April 16, 2008

The following quotes are from NFL scouts, coaches and front-office personnel, speaking on condition of anonymity.

New Eagles CB Asante Samuel

 “The reason (Bill) Belichick’s system works is because he realizes there is no sense paying a bunch of money to a guy whose job he can find someone else to do for a lot cheaper while getting the same results.”

 “How many teams have ever been caught tampering? I feel embarrassed for the San Francisco 49ers. They should have just given up a fifth-round pick and settled. Instead, they tried claiming they did no wrong and are trying to spin it. They essentially gave up a sixth-round pick (in having to drop down five spots in the third round, based on the trade value chart) on top of being docked a fifth. The worst part was being embarrassed by the league.”

 “I heard the same thing about Shaun Rogers coming out of Texas (as I did about Glenn Dorsey’s leg injury) — that he would only play one or two years because of a stress fracture in his ankle. (Rogers) has been a dominant player in the league and has played worthy of a top-10 pick, in my opinion. If the doctors sign off on (Dorsey), you take him and don’t look back.”

 “Some cap guys in this league have no clue. Agents are running circles around them. That’s why there is going to be a lockout. The best thing the owners could do is clean out some of the young cap guys and start all over.”

 “The West Coast offense is built around the ‘Z’ receiver. Just look at what happened in Green Bay. Greg Jennings had a great year playing the ‘Z’ spot as a rookie. He came out playing the ‘X’ in his second year, and James Jones moved into the ‘Z.’ Everyone started talking about how Jennings was a one-year guy and how good Jones was. No, all the production goes to the guy running underneath coverages. The ‘Z’ position was born to be productive in that offense.”

 “Look at D.J. Hackett. He will go to Carolina and you will not hear much from him because he left the cherry — that ‘Z’ position. Look at David Givens leaving New England. If an offense uses the ‘Z,’ whether it be in three-receiver sets or even with two tight ends — the guy coming under drop coverages is going to be productive.”

 “The Bengals are getting tired of Chad Johnson’s tirades. They are shopping him. The problem is, there are only a few quarterbacks in this league who could shut him up. If you don’t have a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady on your roster, it’s not going to be easy.”

 “It baffles me how a guy like (Pittsburgh OT Jeff) Otah is even being talked about in the top 15, just baffles me. If he is not a slow-footed, one-position offensive lineman, I don’t know who is. You look at how he moves and how flat-footed he plays. He’s got slow, heavy feet and bends at the waist. I got him in the third round. A lot of people are trying to make something out of him that he is not.”

 “What the Bears did to the 49ers was disrespectful and low class. They did not have to treat it the way they did.”

 “Roger Goodell is still assembling his administration. ‘Tags’ (Paul Tagliabue) held the job for nearly 20 years and hired a lot of people. Goodell is looking at the club level for young up-and-comers. He wants to change the CBA. It’s screwed up. He needs to get the right guys on his staff to get it corrected before he can dig his feet in the ground.”

 “The 49ers way overpaid for a guy who is not really a true 3-4 defensive end. (Justin Smith) is not a pass rusher and not a two-gapper. They’re going to have to scheme him and move him, and you shouldn’t have to do that when you pay him the kind of money he got.”

 “There is not a safety in the draft worthy of taking in the first round.”