January 2009 - Posts

• Future Packer Frantz Joseph?

  Posted Jan 31 2009, 08:05 AM by Brian Carriveau

  Today's Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge is the last college post-season all-star game and your last chance to see future NFL prospects in action.

  With the Hula Bowl having disappeared from the collegiate post-season circuit, the Texas vs. the Nation game has gotten the best crop of players in it's short history adding a little more intrigue and prominence to the match-up.

  One player to watch for the Nation squad is Florida Atlantic inside linebacker Frantz Joseph who has impressed in the practices leading up to the game this week.

  "Joseph is flat out fun to watch," according to NFLDraftGuys.com. "He plays with a natural violence that would fit in with players like Ray Lewis and Jack Lambert, and he’ll blow up running backs and offensive lineman with the same zest and effectiveness. He looked good against the pass today, using body position to cover faster RBs, and breaking well on the ball in flight and timing his breakups to avoid penalties."

  That's some heady praise for your name to be uttered in the same breath as Ray Lewis and Jack Lambert.

  The knock on Joseph is that he's a little stiff and may struggle in coverage against faster and shifty players. Thankfully as an inside linebacker, he shouldn't be asked to do that very often. And as NFLDraftGuys.com points out, he uses body position to his advantage anyway.

  Joseph was a big reason Florida Atlantic won two straight bowl games under head coach Howard Schnellenberger. He has helped the Owls rise from obscurity as they made the transition to FCS to become a Sun Belt contender.

  Joseph is also a former Boston College recruit that transferred to Florida Atlantic showing that he has a big school pedigree. He's a late round prospect, but could provide good value.

  As the Packers make their transition to a 3-4, it's a given that they're going to add more linebackers. Joseph would be a good choice if the team focuses on the defensive line and outside linebackers earlier in the draft.

  The Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge can be seen at 2 p.m. CST on CBS College Sports Network.

  UPDATE: Not a bad guy to profile. Following up his performance as defensive MVP of the Motor City Bowl, Joseph was named defensive MVP of the Texas vs. the Nation game after returning an interception 26 yards and a fumble 32 yards to set up scores for the Nation's winning effort.

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• Q&A with cornerback Joe Porter: Jan. 30

  Posted Jan 30 2009, 05:58 AM by Brian Carriveau

  Now that the season is over for the Green Bay Packers, Railbird Central got the chance to ask cornerback Joe Porter some questions as he reflects on his first season in the NFL. Here's the interview: 

  Railbird Central: Can you assess the entire season? How do you think you did both as an individual and as a team?

  Joe Porter: Individually, I eventually made the active roster, which was a goal of mine so I'm happy with that. I feel that it is something to build off of next year.  As a team I'm not alone when I say the season was disappointing. Obviously we didn't win as many games as we would have liked and I think we had more than enough talent to rearrange that statistic. However, we did have some success that we can build off of for next year.

  RC: Coach McCarthy listed you as the emergency running back when the Packers were down to two halfbacks and only one fullback during the Bears game. How much practice time did you spend learning that position?

  JP: Technically, I spent the week learning and practicing the position to possibly be a factor in the game, but it felt more like a month. I spent a lot of time going over the blocking schemes and going over the defense and learning fundamentals. I basically had to learn from scratch and I wanted to be ready to contribute when called upon. 
   
  RC: Do you feel that you can be a two-way player in the NFL?

  JP: Most certainly. I played ironman football in high school, missed out in college, but played offensive scout team last year. I know that I'm athletic enough. I would appreciate the chance, but I'm going to focus on defense and special teams. Later on down the road if coach keeps me around, I might offer to wash his car for a few snaps.
   
  RC: What do you think about the coaching changes the Packers have made on the defensive side of the ball?

  JP: I'm curious as to what the new changes will be, and if they can help us win more games. I haven't met any of the new additions yet, but from what I've read about them the Defensive Coordinator seems to have an agenda for success. I just hope I can learn more skills that can help me on the field.
   
  RC: What are your plans this offseason? Where and with who will you be working out?

  JP: The offseason plans are to hang with my family and friends, travel to some of my brother's track meets, my cousin's games, and some weddings. As far as working out I will probably be training with some of the guys from college. When we go back, I plan to stay in Al's pocket.

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• Could Packers trade down in draft again?

  Posted Jan 28 2009, 06:16 AM by Brian Carriveau

  If the Green Bay Packers like the talent in this year's draft class as much as some prognosticators do, the Packers could be moving down in the first round to acquire more draft choices.

  In a chat hosted by PackerChatters.com, Colin Lindsay of the Great Blue North Draft Report thinks there a couple of scenarios in which the Packers could trade down from their No. 9 overall selection spot.

  General manager Ted Thompson has been known to trade down in past drafts and might have the ammunition to do so once again this year.

  The following question was asked in the chatroom yesterday:

  "You are sitting in the Packers draft room on the day. Pick 9 is up, and NT Raji, OLB/DE Brown, LT J.Smith, and CB Jenkins are somehow all still available. Everyone looks at you to decide who they pick......who is your choice ?"

  "I thought these were supposed to be softball questions," replied Lindsay. "First you do cartwheels if you get a choice like that; second because you can make a case for all four you seriously consider trying to move down 2-3 spots; if I pick I think I go with Jenkins who fits a need and CB will be the hardest to fill otherwise later in the draft or in free agency but it is a very tough call."

  Lindsay also fielded a question wondering what the Packers might do if Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree was still available at No. 9. The Packers are loaded at the wideout position and don't necessarily need Crabtree.

  "If Crabtree is there at #9 there likely will be 31 other teams interested in talking," wrote Lindsay.

  Fans will have to see if general manager "Trader Ted" lives up to his nickname.

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  Filed under: trade, draft

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• Character issues could haunt Raji

  Posted Jan 27 2009, 06:09 AM by Brian Carriveau

  Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji is skyrocketing up draft boards after a huge week at the Senior Bowl. Even the Green Bay Packers seem like a likely landing place with the No. 9 pick in the draft and a need for a big nose tackle in the 3-4 defense.

  Unfortunately, there some character issues that are unknown to a lot of people and may raise some red flags when it comes to making him a high first round selection.

  Raji had to sit out what would have been his senior season at B.C. in 2007 because he was not academically eligible. It wasn't because his grades were low. It was because he was not meeting an NCAA requiring athletes to be making "satisfactory progress" toward graduation.

  "Raji went into last summer thinking he needed to take two courses to meet that requirement," according to an archived article from the Boston Globe. "Actually, he needed three, and somehow that information slipped through the academic safety net BC has in place for its athletes."

  On one hand, it's a positive that Raji never had low grades. But on the other hand, it raises questions about his work ethic that he would take such as easy class load to coast toward graduation.

  Raji was also ejected from one game in 2006 for throwing a punch at a Central Michigan player during a game and then suspended for the first half of the following game against Clemson.

  These issues will have scouts and personnel departments scratching their heads until draft day. Raji seems like as good a candidate as any for the Packers at pick No. 9, but will they take a chance on his character issues?

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• Packers meet with Jean-Francois

  Posted Jan 25 2009, 08:07 AM by Brian Carriveau

  The Green Bay Packers met "extensively" with LSU defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois in Mobile, Alabama this week in the days leading up to the Senior Bowl according to TFY Draft's premium content.

  No, Jean-Francois isn't a senior, but he came to Mobile to be able to meet with NFL scouts.

  He reportedly sat down with Packers director of college scouting John Dorsey for a lenghty amount of time for an interview.

  The declared underclassman is rated as the 12th best defensive tackle in this year's draft class according to Scott Wright's NFL Draft Countdown.

  Not big enough to be a nose tackle, Jean-Francois is probably being looked at as being an end in the 3-4 alignment.

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  Filed under: draft, Ricky Jean-Francois

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