UDFA big 225-pound RB/FB Shawne Alston of WVU chose to sign with Saints over the other teams that wanted him because he and his agent like how the Saints like to use a rotation of RBs, and they think his strength at pass blocking protecting Brees will help him move up the depth chart faster on the Saints From a Raiders blog, one year ago (right after last year's draft): I know a player who the Raiders should target next year in the draft. He is West Virginia running back Shawne Alston. He likes to run between the tackles and has pretty good power and speed. Here is a highlight clip ... This guy would be a steal in next years draft. Maybe a bigger steal then Bush. (Michael Bush, who the Raiders took in the early 4th Round, same place Eagles took Matt Barkley....Bush ran for 977 yards in 2011, his last year as a Raider, before going to the Bears to potentially replace Matt Forte, who was holding out on contract negotations at the time)
New Orleans the #1 media market for the 2013 Draft. Birmingham, Alabama at #2... so the largest city in Louisiana, and the largest city in Alabama were #1 and #2 Sports Illustrated: ESPN averaged 3,035,000 viewers for its three-day draft coverage, up four percent over both 2012 (2.92 million) and 2011 (2.918 million). The network said the top-10 metered markets for the three days were New Orleans (4.7 rating), Birmingham, Ala. (4.5), Kansas City (4.4), Buffalo (4.3), Dayton, Oh. (4.1), Jacksonville (3.6), Pittsburgh (3.5), Milwaukee (3.5), Cincinnati (3.4) and Nashville (3.4). The NFL Network averaged 930,000 viewers for its three days, up 23 percent over 2012. The first round of the NFL Draft is the number most cited when it comes to ratings. The combined average for both networks this year was 7.7 million viewers -- the third most-watched first round ever -- but down from 2012 (8.1 million). The NFL Network drew a record 1.5 million viewers -- a seven percent increase over last year (1.4 million viewers). ESPN's first round coverage averaged 6,199,000 viewers, down seven percent from 2012 (6.6 million). But those numbers were up three percent from 2011 (6.0 million).
Some food for thought on Chase Thomas. Compare these 40 yard times: Chase Thomas: 4.91 Scott Shanle: 4.63 Just Sayin'.
Agree that Reddick looks like a better prospect, but the tape on Thomas would indicate he's got good instincts, he gets to the ball and makes plays. I don't have time to go look it up, but I'll bet he had a bad pro day, or a poor combine workout. Despite tons of evidence to the contrary, people still tend to put more emphasis on that crap than they do on what they see in games.
Gil Brandt of NFL.com ranks the best UDFA classes #3 New Orleans Saints Key signees: Ryan Griffin, QB, Tulane; Kevin Reddick, LB, North Carolina; Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford. Anyone who read my piece on no-name prospects to watch knows how I feel about Griffin. He's very smart and has a quick release, which will be good for what they do in New Orleans. Reddick and Thomas, meanwhile, were both in my final (Big Board Top125), with Reddick landing at No. 91 and Thomas slotting in at No. 93 (he had Luke Joeckel #1, Ziggy #2, Dion Jordan #3, etc). Thomas isn't exceptionally fast, but he does have an outstanding ability to key and diagnose.
with 19 seconds left until halftime, #13 Oklahoma down by seven to #21 Oklahoma State in the BEDLAM rivalry, who makes the TD catch to tie it up at the half??? KENNY STILLS!!!! The game would end up going to OT, with Oklahoma winning 51-48
check out this HUGE block by Stills who comes ALL THE WAY ACROSS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE field to wipe out the defender and spring his teammate for a 100 YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN in the RED RIVER RIVALRY!!! check out how the crowd is half Orange, half Red
