by John Miller

Here’s the latest Big Board from Mel Kiper, he updates it every week or so. Mel likes RB Chris “Beanie” Wells more than we do. We’re also scratching our head over OT Michael Oher down at #25.

Click here for our Top-100 NFL Draft Prospects if you haven’t seen them.

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by Jim Coventry

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by John Miller

–Tennessee (#1 seed), New York (#1 seed), and Carolina (#2 seed) lost at home to Baltimore (#6), Philadelphia (#6) and Arizona (#4) in the Divisional Playoffs.

–Tennessee, New York, and Carolina combined for 4 TDs and a ridiculous 9-of-35 on 3rd down conversions. That’s a 25.7% conversion rate. In the regular season the worst rate belonged to Oakland at 28.5%.  Oh, and 1 of those 4 TDs was a complete garbage-timer by Steve Smith.

–There will not be a #1 seed advancing to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1997.

–And here’s a nugget from Don Banks at SI.com: “For the 15th consecutive postseason, the two top-seeded teams will not survive to face one another in the Super Bowl, with the last time that quinella happened being when the 1993 Cowboys and Bills both advanced.”

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by Jared Smola

Ravens RB coach Wilbert Montgomery on RB LeRon McClain: “I still get frustrated with him. Sometimes it’s like talking to a jackass. He’s so stubborn about things. You think you’ve covered everything, and you find out it’s not enough. It’s never enough. … On a scale of one to 10, I’d say he’s at a two right now. He’s got a lot of room to improve at this given stage.”

On McClain coming to camp overweight: “”It was disappointing, especially for a new coaching staff, to see him come to camp out of shape. But once he got going and made that commitment, that’s when we saw the changes in Le’Ron. It was just down to him and [Rice]. I remember one day, the two of them took almost 200 reps in practice. When I saw, right then and there, that there was no sign of waver, that’s when he became a player.”

The fact that McClain is only a “two” right now has to be scary for opposing defenses. The Ravens RB situation will be one to watch in the off-season with 1 aging vet (Willis McGahee) and 2 young bucks (McClain and Ray Rice) vying for carries.

by John Miller

The 3 candidates for the 2008 FedEx Ground & Air Players of the Year awards are: 

Fans can vote on the award right here until Jan. 23rd.

I’m voting for Drew Brees, he’s a shoe-in for this award. Then in an upset I’m voting for DeAngelo Williams. Throwing out stats & formulas, I just think DeAngelo was a complete manimal this year. He made me hop off my seat more than the others did.

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by Jared Smola

Check out the league leaders in some of the more “obscure” statistics. A few interesting names on the list (Ike Hilliard?!?).

Times sacked: Patriots QB Matt Cassel (47)

Red zone interceptions: Broncos QB Jay Cutler (4)

40+ yard runs: Texans RB Steve Slaton and Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams (5)

Percent of passes caught (WRs): Buccaneers WR Ike Hilliard (81%)

Kickoffs out of bounds: Cowboys K Nick Folk (5)

Passes defended: Bengals CB Leon Hall and Giants CB Corey Webster (27)

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by Jared Smola

49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco posted some interesting stats on running efficiency from the Elias Sports Bureau. Each team’s running plays are broken down by direction (left, right, and up the middle). From there, Elias breaks it down even further into plays off left end, left tackle, left guard, right guard, right tackle, and right end. Here are the best and worst teams (by yards per carry) at each spot:

Left end-  Best: Chiefs   Worst: Rams

Left tackle-  Best: Giants   Worst: Jets

Left guard-  Best: Giants   Worst: Cardinals

Up the middle-  Best:Giants   Worst: Cardinals

Right guard-  Best: Cowboys   Worst: Rams

Right tackle-  Best: Panthers   Worst: 49ers

Right end-  Best: Ravens   Worst: Colts

*** Some quick observations:

1. The Giants offensive line is a machine–especially that left side (LG Rich Seubert and LT David Diehl). In fact, they might be better than the Seahawks’ much-renowned left side (LG Steve Hutchinson and LT Walter Jones) that paved the way for Shaun Alexander’s 28-TD season back in 2005.

2. Cowboys RG Leonard Davis catches a lot of flack, but no team was more efficient running off right guard than Dallas.

3. Looking for a reason for Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams breakout season? Look no further than Panthers rookie RT Jeff Otah. He was a beast this year and should have received some consideration for Rookie of the Year.

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