Baltimore Ravens Blog look at ILB prospects in the post 'Possible Heirs To Lewis In 2011 Draft'. While not a high priority for us, its never a bad thing to keep an eye out for the next Ray Lewis!

Buffalo Bills: Getting Clemson running back C.J. Spiller(notes) with the ninth overall pick was a very wise move - there are few better short-term fixes for a line-impaired offense than a guy who can bounce outside with ridiculous speed, play in the slot, and split out wide once in a while. Buffalo addressed those line needs later in the draft with Ed Wang(notes) and Kyle Calloway(notes) - Calloway, who played opposite Bryan Bulaga(notes) at Iowa, could be a real sleeper. Arkansas State end Alex Carrington(notes) has pass-rush ability, but the other feature of this Bills draft should be DT Torell Troup(notes), the Central Florida widebody who was climbing up a lot of boards and will fit perfectly as a nose tackle in the team's 3-4 defensive scheme.

From the National Football Post

Name - Rank (at position) - Grade (out of 8) - General Grade Definition

Spiller - 2nd RB - 6.9 – Becomes a starter during his rookie year…a prospect who possesses physical attributes that will create mismatches vs. most opponents…a featured player on team.

Troup - 14th DT - 6.2 – Has one deficient area of his physical attributes that he can never overcome but has been productive and has the potential to be a starter in the NFL in spite of his shortcomings.

Carrington - 5th DE - 6.5 – Clean player who is inconsistent in his play due to character, alertness or competitiveness…has all the physical tools needed to become a starter…if he overcomes his deficiencies, he will be a star in the league…if he doesn’t, he’ll be a complete failure…NO middle ground.

Easley - 5th WR - 6.5 - See Above

Wang - 13th OT - 6.1 - A clean prospect who will need time and development in order to contribute…physically, this player has all the tools to be a starter in the NFL but has not yet developed the necessary skills due to level of competition, offensive or defensive schemes, injury, grades or lack of playing time…true developmental player who has the potential to become a starter.

Moats - 30th OLB - 5.7 - Has a deficient area of his physical skills that cannot be overcome but has been productive and can contribute as a backup and spot player only.

Batten - 36th DE - 5.5 - Free agent with athletic ability, character and competitiveness.

Brown - 24th QB - 5.5 - See Above

Calloway - 15th OT - 5.8 - Has a deficient area of his playing of physical skills that will be difficult to overcome but will contribute as a backup and spot player only.

UDFA (according to KFFL)

John Destin - Not listed

Naaman Roosevelt - 43rd WR - 5.5 - See Above

Donald Jones - 61st WR - 5.4 - Free agent with size, character and competitiveness.

Joique Bell - 17th RB - 5.7 - See Above

UDFA (according to NE Patriots Draft)

Stephan Virgil - 44th CB - 5.5 - See Above

Brett Johnson - 25th FS - 5 - Camp body.

Antonio Coleman - 43rd OLB - 5.5 - See Above

David Nelson - 65th WR - 5.4 - See Above

Dominique Harris - 27th SS - 5.4 - See Above

Sean Allen - 15th G - 5.4 - See Above

Jorge Guerra - Not Listed

Cordaro Howard - 42nd OG - 5.1 - Free agent with character and competitiveness.

For having a loaded handgun in his luggage when he went through airport security. No word on what the punishment will be from either the courts or the league, but if found guilty you would assume at least game suspensions. This opens up the possibility that there will be another team in front of us hunting for NT depth.

Losman's new team is the Las Vegas Locomotives. Chris Brown's story links to photos of the (garish) uniform, but the logo has yet to be revealed...

Lynch and Schobel have tit-for-tat relationship

Marshawn Lynch and Aaron Schobel seem to enjoy trying to get under one another’s skin during practice. Whether it’s Schobel giving a playful kidney punch when the two are subbed out on the sideline, Lynch giving Schobel an extra shove at the end of a run play or jawing back and forth with one another during play. Lynch commented on just exactly what the two are doing out there.

“Schobel is my son,” said Lynch. “He is actually my son. Your son gets out of hand, you have to put him in his place sometimes. But seriously Schobel has been a great guy for me since I came into the league. I pull him off to the side and ask him some things and get some pointers on what defensive ends don’t like, and I found out they don’t like being chipped. So every chance I get I go and give him a chip. And if you all know Schobel, he doesn’t like being chipped. He doesn’t like being messed with.”

Schobel didn’t really care to comment on the games he and Lynch play, but one this is certain, they get each other riled up for practice and that can’t be a bad thing. I’ll have to tell him about the ’son’ comment by Lynch however.

Stroud liking what he sees in Wood

Marcus Stroud and Eric Wood were going at each other in 1-on-1’s several times in practice and against one another in team work. And Stroud thinks Wood has got some game.

“I work mostly against Eric (Wood) and Eric’s doing a great job so far,” Stroud said. “You know he’s only been here a couple days, and in those couple of days he’s showing them why they picked him in the first round and I expect big things out of him.”

Wood held his own against Stroud in 1-on-1’s in practice Saturday, as he was effectively anchoring down and matching Stroud’s strength once engaged.

Madden is releasing its ratings a division at a time. They started with the NFC, and this week they released the AFC North. The overall ratings appear to be the same as the preview posted last month by DT711, but you can download each teams roster in a spreadsheet and look at all the individual stats.

As has been mentioned before, the ratings system has been adjusted so that an average player is now closer to 70 than 80

This fellow, Greg Trippiedi, came up with a ranking as to how many more games a team will win or lose based on their schedule this coming year. I think he ranks divisions and compares each team to how the average team would fare against each division. Even teams that have strong intra-division schedules may have easy inter-division, or vice versa

I have to say, I read it a few times and am not entirely sure that it makes sense, but it is worth a post.

The projections range from:

1. Denver Broncos -1.73 wins to
32. Washington Redskins +1.04 wins

and the Bills at the good end:

27. Buffalo Bills +.42 wins
One of the biggest surprises that this researched produced is that DESPITE playing the Pats twice this year, the Bills end up with one of the six easiest schedules in the league. That would make them a good sleeper pick for the AFC Wild Card this year (despite some obvious roster flaws), I would think. Not that I condone gambling, but I do condone making money, if you catch my drift.

Schobel is interviewed on page 22 of the 24 May edition of Sporting News Today. It is pretty brief article and none of the questions are too diabolical. I was a bit confused by one of his answers...

When asked:

Q: What is the atmosphere in practice like with Terrell Owens?

A: Its no different at all. All I've seen is, he comes in and works hard like the rest of us. Last year, I came in excited by the young talkent we had. This year, he's just another guy who can help make us better

Que?