADMIRALS PLAYERS:
OFFENSE:
QB Kurt Kittner -- 27 of 51 pass attempts for 348 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions... nearly half (13) of his completions in two games versus Berlin have gone to Payton, Smith and Martin... his only touchdown pass went to Martin in those two games... has been sacked 11 times in 203 pass attempts... averaging only 6.83 yards per pass attempt... they have no viable option behind Kittner, since their original starter, Gibran Hamden is out for the season... former Tennessee (college) signal caller Casey Clausen is the backup... Kittner is a rhythm passer/player... he can get on a "Hot Streak"... but is inconsistent with his passes... especially under pressure... if you can get some knockdowns early... get him thinking before the snap... nervous feet lead to turnovers with him... he can get "Flushed" early, especially in a big game... he was signed/released 4-5 times the past two years... he knows this is really make or break for him... so it will be on his mind... if he were to start off slowly... he might never rebound... if they become a one-dimensional team they are much easier to defeat... tell all DL's to keep their arms/hands up; Kittner struggles at times when the passing lanes are not clear... knocking down passes should occur a few times versus him... he also likes to go to a "Quick" count in obvious pass rush situations (3rd and long) things like that...
RB Jarrett Payton -- 30 carries for 164 yards and two scores, two catches for 24 yards... seems like they have bought into the hype of Payton as he seems to now be the focus of their offensive game plan... he's running hard... making good decisions and showing more quickness than previous expected... sometimes carries the ball a little looser when it is in his right hand... watch for that...
RB Jonathan Smith -- 29 carries for 172 yards and two scores, two catches for 20 yards... he's gotten off in a few games... most of his yards are still coming between the tackles, but has shown some deceptive speed in the open field... watch out for him out of the backfield...
WR Ruvell Martin -- 9 catches for 160 yards and two scores... clearly their favorite redzone target... fade route and also like him to run that fade/stop route where he goes like he's headed to the corner than quickly stops and turns around so the QB really is throwing the ball behind him...
WR James Booth -- has become the team's best vertical threat... he has deceptive speed... and runs good routes... smart, heady kid... be careful as both Booth and Cash (#80) were college QB's... so watchout for the gadget plays or possible reverses...
TE Mike Gomez -- has taken over full-time due to the injury to Tony Donald... not nearly has athletic or threatening down the field... but they have used him as a secondary option... remember he is also their PRIMARY snapper on special teams... so I would play him physical on third downs whenever possible...
OT Booker/Archibald... still say they are better run blockers than pass protectors... quicker, edge rushers would give them troubles... might shade the DE's a little more outside, as long as you can still get contain and the LB's keep their assignments early... just to create some added pressure... and get the OT's on their heels... and QB thinking... no real depth at OT for them...
OG/OC... these guys are solid... well-experienced and while they are not dominating they play pretty solid fundamental football... you can however catch the center, Setterstrom leaning one way or the other when he is un-covered... does not have great balance, so if you can get him out of position early... he's slower to recover...
DEFENSE:
DL... has started to take control of the line of scrimmage for them, but they are still not an overly physical group... Mitchell plays high off the ball... I would run more to his side... not as athletic and can get himself out of position... Mallard has played well on the other side, but he's not a powerful guy at the LOS... good pursuit defender... has some quick moves off the ball, but if you keep some body part in front of him he struggles to get back inside... Heuer can be feisty, but not consistent with his hands or play... Caudill has done a good job... he's not a load, but plays hard just about every down... both Cochran and Hand have provided good pass rush off the bench, each has three sacks... they are coming after the QB when they are in the game...
LB... Carothers and Ballard have been playmakers thus far... both have good straight-line speed, but I might try to get a RB or TE in 1-on-1 coverage situations with Carothers, as he does not have great hip movement or fluidness in pass coverage... Ballard comes up to strip on ball carriers... keep an eye on that... they have also played rookie National player Carl-Johan Bjork a fair amount at MLB... he's not bad moving forward... but is slow to read-and-react and does not have great lateral movement... might try a play action or delay-draw when he's in the lineup...
DB... This group is the primary reason along with the RB's that they are in the World Bowl... Tucker has returned a pair of picks for touchdowns... Sanchez has very good speed/quickness... hard to beat them over the top... Connot was really a kid I liked last year, small school safety who will make an NFL roster for years to come... Israel is a solid, experienced veteran... and they have some good bench players, as well... what you want is to make the CB's become tacklers... because they are slight of size and mostly arm tackle... get Israel into 1-on-1 with a slot WR... and on the outside run routes like slants, stop-go and digs... as precise and technique are only average with Tucker/Sanchez... they can be gamblers...
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K Snyder... has been good, but not great... keeping them in mid-to-long range situations can lead to field position victories during the game... as he has converted only 2-of-7 field goal attempts from 40-plus yards... they have been very solid on the coverage units on kickoffs... top special teamers have been Ballard (#44), Archer (#45), Israel (#25) and LeJeune (#36)...
P Dutton... good leg, more directional type... but can get some good hangtime...
11 of his 30 punts have landed inside the opponents 20 yard line... they have good speed on the coverage units...
RT Sanchez/Cash... both have speed, but they have not been overly productive in either role... Sanchez averages right around 20 yards per kickoff return... Cash has some quickness to his feet... can make a few defenders miss on punts...
COMPANY NEWS:
*Several potential new staff additions have been interviewed over the past month, as we continue to add support staff in our efforts to increase our areas of coverage... final decisions will be forthcoming, as we look to increase our staff in the West Coast, Midwest, Southeast, as well as increased coverage of the JC ranks and even Canada and overseas... anyone interested in potential staff positions or knows of ideal candidates can contact us directly between now and August 1st.
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