by John Miller

My favorite college WR in 2008 was Hakeem Nicks. It probably helped that I watched the Meineke Car Care Bowl when Nicks caught 8 passes for 217 yards & 3 TDs. I also saw him earlier in the season when he torched Notre Dame for 9-141-1. NFL Network’s Mike Mayock compared Nicks to Anquan Boldin & Hines Ward. Nice.

Nicks measured 6′1/212 at the Combine but he looks 6′2+ to me. His 4.54 at the Combine didn’t scream “1st round!” to draft scouts but I have a feeling he’ll go early in the 2nd round. Maybe the Rams at #35, Seahawks at #37 (if they didn’t get Crabtree), or Dolphins at #44. In fact, Dolphins VP Bill Parcells accompanied HC Tony Sparano to North Carolina for Nicks’ private workout this week. Parcells must have seen this highlight reel and got curious.

Nicks only scored a 11 on the Wonderlic and his workout habits have been questioned. However, if Parcells likes ya he’ll get the most of outta ya — forget what your issues are. Slow feet (Keyshawn Johnson), head case (Terry Glenn), doesn’t matter. 

I know this: If the Bears have a chance to take Nicks in the 2nd round at #49 and pass, Bears fans should riot.

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by John Miller

For months now we’ve been hearing that Houston plans to add a RB to take some of the load off Steve Slaton. In free agency they went after Cedric Benson but he wanted too much money. HC Gary Kubiak says they’ll have to add a RB in the draft. “Obviously, that’s important,” Kubiak said. “We went the Cedric Benson route in free agency, and it didn’t work out. It’s a little nerve-racking, but you can’t force something. At least we know we have a good young one in Slaton.” I’ve never seen a rookie 1,200-yard back get disrespected so much; but it makes sense that the 200-lb Slaton should be spelled for 10-12 carries. The thing is, Slaton actually got stronger as the season went on. He averaged 4.5 per carry in the first 8 games, and 5.0 in the last 8. 

The draft? Houston has the #46 spot in the 2nd round. I think the 5′11/228-lb RB Shonn Greene seems like a possibility.  Greene ran a disappointing 4.72 at the Combine but bounced back with a 4.50 on Pro Day. Here’s a Greene highlight reel at Iowa. He reminds me of Barry Foster. If you youngsters don’t remember Foster, he was a thick-legged Steeler RB who blasted 1,690 yards in 1992.

If the Texans wait until the 4th-6th round I like 5′10/218-lb RB James Davis from Clemson.  Here he is.  But if they wait that long then Slaton’s 2008 workload is safe.

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by John Miller

Wanna get really depressed about the economy?  Click here.  Manny Ramirez doesn’t feel your pain.

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by Jared Smola

Raise your hand if you had Terrell Owens signing with the Bills in your office pool.

Anyone with a hand up can slowly lower it and stop lying to themselves. Buffalo’s 90-year old owner Ralph Wilson has never been one to gamble on a high-priced, loose-cannon free-agent like Terrell Owens. Then again, the Bills signed Owens for fairly cheap. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll behave in Buffalo (and maybe Wilson isn’t suffering from dementia after all).

Owens will get $6.5 million from the Bills in 2009. To put that in perspective, Laveranues Coles just signed a deal with Cincinnati that will pay him $6.6 million in 2009 and a total of $27.5 million over the life of the 4-year deal. Yes, that’s the same Laveranues Coles who has topped 1,000 yards just once in the past 5 seasons. T.O. has done that 4 times in the last 5 years (with the lone exception being 2005 when he missed 9 games). So from a strictly football perspective, the Bills got a great deal on a player who fills their need for a big WR to complement Lee Evans.

But Owens will tear QB Trent Edwards to shreds, ruin the locker room, and make HC Dick Jauron wish he’d been fired, right? Maybe, but maybe not. The Bills were very smart by signing Owens to a 1-year deal. As destructive as he has been in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Dallas, he has always behaved in his 1st year with a new team. And at 35 years old, Owens will likely receive just 1 more contract after this one with the Bills. So for T.O., it’s behave in Buffalo or bye-bye football career.

…Which brings us to Owens’ football career. The fact that he signed with the Bills (a team that has gone 7-9 in 3 straight seasons with mediocre QB play in a cold, dreary city with uninspiring nightlife) is a sure sign that the NFL has had enough of his antics. You’d think T.O. could have at least caught on with the Vikings or maybe the Titans–2 teams with Super Bowl aspirations. Signing with the Bills is like settling for your high school softball team’s clean-up hitter as your prom date after the captain of the cheerleading squad turned you down. That’s no fun.

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