Archives for April 28, 2013

‘”I was trying to be proactive,” Chibane said. “Every time a pick was made, I was making notes. It kept my mind off things. It was a long day, sitting there from noon to 6:30. I want to burn them now.”‘

‘”Obviously, he’s got to make the team,” said his agent, JR Rickert of Niskayuna. “But they’re giving him a signing bonus. He’s signing a contract. He’s going to be on the 80-man roster and now he’s going to have to try to make either the 53 (man regular-season roster) or make practice squad.”‘

‘Projected as a fourth-round pick by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Rogers was All-SEC as a Tennessee sophomore in 2011, but failed drug tests and other disciplinary problems ultimately led to his dismissal. He caught 61 passes for 893 yards and 10 touchdowns last season for Tech.’

‘But Rogers was suspended before the start of this past season and later admitted it was due to repeatedly failing drug tests. (He was also arrested in 2010 and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest following a brawl in a Knoxville bar. The charges were later dropped when Rogers completed 16 hours of community service.)’

‘Buffalo selected safeties with back-to-back picks on Saturday, selecting Nevada’s Michael ‘Duke’ Williams 105th overall and Clemson’s Jonathan Meeks 143rd overall. The Bills had a need for help on the back end due to the departure of veteran safety George Wilson, who joined the Tennessee Titans, and the uncertain future of standout Jairus Byrd. Byrd, one of Buffalo’s top defenders, is unsigned after receiving the franchise tag on March 1.’

‘Several off-the-field incidents marred Williams’ college career including an arrest for underage possession of alcohol in 2009. Williams was also arrested in 2011 for driving with a suspended license and without insurance following a car accident.’

‘”He’s a kid that can play some corner if need be,” said Forsyth. “He has those type of skills. You can slide him inside in nickel as well as playing in the deep secondary. I think there are a lot of things you can do with this kid and his special teams value makes it even better.”‘

‘It’s real competitive. These last couple years we’ve had some great football players come out, make an impact and contribute in the next level. These last couple years we had (Colin) Kaepernick , a lot of guys know him, we had James-Michael Johnson come in and make an impact. We have a lot of talent up there in Nevada.’

‘”Yes, I think he can be a strong safety or free safety,” said Moody. “I think he has got good size and good range. He has got a good 40-time. I think he can be explosive. The thing is his stats are probably not as good as some other people because of the system that they played at Clemson this year. He was more of a free safety than the strong safety because the other safety did not run real well.”‘

‘I met with them at the All-Star game and (Buddy) Nix came out there to watch practice. I had a pretty solid week out at the All-Star game and they expressed some interest in me. Then I took my visit up there and it was a very good visit. I had the chances to meet the coaches and Nix again and it was a very solid visit. They expressed a lot of interest in me and me as well, knowing that they are a great program to be a part of and a great organization. It was mutual respect of each other and they had a lot of interest in me.’

‘”Just having somebody who knows not only your work ethic, but your practice schedule, the way you like the ball held and also just off the field having friends and developing that community kind of outside of the locker room as well is going to help tremendously,” said Hopkins.’

‘Definitely going to be a change. I’ve kicked in some cold weather before in some of our games when we’ve traveled but never at home. It’s going to take adjusting to it but at the same time I think when you know how to kick, and you grow up doing it your whole life, you make a couple adjustments and you go with the flow. You don’t worry about things you can’t control like wind or the cold or whatever it may be. I’m confident in what I can do.’

‘Gragg (6’3″ 244), who was limited to just five games his senior season with a knee injury, still finished his Razorbacks career with 72 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.’

‘I knew they needed a tight end. I had talked to them at the Combine and then my pro day. I knew they would need a tight end and I told them I could be there guy.’

‘We did every bit of the work we could do on these guys and we did not ever decide to take him until we felt good about it. Duke was a younger guy. He had not had any sense. Most of it was like a lot of things bad judgment. I think one of them was underage possession of alcohol, beer. Anybody in here ever done that? (Laughs) So we tried not to make that a huge issue. The things about him, football means a lot to him. They brought him in. I have had this happen to me a hundred times in coaching and I know coach has. When you start to take something away from them that is important as football they straighten up. I think that is what they did with him. The last couple of years he has been a model citizen and a good player.’