It’s about time someone signed Jeff Garcia. Today, the Oakland Raiders agreed to terms with Jeff on a one-year deal. Considering the fact that he started 11 games last season for the Tampa Bay Bucs, he’s an impressive insurance policy for the Raiders behind incumbent starter JaMarcus Russell. In fact, if JaMarcus should falter, I have every confidence Jeff can step in.

As far as free agent QBs are concerned, I was very surprised to see Jeff continue unemployed this far into the offseason. I mean, last season he had 2,712 yards passing, a 90.2 rating and 12 touchdowns to just …read more

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL
It’s preseason with a tinge of the playoffs. That will be one of the highlights of a 13-game national television preseason schedule that was announced today by the NFL, along with the complete list of 2008 preseason matchups. All 12 of the 2007 NFL playoff teams will be featured in the national TV games.
It all starts in Canton, OH — site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Sunday night, August 3 on NBC (8:00 PM ET), the Indianapolis Colts will take on the Washington Redskins in the annual Pro Football Hall …read more

Minicamps opened this weekend for over half the NFL teams, many of them for rookies only. And that meant first practices for the new draftees, so it was an opportunity to see the top picks in action for the first time.

In Oakland, JaMarcus Russell showed off his arm strength enough to prompt this reaction from veteran DT Warren Sapp: “I think that kid, 18, is in there getting a rubdown. Caught that square-in, I bet he’s got some markings on his chest. If nothing else, we’re going to learn to catch with our hands or somebody’s going to the hospital …read more

Photo by David Kindervater
Not surprisingly, LSU QB JaMarcus Russell was the first overall selection by the Oakland Raiders. It wasn’t as obvious as last year when Mario Williams went first to the Houston Texans the day before the Draft, but I think most people agreed that barring a blockbuster deal being presented to the Raiders, they were going to take him #1 as the future of their franchise.
I like this pick for the Raiders. It’s almost a no-brainer when you look at their current QB situation. Oakland doesn’t list their depth-chart at raiders.com, but it’s no secret they’ll need …read more

Have you seen the new Nike ad featuring some of the top NFL rookies-to-be? The ad appears on Nike’s football site — NikeGridiron.com — and claims: “Hard work has a reward. More hard work. Welcome to Sunday.” Featured players include Adrian Peterson, Leon Hall, Gaines Adams, Marshawn Lynch, Greg Olsen, JaMarcus Russell, Amobi Okoye, Calvin Johnson, and Brady Quinn.

With Wisconsin OL Joe Thomas declining his invitation, the field of NFL hopefuls that will be on-hand at the NFL Draft next weekend (April 28-29) was narrowed to five. They are: Clemson DE Gaines Adams, Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson, Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson, Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn, and LSU QB JaMarcus Russell. I’ll be blogging from NYC beginning next Friday, April 27.

This is always the most interesting part of the Combine for me. The “skill” position players — QBs, RBs and WRs — face-off with all their drills. And there were plenty of high-profile athletes to watch.
Since JaMarcus Russell and Ted Ginn Jr. were sitting this out, both watching from the sidelines, projected top-five pick Calvin Johnson was on center stage and although he chose not to work out, he apparently borrowed a pair of shoes to run. And run he did. Johnson is 6-5, 239 pounds and he ran a stunning 4.35 40-yard dash. Not only was that one of …read more