WILD CARD SUNDAY

As a result of last night’s thrilling wild card playoff win over Dallas, the 22nd thru 24th picks in the opening round of the 2007 were reshuffled. The Cowboys, which lost a heart-breaker 21-20 to Seattle, drops down a spot to #22, while Kansas City, which was knocked out of the playoffs earlier in the day in Indianapolis moves up a spot to #23. Meanwhile, the Patriots moved down two spots to #24 with a pick they obtained from Seattle. In the Chiefs loss to Indianapolis, Colts’ rookie RB, the team’s #1 pick at the 2006 draft, had almost 150 yards from scrimmage to propel Indianapolis into the next round. Addai, the 30th player taken this year, had 122 rushing yards on 25 carries and added another 26 yards on 7 receptions. In that game, rookie DBs Antoine Bethea of the Colts and the Chiefs Jarrad Page both had interceptions. In Seattle, Dallas undrafted rookie free agent WR Miles Austen returned a KO 93-yards for a TD but it was all for naught as Dallas botched a last minute chip-shot FG that would have given the Cowboys the lead.....

Just hours before players were supposed to show up for practice, the Las Vegas All-American all-star game has reportedly been cancelled. The game had been scheduled for next Saturday.....

Texas junior DT Frank Okam announced Friday he was staying for his senior season with the Longhorns. Okam entered the season rated as a potential top 10-15 prospect, however, did not have a particularly productive year with the Longhorns.....


Clemson junior OT Barry Richardson has confirmed his decision to stay in school for his senior season. Meanwhile, Tigers’ junior CB C.J. Gaddis reportedly is still thinking about whether he will stay in school or enter the 2007 draft. Gaddis reportedly has been told he grades out as a fourth-round pick by the NFL’s draft advisory committee.....

Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden and his San Francisco counterpart Mike Nolan and their staffs will coach at this year’s Senior Bowl week. Gruden and the Buccaneers’ staff will direct the North team, while Nolan and his assistants will lead the South for the second straight year. Meanwhile, Gruden and the Bucs will be back in Mobile for the second time in three years. Prior to the 2005 draft, Gruden coached the South which included former RB Carnell Williams, whom the Buccaneers ended up taking with the 5th pick overall later in the opening round of the 2005 draft.....

Floyd Reese reportedly has resigned as general manager of the Tennessee Titans after 21 years with the organization dating back to its days in Houston.....

For those who can't wait until Monday Night's BCS title, the 'other' Ohio school, the Ohio Bobcats will make their first bowl appearance in decades when they hook up with Southern Miss in the GMAC Bowl later tonight. While its not exactly the richest game of the bowl season in terms of 2007 draft talent there are several players worth a second look....



January 7

GMAC Bowl, Mobile; 8 PM ET; ESPN

Southern Mississippi (7-5) vs Ohio (8-4)

Can Ohio make it a ‘two-fer’ this year. The emerging Bobcats will be playing in a bowl game for the first time since 1968 when they take on Southern Miss in this year’s GMAC Bowl the final tune-up before Monday’s national title game between Florida and that ‘other’ team from Ohio. Now the question is whether Ohio will have its first positional player selected at an NFL draft since 1973. In fact, the Bobcats have a couple of players with at least next-level physical skills. MLB Matt Muncy (#50, 6-1, 235), for example, is one of the better all-around backers in college football; Muncy teams with steady fellow MLB Tyler Russ (#26, 6-0, 225) to give Ohio a very productive pair of mike backers. Meanwhile CB T.J. Wright (#3, 5-10, 175) is a ball-hawking cover corner with 13 career interceptions, although he lacks the physical skills of former star Bobcat CB Dion Byrum who wasn’t drafted this past April. The Bobcats also have a potential big-play WR Scott Mayle (#82, 6-0, 175) who has sub-4.3 speed, but he’s never had anyone at Ohio who could consistently get him the ball. Indeed, the Bobcats could be doomed this evening by one of the country’s most inefficient passing attacks, although the ground game makes up for a lot of that deficiency with star junior RB Kalvin McRae (#5, 5-10, 210), who has run for 1,200 each of the past couple of years, running behind an improved offensive line led by LT Matt Coppage (#78, 6-4, 295).

In fact, the GMAC Bowl could come down to a battle between a pair of young runners as Southern Miss’ go-to guy is freshman RB Damion Fletcher (#25, 5-10, 180), a scatback who scampered for 1,200 yards of his own this fall. And Fletcher will look to run behind veteran OGs George Batiste (#70, 6-5, 310) and Travis Cooley (#55, 6-3, 285); Batiste, in particular is a four-year starter who is this game’s best overall prospect for the 2007 draft. Meanwhile, USM also has a pretty good cover corner in Caleb Hendrix (#14, 5-9, 185), while sophomore TE Shawn Nelson (#89, 6-5, 235) is another emerging star.