SB Nation - Bo Schobel

UFL Orlando drafts 3 former Colts

Colts Homer — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:11:00 -0000

The UFL draft was held on Friday, June 19, 2009, and a few former Colts were taken (first posted by Endo). Bo Schobel, Larry Tripplett, and Mike Doss were all taken by the Orlando franchise, which still does not have a nickname. Here's some more info on these players and their Colts careers.

Mike Doss, safety

I've already said what I can say about Doss, so here is a recap on him from my last post.

Doss is not with the team anymore. Like Peterson, Washington, and Tripplett, he played four years with the team. He had his fair share of successes and failures. Doss' second, third and fourth seasons all were successful with two interceptions and at least four starts. In his final year with the Colts, he only played six games but was off to a hot start before he tore his ACL. The Colts had some sixth round pick named Antoine Bethea who Coach Dungy apparently liked, and Bethea took his starting job. After Bethea ended up being pretty damn good, Doss was no longer needed and was cut. However he was part of the Super Bowl team, so that's something.

I was always a Mike Doss fan. He wasn't great, but he was a fun player to watch. He had his problems, including a time when he shot his gun outside of a restaurant. However he was a decent player. After his injury it was clear that he was no longer needed, especially with future Pro Bowler Bethea on the team.

Doss also played for the Bengals and Vikings after his Colts career ended. The other defensive backs taken by Orlando are former Bears, Saints, and Bucs practice squad man Greg Fassitt, former Steeler Grant Mason, former Ram and Falcon Darius Vinnett and former Bengal TJ Wright.

Larry Tripplett

Like Doss, I also did a profile on Tripplett for my 2nd round picks blog. Here it is.

Tripplett's career ended up being pretty short. In what seems to be a trend, he played four years for the Colts. He was forced into the starting lineup almost immediately. He had just 21 tackles but was a nice rotation player. However, he lost his starting job in 2004 to everyone's favorite DT Josh Williams. In his final year with the team he had a nice 4 sacks and 30 tackles. However, the Colts parted ways with Tripplett because they had the greatest Colt ever Corey Simon along with Montae Reagor. Tripplett went on to have two mediocre years with the Bills before ending his career.

Tripplett never panned out. He had a good 2005 season, which was the Colts best defensive season under Polian. However, he didn't have enough success to warrant a spot on the team once his first contract was over. Tripplett ended up being like all of the other Colts defensive tackles who disappointed.

Tripplett last played for the Seahawks and also played for the Bills. He will play alongside another Colt taken by Orlando in the UFL draft.

Bo Schobel

This name didn't ring a bell at first, but after looking him up I can remember him. He wasn't as big of a contributor as Doss and Tripplett were. He only played one year for the Colts, but he got a ring from it. Schobel played for the championship Colts team, and he even got playing time in the Super Bowl. He had 29 tackles and half a sack in 14 regular season games, and he got half a sack in the Kansas City playoff game. Most people would recognize his brother Aaron Schobel, the star defensive end for the Buffalo Bills. He last played in 2007 for the Arizona Cardinals.

One thing that should be made clear is that they are not already on the teams. They will be contacted and seen if there is further interest in playing for the new franchise. All of these players attended a combine for the league, so they must have some interest in playing. Also, when training camps end, each team is assigned to a certain division group in the NFL. So if Orlando is assigned with the southern divisions, they will get first dibs on players cut from the Colts, Titans, Jags, Texans, Bucs, Saints, Panthers and Falcons (Michael Vick maybe?). If Orlando is assigned with the southern divisions, we could see more Colts on this team. So if you want to see former Colts starters like Tripplett, Doss and maybe some more former Colts, UFL Orlando will be the team. I have a keen interest in this league, and I will be paying attention to how the season goes once it gets started. Personally, I think they would be wiser to play from the weekend after the Pro Bowl to right before MLB opening day instead of from October to the end of November, but if they want a closer relationship with the NFL, they are going the smarter route.

Former Cardinals Wendell Bryant, Oliver Celestin and Bo Schobel (Among Others) Find New Home in the UFL

Hawkwind — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:48:34 -0000

The upstart United Football League held it's innagural 'draft' last night and each of the four teams selected the rights to 24 players. Now this doesn't necessarily mean these guys have agreed or committed to playing in the league but it means that if they do decide to enter the UFL, the team that drafted them holds their rights. The league is contacting the players and hopes that they will be able to announce contract signings in the upcoming weeks.

The list of players that were drafted is littered with a handful of noticeable names like Adam Archuleta, Brooks Bollinger, Chris Perry, Jermaine Wiggins, LaBrandon Toefield, Cecil Sapp and Marcus Fitzgerald (Larry's younger brother). There were also several players with Cardinal ties including former first round bust Wendell Bryant, safety Oliver Celestin, defensive end Bo Schobel, linebacker Brandon Moore, quarterback Shane Boyd and I'm sure there are one or two others that I missed. Celestin and Schobel were with the Cardinals as recent as last year during training camp and Celestin actually played in two games with the team before being cut to make room for Stephen Spach. Overall the league didn't make any significant waves like drafting Michael Vick or some other troubled NFL star as many predicted. Former Cardinals receiver David Boston also didn't hear his name called even though he was on the initial list of 'draft hopefuls.' Each team already had 20 players "protected" (which is what likely became of Boston) before the draft so effectively each of the four teams (New York, Orlando, Las Vegas, and San Francisco) have 44 players assigned to them with an expectation that rosters will be set at 50 for the regular season (six games played over 8 weeks with the Championship Game played the Friday after Thanksgiving).

The league says that the rosters will be tweaked during July and August as players are cut from NFL training camps and they hope to kick off their regular season in October. Their games will be televised on the Versus network but at least former Cardinals coach Dennis Green won't be too far away in San Francisco.

Why Would The Texans Trade Up In The First Round Of The 2009 NFL Draft?

Tim — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:47:05 -0000

Way back on February 2nd, TransientTexan wrote a very nice post proposing what struck me then as a terrifying idea. Namely, he theorized that your Houston Texans could and should kick around the idea of trading up in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Lest you think TransientTexan was going off half-cocked, consider this snippet from his post:

The practice of moving up a couple of picks has been successful in recent drafts, especially in the first round. Jay Cutler, Santonio Holmes, Darrelle Revis, Joe Flacco, Shawne Merriman, Jammal Brown, Kellen Winslow, Shawn Andrews, and Steven Jackson were all picked by teams that traded up to get them in the last five years. What do all of those players have in common? They’ve all had Pro Bowl seasons (except for Holmes, but I figure a Super Bowl MVP performance is just as good).

The thought of our beloved team snagging a player of that caliber is enough to make you lightheaded, isn't it? Well, allow me to sober you up.

In their illustrious (read: the opposite of illustrious) history, your Houston Texans have traded up just once in the first round. The year was 2004. After drafting Dunta Robinson with the tenth overall pick, the Texans acquired Tennessee's first round pick, which was 27th overall. The cost? Why, only Houston's second, third, and fourth round picks in the 2004 Draft! The player who commanded the ransom? Jason Babin.

I have a very clear memory of how I reacted to that trade. First, I threw a shoe at my television. Then I screamed unintelligibly. Then I wondered aloud why Charley Casserly would do this. Why would a team coming off a 5-11 season trade away any draft picks, much less three (3) prime picks? Then, when I calmed down a bit, I remember thinking that Jason Babin was going to have to have a helluva career to justify the bounty that was given up for him. Babin got a first-round contract. The Titans got Travis LaBoy, Randy Starks, Bo Schobel, and a great laugh. The Texans got fleeced.

What's the point of this walk down memory lane? I mean, it's not like Charley Casserly's around anymore. The Texans are run by a different brain trust. A brain trust that's shown it values draft picks. A brain trust that has shown it's fairly adept at targeting and finding players who fit their scheme and contribute via the draft. So what's the relevance to 2009?

The connection, my friends, is simple. As the draft gets closer and the Texans continue to add pieces via free agency, the thought of trading up is starting to creep back into our consciousness. Wouldn't B.J. Raji look good in steel blue? Damn right he would. How about Brian Orakpo? Imagine him blowing by lead-footed offensive linemen and forcing the QB to run toward Super Mario. And man...we do have that extra fourth round pick thanks to Sage Rosenfels. It's like free money!

I'm here to tell you that I cannot envision a scenario where I'd support a trade up next month for the Texans. The draft is a crapshoot. Teams do their homework and get as educated as they possibly can, but at the end of the day, it's a crapshoot. For every Tom Brady, there's a David Carr. For every Terrell Davis, there's a Curtis Enis. For every Marques Colston, there's a Charles Rogers. An exact science, drafting football players is not. Knowing that, why would you want to decrease your chances of hitting one out of the park by parting with proverbial at-bats?

This isn't to say that trading up is always a bad idea. As the players cited by TransientTexan in the post linked above show, it can work. But for the 2009 Houston Texans? With as many holes and/or depth issues as this team currently has, especially on the defensive side of the ball? I just can't rationalize why you'd pay the price it would take to trade up in the first round.