No, but it took time for the Cowboy’s QB spot to recover. 
Inviting them to camp does not equate to offering them starting jobs. Do you remember the scene in Rudy where the coaches explain what the scout team is for?
And my memory is that in 2004 UCF was playing freshmen everywhere because O’Leary was moving in his guys. In 2005 we were a bowl team. Sorry, I just don’t buy the idea that a 28 yo ex-player is going to walk in off the street and start at a 1A program. Sounds like the guy I knew who swore that he would have made the NBA if he hadn’t quit college. Uh huh.
Why “surely?” I think he’s a smart guy who knows he doesn’t have seven years left – I suspect he wants a chance to win (and his owner thinks he should get it) more than the money. (Of course, being a smart, handsome, articulate guy with good post-football prospects, Taylor also knows the monetary value of winning.)
More important, the question is where your team lies in the success cycle. Taylor obviously only has a very few seasons left as a top player; but the Jags are a top-five team right now, and they had a chance to add a player who could help get them from top-five to top one. Their future is now, exacly as the Bucs’ was when they got Rice. They won a trophy with him; the fact that Rice got old later is by-the-way.
The irony: My guess is Taylor could have been had for less than they spend on the rookie.
As someone who loves the game, Jared Lorenzen playing QB is like a 5’4" MLB or a 300-pound punt returner. it’s just cool.
Speaking as an Eagles fan, the Pillsbury Throwboy is an awesome number two. Frankly, I think they should cut Eli and start Lorenzen.
I’m not talking about being invited back to the scout team. They were invited back to the team (at least by Kruczek). Anyway, the fact that KFS ran for 1100 yards as a rookie behind three freshmen more or less proves my point.
The Bucs got Rice when he was 26, not 33. You could compare the Jared Allen trade to Rice in that sense, not the potential trade of/for Taylor. Your suggestion that Taylor doesn’t want big money would make it make more sense, but I don’t believe any player coming off four straight Pro Bowls and 1 year removed from being Defensive POTY will take any below-market deal.
The Jags clearly didn’t believe they needed much from this draft; they could have had Allen for not much more than they gave up for Harvey. That would have been a tremendous move.
And nobody has better nicknames than The Battleship Lorenzen.
Wow. That’s pretty sick.
The Hair has spoken about the draft.
The thing that struck me was that there was only one team that Kiper said had a worse than average draft. Doesn’t that kind of screw the idea of “average” if 31 of the 32 teams had “average or above” drafts?
And, oh my God is he wrong about the Ravens. According to The Hair, only 4 teams had a better draft than them. Me, I’m not so sure about that.
Well, I suppose he could be comparing them to previous drafts as well as other teams - in which case apparently this is the most talented draft pool ever!
I agree with his evaluation of the Lions draft. Nothing really jumps out and bites me in the dick.
This is the first time in a few years (maybe it’s because we didn’t draft in the top 7) that I didn’t get that little tingle for football season.
From his 2007 draft grade:
* B+: Browns, Vikings, 49ers
* B: Falcons, Ravens, Bills, Panthers, Bears, Cowboys, Patriots, Jets, Steelers
* B-: Cardinals, Broncos, Colts, Saints
* C+: Bengals, Packers, Raiders, Rams
* C: Lions, Jaguars, Chiefs, Dolphins, Chargers, Seahawks, Buccaneers
* C-: Texans, Giants, Eagles, Titans, Redskins
At least in that one, there were 5 that did less than average rather than just one.
I’m sure Mel is a great man, but his grades are meaningless.
Hey Ellis Dee, I opened this thread specifically looking for your summary on the Giants draft.
Come on, help a fellow fan out. 
Jim (Seriously though, I really did search through several hundred posts looking for your summary)
Not to mention the fact that one of his C- teams won the Super Bowl.
And seven of twelve playoff teams overall had a C or C-.
Well that doesn’t really have a bearing on whether or not they had a good draft this year.
He’s too afraid to say bad things about teams and prospects it seems though so his ratings aren’t worth very much.
Also… Joe Flacco at #18… B… teehee.
The grade was from last year.
Eh, you think Flacco is a bum. Forgive me if I take your analysis with a mountain size grain of salt.
Close. I think you meant to say “not to mention the fact that he handed out the lowest grade to a team’s draft whose entire class produced huge in a Superbowl-winning playoff run.”
I mean, seriously. That worst-rated draft class was so good it generated an honest-to-god nickname: “Reese’s Pieces.” Nice grade, Mel. Sure called that one.
It’s not like non-Giants fans have ever heard the names Aaron Ross, Steve Smith, Ahmad Bradshaw, or Kevin Boss, right?
I just wanted to give a shout out in support and praise for the Cowboys organization. It’s easy to mock Jerry Jones for signing headcases like Pacman and TO, but the flip side is that he’s more willing to hand out well-deserved second chances.
I hope that Marcus Dixon gets the first sack on Eli this season.
Yet another false rape accusation. This time, the twist is that the accuser willingly retracted her accusation. See, she was his girlfriend. But they still sent him away for 10 years. It’s hard not to indict all of Georgia as racist scum when you hear stories like this.
Luckily, Georgia partially redeemed herself by reversing the sentence, and now he’s trying to get his life back together. Jerry Jones threw him a bone, but there is certainly no guarantee he’ll make the team. I very much hope he does, and if he does, I’ll be rooting for him all season.
Eh, I think you’re being too hard on Mel. Here’s his recap of the Giants draft:
I think his grade is pretty quixotic, but it sounds to me that he’s more or less marking them down for not using their picks to maximize their haul. He went out of his way to point out that the players they got were good ones but they passed on an opportunity for more. Highlighting his suggestion to take Staley and Wright instead of Ross and Smith is a fair one because Staley started all season at RT for the Niners and is being moved to starting LT this season. He’s been a success. Eric Wright started all season long for the Browns and is arguably a lateral move to Ross. Steve Smith was fine but you could make a case that Staley was better and that he’d have been a more valuable piece if the Giants hadn’t been almost flawlessly healthy along the O-Line last season.
Certainly the Giants draft was a good one and I don’t think Mel should give demerits to teams just because they don’t use his philosophy (he should mark them down in they draft bad players or reach for players or give away picks) but let’s not imply that he thought the Giants got bad players.
I don’t think Flacco is a bum. I think Flacco is horribly overrated, unworthy of a first round pick, a huge developmental project and will, at best, be Ben Rothlisberger, but not for a few years. When the great Nick Hill experiment fails, let me know.
Well, this doesn’t exactly capture what happened. From what I read the kid got arrested because the Cops and DA were racist scum but he was actually acquitted at trial of all the most serious charges. The problem was that the jury was stupid and didn’t understand the charges and found him guilty of aggravated molestation and statutory rape. They didn’t understand that the former charge was a felony with a mandatory sentence.
Georgian Law Enforcement are racist and it’s populace is just stupid.