Diner Morning News

FROM MICHAEL LOMBARDI:

11 March 2009

QUOTE:  “I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. … I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait.  If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.”  ~ Og Mandino

FROM CHRISTOPER GASPER OF THE BOSTON GLOBE...  Not content with adding just cornerback Shawn Springs to a secondary that now will have to deal with big-play wide receiver Terrell Owens twice a season as a Bill, the Patriots agreed to terms on a one-year deal with (Leigh) Bodden, according to an NFL source. Terms of the contract were not available. The 27-year-old Bodden, who has 13 interceptions in six NFL seasons, was released by the Detroit Lions Feb. 9, after a season in which he had just one interception. It was the only interception by a defensive back for the Lions, who had just four total all season.

The Patriots have three second-round picks along with their 23rd pick in the first round.  These moves this offseason have allowed them to concentrate on improving the speed of their defense and finding some young talent to play alongside Jerod Mayo.  The Patriots were bad on third down last year, regardless of the yardage.  They were last in the league in allowing teams to convert third downs on third-and-10 or more, and they were the 31^st-worst defense on first-and-10 pass defense. These two stats indicate they lacked speed and had a hard time rushing the passer.  Adding more help to their secondary allows them to focus on finding the right front seven for their defense. 

Bodden will fit the Patriots’ scheme perfectly, and Shawn Springs gives them a versatile player who can play inside or outside corner.  Bodden was looking for a long-term deal that would replace the one he lost with his play in Detroit last year.  When the market did not bear a major deal, he settled for a short-term one with a team that will highlight his talents. 

The Patriots have a complete team ready to compete in the NFL before the draft.  I always felt that you had to attempt to cover your team needs before the draft so that you could enter the draft with the intention of taking the best player.  Having the ability to be flexible in the draft allows you to just pick players and not have to worry about waiting for a certain player.  The best drafts normally come from having the best offseasons.  You enter the draft room with a sense of peace and know that if the chips don’t fall your way, your team can still go out and compete. 

Now, I know this sounds elementary and you’re probably asking, “Don’t all NFL teams try to do this?”  The answer is a big NO.  Many teams don’t want to sign a veteran player at a position of draft need because they fear the coaches will not play the rookie and will end up playing the rundown veteran.  Unless the head coach dictates who will play and when they play, this problem will always be a part of many organizations.  In New England, for example, there’s only one person who determines who gets on the field, and if the veteran is better than the rookie, he plays. If the rookie is best, he will play.  New England’s way of handling the manipulation of personnel is not the norm in the NFL.  New England's football operation runs like a paramilitary organization while many other teams take the "committee approach."  Everyone knows how I feel about the committee approach. 

When I was with Bill Belichick in Cleveland, we had an average right tackle in Gene Williams.  Williams was a better guard than tackle, but we had a huge hole at right tackle and didn’t have anyone to fill the spot.  We had a young lineman named Orlando Brown who we were grooming and who everyone liked, but not everyone wanted him to play.  He was always the future, but never the now.  Too raw, too slow to pick up the scheme and will make too many mistakes – that was the rhetoric often heard about Orlando.  Williams was everything Brown was not.  Smart, knew how to play, a coach’s delight, but limited in terms of size and talent. 

Each Monday night we would have a meeting to go over personnel for the week and determine what we needed to do to win the game the next week.  One Monday after a win, Belichick walked in and declared, “I have seen enough of Williams. Put Orlando Brown in the game this week.”  No debate, no poll, just the announcement.  All the coaches, especially the offensive coaches, complained.  They thought he wasn’t ready. We had a big game coming up, and we needed to have the right players in there.  Nevertheless, this did not deter Belichick. He knew what he wanted, and he knew what was right. So we made the move, and Brown went on to have a great career, and we found a right tackle. 

The moral of the story is simple: The head coach needs to be in charge of who plays, not the assistant coaches, not the personnel man, not the owner (see the Hotel).  The head coach must run his program and must make sure he can get the right players on the field.  However, this is not the normal procedure in the NFL.  Head coaches want to have the say over the roster, but they proxy that authority to the position coaches, and this is the main reason not all teams are able to get their rosters in shape before the draft. 

FROM MIKE SMITH OF THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH... Rams general manager Billy Devaney was interviewed by KSLG (1380 AM) after the team released Orlando Pace. Highlights of the conversation:

* Alex Barron will be moved from right tackle to left tackle immediately.

* Rams will take a long look at Jacob Bell, last season’s starting left guard, as the right tackle. Such a move would open a starting spot at LG for John Greco.

* Asked if Bell is big enough to play right tackle, Devaney replied: “We hope so.”

* Pace’s release does not mean the team will zero in on an offensive tackle with the No. 2 overall draft pick. “We have a lot of holes and we still have the luxury of being able to pick the highest-rated player at No. 2.”

* On Torry Holt: “We’re in a holding pattern. But we will have to make a decision in a couple of days regarding Torry.”

* Asked if there was any trade interest in Holt, Devaney said: “Torry is still on our roster. I’d rather not talk about the specific interest.”

* Rams have “strong interest” in signing Gus Frerotte as the back-up quarterback. Devaney noted that Frerotte was 8-2 as a starter for Minnesota and knows the terminology of the team’s new offense.

* Bottom line on Pace’s release: “We’re at the point now where we just think we’re laying the foundation going forward. It was the right time.”

When I see the word “hope” regarding an NFL team, I want to remind everyone to never confuse “hope” for a plan.  Billy Devaney’s remark about moving Bell to right tackle is the kind of reaction that makes me think he’s confusing the two.  Case in point: Last year in Miami, when Bill Parcells came in and he and Tony Sparano put the Dolphins’ line back in shape before the draft.  They moved Vernon Carey to right tackle, they signed Justin Smiley, and they knew they would draft Jake Long.  They had a plan; they did not have to hope for anything. 

The Rams need to draft a lineman.  The strength of the top of the draft is the offensive line, and they have a huge need in their line.  Before they move linemen around, they need to account for the draft and know where the players are going to play.  No one needs to know where the players are playing now – that’s just giving away information.  Any time a GM talks at this time of year, as we wrote in our mock draft rules Tuesday, it’s more misinformation than informative. 

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