Memphis tailback DeAngelo Williams

[Dr Z]

3. Falling star: Memphis tailback DeAngelo Williams has the talent to be a high first-round pick, but his work ethic, toughness and attitude are being questioned by scouts. Williams needs to get his act together fastLooked pretty good in Motor City BowlOther MAC note:7. Men of Miami: A trio of Miami RedHawks — wide receiver Martin Nance, cornerback Darrell Hunter and linebacker Terna Nande — are worth keeping an eye on. From the third through seventh rounds, they cover a lot of ground on draft boards

[Dr Z]

I guess nobody is intrigued by DeAngelo the way I am.I'm just guessing that everytime I see him run in the NFL, I will think of the Zips in the Motor City Bowl.Crowded market could lead to bargain huntingBy John ClaytonINDIANAPOLIS -- DeAngelo Williams has been dodging defenders as a halfback seemingly since birth.At Memphis, he rushed for 1,430, 1,948 and 1,964 yards in the past three years. His 6,026 career rushing yards trail only the totals registered by Ron Dayne, Ricky Williams and Tony Dorsett in the NCAA record book. Though he has to reluctantly concede that Reggie Bush will likely be the top pick and first running back taken, he isn't looking back in the second most competitive running back draft in the new millennium."I'm not one of those guys that's looking back," Williams said. "I'm not looking for LenDale White to pass me or Reggie Bush to pass me. I turned my rear view mirror off a long time ago. I'm chasing."But timing is everything. Williams enters the NFL at the same time as the greatest veteran free agent running back class ever. Shaun Alexander is an MVP. Edgerrin James put up Pro Football Hall of Fame-bound numbers in Indianapolis. Then there's Jamal Lewis, Ahman Green, Chester Taylor and Michael Bennett. The Panthers took themselves out of the backfield market by transitioning DeShaun Foster.How does he view that all-star lineup?"In my side view mirror," Williams said.Running backs better enter the NFL offseason with their heads on swivels and their eyes looking in all directions. The musical chairs for running backs is about to begin and there aren't enough chairs for the talent available. A few backs are going to go at bargain prices … or at bargain positions in the draft.Williams is competing against first-round candidates Bush, White and Laurence Maroney to convince teams to draft them in the first round and there are no guarantees backfields will be in motion. It didn't help backs when word came out of Arizona that the Cardinals aren't going to jump into the high end of salary to play for a running back.Cardinals vice president Rod Graves said this week it's unlikely the team will sign a free agent at the "very top of the market." That would surely depress the market for Alexander, James and Lewis. The Cardinals were considered the main team with cap room in the true market to add a feature back.The next group of teams -- Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and Tennessee -- in the market for a back would only be looking for upgrades and they may look at other priorities instead of investing heavy on backs. With the Panthers blocking Foster's freedom, five teams that let backs hit the market -- Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Minnesota -- have the options of re-signing their own, outbidding the other or drafting one of the top four backs.One of the fun parts of the combine is scouts trying to figure out how the drafted backs compare to backs from the current league or past. Is Bush a Barry Sanders or a Marshall Faulk? White has that Jerome Bettis look about him. Williams is elusive but not tall, much like former Buffalo Bill Thurman Thomas.Williams joked how pleased he was at his weigh-in and his measurements."Teams want to know that I'm not 5-foot-8 ½, that I'm 5-9," Williams said. "I just want to be an exciting player. I want to help to contribute to their team's success. I want to be utilized."Maroney made an interesting observation this week. He describes his game as being patient as a runner. That's drawn comparisons to Alexander. Maroney disagrees."No. I don't see that at all," Maroney said. "That's two different styles of runner. He has a nice style but I feel his style and my style do not go together."All right, Laurence, how about James."I could see that," he said. "He's a downhill runner with good hands and speed."White, of course, has the most interesting perspective. He played in the shadows of Bush at USC. Unlike the rest of the backs in the draft who are smaller, White is unique. He's big checking into the combine at 238 pounds. The rest of the top backs are 210 or less."That's what helps me a lot in this draft, just because how big I am," White said. "DeAngelo and Reggie are in a class of their own and then you have the in-betweens like (Laurence) Maroney. And I think how big I am and how strong I am helps me out a lot. I'm kind of happy to be in this class because you get a lot more touchdowns when you're big."Maroney didn't hurt himself by showing up at the combine at 5-11, 217. Normally, he's between 210-212 pounds. His plan is to play between 215-220 pounds in the pros.Maroney hurt a hamstring in workouts in preparation for the combine so he isn't running. White, Bush and Williams are saving themselves for their individual workouts.Each back will be checking their mirrors to see which teams sign the veterans and possibly take themselves out of the market for first-round choices from the backfield. It leaves a lot of uncertainty."I really don't know because we have a lot of great backs coming out after Reggie Bush. LenDale, DeAngelo," Maroney said. "There are a lot of great backs out there. Right now, there's no telling where I will get picked."source

[Quickzips]

Who is it that is saying DeWill's work ethic is in question and his stock is falling? The only reason his stock might be falling is that guys like Manny Lawson (DE-NC State) Vernon Davis (TE-Maryland) and Brodrick Bunkley (DT-Florida St.) are rising up with huge combines (Davis is a physical phreak at 6'5" and running a sub 4.40 time along with impressing in reciever drills and on the bench press as a TE at the combine). Williams is easily ahead of LenDale White as the #2 back behind Reggie Bush in this draft.

[Dr Z]

I actually saw a mock draft that had the Browns selecting him.A lot of mock drafts have White going to Baltimore at 13 and DeAngelo going at 17 to Minny.Not that mock drafts mean a whole lot. 95% of them are WAY off anyway.I love printing them out and seeing how far they are off.

[UADavid]

The rankings are a total player-rating system based on various offensive statistics. A player's ranking is also subject to a curved grading system based on their team's Strength of Schedule rating.

Player Rankings    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QB · RB · WR · TE  Bush Takes Over Top Spot Reggie Bush  Southern California running back Reggie Bush closes out the regular season with a 260-yard rushing performance over UCLA. Bush ends the season with 1,658 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. He also is ranked first in the NCAA in all-purpose yards.  Running Backs PLAYER CURRENT LASTWEEK CHNG RUSH YDS/G REC YDS/G RUSH AVG REC AVG TOT TD SOS 1. Reggie Bush, USC 130.75 130.75 +0.00 133.85 36.77 8.7 12.9 18 20 2. Brian Calhoun, WI 125.90 125.90 +0.00 125.85 43.92 4.7 10.8 24 40 3. Jerome Harrison, WAST 118.69 118.69 +0.00 172.73 18.73 6.2 8.6 17 24 4. DeAngelo Williams, MEM 114.23 114.23 +0.00 178.55 7.09 6.3 6.5 19 81 5. Tyrell Sutton, NW 110.82 110.82 +0.00 122.83 33.00 5.9 9 18 5 6. Brett Biggs, AKR 105.51 105.51 +0.00 94.62 41.15 4.3 8.2 15 100 7. Garrett Wolfe, NIL 100.09 100.09 +0.00 176.44 24.00 6.5 10.8 17 78 8. Andre Hall, SFL 99.91 99.91 +0.00 114.50 26.75 5.1 12.3 15 34 9. LenDale White, USC 98.04 98.04 +0.00 100.15 16.85 6.6 15.6 26 20 10. DonTrell Moore, NM 97.35 97.35 +0.00 118.00 33.73 4.7 12 18 82 11. Laurence Maroney, MN 95.82 95.82 +0.00 133.09 15.45 5.2 10 11 7 12. Curtis Brown, BYU 94.48 94.48 +0.00 93.58 37.83 5.3 8.6 16 55 13. Yvenson Bernard, ORST 94.31 94.31 +0.00 120.09 28.73 4.4 8.5 14 53 14. Albert Young, IA 93.97 93.97 +0.00 111.17 20.33 5.4 10.2 8 26 15. Darius Walker, ND 92.13 92.13 +0.00 99.67 29.25 4.7 8.2 11 30 16. Antonio Pittman, OHST 91.47 91.47 +0.00 110.92 13.42 5.5 9.5 7 3 17. Wendell Mathis, FRE 90.70 90.70 +0.00 101.00 12.00 5.3 8.2 16 65 18. Trinity Dawson, TOL 89.29 89.29 +0.00 107.83 20.08 5.6 11 9 99

http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/...egularseason/RBWay to go Brett! Copied to the next MAC player. DeAngelo sure looked good to me. It's a lot easier to read on the web site.

[liljc]

YEA. That puts Biggs in some nice company. What a great two years he gave us. Thanks Brett.