Turns out going to the Pacers/Cavs game actually gave me something to blog about that’s related to the NFL. During the game they anounced that Roger Goodell was at the game. And guess who Goodell was with in a luxury box? Old friend and Colts President Bill Polian. Polian was all smiles and gave Goodell a pat on the back as he brought him to the front of the box to wave to the crowd.

Now for a notes that has nothing to do with the NFL. Lebron James passed the Andy Hart in person test. He had a triple-double. I like to see supposedly great players in person and see what they do up against the ol’ naked eye. James passed with flying colors in leading the Cavs to the win over Indiana in front of a suprisingly small crowd. For the record some NFL guys who’ve failed the test in the past are Shawne Merriman and James Harrison. Both make huge plays on highlights but when I saw them in person they weren’t nearly as impressive. Not the case with King James. He can do whatever he wants on the court any time he wants. Scoring, assists, defense, rebounds — you name and he can do it on call.

One final note. The building I like to refer to as the Jose Consecon Fieldhouse is a very nice place to watch a basketball game. It’s just another example of what makes Indy such a nice little city. Everything is walking distance. Everything is nice.  Now it’s off to bed to get some rest before the big first day of the Combine. Tomorrow I will fall in love with some unknown guard I’ve never heard of be 

the moron left all his Combine notes on his desk. They can’t do it. They just can’t do it without me. Can you imagine me leaving behind my Combine notes? My toothbrush or even my insulin, maybe, but not my Combine notes. Luckily I was able to FedEx that idiot his stuff but I’m still concerned. I have a feeling that when Andy and Erik return, I’m going to know more about which place has the best hamburger than I am who is the top tight end in the draft. That’s what happens when you send boys to do a man’s job. 

Heading into the Combine, here are my top sleepers at each position:

QB: Alex Brink, Washington State

RB: Chauncey Washington, USC

WR: Harry Douglas, Louisville (Could be the next Wes Welker) Marcus Monk, Arkansas

TE: J.J. Finley, Oklahoma

T: Pedro Sosa, Rutgers

G: Kerry Brown, Appalachian State

C: No one yet

DE: Johnny Dingle, West Virginia

DT: Dre Moore, Maryland

ILB: Ben Moffitt, South Florida

OLB: Shawn Crable, Michigan

CB: Chevis Jackson, LSU

FS: Corey Lynch, Appalachian State

SS: Caleb Campbell, Army

That’s my early list of some players I’m keeping an eye on who may be sliding under the radar. Now I want to hear from all of you. Add to the list and give us some of your sleepers and we’ll be sure to watch out for them as the draft nears.

ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. held a conference call with the media to preview the NFL Combine and portions of the transcript from the call were sent out by the network’s PR department. This is one answer I found very interesting, with Kiper clearly admitting he doesn’t read PFW’s own self proclaimed draft guru Tom Casale for fear that it would alter his own opinions and rankings.

On other NFL Draft analysts and whether he checks their pre-Draft rankings …
“I respect everybody’s opinion. We respect one another so much that we don’t want to see what the other has picked. I don’t want to be swayed by anyone. I’m not going to worry about what their ratings are.  It’s not out of lack of respect.  It is out of respect. … If they’re the same, it happens. I respect everyone that has an opinion.  The way I approach it, let the chips fall where they may.”

The PFW/Patriots.com boys are on the ground in Indy for the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine after a slightly delayed flight out of Boston. We arrived to a cold (21-degrees) day with snow on the ground and flurries in the air.

 The Combine is everywhere. The jetway from the plane to the terminal had the Combine logo on the floor. The logo is all over the city and in the hotels. We haven’t bumped into too many NFL types yet, though. We did fly down with one member of the Patriots scouting department but the bulk of team’s staff is expected to fly in later today.

There is no real Combine work today. The fun begins tomorrow when we’ll have media access to the offensive linemen, kickers, punters and tight ends. While none of the positions would seem to be top areas of need for New England, we all know the team regularly drafts tight ends and considering the offensive line’s Super Bowl effort it’s worth keeping an eye on the talent that’ll be there come April.  Is Jake Long a potential franchise left tackle? We’ll get a chance to ask him tomorrow.

 The real work we’ve gotten down to today is what we’re best at — eating. I was starving after the seemingly longer-than-it-should-be flight. So we checked out the new Weber Grill. And boy did it deliver. Great apps. Great burger. I mean who’d have thought of putting BBQ boneless rib meat on top of a cheese burger? Genius. And for the record Combine virgin Erik Scalavino ordered a milk shake that came with two twisty straws in it. They were green and blue, but the waiter admitted he had to talk the food staff out of putting a pink straw in Erik’s drink. No lie, I couldn’t even make that stuff up.

Enough about our food. We’re getting mentally prepared for four days of hard work learning everything there is about the 300-plus players in town to be poked, measured and tested. What better way to prepare than to go to a Pacers/Cavs game tonight, my first chance to see Lebron James in person? I think we deserve a night of play before the storm that is the growing media circus of the Combine. PFW/Patriots.com will be here through Sunday to bring it all back to Patriots fans everywhere. Check back early and often for notes from Indy as well as Tom Casale’s never-ending opinions on the prospects sent to all of us from his couch back in Foxborough. 

Before I get into the CB rankings, I wanted to tell you that I have a sneaking suspicion that Fred Kirsch took his wife to Bass Pro Shop for lunch. The man’s a menace. He goes to Bass Pro for everything from chicken wings to the tube socks he wears with his sandals. He’s totally bonkos.

Now on to a position the Patriots need to bolster, regardless of whether or not they re-sign Asante Samuel this offseason.

Note: To be fair to our followers, I don’t like to voice opinions on players I haven’t seen play a lot. And as much college football as I’ve watched this year, I’m sorry to say that I haven’t seen Tennessee State play. Because of this, I haven’t formed an opinion on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie yet. I saw him at the Senior Bowl and he certainly looks like a player but I’ll have to watch film on him before I can rank him and comment on him with a shred of intelligence.

1. Antoine Cason, Arizona - I’m going down with the ship on this one. I’ve watched Cason play since he was a freshman and the last three years, he hasn’t only been the best corner in the nation, he’s one of the best players at that position I’ve ever seen play college football. Now Mel Kiper is telling me Cason is going to be a second-day pick because he’s slow? I just can’t buy that. I believe the corner position is one of the most mis-evaluated (Just an FYI: I’m pretty sure I made this word up) areas this time of year for one simple reason: instincts. The best corners have great instincts. But right now scouts and fans will fall in love with guys who run 4.2 40’s, yet can’t recognize a pass route. A perfect example of what I’m trying to say is right here in New England. Ellis Hobbs is faster than Asante Samuel but he doesn’t have Samuels’ feel for the game. Touchdown Plaxico Burress. See my point?

I’m sorry for the long rant but I’m shocked where some of these “experts” have Cason ranked. He has tremendous instincts, is extremely smart and much like Samuel Cason has the ability to peel off his man and jump a receiver’s route. I keep hearing he’s slow but I’ve watched the guy pick off passes and return punts to the house while easily blowing past people. Cason is so slow that he participated on the University of Arizona’s track team. Cason started all 46 games in college, has great coverage skills (15 career interceptions), is a solid tackler and can return punts. Oh yeah, he also moved to safety last year for the good of the team when the Wildcats secondary was decimated by injuries. Other than that, Cason isn’t much of a prospect. In my opinion, Cason is not only the best corner in this year’s draft but one of the best defensive players overall. Now, please don’t go out and run a 5.2.

2. Mike Jenkins, South Florida - Jenkins is a great athlete with tremendous closing speed. He was a key member of a stingy South Florida defense last year when he recorded 42 tackles and three interceptions. Jenkins has experience playing both corner and safety but is better suited at corner because of his natural coverage abilities. Jenkins is a four-year starter who still offers a lot of upside. He’ll be in contention to be the first corner selected in this year’s draft, which means Jenkins could end up in New England.

3. Aqib Talib, Kansas - Right now I have Jenkins and Talib basically neck and neck for that No. 2 corner spot. Talib is a true ballhawk, as his 13 career interceptions will attest. Talib is probably the most athletically gifted corner in this draft and those skills even allowed him to play some offense in college. Talib excels in man-to-man coverage but he still needs some work playing zone. He was impressive for most of the season but one red flag is he didn’t have great games against Nebraska and Missouri - two of the best passing teams Kansas played last year. Still, Talib has the talent and physical skills to be a shutdown corner at the NFL level.

4. Reggie Smith, Oklahoma - Smith is one of the most versatile defensive backs in this year’s draft class with experience at corner and free safety. Like Cason, Smith isn’t the fastest corner in the world but he makes up for it with good instincts on the field. He’s one of those players that always seems to be around when there’s a fumble or tipped pass. Smith is returning from a toe injury that kept him out of the Fiesta Bowl but he’ll climb up draft boards if he runs well at the Combine.

5. Leodis McKelvin, Troy - I only saw McKelvin play a couple of times, so I need to watch a lot more tape of him before I move him up my draft board. I know McKelvin is the flavor of the month with the draft experts but I’ll be interested to see how he played in big games this past season. Troy played a tough schedule that included Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma State and Arkansas. I want to see how he matched up with the receivers from those schools. On the plus side, McKelvin is one of the best return men in this draft but on the negative side, he’s built like and reminds me a lot of Ellis Hobbs. I will have a much better read on McKelvin after the Combine and watching some more tape of him.

Overrated
McKelvin - There’s no way anyone is going to tell that at this point in the process, McKelvin is a top 10 pick and a better corner prospect than Cason, Jenkins and Talib. No way.

Underrated
Cason - Don’t get me started again.

Sleeper
Chevis Jackson, LSU - He’s not getting talked about much but Jackson is a smooth corner with good ball skills. Jackson isn’t flashy and he really doesn’t stand out in one particular area but he has the ability to be a dependable NFL corner and would represent great value as a mid-round pick.

We all know the Pats won’t draft a linebacker in the first five rounds but I’ll pretend they’re interested in some of the top prospects and rank them just for kicks.

1. Dan Connor, Penn State - Conner is more physical when it comes to taking on blockers than his former college teammates Paul Posluszny – who was drafted early in Round 2 last year by Buffalo. An intelligent player with good awareness, Connor finished his college career with 419 tackles and 14 sacks, including a team-high 145 stops as a senior. The Patriots most likely won’t take Connor at seven but he’s a definite possibility if they trade down in the first round.

2. Curtis Lofton, Oklahoma - Lofton ranked third in the nation last year with a career-high 157 tackles. He started the first 10 games of his senior season at strong-side outside linebacker before moving inside for the Sooners final four contests, so Lofton certainly possesses the flexibility Bill Belichick looks for in a linebacker. One concern is that Lofton never started a game before his senior season and only had 35 tackles coming into 2007. An explosive hitter and reliable open-field tackler, Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops called Lofton the best defensive player he’s ever coached. 

3. Jarod Mayo, Tennessee - Despite being slowed by a knee injury late in the year, Mayo recorded 83 tackles and five sacks for the Vols last season. The thing I like most about Mayo is he was all over the field making plays in the Tennessee games I watched last year. He’s an athletic player with a lot of quickness but he’s probably better suited to play in a 4-3, Tampa 2 scheme where he doesn’t have to take on as many blockers. I like Mayo but I don’t see him as a good fit with the Patriots.

4. Jonathan Goff, Vanderbilt - Goff has flown under the national radar playing at Vanderbilt but he appears to have all the ingredients to be a good fit at inside linebacker for the Patriots. While he played in a 4-3 alignment at the collegiate level, many scouts believe that Goff will be best suited as a 3-4 inside linebacker in the NFL because of the way he fights through blockers and attacks the line of scrimmage on running plays. Goff will probably slip to the middle rounds of the draft because his lack of straight-line speed may reduce Goff as a two-down linebacker in the NFL. But since Belichick likes to use a lot of different personnel groupings on defense, a player like Goff has more value to New England as a two-down run-stuffer than he would to other teams who run different defensive schemes.  The more I see of Goff, the more I like him.

5. Beau Bell, UNLV - Despite struggling at the Senior Bowl, Bell is a physical specimen who should really benefit from the tests done at the Combine. The reigning Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Bell could be intriguing to the Patriots because UNLV is one of only three teams that currently run the 3-4 as its base defense at the collegiate level. Not only does Bell have experience in the 3-4, he’s also played both inside and outside linebacker, something that’s sure to draw the Patriots interest. At 243 pounds, Bell is an athletic linebacker with good range. He would seem to be a good fit in New England’s defensive system.

Overrated
Vince Hall, Virginia Tech - Hall battled injuries last year but even when he was healthy, Hall never became the playmaker I expected him to be in college. I don’t think he has the girth to be effective in the 3-4 nor the speed to standout in a 4-3 system. In my opinion, Hall was a pretty good college player who will struggle making the transition to the NFL.

Underrated
Goff - Like I said above, Goff may not be a perfect fit for every system but some team is going to get a heck of a football player on Day 2 of the draft. Goff won’t run the fastest 40 but he has great football instincts and that’s something they don’t test at the Combine.

Sleeper
Ben Moffitt, South Florida - Another guy who isn’t the biggest or the fastest but somehow Moffitt is always around the football. He reminds me a little of Tedy Bruschi in the sense that he won’t blow you away physically but put a football helmet on him and point Moffitt to the field and he’ll take care of the rest. In the later rounds of the draft, it may be worth taking a shot on a guy who you know will be a standout on special teams and could eventually turn into a solid NFL linebacker because of his heart and desire.

Our webmaster is driving me nuts about putting up a blog entry so instead of punching him in the head, I decided to start our pre-combine rankings at positions that may interest the Patriots in the upcoming draft. Remember, these are rankings before anything happens at the Combine and before we see tape on the prospects. Also, we rank players by what we actually think of them, so it may not always be the same cookie-cutter rankings that guys like Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock put out. We’ll start off with one of the strongest positions in this year’s draft, running back.

1. Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois - The total package. Mendenhall possesses the speed to run by defenders and the power to break tackles. He reminds me of Edgerrin James coming out of college. We all think Mendenhall has the potential to be one of the top players to come out of this draft. Mendenhall was the best back I saw play all season in college football and that includes Darren McFadden.

2. Darren McFadden, Arkansas - There’s no doubt that McFadden is a tremendous athlete and arguably the biggest playmaker available at the running back position. However, he doesn’t break a lot of tackles and sometimes runs more like a receiver than a running back. With his game-breaking ability, if McFadden can just learn to run a little tougher inside, he’ll be a dynamic pro back.

3. Jonathan Stewart, Oregon - A big, powerful back with quick feet for his size. Stewart was overshadowed by Dennis Dixon at Oregon but he has a chance to be a top 10 pick this April. Stewart is a bull running between the tackles and also has the speed to outrun defenders in the open field. He will continue to move up draft boards with an impressive outing at the Combine. 

4. Ray Rice, Rutgers - I’m a huge fan of Ray Rice and I think he’ll be a steal in Round 2 or 3 of this draft. Rice has the best vision of any back in this class and that helps make up for his lack of blazing speed. Rice reminds me of a young Emmitt Smith. He may not break off a lot of 70-80 yard runs like McFadden or Mendenhall but he’ll pile up those 10-20 yard gains all season long. Speed is the only thing keeping Rice from being a blue-chip talent but I think he more than makes up for it in other areas.

5. Felix Jones, Arkansas - A home run hitter with tremendous speed, Jones is also one of the best return men in this year’s draft, adding to his value. Jones was McFadden’s caddy at Arkansas so there are still some questions about whether or not he can carry the load as the primary ball carrier. However, when McFadden was banged up, Jones showed he has the potential to be an elite back and he’s also a good inside runner for his size.

Overrated
McFadden - I think McFadden is a good player but I have more questions about his overall game than most people. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Mendenhall, Stewart, Rice and Jones all turn out to be better pros than McFadden.

Underrated
Matt Forte’, Tulane - Forte’ was one of the most impressive runners I saw all year and that was against eventual National Champion LSU. Forte’ displays extremely good patience when he runs and that allows him to set up his blocks well. Like Rice, Forte’ makes up for his lack of speed with tremendous vision in the backfield. He’s a runner who knows when and where to hit a hole. Forte’s stock went up after a strong Senior Bowl performance and I think he’ll be a nice addition to a team in the third or fourth rounds of the draft.

Sleeper
Chauncey Washington, USC - The Trojans have about 20 pro prospects at the running back position and while Washington wasn’t the most spectacular runner of the group, he showed enough potential to be a possible late-round steal. Washington was the Trojans leading rusher the last two seasons and is a strong runner who does a lot of his damage between the tackles. When you get to Round 7 of the draft, teams can do a lot worse than selecting one of the best backs at USC the last two seasons. In my opinion, Washington won’t blow people away at the Combine but he’s a football player and could wind up being the steal of this year’s draft. At the very least, Washington can be an effective goal line runner, an area he excelled in during his career with the Trojans.

The 2008 NFL Scouting Combine is the annual job fair for prospective new NFL players. For six days at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, players are put through a series of drills, tests and interviews with more than 600 NFL personnel. The staff of Patriots Football Weekly will be there bringing you the latest news and analysis on all the prospects.  Be sure to send us your comments and questions.

2008 NFL Scouting Combine - RCA Dome, Indianapolis, IN
February 20 - 25, 2008

Combine Events Schedule

Press Conferences & Interviews
February 21 - 23

Prospect Workout Schedule:

Saturday, February 23
Offensive Lineman
Tight Ends
Specialists

Sunday, February 24
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers

Monday, February 25
Defensive Lineman
Linebackers

Tuesday, February 26
Cornerbacks
Safeties