HEADLINES

Dominique Easley

AFC East Notes: Watkins, Jets, Easley

May 9th, 2014 at 10:40am CST by Matt Feminis

Sammy Watkins is considered by some the best prospect in the draft, drawing grades comparable to elite receiver prospects Julio Jones and A.J. Green. Just as the Falcons did to acquire Jones, the Bills paid a significant price to jump up and snag Watkins. Mike Rodak at ESPN.com compared the two trades: “Essentially, the Falcons moved up 16 more spots in the first round than the Bills did, with the difference in the trades being Atlanta’s current-year second- and fourth-round selections included in the deal.”

There’s never a shortage of news of notes coming from the AFC East. Here’s some more:

  • Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com wonders if Calvin Pryor‘s hard-hitting style will fly in today’s NFL. The Jets‘ first round pick has said that approaches his game like NFL safeties Kam Chancellor and Dashon Goldson, two big hitters that have a tendency to pick up flags and fines.
  • Jets General Manager John Idzik refused to say whether quarterback Johnny Manziel was in the cards, writes Cimini. Idzik acknowledged that they “fielded plenty of calls” from teams picking below them, presumably teams interested in trading up for Manziel. One of them may have been the Browns (26th), who wound up trading places with the Eagles (22nd) to take the former Texas A&M star. “We won’t get into who was in consideration,” Idzik said. “Suffice it to say, we stuck to our philosophy and we stuck to our board.”
  • The Dolphins reached for first-round pick Ja’Wuan James at No. 19, tweets Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, but only after trying to trade down. They didn’t find a partner willing to meet their asking price. Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel elaborated on the topic, saying the Dolphins could have traded down and had their pick of right tackle prospects, but “They were that much in love with James.”
  • Assuming Patriots first-rounder Dominique Easley is healthy after recovering from his second ACL tear, he brings explosiveness and versatility to the defensive line, in the opinion of ESPNBoston’s Field Yates, who compares Easley to Lamarr Houston.
  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe added some insight into the Easley selection as well as his personality. Among the tidbits: Bill Belichick valued Easley’s performance against good competition… and he’d rather watch SpongeBob than football.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

West Rumors: Beckham, 49ers, Seahawks

May 9th, 2014 at 9:08am CST by Zachary Links

Odell Beckham Jr. was viewed as a potential target for the 49ers, but trading up for him just wasn’t in the cards, as GM Trent Baalke explained to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (Sulia link): “We certainly liked him as a football player, no doubt about it. But… the price of doing business when you’re trying to move from [No. 30] up into the top 10 or close to the top 10 becomes pretty stiff. And you’re giving up a lot of football players to go get one football player. And if you look at history, a lot of time it works against you,” said the GM.

  • The Seahawks had their eye on defensive tackle Dominique Easley before the Patriots drafted him at No. 29, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. When the Florida product was off the board, they traded out to the Vikings, who selected Teddy Bridgwater. Seattle had a connection with Easley: defensive coordinator Dan Quinn recruited him at UF.
  • Chiefs General Manager John Dorsey declined to say whether he had real interest in drafting Johnny Manziel, but he did infer that the Browns called to try and trade for their pick before they ultimately struck a deal with the Eagles, writes Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star.
  • The Chiefs’ pick of Auburn defensive end Dee Ford at No. 23 raised a few eyebrows, but Dorsey told reporters, including Adam Teicher of ESPN.com (Twitter link), that the team viewed Ford as the second-best pass rusher in the draft.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Draft Notes: Rams, Texans, Easley, Fleming

April 30th, 2014 at 4:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rams, armed with the second and 13th overall picks in the draft, will head to College Station to work out top Texas A&M prospects Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans, and Jake Matthews, reports Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (via Twitter). ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan notes (via Twitter) that the workouts should happen on Friday, which will also give GM Les Snead, coach Jeff Fisher and company the opportunity to stop tomorrow in Alabama to work out quarterback A.J. McCarron, as Albert Breer of the NFL Network tweets. Let’s round up a few more draft notes, including another one on the Rams….

  • Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Ohio State are also expected to be among the Rams‘ stops before May 8 as they work out a number of top draft prospects, tweets Mortensen.
  • John McClain of the Houston Chronicle believes that if the Texans don’t trade down from No. 1, the team’s choice will come down to Manziel vs. Jadeveon Clowney. If Houston moves down and those players are off the board, Blake Bortles and Khalil Mack might be the club’s top two choices, says McClain.
  • Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) has heard from two top scouts who believe Florida’s Dominique Easley will be selected in the first round despite the fact that the defensive lineman is recovering from a torn ACL.
  • Adam Caplan (Twitter link) adds the Titans to the list of teams visited by Stanford tackle Cameron Fleming, and the Bengals to the list of clubs that worked him out. As Caplan tweets, Fleming, who had one of the highest Wonderlic scores among this year’s offensive linemen, is projected to come off the board on the second day of the draft.
  • Ohio State wideout Corey Brown visited the Browns and worked out for the Patriots and Panthers, tweets Caplan.
  • More from Caplan: He tweets that South Dakota edge defender Tyler Starr visited the Patriots and had a private workout with the Colts, and reports (via Twitter) that San Diego State safety Eric Pinkins visited the Dolphins and Seahawks.

Extra Points: Options, Rice, Keller, Visits

April 21st, 2014 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As our fifth-year option tracker shows, we’re still waiting on many teams to make their official decisions on 2015 options for players who were drafted in the first round in 2011. The deadline arrives on May 3, so we still have nearly two more weeks before all those contract situations are resolved, but Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com has decided to take his best guess at the upcoming decisions. In La Canfora’s view, 17 options are “no-brainers” to be exercised, while 10 are virtually certain to be declined — the remaining five, including Aldon Smith‘s and Mark Ingram‘s, among others, are still up in the air.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • The Jets offered Sidney Rice a larger contract than the Seahawks did, but the receiver wanted to return to the Super Bowl champs, he said today on 710 ESPN in Seattle (Twitter link).
  • Tight end Dustin Keller remains unsigned, but the agent for Keller says his client is “good to go” after missing the 2013 season with a serious knee injury, tweets Jordan Raanan of NJ.com.
  • After visiting the Jets today, TCU cornerback Jason Verrett will move on to the Rams on Tuesday and the Texans on Wednesday, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
  • Rapoport passes along a couple more draft updates on Twitter, writing that LSU running back Jeremy Hill is visiting the Bengals today and previously visited the Titans. Rapoport adds that Florida offensive lineman Jon Halapio has worked out for the Dolphins, Buccaneers, Browns, and Colts.
  • Boston College defensive end Kaleb Ramsey will work out for NFL scouts on campus this Wednesday, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • According to reports from Wilson, Gil Brandt of NFL.com, and Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com, Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley is visiting the Rams, Patriots, Browns, and Cowboys this week.
  • We heard last week that Nebraska guard Spencer Long has visits lined up with the Eagles, Chargers, Dolphins, and Falcons, and Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net says (via Twitter) Long will also visit three other clubs.

Extra Points: Easley, Murray, Lions, Visits

April 17th, 2014 at 2:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Defensive tackle Dominique Easley, who tore his ACL in September, held a personal Pro Day to attempt to prove his health to NFL teams today, and Jeff Barlis of ESPN.com (Twitter links) reports that at least 17 clubs were in attendance. According to Barlis (via Twitter), Easley feels like his knee is at “about 80%” and that he’ll be fully prepared for summer mini-camps. In his ESPN.com piece on Easley’s performance, Barlis adds that the former Florida Gator will visit NFL clubs for seven straight days starting on Sunday.

Here are a few more notes from around the NFL, including one additional update on Easley:

  • Easley is drawing “heavy interest” from the Seahawks, Bears, Patriots, and 49ers in particular, and looks like a second-round pick, tweets Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net.
  • Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter links) adds the Lions, Chiefs, Dolphins, and Rams to the list of teams who have met or will meet with Georgia signal-caller Aaron Murray.
  • In addition to tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz, whose visit was previously reported, the Lions are also hosting USC receiver Marqise Lee and Mississippi State defensive end Denico Autry today, says Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter).
  • Jason Fitzgerald’s evaluatons of each team’s free agent periods continued today at OverTheCap.com with pieces on the Redskins, who received a C grade, and the Eagles, who got an impressive grade of B+.
  • Towson running back Terrance West, who has had private meetings with the Cardinals and Dolphins, will visit the 49ers, Falcons, and Bills next week, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • The Steelers hosted Minnesota defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman, UMass tight end Rob Blanchflower, and Rice cornerback Phillip Gaines for pre-draft visits today, tweets Bob Labriola of Steelers.com.