Archive for April, 2009

Harper headed to Buffalo

OK, so former Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper might be out in the cold … if he impresses his prospective employer this weekend.
Harper said Tuesday that he is headed to Buffalo this weekend for a tryout with the Bills as an undrafted free agent. He’ll be one of two quarterbacks in the camp, but I haven’t [...]

Questioning the Kelly/Harper snubs

There’s a lot of silence regarding where former Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper will wind up as an undrafted free agent.
Which raises the question of whether the unthinkable could occur just a year after the NFL’s two scouting services listed him as the top senior quarterback in this class – that Harper might not even get [...]

Three undrafteds lock on to teams

Probably the most noteworthy part about Clemson’s draft showing was that receiver Aaron Kelly — the ACC’s career receptions leader — wasn’t picked.
Kelly was projected as a 5th- to 6th-rounder, but you got the sense this week that his stock had dropped enough that he might not be taken at all.
Well, he wasn’t, but it [...]

A mockable draft

As promised … know so many of you have been hitting the refresh button … here’s my mock draft that will (in edited form) appear in Saturday’s paper.
For just about any other sporting “event,” I feel guilty if I stay inside and veg in front of the TV when the weather outside is even simply [...]

Breaking down the draft prospects

As is the case every year with the NFL Draft, lots of gossip and hearsay swirling around at this juncture, spread alike by pro scouts and agents in order to accomplish their party’s agenda – generally by creating smokescreens.
The draft starts Saturday, and I expect it to be quite uneventful for Clemson’s six viable draft [...]

A walk-off blast from the past

You could sense the life sucked out of Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Tuesday night when Coastal Carolina smacked a two-run homer off Clemson reliever Ryan Hinson with two out in the eighth to go ahead 3-1.
Same old story … a lifeless offense leads to another Tigers defeat when a reliever – Hinson, no less – [...]

Kiper’s take

Following on the heels of NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock’s Wednesday media teleconference, ESPN put Mel Kiper Jr. on the phone Thursday for his two-hour turn at discussing all things NFL Draft.
We media hacks were only allowed one question by the moderator, so I wasn’t able to get anything overly elaborate on any of [...]

Analyst weighs in on NFL draft prospects

Mel Kiper Jr. is widely viewed as the NFL Draft guru, mainly because of his longevity and the fact ESPN sets the nationwide sports agenda.
But in terms of credibility with player evaluation, I feel like he has slipped significantly as his profile has grown and he’s added various duties (such as radio host) for the [...]

Check back on the QB situation in three months

OK, so observations from the spring game are now, oh, about three games late. That’s what happens when soccer coaches get arrested, there are three marathon baseball games to also cover and, well, you suffer from spring football hangover.
Just had to purge it from my system and clear the mind.
Some (other) folks loathe recruiting because [...]

Get your spring game depth charts here!

Clemson has released its spring game rosters.
For the sake of sifting through the names of countless walk-ons only Dabo Swinney could hype, I offer my crack at the depth chart for both teams, knowing full well that kids will invariably change jerseys as the game goes along to render this even more worthless than the [...]