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Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:17 am

Originally posted by philpo:
How do you see the rb's in miami playing out this season with Ricky Williams back Well, the Dolphins didn't really address this position in the draft, so they must feel that Ronnie Brown is going to bounce back from last year's knee injury. It's tough to imagine him being full strength just 9-10 months after an ACL injury, but the Dolphins don't seem worried at this point. Ricky Williams will be the backup, but c'mon, this cat has already used up 8 1/2 of his lives. I'll let someone else gamble on him as he won't be on any of my fantasy teams.

It will be Ronnie and Ricky and after seeing Jake Long this weekend I think the Dolphins' running game will be improved. Long is a MONSTER. Center on Ronnie and hope the knee is healed.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:20 am

I just saw 34 rookies this weekend in Los Angeles, 32 of which were skill-position players. Who was the most impressive?

Jake Long, OT, Miami.

That guy is a HOUSE. He's even bigger than Joe Thomas was last year and I think he will immediately help the Dolphins' running game, similar to the impact that Joe Thomas had in Cleveland last year. While everyone concentrates on the rookie wideouts and running backs, don't forget about Long's impact in Miami.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:25 am

Okay, outside of Long, who was the most impressive rookie in Los Angeles this weekend?

I'll tell ya, the running backs are impressive physically. Jonathan Stewart looks like a load in that Carolina backfield and I think he will make an immediate impact. Rashard Mendenhall looks like a faster Jerome Bettis in that Steelers' No. 34 uniform. Chicago's Matt Forte was bigger than I expected, too.

Darren McFadden is an interesting physical specimen. The guy is a load up top and he does look very strong around the hips and thighs. But he has the skinniest calf muscles I've ever seen on an NFL running back. Still, he was an incredibly nice guy out there, he seemed to be joking around with everyone and his disposition was very, very good for someone who everyone seemed to want to talk to. He seems ready to be the No. 1 guy in Oakland and physically I think he can handle the load. Justin Fargas put up some nice numbers last year, but I don't see him holding off this guy for playing time this year.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:32 am

There were 15 wide receivers at this Rookie Photo Shoot at the L.A. Coliseum and you can see why none of them went in the first round this year. I've been covering this event since 1994 and I can't remember a year like this one for this position. All of these guys seem capable of playing in the NFL, but physically they don't bring the size like past classes.

Washington's Devin Thomoas out of Michigan State seems to be the most physically impressive of this group and he seemed like a good kid, too. Pittsburgh's Limas Sweed is tall and looks a lot like Plaxico Burress with his size and lankiness, but he needs more strength and weight soon. The potential is there, but early on he's going to have trouble getting off the line of scrimmage. Buffalo's James Hardy looks like the complete package and I was extremely impressed with him. I know there have been concerns about his personal problems, but he sure seemed nice enough out there.

There are a lot of small wideouts in this year's group, guys like Denver's Eddie Royal, Philly's DeSean Jackson, Tampa's Dexter Jackson, the Giants' Mario Manningham. I could see some of these guys having more of an impact on the special teams in 2008 than as wideouts.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:36 am

The only tight end at this event was the Jets' Dustin Keller. He's strong, but extremely short for a tight end. He's reportedly not a big blocker and I can see why as he's just not big enough to handle NFL defensive ends. He may be a pass receiving tight end in the Jets' scheme at some point, but he won't be an everydown TE.

The only defensive player at the event was Kansas City DT Glenn Dorsey. He sure is a fun-loving guy and he gets along with everyone. He sure enjoyed the spotlight and wasn't shy when a microphone was presented to him. He's also enjoying the banquet life as he looks like he needs to shed some pounds before camp starts. He's got the body of a Warren Saap and the personality of a Saap; now let's see if he performs that well.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:43 am

Just an FYI to anyone who sees this thread that we have been having problems with our Private Message links on the NFFC boards. For whatever reason, you received an error message after you sent a PM, but the PMs still went through. We're trying to correct that now and should have it fixed. If you have any problems going forward, e-mail me at [email protected].

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:47 am

I'll also reiterate today that once our NBC Sports FFC site is live, we will be directing all of those players to this Message Board. We will have separate NFFC General Discussion and NBC Sports General Discussion areas, but we'll combine some of the other Forums. The goal is to create one lively, active Message Board for our combined live and online contests and thus this will be the place to be going forward. Separating out participants into different Message Boards doesn't make sense at all.

So look for increased traffic and posts as our promotions on Rotoworld.com, NBC Sports.com and MSNBC.com begin shortly. We haven't fully unveiled our ad campaign on those sites until the NBC Sports FFC was finished, which should be before the weekend.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 4:53 am

Okay, if you have any questions for me the rest of the day, feel free to post here and I'll come back to it. I'm going to do this each Wednesday going forward just to make sure everyone has access to us if they need anything answered. Good luck all going forward and look for our NBC Sports FFC site to be live soon.

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Wed May 21, 2008 5:05 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Okay, outside of Long, who was the most impressive rookie in Los Angeles this weekend?

I'll tell ya, the running backs are impressive physically. Jonathan Stewart looks like a load in that Carolina backfield and I think he will make an immediate impact. Rashard Mendenhall looks like a faster Jerome Bettis in that Steelers' No. 34 uniform. Chicago's Matt Forte was bigger than I expected, too.

Darren McFadden is an interesting physical specimen. The guy is a load up top and he does look very strong around the hips and thighs. But he has the skinniest calf muscles I've ever seen on an NFL running back. Still, he was an incredibly nice guy out there, he seemed to be joking around with everyone and his disposition was very, very good for someone who everyone seemed to want to talk to. He seems ready to be the No. 1 guy in Oakland and physically I think he can handle the load. Justin Fargas put up some nice numbers last year, but I don't see him holding off this guy for playing time this year. I was a tad worried about the small calves of NYG RB Brandon Jacobs...but it didn't seem to hurt his power. Hopefully they are dense and efficient!

~Lance

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed May 21, 2008 5:08 am

Originally posted by sportsbettingman:
quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
Okay, outside of Long, who was the most impressive rookie in Los Angeles this weekend?

I'll tell ya, the running backs are impressive physically. Jonathan Stewart looks like a load in that Carolina backfield and I think he will make an immediate impact. Rashard Mendenhall looks like a faster Jerome Bettis in that Steelers' No. 34 uniform. Chicago's Matt Forte was bigger than I expected, too.

Darren McFadden is an interesting physical specimen. The guy is a load up top and he does look very strong around the hips and thighs. But he has the skinniest calf muscles I've ever seen on an NFL running back. Still, he was an incredibly nice guy out there, he seemed to be joking around with everyone and his disposition was very, very good for someone who everyone seemed to want to talk to. He seems ready to be the No. 1 guy in Oakland and physically I think he can handle the load. Justin Fargas put up some nice numbers last year, but I don't see him holding off this guy for playing time this year. I was a tad worried about the small calves of NYG RB Brandon Jacobs...but it didn't seem to hurt his power. Hopefully they are dense and efficient!

~Lance [/QUOTE]Have you ever met Brandon Jacobs?? We had him at our NFL Draft Cocktail Reception and this guy is a HOUSE. I don't think it's possible to look at his calves as all you see is shoulders and chest muscles and a NECK. He's like 6'6". He looks like a defensive end, not a running back. I can't imagine tackling that guy or removing him for ANYONE near the goal-line. He's as big as they come at this position.