Being the junky that I am, I figured I should have a running tally tonight and tomorrow of all of the goings on at the draft. I will be watching all three rounds (except for the Busch race in the afternoon) and will be providing EXCLUSIVE insight to jpfitness.com.
You all should feel honored.
Apparently Mario Williams to Houston is a done deal. That's a "dumb deal."
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Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
Brett Basanez - QB, NU. Won't go until Sunday (rounds 5-7) but is being projected as a strong regular backup on an NFL team. As the Browns scout Kevin Kelly said, "His intangibles are off the charts." As his NU coach Randy Walker said, "He will be a better player 5 years from now than he is now" - and he was named the Big Ten Player of the Year after this last season. Recall that Tom Brady never won that honor while at Michigan (in fact, he sat on the bench for two years and shared QB duties with Henson for another - Baz started four years straight) and look where he is now as a 6th round draft pick.
Since he's been underestimated since he was a kid, I'm betting you'll see Baz as a starter somewhere in the next 5-7 years. As the article is titled, dont' bet against Basanez.
/sports/college/football/cs-0604210243apr21,1,3910294.stor y
NFL DRAFT
Don't bet against Basanez
Disproving naysayers a recurring theme for ex-Northwestern QB. Next on his list: NFL.
By Terry Bannon
Tribune staff reporter
April 21, 2006
Brett Basanez has been down this road before. In a way, his entire football career has been about proving himself--to college scouts, to college coaches and now to pro scouts.
He knows the drill. Find ways to improve. Get that extra edge. Outwork the other guy.
A year ago at this time, the quarterback was getting ready for his senior year at Northwestern, unsure of how much longer he would be playing football.
After a senior year that culminated in his being named Big Ten offensive player of the year, Basanez has a shot at what he always wanted: a pro career.
"He grew up a lot," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said of Basanez's senior season. "It didn't happen in a year. Sometimes you don't see immediate feedback from consistent growth. Some guys quit growing or getting better; he won't quit working. He will be a better player in five years than he is now."
Now Basanez has a chance to be playing five years from now. It's a long road up the depth chart for an NFL team's draft pick. But he should be starting from the status of a second-day draft choice (Rounds 4-7) instead of as an undrafted free agent.
"If he had been a senior last year, he probably would have been a free agent, and I don't know if he would have been a priority free agent," said Cliff Brady, Basanez's agent. "Maybe he would get into a training camp, maybe not."
Basanez's senior year was like no other he had had. He stayed healthy and cut down on mistakes.
"We played well as a team, and I don't think I was making dumb decisions like I was in past years," Basanez said. "That was a question mark until last year."
Basanez threw 21 touchdown passes and only eight interceptions as the Wildcats earned a surprising berth in the Sun Bowl. With that, he made himself draftable.
The buildup to the April 29-30 draft is a season unto itself. Reputations can be made and changed. And that's why Brett Basanez spent much of his winter throwing passes on an indoor soccer field.
Getting ready for combine
It's a typical cold February morning in Palatine as Brady and his bunch gather in the basement of Soccer City for morning workouts. Brady and David Buchanan, his partner for the last two decades, will put their four clients through another workout in preparation for the upcoming NFL combine in Indianapolis. There are drills, drills and more drills.
In addition to Basanez, the group consists of Princeton cornerback Jay McCareins, a Naperville North product and brother of Jets receiver Justin McCareins; Northern Illinois center Brian Van Acker from Prairie Ridge; and Basanez's St. Viator teammate, Purdue wide receiver Brian Hare.
The banter is lively and the work hard as Brady and Buchanan put the prospects through drills they will see in Indianapolis: 40-yard dashes, cone drills, weightlifting.
On a typical day they pile in their cars, pick up a quick lunch and gather at Buchanan's facility. On some days a trip to Joliet Junior College for a workout with Tim Graf of Graf Speed Enhancement is on the itinerary.
Buchanan, president of ProSport Training and Rehab in Rolling Meadows, has been working with Basanez since his days at St. Viator in Arlington Heights.
"In his junior and senior years, he would come out two to three times a week, and we started to communicate more," Buchanan said. "He would ask, `What else can we do? What did you do with [Jim] McMahon?'"
In the 1980s, Brady and Buchanan worked with Bears players including McMahon, quarterback of the Super Bowl XX championship team. On one cold March morning this year, McMahon joined the group at Soccer City.
"That was awesome," said Basanez, who was 3 when the Bears won the Super Bowl. "He watched me drop back and throw, gave me some hints, little things I can tweak here and there."
In the complicated world of NFL contracts, there's something in it for Brady too. He doesn't get paid until his clients make money, which is what these drills are all about.
Basanez ran a 4.75-yard 40-yard dash at the combine and came home satisfied with the preparation Brady and Buchanan provided.
"At the combine, we knew what we were doing and what to expect, and some other guys were walking around like they were lost," Basanez said.
The scouting
Perhaps nobody in Basanez's world is in a more unusual position than Kevin Kelly.
Kelly was Basanez's coach at St. Viator and now is writing reports on him as a Cleveland Browns scout. He can do some of it from memory. Basanez's efforts to sell himself to the pros remind Kelly of what Kelly did five years ago when he implored college teams to take a longer look at his skinny quarterback.
"This really mirrors what he did in high school," Kelly said. "The NFL will devalue Brett. But it will take just one team to draft him and give him an opportunity and that will happen.
"He'll play in the league. Not right away, but he really has some things you don't coach. He can keep plays alive with his feet and his vision down the field is good. He makes extra plays that way."
Basanez has answered some questions in the last year. After working with Buchanan on his diet, he has gained 10 pounds.
"I was up to 221 last week, and that was good to see," the 6-foot-2-inch Basanez said, aware that every little thing counts in scouting, especially for someone who was struggling to get above 210 pounds a year ago.
Early on in the scouting process, Brady told Basanez one more thing: Scouts wanted to see how well he could drop back after taking a snap from center. At Northwestern he played in a spread offense and took snaps out of the shotgun.
"It's unbelievable to me that dropping back from center seems to be such a hard thing," Basanez said. "You're basically adding two steps to your drop back from the 'gun."
While his '05 performance quieted some concerns, some still wonder about his arm strength. Once considered a weakness, it's now seen as "good enough," one scout said.
Arm strength is one reason Basanez won't be sitting by a phone on Draft Saturday, when the first three rounds are held. But he will on Sunday because he has other things in his favor.
"His intangibles are off the charts," Kelly said. "Tremendous worker, tough guy."
One prerequisite for a successful NFL quarterback is football smarts. That's why Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach Pat Shurmur traveled to Evanston to spend time with Basanez. They went to the movies.
"He came in and watched films," Basanez recalled. "He wanted to know why I did this, why I did that."
The Denver Broncos sent quarterbacks coach Pat McPherson. The Atlanta Falcons sent quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave.
"He wanted to catch some of my balls, so we just threw it around," Basanez said.
The Jacksonville Jaguars sent quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson, the former Cincinnati Bengals star.
"The Falcons are my favorite team [for Basanez]," Brady said. "[Backup] Matt Schaub is expected to be an unrestricted free agent next year and they don't have a No. 3."
The teams that have shown the most interest in Basanez have one thing in common: They're not looking for a starter. The Falcons have Michael Vick, the Eagles have Donovan McNabb, the Jaguars have Byron Leftwich and the Broncos have Jake Plummer.
"It seems rosters are pretty full with starters, but there aren't a lot of great backups and there aren't a lot of [third-stringers] out there," Brady said.
The dream
Every quarterback who appears destined to be drafted on the second day thinks of Tom Brady, New England's three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who was a sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2000.
Low draft choices who become star QBs are the stuff of NFL legend. Matt Hasselbeck, a Green Bay sixth-round pick, guided Seattle to last season's Super Bowl. Jake Delhomme, undrafted, took Carolina to the title game two years ago.
Kurt Warner wasn't drafted and failed in his first NFL shot with Green Bay. He worked in a supermarket for a time and took advantage of a second chance, leading the Rams to a Super Bowl win after the '99 season.
Basanez knows his path could be long and circuitous. So does his college coach.
"It wouldn't surprise me to see him do significant things in five or six years, no matter where he starts out," Walker said. "He may be sacking groceries next year like Kurt Warner, but I wouldn't bet against that kid."
Draft-day patience
If recent trends hold, there will be a quick run on quarterbacks in the first round, followed by a lull before teams start looking for developmental projects. Top QBs often get drafted above their grade level, the rest below. There hasn't been a quarterback chosen in Round 2 since 2001.
VY to Tennessee. Not a VY fan at all. Leinart is so familiar with Norm Chow and that offense. That pick is a no brainer in my opinion. VY is not going to be as good as Leinart
That said, I am also scared that Leinart goes to Oakland. Do not want that to happen at all.
__________________
Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
The look on Leinart's face was much better than the look on Bush's face. I think he just saw Nick Lachey get run over by Jessica Simpson in her Range Rover.
There's no chance of the Packers taking Leinart or the 49ers taking him.
__________________
Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
The draft's ugliest man goes to play with Brett Favre. All I have to say is that I hope he and Laura Quinn divorce before they reproduce. Those would be some ugly children.
__________________
Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
Uhh.............. with the 8th pick? Maybe the 18th pick, but this is a reach. Someone buy Ralph Wilson and Marv Levy a double room at the Buffalo nursing home.
__________________
Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
I've always been curious: Why do sports announcers always speak exclusively in the present tense? Your analysis is dead-on to their speech: "I'm scared that Leinart goes to Oakland" - should be "I'm scared that Leinart will got to Oakland", because it hasn't happened yet. "Where does Leinart go? Does Oakland take Huff?" should be "Where will Leinart go? Will Oakland take Huff?"
It's a very common but very strange pattern in sports. It's also a pet peeve of mine, because it quite simply does not make sense.
I've never put any thought into it. I guess I use the present tense, because an hour is close enough to the present for me...... now I am thinking about it.....
Cutler to the Broncos.
Uh..... I have never seen Cutler live. So.... I hate the Broncos......Broncos suck....now Cutler sucks....
__________________
Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
It's always interesting to see if the players are as good as the hype when playing at pro speed.
My probably wrong take (hey, I thought Mike Vick was too stupid and young to go to the NFL - I've been very wrong before):
Bush: probably.
Leinart: No way. Peak has just passed - already played on an NFL-caliber team, but against college speed defenses. His world is going to start moving too fast very soon. I'm guessing he is going to get gigs playing Bob Guinea's ('The Bachelor') stunt double in about 5 years.
Young: all hinges on his ability to master NFL defenses. If he is as dumb as Wonderlick Take 1, you can forget it. If he isn't, he has the size and speed to be damn good. It's all up to his brain. Uh oh.
It's always interesting to see if the players are as good as the hype when playing at pro speed.
My probably wrong take (hey, I thought Mike Vick was too stupid and young to go to the NFL - I've been very wrong before):
Bush: probably.
Leinart: No way. Peak has just passed - already played on an NFL-caliber team, but against college speed defenses. His world is going to start moving too fast very soon. I'm guessing he is going to get gigs playing Bob Guinea's ('The Bachelor') stunt double in about 5 years.
Young: all hinges on his ability to master NFL defenses. If he is as dumb as Wonderlick Take 1, you can forget it. If he isn't, he has the size and speed to be damn good. It's all up to his brain. Uh oh.
Today is Baz' day.
The only thing I have to mention is that the Wonderlick rumors about VY were false.
It'll be interesting to see where Marcus Vick goes...
Well, it's official. High paid NFL decision makers are IDIOTS. Some team is going to get an undrafted free agent steal, up there with Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, and Priest Holmes.
How many pass rushing defensive linemen do the Giants need?
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Leinart is going to be a stud. Young will be a bust, and I have no idea about Cutler, I have never seen the man outside of ESPN draft highlight packages.
__________________
Quoth David Banner: "Like a pimp"
It's not a beer belly. It's a gas tank for a sax machine.
The NFL Draft
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