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NFL Post-Draft Offseason – Crime Time?

From now until training camps commence at the end of July, NFL teams will be conducting their rookie mini-camps and OTAs (Organized Team Activities). This will keep players fairly busy, but until training camp starts at the end of July, every team will be dreading that feared call from a law enforcement officer or lawyer, saying their player has been arrested.

DUIs, gun possessions and assaults abound in these charges, but you will also get prostitution (Quinton Groves, Browns) and gambling cheating (Quinton Carter, Broncos). Some of these charges get dropped, (Q. Carter’s did), but there is obviously a big problem keeping these young guys with lots of money to spend out of trouble.

As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune Really Long Link there were 45 arrests of NFL players over the last year. Approximately 38% of those arrests were made in the period after the draft and before training camps opened. This is a major risk area for teams and you can bet they are expending more and more resources to help control this issue.

But what can a team do? They can set guidelines and teams rule and conduct policies, but these are grown men who do what they want when they want, and they have the resources to do as they wish. They can assign babysitters to Dallas’ Dez Bryant and do what they can for lesser profile players, but every team has to weigh the risk/reward attributes of each player they bring on.

The issue comes down to character. They can do all the pre-draft vetting and talk to all the old teammates and coaches they can get their hands on, but even that feedback has to be taken with a grain of salt. The best athletes aren’t always the high-character ones. Especially in a violent sport like football, a player has to have an aggressive edge to be able to excel to such a height as the NFL.

This personality attribute that helps them excel on the field can lead to problems off it and teams have to gather as much information and references as possible to make sure a player is worth the investment and isn’t going to let the team down with time off the field not due to injury. It’s already begun with Cardinals’ linebacker Daryl Washington. He had a superb season in 2012, but was already going to miss the first 4 games of 2013 for a substance abuse violation, and now has been arrested for assaulting his girlfriend… The other teams await their risk/reward character results….

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5 Up and 5 Down – Team Draft Classes

5 Best Draft Classes

Arizona Cardinals - They got solid help on the offensive line with Jonathan Cooper, a solid all-around running back in Stepfan Taylor and speedster WE Ryan Swope. This makes the high-risk high-reward (on and off the field) DB Tyrann Mathieu worth the value of the pick used. Add to that heavy college producer LB Kevin Minter and impact-ready DT Alex Okafor, Arizona had arguably the best draft of the season.

Cincinnati Bengals - Tyler Eifert and Margus Hunt will be instant producers for the Bengals. Shawn Williams and Sean Porter will add great depth on a very well coached defense. Their running game was boosted with solid prospects Rex Burkhead and Giovani Bernard.

St. Louis Rams - Tavon Austin will be a game-changer for an offense that desperately needed it, he can score from anyone. The Rams smartly traded down and positioned for LB Alec Ogletree to boost their rising defense. C Barrett Jones, FS T.J. McDonald and WR Stedman Bailey were long time college producers and could likely have similar production in the NFL.

Pittsburgh Steelers - In Jarvis Jones, the Steelers got the best linebacker who is best suited for their defense, in most mock drafts, this was the most predictable pick. Le'Veon Bell will settle in nicely as the traditional bruising running back that Pittsburgh has had throughout the years. Markus Wheaton and Justin Brown will add some much needed depth to the receivers unit.

San Diego Chargers - D.J. Fluker is a good first step to improving the offense, which was inefficient in the running and passing game. Keenan Allen was a huge steal at the 78th pick, he will be a very productive player for many years. CB Steve Williams and ILB Manti Te'o could grow into great cornerstones to rebuild a fallen defense.

5 Worst Draft Classes

Chicago Bears - They would have been better served by packaging up their picks and trying to get one of the great offensive line prospects in the top ten picks. Kyle Long was a reach, and they didn't pick anyone else for the dismal offensive line until round 5. Instead they focused on the line-backing unit which they already addressed via free agency. The offensive line will still be holding this team back again in 2013.

Dallas Cowboys - Center Travis Frederick is a solid addition for a team with multiple problems. But they could have picked a high character, leader type of guy that will fit into the starting lineup immediately like TE Tyler Eifert (perfect to groom and play alongside TE Jason Witten) and the high-effort DE Bjoern Werner (to take some pressure off of Demarcus Ware). Character and teamwork is a problem on this team.

Detroit Lions - DE Ezekiel Ansah may have a lot of upside, but with a team a player or two away from consistent playoff success can't afford to waste time on a project player when others were available that could produce immediately (Bjoern Werner or Jarvis Jones spring to mind). CB Darius Slay had a much better teammate available in CB Jonathan Banks and the rest of the prospects were lackluster.

Miami Dolphins - Huge reach in picking DE Dion Jordan at No. 3 overall. If you watch the film, his impact was due more to the scheme than to his own skills dominating the field. CB Jamar Taylor fit a need, but there were much better prospects (Eddie Lacy) at a much greater need position (RB) at 56.

Seattle Seahawks - The Seahawks didn't keep up their great free agency moves on draft day. It's partially due to the fact their first pick was the last one in the 2nd round, but they still should have addressed their line backing depth instead of reaching for RB Christine Michael.

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5 Up and 5 Down – Individual Draft Picks

5 Best Draft Picks

No. 24 DE –Bjoern Werner – Indianapolis Colts – huge value pick will surprise people how easily he'll replace the great Dwight Freeney

No. 25 CB – Xavier Rhodes – Minnesota Vikings – another huge value pick will also fill a spot left by an impact veteran

No. 56 DE - Margus Hunt - Cincinnati Bengals - high motor player on a very well coached defense, will have great upside with professional resources

No. 119 C - Barrett Jones - St. Louis Rams - surprising drop, but centers aren't valued high for some reason; Jones will anchor the line for years and will boost the offense's performance

No. 150 RB - Stephan Taylor - Arizona Cardinals - perfect team to get a great shot at getting on the field, once he's there he will surprise a great many people

5 Worst Draft Picks

No. 3 – OLB - Dion Jordon – Miami Dolphins - has great athletic ability, but film will show he didn't exactly make his own plays, looks like a big bust

No. 16 - QB E.J. Manuel - Buffalo Bills - too much of a reach when no one else was going to go for him, will see a great many playmakers taken after this pick do a lot more before Manuel does anything

No. 36 - CB - Darius Slay - Detroit Lions - Mississippi State had a great defense in the tough SEC, but they missed drafting the more accomplished and complete CB, Jonathan Banks (picked at 44 by Tampa)

No. 46 - Would have been the New Orleans pick, so I'll ding them for bad behavior. With pass rushers like Margus Hunt and Damontre Moore on the board, they really could have used that pick.

No. 61 - WR - Aaron Dobson - New England Patriots - With Keenan Allen (No. 79 pick of Chargers) still on the board (injury issues aside) they will be kicking themselves about this pick in the near future

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Best of the Rest

April 26th 2013 10:41
Best of the Rest

A summary of the best available players still looking for that NFL call after round 1


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NFL Draft Results – Round 1

April 26th 2013 10:34
NFL Draft Results – Round 1

1 - Kansas City – Eric Fisher – OT – Central Michigan – surprise pick from a small school and conference, but he’s a solid all-around talent and will fill a need to protect very valuable QB Alex Smith


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NFL Draft Day

April 25th 2013 10:15
NFL Draft Day

On the eve before the draft and many general managers, directors of player personnel, head coaches and owners of NFL teams probably didn't get a lot of sleep. Right now they all have the hopes that they can turn a losing season in 2012 into a playoff appearance in 2013 based on the series of moves they make starting tomorrow night in the NFL draft. This isn't the whole picture though, and whether success comes will be based largely on what they do after the draft with the players received


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Undrafted Free Agents in the NFL

April 20th 2013 12:45
The Draft Isn’t the Absolute Gateway to NFL Success

Thursday’s draft will make quite a few millions out of kids in their early 20s. Not as many as there used to be before the rookie salary cap was instated in 2011. But the pressure on the teams to make the correct pick and the players to perform in line with their draft position is just as strong as ever


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ChatNFL Mock Draft

April 20th 2013 11:24
ChatNFL Mock Draft

1 - Kansas City – Luke Joeckel – OT – Texas A&Msize, speed, athleticism makes Joeckel the safest pick in the draft
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AFC SOUTH TEAM NEEDS

April 17th 2013 00:45
AFC SOUTH TEAM NEEDS

Houston Texans – James Casey is a great utility man that will be missed and the Texans will miss Kevin Walter’s downfield blocking. Connor Barwin was a rising star, they’ll want to replace his abilities in the draft. Ed Reed will boost the defense, but it’s surprising more FAs didn’t flock to Houston. They will need a good draft and better production out of their current roster to not fall behind the surging Colts


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NFC NORTH TEAM NEEDS

April 16th 2013 02:26
NFC NORTH TEAM NEEDS

Chicago Bears – They got rid of some of the offensive line members that weren’t progressing the always problematic unit. Resigning Henry Melton was very smart but it was striking how much they changed their linebacking core. They made good pickups in DJ Williams and James Anderson, but without all-time great Brian Urlacher and longtime role player Nick Roach, it remains to be seen how this unit will gel together. Martelius Bennett was a good pickup at TE. They need to focus their draft picks on offensive lineman again and hope to get a difference-maker


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