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*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 starting next Monday, July 11th and ending in the fall... ([email protected]).
*Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of former NFL coach HANK STRAM who passed away on Monday after a long battle with diabetes... well-known and respected for being an innovator during his day on the sidelines, including using two-tight end sets, primarily I-formation sets and plenty of blitz packages... he later provided great commentary for games alongside Jack Buck, but is best remembered for coaching the Kansas City Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl IV, part of a career that included 136 victories, and ended with his induction to the Hall of Fame in 2003... the word "Matriculate" is only in the vocabulary of most readers thanks to the voice of coach Stram on a vintage NFL film... Stram spent the latter portion of his life in Covington, Louisiana, and was best known in those years for having a nickname for everyone he encountered.
*INSIDE TODAY'S REPORT (7/06/05):
-RESULTS FROM CLEMSON WR ROSCOE CROSBY'S WORKOUT
-RESULTS FROM TEXAS TECH CB/RT IVORY MCCANN'S WORKOUT
-LATEST ADDITION TO SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT -- MICHIGAN STATE WR/RT AGIM SHABAJ
-MORE SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT NEWS -- PEARSON'S WORKOUT TIME/DATE/LOCATION
-FREE AGENT WORKOUT RESULTS ON LB MICHAEL TOLBERT
-LATEST NEWS ON 2006 PROSPECT -- MOE THOMPSON
-PROSPECT UPDATES
NFL SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT PROSPECT WORKOUT RESULTS:
JULY 1ST:
Former CLEMSON wide receiver ROSCOE CROSBY (#25) worked out for scouts at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday morning, July 1st, as between 18-20 teams were in attendance for his "Pro Day"... weighed in at 6013, 218 pounds... he was 6016, 204 pounds at Clemson's Pro Day in early March... ran between 4.45 and 4.52 in the 40... fastest watch read 4.43 and slowest was 4.57... 18 reps of 225 pounds... 35-36" vertical, as he jumped against the side of the wall in the weight room, so various team's added roughly 2" to his jump... 10 1/4" broad jump... agility drills were done on the same grass field, as his 40-times, which was soft and created some slipping and plenty of divots, so a consensus of his times were not immediately made available... free agent NFL quarterback SHAUN KING was in attendance to throw passes to Crosby, but tightness in his (Iliotibial "IT" Band) right leg along with some cramping forced them to complete just 3-5 reps before an on-site rehab physician, Stephan Parker, recommended that he take a break... the physician took members of all 18-20 NFL teams aside to explain the tightness and potential to cause an injury by pushing it on the field... "That is not actually considered an injury, the tightness can occur in the leg from the stress of a workout... it usually just takes a few days of good rehab, which includes rest, ice, compression and elevation, so there should be no lingering ill effects for the athlete", explained a physician we spoke with... it was roughly 90-95 degrees and there was still a lot of humidity left from previous days, so the field was somewhat soft and created a lot of divots... "It was so unfortunate that he wasn't completely healthy because his biggest strength is his route-running and the ability to catch," (Shaun) King said in an interview with "The State" on Friday... Carolina, New Orleans, NY Giants, Chicago, Miami and Kansas City seemed to spend more time evaluating him during Friday's workout... Crosby intends to perform for scouts again, a few days before the Supplemental Draft, so that they can see him do positional drills, catch passes and possibly run the 40-yard dash again... this would mirror when running back Tony Hollings (Houston) performed a second workout the day before the 2003 NFL Supplemental Draft... his second workout will be held at the PLEX (741 Fashion Drive, Columbia, SC (803) 360-7300) on July 12th, with a start time of 11AM, this is an indoor complex to protect against possible weather conditions... please contact his agent for any/all additional information, directions or to receive a video copy of last Friday's workout.
JUNE 30TH:
Former TEXAS TECH cornerback/return man IVORY MCCANN (#36) worked out for scouts at Rice University in Houston, Texas on Thursday morning (9AM), June 30th, there had been conflicting reports on the time/date of his workout, which originally was thought to be on Wednesday, as officials in the Texas Tech athletic department were unaware of his intentions and did not have access to contact him themselves... ran between 4.30 and 4.37 in the 40... fastest watch read 4.29... 4.02 in the short shuttle... 7.01 three-cone... 10.80 60-yard shuttle... 10'2 1/2" broad jump... 34.5" vertical... weighed in at 5084, 168 pounds... 30" arms... 8 3/4" hands... has also completed 12 reps of 225 pounds, while training... he did positional drills, as both a cornerback and ran some routes, as a wide receiver... also caught kicks/punts during the workout... was originally recruited out of high school as a running back... but his best attribute, as of today, would come on special teams, especially kickoff returns... upon further evaluating his ability and background over the past week, our staff discovered that he attempted to transfer to Grambling State last spring/summer... as a Grambling State official forwarded a copy of an official press release from the school dated August 9th, 2004, which announced the welcomed addition of McCann, but he was not listed on the final roster and did not play for them last fall... according to officials, Texas Tech held up his transcripts, so he was not allowed to play... when he left Texas Tech, he was projected as one of their starting cornerbacks (Spring of 2003), and then returned with 6-7 tackles, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles in Grambling State's 2005 Spring Game... there were roughly 10-12 teams present for his workout on Thursday... eight of the teams stayed behind to have him fillout paperwork and conduct interviews... an AFC West team, who was not in attendance, called to get a complete update on early this morning... scored 12 on the Wonderlic in his first attempt... had a 3.0 GPA coming out of high school, and during most of his freshman year (2001)... lost his mother to cancer the week before the Oklahoma State game (Fall 2001) of his freshman year, which led to a slide in some of his course work... please contact his agent, as they will have a full highlight tape available for teams next week or for more information regarding his workout or to schedule an interview.
LATEST ADDITION TO SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT:
MICHIGAN STATE WR AGIM SHABAJ:
Former MICHIGAN STATE senior wide receiver AGIM SHABAJ (#2), who was strong contender to be one of the team's starting wide receivers this season, has officially been allowed to enter his name for special eligibility in next month's Supplemental Draft... he was declared academically ineligible late last week, but after filing his paperwork on Monday was notified by Kevin Fernandez at the league office that he would added to t
he list... upon further review of his situation, Shabaj was just one credit short of being eligible, as he failed to put his ID number on a recent chemistry final, which led to the results of the test being thrown out by the professor... he was carrying an overall GPA of roughly 2.50, as of that time frame, but since summer classed had already started there was only a slight chance he would be able to secure the course credit necessary to become eligible if he had decided to transferred to a Division II or NAIA program... currently, he is 5101, 191 pounds... has been timed between 4.34 and 4.38 in the 40... 37" vertical... he gained 990 yards and six touchdowns over the past two seasons... was hampered by a right ankle injury last season, and also missed the Iowa game, while suffering from flu-like symptoms... but added the dimension of returning punts; 18 punts for 147 yards... previously, he led the team in receiving, as a sophomore... caught at least one pass in all 12 games of the 2003 season... top performances came against Ohio State, Michigan and Rutgers, as he can be viewed on any/all of the tapes of quarterback Jeff Smoker's (St. Louis) 2003 senior season... had touchdown catches of 62 yards (Rutgers) and 73 yards (Michigan) on those tapes... primarily seen as a possible slot receiver type with some shifty moves/quickness in the open field on returns... flashes a good, quick burst after the catch, which catches your eye... coaching staff wanted him to get tougher at times on his routes... hopes to setup a "Pro Day" workout either on-campus at Michigan State or in the Metro-Detroit area within the next week... he is in the process of finalizing his decision on an agent, so interested teams can obtain a contact number on Shabaj through the university or by contacting our office.
MORE SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT NEWS:
Former MISSISSIPPI running back VASHON PEARSON (#24) will hold his official "Pro Day" workout at the indoor complex on the campus of OLE MISS on Monday, JULY 11th with a 3PM start time, so to allow for the travel time of scouts to get to Oxford, Mississippi, plus the team has a function that will end at roughly 1PM... any/all teams looking to attend would be best served to fly into the airport in Memphis, TN, which creates a drive of just over an hour to the school's campus... former UNLV cornerback CHARLES EALY (#20) has been training in preparation for his upcoming "Pro Day" workout on Friday, JULY 8th, he has been working with the staff of API in Carson, California, which is also the location (Home Depot Center) where he will perform for scouts on Friday afternoon (1pm)... Ealy has routinely been timed in the 4.4 range, while also adding 18 reps of 225 pounds, according to a source who has viewed a few of his training sessions... former KENTUCKY linebacker CHAD ANDERSON (#55) has decided against petitioning for entry for the upcoming Supplemental Draft... he does not have the grades to become eligible for the fall, so he will instead workout on a regular basis with the hopes of impressing scouts/coaches in the post-season... there was some speculation that the former leading tackler in the SEC (2003) did not have the chance to get into proper conditioning in such a short period of time, so he felt it could hurt his prospects of having pro career if he held a workout and did not perform to his own expectations... with no confirmation from school or other officials... he seemed to have been in the range of 6016, 250-255 pounds, as of the spring... his strengths came in the form of his aggressiveness on the field... showed good instincts... was much better making plays in front of him than with his lateral movement... also his experience of play ILB in a 3-4 defense would help with the move of several NFL teams to using that scheme... besides CROSBY, MCCANN, SHABAJ, PEARSON and EALY... USC defensive tackle MANUEL WRIGHT and TOLEDO defensive end JEROME WALKER have also been granted special eligibility for the July 14th draft.
FREE AGENT WORKOUT RESULTS ON LINEBACKER MICHAEL TOLBERT:
Former BAYLOR linebacker MICHAEL TOLBERT (#58), who was recently declared a free agent by officials at the NFL office, while reviewing his paperwork for entry into the Supplemental Draft, worked out for a member of our staff on Tuesday, July 5th, as part of our process of further evaluating his pro potential/ability... weighed in at 6000, 240 pounds... ran between 4.72 and 4.80 in the 40... 1.66 in the first 10-yards... 4.24 in the short shuttle... 7.21 three-cone drill... 31.5" vertical... 9'6" broad jump... also completed 23 reps of 225 pounds... there will be a highlight/game tape available on Tolbert before the end of the week, so once that is received we will have a further evaluation of his skill level... according to staff members, last year's contest against Texas A&M best shows his talents... he does have experience at both inside and outside linebacker, as the team featured a 4-2-5 scheme for most of the past few years.
LATEST UPDATE ON 2006 DRAFT PROSPECT:
DEFENSIVE END MOE THOMPSON:
Former SOUTH CAROLINA defensive end MOE THOMPSON, who in our most recent report we noted was to attend court last Friday, July 1st, due to speculation that he had failed a drug screening, which was part of his house-arrest agreement... was allowed to stay on house-arrest until his court case is heard later this summer... a Richland County judge, James Barber, refused to revoke his bail on Friday, as the assistant solicitor, Dolly Justice-Garfield had requested... Thompson, who has been on house arrest, since early March, was in class, as he has been taking courses at Midlands Tech in order to maintain his final year of eligibility, before being called to the courthouse on Friday morning... his attorney, Hemphill Pride II, was able to show proof that Thompson had passed a second drug screening taken at Random Drug Screen, Inc., the same location as the first test, which had shown an initial potential positive result... Justice-Garfield who attacked the character of Thompson during the hearing, speculating that he may have used a masking agent on the second test... was made aware by his attorney that he had taken several Motrin tablets to cure headaches he was suffering from the 2-3 days leading up to the initial random test, so according to officials at the drug screening process it was possible for a false-positive reading to come back thanks to a product like Motrin being in his system... additionally, several market places speculated that he had tested positive for marijuana, but the same initial sample was re-tested twice more by the screeners and they could not identify anything specific... one report noted that Thompson was wearing a replica NFL jersey and shorts to court, but failed to mention that he was made aware that he needed to appear before the judge only after being contacted by his mother via cell phone, while attending his morning college class at 11:15AM, and to report to the courthouse by noon or a bench warrant would be issued for his arrest... in most similar style cases, a person in Thompson's shoes would have been given 5-10 days to answer to the court, regarding the revoking of his bail... the judge also will allow Thompson to setup a travel schedule for him to visit possible transfer points, both in-state and outside South Carolina... although the schedule will have to be presented and reviewed first... and his mother, Patricia, will have to accompany him during his travels... it should be noted that Thompson himself requested to be re-tested at the same center even after a home test kit came back with negative results just one day after the initial test... even more interesting is the fact that local area print/television media have consistently received and been alerted to confidencial personal information about his case, both back in March and again when this recent matter came to light.
PROSPECT UPDATES:
SOUTH CAROLINA junior running back CORY BOYD (#3), who was suspended from the team back on June 23rd, has decided that instead of remaining in classes for the remainder of the summer in Columbia, South Carolina that he will begin taking classes this fall at RUTGERS with the intention of completing his final two years of eligibility in the Big East Conference, which also happens to be much closer to his hometown of
ARKANSAS senior center KYLE ROPER (#70) is expected to be the leader of the Razorbacks offensive line during his final campaign... he has consistently added weight/strength over the past two years... currently, he is 6015, 296 pounds... the coaching staff says he graded out over 90% in all but one game last season, while recording 46 knock-down blocks... meanwhile, former junior college wide receiver ANTHONY BROWN (#83) has been moved to defensive end... that's right, the coaching staff feels like his long arms, athleticism and 4.5 speed can be best used as an edge rusher... he started to make the conversion in the spring, but it surprised many to see him listed at the top of the most recent depth chart as their #1 RDE... he has plenty of work to do from a technique, experience and learning standpoint... but defensive coordinator Reggie Herring pointed him out as being a guy that could produce surprising early results just based off his size/speed combination... currently, he is 6056, 228 pounds... he has the body type to fillout to the 245-250 pound range over the next two years.
FLORIDA STATE senior defensive tackle BRODRICK BUNKLEY (#52) seems to be on pace to be fully eligible from an academic standpoint for the start of his final campaign with the Seminoles... he missed the spring in combination to rehab his left ankle following surgery, but also to work on his grades by taking four courses over the summer... recently he received word that he could re-join his teammates for voluntary workouts, which is his first step back onto the field... his rehab stems from ankle surgery that happened in late January (2005), which resulted from an initial sprained left ankle that happened against North Carolina in October (2004) and was then re-aggravated a week later against Virginia... he has speculated that he is back to roughly 80-85%, as of today, but intends to be full-go for the team's season opener against Miami, FL... currently, he is 6022, 291 pounds... says he has played at between 293-297 pounds, but has lost a few pounds, since he was not able to hit the weight room with the same level of concentration as in previous years... also did not workout for scouts in the spring, but school officials said they would estimate his 40-time in the 5.0 range... is penciled in to be the team's starting nose guard, but has also played defensive tackle position in their defense in past years... keep an eye on potential freshman defensive tackle LETROY GUION, who saw an improvement in his final academic standings, so he may not have to attend junior college afterall, and could join the Seminoles in time for the start of fall drills... currently, he is 6042, 285 pounds.
MICHIGAN STATE red-shirt sophomore quarterback STEPHEN REAVES (#9) has decided to transfer to SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, where he will sit out this year before having two full years of eligibility remaining... the strong-armed left-handed signal caller lost the starting job last season to Drew Stanton, and then nearly had an off-field incident earlier this spring when he was charged with drunken driving in late April (27th), although the charges were later dropped... currently, he is 6010, 205 pounds.
PENN STATE red-shirt sophomore offensive lineman JOE HOLLER (#73), who was one of the team's top recruits in 2003, has decided to transfer to Division I-AA powerhouse DELAWARE with the intentions of playing this season... currently, he is 6046, 328 pounds... there have been times in the past where he was well over 360 pounds, but some staff members also said that he was a tremendously gifted prospect with good field smarts, aggressiveness and the ability to become an All-Big Ten blocker given the time to develop... those same people noted that right tackle would be his most natural position.
TENNESSEE senior defensive tackle JESSE MAHELONA and junior offensive lineman ARRON SEARS will not be forced to miss any regular season games after admitting they received gifts from a local area furniture store... the pair of teammates and roommates were given new furniture after management at a local area store found out they had lost some furniture in a fire... the pair were forced to pay back roughly $100.00 each, return the items in question and commit to doing some local community service... since this was not done to provide the players with extra benefits or under the table payments, the NCAA and SEC has so far ruled that the players will not face any additional sanctions.
UCLA senior safety JARRAD PAGE (#4) has told officials from the Milwaukee Brewers (MLB) that he will not be signing with them to start a career in professional baseball, but will return to the Bruins this fall, as one of the starters in the secondary... he had 79 tackles and three interceptions, as a junior... currently, he is 6016, 220 pounds... has been timed in the mid-to-late 4.5 to 4.6 range... he was highly-touted as a baseball prospect going into this past season, but failed to produce any type of offensive stats, so many believe that he will now look at playing pro football as his primary goal.
NORTHWESTERN senior defensive back/return man JEFF BACKES (#28) has decided to retire from football due to a chronic shoulder problem... he had been named to the Playboy All-American Team in recent months after averaging over 30 yards per kickoff return and 12.8 yards per punt return, as a junior... meanwhile, junior center TREVOR REES (#50) has been declared academically ineligible for this fall... school officials say he will continue to work on his academics, and return next year with two years of eligibility remaining.
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