40 Acres Sports

With [tag]Vince Young[/tag] injured it wasn’t a very exciting week for ex-Longhorns in the NFL. Quentin Jammer and Selvin Young probably had the best weeks, while the complete absence of Jermichael Finley and Limas Sweed continues. Here’s how all the former Horns did in week two of the NFL season:

[tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] – Less busy after a good week one, only three carries for seven yards. The Chiefs only rushed the ball 19 times all game as a team. Charles also had a 15 yard catch and hurt Larry Johnson’s feelings.

[tag]Phil Dawson[/tag] – Two of two on field goals with a long of 38 yards in a loss.

[tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] – Still looking for his first career catch. I’m not sure if he’s getting any snaps at all.

[tag]Cedric Griffin[/tag] – Six tackles and one pass breakup against Peyton Manning and the Colts.

[tag]Michael Griffin[/tag] – Picked up his first interception of the year off a tipped pass. Also added six tackles from his safety spot.

[tag]Ahmard Hall[/tag] – Three carries for nine yards.

[tag]Casey Hampton[/tag] – One tackle.

[tag]Michael Huff[/tag] – Four tackles against KC and two passes defended.

[tag]Quentin Jammer[/tag] – Posted 11 tackles and had a forced fumble in the Chargers’ controversial loss to the Broncos.

[tag]Derrick Johnson[/tag] – Eight tackles, seven of them solo.

[tag]Cullen Loeffler[/tag] – Inspired me to teach my kids to deep snap.

[tag]Cory Redding[/tag] – Three solo tackles against the Packers.

[tag]Shaun Rogers[/tag] – First sack of the 2008 season and added six tackles.

[tag]Aaron Ross[/tag] – Four tackles.

[tag]Bo Scaife[/tag] – Without Vince Young, just one catch for six yards.

[tag]Limas Sweed[/tag] – Still no catches in his NFL career. Like Finley, looking at his game logs it appears he’s not even playing.

[tag]David Thomas[/tag] – Picked up his first catch of the year against the Jets, a 14-yarder from Matt Cassel.

[tag]Nathan Vasher[/tag] – Returned punts for the first time in a long while. Had three returns for a total of 21 yards. Added two tackles.

[tag]Ricky Williams[/tag] – After an exciting preseason another ho hum game for Ricky. He had 11 rushes for 28 yards in the Dolphins’ blowout loss to Arizona.

[tag]Roy Williams[/tag] – Just about the same performance as week one: three catches for 48 yards. Looks like Calvin Johnson has become the clear number one target in Detroit, maybe Roy can head down to Tennessee next year as a free agent.

[tag]Selvin Young[/tag] – Was the Broncos’ leading rusher with eight carries for 78 yards, including a big 49-yarder. Also added one catch for eight yards.

Topps held a photo shoot recently to get shots of all the NFL rookies in their new uniforms. Former Longhorn running back [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] was one of the players on hand. It’s the first time I’ve seen Jamaal in a Kansas City Chiefs jersey.

They’ve posted a ton of interviews from the event on YouTube, many of which are disappointingly uninteresting. This age group just didn’t collect cards like mine did, plus football cards were never as popular as baseball.

Watch the interview with JC below:

Jamaal still isn’t exactly the world’s best public speaker but he’s gotten much more comfortable in interviews than when he first came to Texas.

Those can’t be regular sized shoulder pads by the way. He looks tiny.

ESPN is ranking the top running backs in the NFL and three former Longhorns made their list. Unfortunately, all three made it on the third tier of rankings of 41-64. [tag]Cedric Benson[/tag] was backed up by [tag]Selvin Young[/tag] who was backed up by [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag], and they’re all now playing in the league. All three guys will have a chance to prove themselves this season and move up in the rankings.

47. Cedric Benson, Chicago Bears

Superpower – Benson has the physical size and athletic ability to be a productive starter. He has good vision combined with good pad level and good balance for running inside. He can read blocks and show patience, then accelerate with good burst for his size. He also is a capable receiver out of the backfield.

Kryptonite – He has not produced up to his potential during his first three seasons, and he has failed to prove to management and his teammates that he can be “the guy.” His overall passion for the game and desire to be a dominant player have been questioned.

My Thoughts – The comments on Benson are not far off. Though he hasn’t reached his potential I think in the right atmosphere he could excel, but that may not be in Chicago. The most laughable part of their rankings is that they have rookie Matt Forte six spots higher than Benson.

60. Selvin Young, Denver Broncos

Superpower – He is coming off an impressive rookie season in which he provided excellent depth in the Broncos’ backfield. Young was a pleasant surprise for the Denver staff after being acquired as a college free agent in 2007. He showed deceptive power for his size, as he runs with conviction and great body lean. He has excellent vision and instincts with the lateral quickness and agility to find a crease.

Kryptonite – Young has had durability concerns in the past, and it remains to be seen how well he can handle the pounding with more playing time. He lacks great elusiveness in space and is more of a straight-line runner. He will need to develop in the passing game, especially in blitz-pickup situations.

My Thoughts – There’s some scrubs ranked higher than Selvin that don’t deserve to be but he’s going to have to do it for more than one season to be moved any higher. With the release of Travis Henry he’ll get that chance this year and could have a great season if he stays healthy for 16 games.

64. Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs

Superpower – He will be coming into the league to complement the Chiefs’ featured running back. He is a good combination of athleticism and instincts. He has excellent speed and burst both as a runner and receiver out of the backfield. He is football player who has outstanding track speed. He should give the Chiefs an explosive threat on the perimeter as well as after the catch.

Kryptonite – He doesn’t have great power as an inside runner. He needs to gain weight and strength to become a complete back. Charles isn’t always a patient runner and needs to mature as a between-the-tackles ball carrier. Charles also needs to improve his blitz-pickup and develop his route running. He is somewhat of a one-dimensional player, lacking inside, short-yardage and goal-line effectiveness.

My Thoughts – I think Charles is an underrated inside runner. They’re right that he’s often impatient but he’s not afraid to run inside and if he sees a small crease he’ll take it. Also has better power than he’s given credit for and rarely goes down on first contact.

Jamaal Charles in the 3rd round was one of Peter King’s favorite draft selections. Thinks he’s a great fit in Kansas City.

Texas running back [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] has been selected with the 10th pick of the 3rd round (73rd overall) by the Kansas City Chiefs. A decent place for Jamaal, he’ll have a chance to back up Larry Johnson and provide a gamebreaking threat for the Chiefs. The Chiefs need to relieve some of Johnson’s workload to keep him healthy, so there should be carries available.

Congrats to Jamaal and good luck with the Chiefs. We’ll be watching you and Derrick Johnson on Sundays.

Update: The official Chiefs’ website has a Q&A up with Jamaal.

Most NFL mock drafts only include a round or maybe two, but just like last year ESPN’s Todd McShay has released his seven-round mock draft for your perusal (if you’re an ESPN Insider.) Getting one round is tough enough, but McShay actually did a decent job last year and even nailed Justin Blalock to Atlanta and Brian Robison to Minnesota last year.

Below is where McShay believes the Longhorns in the draft will go followed by my my thoughts on the picks:

Round 1

24. Tennessee Titans – [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag]
This is best possible scenario for Texas fans. Titans need wide receiver help desperately and Sweed may be the best one in the draft. Getting him at #24 would be great for the Titans VY.

Round 2

43. Carolina Panthers – [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag]
Charles is the first running back taken in the second round. He’d actually have a chance to start for Carolina to, only has to beat out DeAngelo Williams.

Round 3

115. Philadelphia Eagles – [tag]Marcus Griffin[/tag]
Nice spot for Marcus, interesting to see him going so high. I’ll be surprised if Griffin goes before Finley and Hills, simply because I believe those two have much higher ceilings. Great to see a former walk-on work his way into a mid-round NFL Draft pick.

127. Indianapolis Colts – [tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag]
Jermichael might be a little disappointed by how far he falls but he’d be ecstatic to be picked up by the Colts. Pretty much the perfect situation for him. They use their tight end a lot, Peyton Manning to throw him the ball, they split the tight end out wide frequently, and most importantly the Colts throw work out of the shotgun a ton and Finley wouldn’t be asked to be down on the line run blocking much.

129. New England Patriots – [tag]Tony Hills[/tag]
Another good situation. Hills would be given time with New England to develop and wouldn’t be asked to start right away. At the same time, there’s no young, highly regarded tackles on their roster so he’s got a chance to compete by year two.

Round 5

154. Washington Redskins – [tag]Frank Okam[/tag]
Much lower slot than people expected out of Okam a few years ago but McShay may actually have him higher than the current opinion. I’m not sure what I think, I have a feeling he might go as early the fourth round if a team makes a pick based on potential but then I wouldn’t be shocked to see him go undrafted either.

Round 7

215. Baltimore Ravens – [tag]Derek Lokey[/tag]
Imagine if Lokey had Okam’s build, the kid would be a first round pick. But he’s 6-foot-1 and a light 290 pounds which is considered very undersized for an NFL defensive tackle. I’d love to see Derek go to a team and be utilized as a goal line fullback and deep snapper as well as a defensive tackle who can give 15 – 20 snaps a game.

Longhorn pipeline may continue to flow for Titans. I’d love to see them pick up Sweed in the first and Charles and the second or third.

Position: Running Back
Height: 5-11
Weight: 200 pounds
Hometown: Port Arthur, TX

Strengths: Good quickness and incredible speed. Football player with track star speed. Runs well inside the tackles, doesn’t go down on first contact, and can take it to the house if he gets the edge. Charles is a big play waiting to happen. Never had a ton of receptions as a Longhorn but catches the ball well out of the backfield and is dangerous once he has it in his hands.

Weaknesses: Durability and ball security are Charles’ two biggest issues affecting where he’ll be picked. He never had a serious injury but he also never seemed to be at 100%. Because of his size and his history, NFL teams will be concerned about if he can stay on the field for 16 games per year. Jamaal’s fumbling issues limited his carries for a stretch during the 2007 season, that is another huge red flag that will scare off some teams in a deep draft for running backs.

Projection: 2nd or 3rd round

Related Links

• Jamaal Charles archives
• Draft Countdown profile
• ESPN draft profile
• NFL Combine profile
• NFL Draft Dog profile
• NFL Draft Scout profile

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Rick Gosselin’s latest NFL mock draft (4/18) has Jamaal Charles going incredibly high at #20. Also has Limas Sweed in the first round.

Battle to replace RB Charles highlights Texas’ spring practice. I thought Fozzy Whittaker looked great going against the other twos.