NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Number One – FS
So far Macho Harris is running with the starters, but I can't see that lasting too long unless 2Rd draft pick Nate Allen has trouble picking up the playbook. It's been said Harris has added weight & is trying to show his improvements. He currently is ahead of Q. Demps on the depth chart (if there was one for this time of year) Head Coach Andy Reid has said if anyone would move to corner, it would be Harris, but if he continues impressing, he may be our starting FS week 1.

Number Two – CB
Which brings us to the biggest question on defense – Who starts opposite Samuel? Hanson started in the last mini camp, but I'm not sure the coaches want him on the outside. He was great playing the slot, until his 4 game suspension last season where his play fell off slightly. Maybe they give him a shot to win the job, but I have to believe they would rather have Marlin Jackson or Ellis Hobbs start. Hobbs is a medical question mark after his neck injury last year, and Jackson is coming off 2 seasons of ACL injuries so I'm not that confident in either option.

Number Three – DE
How long does J. Parker hold on to his starting spot? I believe the Eagles would like the 1st Rd pick B. Graham to eventually take over & start opposite Trent Cole, but I don't know how much they'll push. Parker might start the beginning of the season but by season's end, I expect the rookie to step into the role. They rotate the D linemen anyway, so they all should see time.

Number Four – The LB's
With Bradley back in the middle, the defense should be improved from the musical chairs it was last season. But who starts with him? So far, Fokou is starting at SAM and it's his job to lose, but there are some interesting rookies to get a look at once training camp starts. Keenan Clayton & Ricky Sapp will get looks there, but I would prefer to keep Sapp as a pass rushing force. He already has that skill set, and asking him to play in space vs Witten, Cooley, & others could be too much for the rookie. I believe it comes down to Fokou or Clayton.

Number Five – OL
Who starts at center? The company line is Nick Cole is the starter until Jackson returns, but we all saw how that went last season when he went down and Dallas exposed our line. That's not all his fault, but there's got to be concern that maybe Cole is better suited to play the guard position. Even though Andy is saying Cole is the starter, but in the last camp Mike McGlynn took more snaps with the 1st team. McGlynn was referred to as a "Baby John Runyan" when he came out of college and has not played much. Maybe it's his time and Cole can become the insurance we need at the guard spots since he can play both sides.

I didn't mention Kolb because the only real question there is, Is he ready? The coaches think so, so we'll see. I believe there will be some bumps in the road, but he will show everyone what he learned watching McNabb. A lot is riding on his shoulders, and he must come through…..or the Linc will start chants of "We want Vick!"

When the Jets got LaDainian Tomlinson, many felt he would be a great veteran presence and a guy that could make some things happen on third down. Now from the tone that that L.T. is using, he wants a chance to overtake Shone Greene for the starting job, and says that once camp starts, it’s game on:

LaDainian Tomlinson hasn’t given up on being a starting running back in the NFL and says the Jets don’t want him to, either. Tomlinson, signed this offseason and thought to be veteran insurance behind second-year player Shonn Greene, told ESPN Radio in Dallas he’s prepared to compete for the starting job. “I think at this point in my career, people put this label and this title on you once you get to a certain age: ‘Yeah, he has to be a backup now.’ I don’t believe that. I absolutely don’t believe that,” Tomlinson, 31 next month, said Thursday.

“You determine your role on the football field, and that’s what the Jets have been so great about, allowing me to do that. They didn’t put a label on me at all. They didn’t say ‘You know what? You’re going to be a backup.’ They said, ‘No, you’re going to prove what you can do on the football field,’ and that’s all I can ask.” The former Chargers star, thought to be one of the classiest players in the NFL, stopped far short of claiming the job should be his. “The thought process is kind of like when you go to college, when you graduate from high school and you go to college, you don’t look to go in and start,” Tomlinson said. “If it happens, it happens. But you go in to find a role on the team, to be part of something special, and that’s where I am.”

ESPN reports that former Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell is free to any team, as he was not claimed by any team on Friday, making him a free agent able to sign anywhere.

JaMarcus Russell is now a free agent. As expected, the talented but extremely disappointing quarterback went unclaimed Friday and passed waivers. The Raiders used the No.1 overall pick on Russell in the 2007 draft but he never developed and was 7-18 as a starter, the worst winning percentage of any quarterback who was drafted No. 1, and became the quickest quarterback who was the No. 1 pick to be released by his drafting team.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting via his Twitter page that the Texans linebacker Brian Cushing is going to be suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Schefter reports that Cushing appealed his suspension in February and discovered today that his appeal was rejected. Cushing is coming off a great rookie season where he garnered the AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year honor.

Three years into the JaMarcus Russell reign as the future of the franchise for the Oakland Raiders – it’s over. It took a lot of courage for Al Davis to admit his mistakes on Thursday, flat out releasing the former first overall pick from LSU in favor of giving the starting job likely to former Skins QB Jason Campbell.

Russell may very well go down as the biggest draft bust in NFL history, rivaling that of former Chargers QB Ryan Leaf. In three seasons he put up 7 wins, and the team paid him $39 million for those seven wins. I am sure that when Al Davis and the team drafted him, never did they think Russell would make $5.5 million per win.

He got off to an awful start by missing his entire first training camp, then when he finally did roll in, he was fat. He never took the role as leader seriously, and commonly would sleep in meetings and spend way too much time at the buffets, sometimes getting close to 300 pounds according to reports.

Since the start of the common draft in 1967, only one other No. 1 pick was released this quickly in his NFL career. Indianapolis cut 1992 top pick Steve Emtman after three seasons, but that was more because of injuries than production. Emtman did play three more seasons with the Dolphins and Redskins. I would shock me to say the least to think Russell is going to have three more years in this game.

Lane Kiffin didn’t want him, and it seemed Tom Cable did whatever he could to not have to play him either. That should say a lot when coaches are not willing to hand the ball to a player that the owner has shoved down their throats. Finally on Thursday Davis saw the light, this after Russell came to mini-camp last week, had one good practice, then went back to his old ways.

I wouldn’t doubt a team takes a shot on Russell, but based on his short track record in the NFL, there’s no doubt that it would be a shock to see him associated with many on field success for however long the rest of his career spans.

The career of cornerback Samari Rolle is over, as the Sporting News reports that the vet is going to be retiring from the NFL after he missed the entire 09 season due to a couple of neck surgeries:

After missing all of the 2009 season and undergoing two neck surgeries, cornerback Samari Rolle has decided to officially retire from the NFL, the Tennessean reports Friday.

The Ravens, whom he played for from 2005-08, terminated his contract last month. Rolle, 33, was a second-round draft pick by the Titans out of Florida State in 1998, and also played in Tennessee until 2004.

“Being that I got to play 12 years and play in a Super Bowl, I got to do everything I wanted to do but didn't get a ring. I am OK with that. I honestly wish deep down I could've gotten to stay with one team my whole career, but it doesn't always work like that. But it is how it is. I had good people around me and very good coaches. I was fortunate. I have some great memories.”

Rolle hasn't filed his retirement papers yet, but plans to at some point, according to the newspaper.