NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Panthers wide out had a plate inserted into his left arm Sunday after suffering a broken bone playing flag football over the weekend, writes Steve Reed, of CarolinaGrowl.com. General manager Marty Hurney said Smith feels terrible about it and is focusing on rehabilitation. Smith tried to break up a pass in flag football, slipped and broke his arm when he fell.

It is the same arm he broke a year ago, but in a different place. Overall, the injury is considered minor and it should heal between six and eight weeks. His agent, Derrick Fox, said he should be ready for Week 1 of the regular season.

This is a list of some of the players that are really going to be counted on to make plays and help lead the Chargers to their fifth straight playoff appearance.

1. Ryan Mathews- Their first-round draft pick who will be counted on to make an immediate impact in the running game will have a huge chip on his shoulders as he tries to replace one of the greatest Chargers of all time, Ladainian Tomlinson.

2. Philip Rivers- He's the starting quarterback and leader of the team. Enough said.

3. Nathan Vasher- Filling the second cornerback spot that was left open in the wake of the Antonio Cromartie trade, he will be expected to make an immediate impact in the passing game. That may not be an easy task, however.

4. Malcom Floyd- Assuming that Vincent Jackson continues to holdout until Week 10 of the regular season, Floyd will need to step up his game and become more of a factor and a bigger target for Rivers.

5. Cam Thomas, Antonio Garay, or Ogemdi Nwagbuo- Someone is going to have to step up and fill the void that his left with the departure of nose tackle Jamal Williams, who left for Denver. My guess is that Thomas will take the majority of that playing time.

6. Antonio Gates- With no Jackson in the picture in the near future, Gates will need to step up his productivity and take some of the pressure off of the young receivers who will be forced into playing time.

7. Tra Thomas or whoever takes over during Marcus McNeill's absence- One of the most important spots in football, the left offensive tackle spot will be a glaring hole for the Chargers with McNeill out of the picture. Hopefully Thomas or another young tackle can elevate their game and fill the void effectively.

8. Larry English- After being made the Chargers first-round pick in 2009, English was nowhere near as productive as he was expected to be. 2010 is when he will really be expected to live up to that first-round pick billing.

9. Darren Sproles- With a rookie starting running back and no Jackson, Sproles will be depended on to fill in for Mathews when the going gets tough and hopefully will aide Rivers as a safety-valve and lightning rod coming out of the backfield on third-downs.

10. Nate Kaeding- He needs to make field goals in the playoffs. As simple as that. Missing three out of three field goals during the divisional round of the playoffs is unacceptable, especially for a kicker who only missed three of his thirty five fields during the entire regular season.

Honorable Mention: Shawne Merriman- He needs to come back from injuries and return to the old Merriman that left opposing offenses sucking their thumbs.

I have always wanted to do an article like this for the Indianapolis Colts. Well, now, here it is.

What if the Indianapolis Colts switched to a 3-4 defensive scheme instead of being their usual old 4-3 defensive scheme?

The 3-4 defense is growing as one of the most-used defensive schemes in the National Football League. So what if Indy switched to it?

I will be breaking down what their linebackers and defensive line will look like because their cornerbacks will look the same.

So let's break it down.

Left Defensive End

I believe Fili Moala will finally become a starter if he were in a 3-4 defensive scheme. He would fit nicely at defensive end on left side since he will be more explosive than any of the other guys on the defensive line with him.

Moala is 6?4? and 303 pounds and he can create a lot of damage like he did back with the USC Trojans.

Expect Eric Foster to be his backup on the defensive ends side.

Nose Tackle

Daniel Muir has come up big for the Indianapolis Colts when he was the starting defensive tackle in the 2009-10 season.

He produced 52 tackles and half a sack for the Colts. Those are the stats you might see from a nose tackle in a 3-4 defense. I see Muir having a lot of tackles and 2-5 sacks.

I see him clogging up the hole well in the middle. Muir is a strong guy and he is the right fit at nose tackle, as he is the biggest player on the team at 6?2? and 312 pounds.

Right Defensive End

Antonio Johnson is another guy who came up big on the defensive line for the Indianapolis Colts during the 2009-10 season. He finished the year with 34 tackles and one sack.

At 6?3? and 310 pounds, Johnson can create a lot of damage on the line. He is a fearful defender and he can create some big impact on the running game like he did in 2009.

Left Outside Linebacker

Robert Mathis played great, with 37 tackles and 9.5 sacks in the 2009-10 season. I see him having way more tackles and more sacks. He can be another James Harrison.

Mathis is explosive enough to be a linebacker and has the size to become one of the top ten in the league at 6?2? and 245 pounds.

Expect Jerry Hughes to play the role of Larry English in the San Diego Chargers' 3-4 defense: being in a rotation with Shawne Merriman. I see Hughes doing the same with Mathis.

Left Inside Linebacker

Clint Session is continuing to be a dominant force for the Indianapolis Colts' 4-3 defensive scheme and in the linebacking corps.

Expect a lot more impact in the 3-4.

I see Session racking up over 100 tackles and a few sacks, too. At 6?0? and 235 pounds, he has the right size to do a lot as a right inside linebacker in the 3-4.

He is recently coming off a 103-tackle year.

Right Inside Linebacker

Gary Brackett has to be mentioned here and he is at left inside linebacker. Brackett is coming off a year with 99 tackles and one sack as he displayed himself as the true heart and soul of the Colts' defense in the 2009-10 season.

Like Session, Brackett has the right size with a height of 5?11? and the weight of 235 pounds. Brackett will probably rack up 120 tackles, if not more.

He can be a more dominant linebacker in a 3-4, in my opinion.

Right Outside Linebacker

Who else would it be? It would be like no other…Dwight Freeney! I see him being the most dominant out of any other Colt player, if they were to be in a 3-4 defense.

At 6?1? and 268 pounds, he is the size and speed to become a Top 5 right outside linebacker.

He is already coming off a season of 24 tackles and 13.5 sacks.

Here's something better for him: 50-70 tackels and 10-16 sacks! That is where Freeney can lock himself as a Pro-Bowler. I see Freeney doing a lot of damage in a 3-4.

Conclusion

The Colts are heading for a bright, young, and new year with the 2010-11 NFL season coming up.

Yes, they enter this year with a 4-3 defensive scheme. But after that year, I hope they will sometime think of a 3-4. I see the Colts being an easy Top Ten defense in that scheme.

But I guess we'll never know.

At least we got a taste.

Known for their changes in personnel this offseason, the Seahawks are set to make another addition, but, instead of shaking up the roster, this time the alteration is to their front office.

According to a report from ESPN.com’s Mike Sando, Seattle’s set to hire former San Francisco 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan.

Per Sando, McCloughan joins the Seahawks without a specific title as of yet, but one could be given sometime this week when the Seahawks officially announce the hire. What’s also unknown according to the report is the reason for his departure from San Francisco, besides what he called “undisclosed personal reasons.”

McCloughan’s arrival in Seattle will be a return to the team that he previously spent five years with. Working for the Seahawks from 2000 through 2005, McCloughan served as the team’s director of college scouting.

Joining the Seahawks will also be a reunion with the team’s general manager, John Schneider, for McCloughan. Both worked in Green Bay in the 1990s, as well as in 2000 when former Packers head coach Mike Holmgren came to man the sidelines for the Seahawks.

When the Lions traded Shaun Rogers to the Browns in ‘08, I had mixed feelings. As someone who watched Rogers completely take over games, it was hard to lose a player of that caliber. On the other hand, as someone who watched Rogers take entire games off, it was also somewhat of a relief to see him go.

Now it seems that the Cleveland Browns are considering a position move for him. According to Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Mr. Rogers’ new neighborhood may be at defensive end rather than at nose tackle where he has played the past two years. The Browns are said to be happy with the play of Ahtyba Rubin, who filled in at nose tackle when Rogers was injured last year.

Because of Rogers’ great size and ability to explode off the snap (although that explosion sometimes fails to go off, as Lions and Browns fans can attest), one could argue that he would be an excellent DE in a 3-4 scheme like Cleveland runs. The major question would be whether or not he has the lateral agility and play-recognition skills to go to a position that demands a bit more finesse than the “collapse the middle of the line” philosophy of a nose tackle.

Another perhaps more important question is how Rogers would react to the move. Recent history may provide the answer. The Lions picked up defensive tackle Corey Williams this year from the Browns after they converted him from a DT to a DE in the Browns’ 3-4. Williams, who had a great deal of success playing DT in a 4-3 scheme in Green Bay, was frustrated at DE and by all accounts is thrilled to be back at DT in Detroit.

Another similar situation in Washington has Albert Haynesworth throwing a king-sized conniption fit over the plan to move him from a DT in a 4-3 defense to a DE or NT in a 3-4. Sacks, tackles for loss and other important statistics like that are harder to obtain from the NT or DE position of a 3-4 defense. Haynesworth is afraid that his personal legacy will be jeopardized by his relegation to a less glorious role in the trenches (whether or not it will improve the Redskins defense does not seem to be a consideration for him).

Rogers has apparently accepted his role at nose tackle in Cleveland, so the Browns have reason to hope he would accept a move to DE with grace. However, if the Browns fail to handle the potential position change properly, they could have a 350-pound Big Baby on their hands.

The New England Patriots wrapped up the third and final practice of their three-day mandatory minicamp on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium in Foxboro Massachusetts on Thursday June 17^th. While there are plenty of positive stories coming out of the Patriots camp, most notably the incredible progress of wide receiver Wes Welker recovering from a torn left ACL and MCL, the black cloud hanging over the Patriots offseason is the Logan Mankins situation.

Disgruntled left guard Logan Mankins was absent from the Patriots mandatory minicamp for all three practices, and the prospect of a lengthy holdout appears likely. On a small side note, left tackle Matt Light missed the final day of minicamp, but there doesn't appear to be any issue there.

According to Patriots Football Weekly's Blog: "With Light and Mankins not in action, Dan Koppen was in the middle of an offensive line group that included Sebastian Vollmer at left tackle, Dan Connolly at left guard, Stephen Neal at right guard and Nick Kaczur at right tackle. Mark LeVoir seemed to get some good reps at left tackle. And Rich Ohrnberger got some rotational reps at both center and guard. It's the third straight day of mini-camp that those rotational reps seemed to go to a different guy, following days with Connolly and Ryan Wendell moving around a bit. Although today's reps could obviously have been affected by the absence of both Light and Mankins."

In the event that Logan Mankins is not in a Patriots uniform this season, the most likely scenario is that right tackle Nick Kaczur will replace Mankins at left guard, and sophomore standout Sebastian Vollmer will slide into Kaczur's vacated right tackle position. Before the Patriots get acclimated to life without Mankins, lets recap the situation between the two-time Pro Bowl guard and the New England front office.

"At this point, I'm pretty frustrated, from everything that's happened and the way negotiations have gone," Mankins said in a phone interview with ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss on June 14th.

"I want to be traded. I don't need to be here any more … there is no way that I'm signing that [$3.26 million tender offer]. After the 2008 season, my agent [Frank Bauer] and I approached the Patriots about an extension and I was told that [Patriots owner Robert] Kraft did not want to do an extension because of the [uncertain collective bargaining agreement]. I was asked to play '09 out, and that they would address the contract during the uncapped year. I'm a team player, I took them at their word, and I felt I played out an undervalued contract.

"That's the big thing," Mankins continued. "Right now, this is about principle with me and keeping your word and how you treat people. This is what I thought the foundation of the Patriots was built on. Apparently, I was wrong. Growing up, I was taught a man's word is his bond. Obviously this isn't the case with the Patriots."

Monday June 14^th (the day before mandatory minicamp practices began) was the deadline for Mankins (a restricted free agent) to sign his qualifying offer from the Patriots of $3.27 million. At midnight, as allowed by NFL rules, the Patriots reduced their offer to $1.54 million, a mere 10 percent raise over last year's salary.

Basically, Mankins has called into question owner Robert Kraft's ethics when he claimed the team went back on its word with regard to dealing with his contract extension. Mankins comments appear to be a serious error in judgment on his part, unless he truly does not want to be a part of the Patriots organization anymore.

The big question now is what exactly does Logan Mankins want? Is it Jahri Evans type money (7 years $56.7 million) or nothing? Neither Mankins nor Bauer have yet to suggest a counter offer after flat out rejecting the Patriots long-term contract offer, which The Boston Globe reported that, according to a league source, the Patriots' last offer to Mankins was worth approximately $7 million per season. The offer by the Patriots would have put Mankins among the top five highest paid guards in the NFL. The Patriots have done their part to offer Mankins a long-term contract. The Patriots have made a substantial contract offer; however Mankins disagrees. Since Mankins failed to show up at mandatory minicamp, the Patriots have pulled their long-term offer from the negotiating table.

The level of public anger Mankins has expressed towards the Patriots front office during this process has been both unforeseen and shocking. If he still wants to be part of the Patriots organization there are things he can do to make that happen. First and foremost, he needs to apologize to owner Robert Kraft, the man responsible for paying his salary. Guards are not irreplaceable, Nick Kaczur and Dan Connolly aren't Logan Mankins, but is the difference so great that it will cost the Patriots games? If Mankins doesn't take steps to repair the damage done by his words, then it is extremely likely that Mankins will be traded. Mankins will likely receive a new contract extension elsewhere, while the Patriots will seek a first round pick in return