(NFL) Week Two

Even if somewhat late, thanks to rea life work, here is the second part of the “Heels in the League” (NFL) for Week Two. Once again I will check out three games from this weekend and then give you the third part of this post in the late afternoon (or more probable as the Colts/Dolphins game is going on). But let’s get back to this edtion of “Heels in the League” (NFL) and check out the games…

First one with a touch of carolina blue is between the Oakland Raiders (-1) and the Kansas City Chiefs, played in front of 69,169 fans at Arrowhead Stadium. While the home team has no ex Tar Heel on their roster, the visiting Raiders do in th year vet line backer Greg Ellis. The ex Carolina LB has a heck of a game with five tackles (5 solos), two sacks (only 2 that the Raiders had in this game), two tackles for loss and a 3 QB hits. All that work paid off for Ellis and his team mates as Oakland beat Kansas City by a field goal, 13 to 10, and are now 1 and 1 on the season. Over at NFL Gridiron Gab Matt Loede says Winning Ugly – Yeah, the Raiders Do It and Don’t Mind.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

San Francisco 49ers

The next game with a touch of carolina blue is one on the west coast, where the Seattle Seahawks (-1.5) traveled down south to play against the San Francisco 49′ers at Candlestick Park in front of 69,732 fans. While the team from Washington state has no ex Tar Heels, the one from California has not just one, but two, ex UNC players on their roster. The first one is 2nd year defensive end Kentwan Balmer, who had four tackles (2 solos), and a tackle for loss. While the other, 11th year vet Dre’ Bly, playing corner back and registering one tackle (1 solo) and a pass deflected. In the end it was San Francisco winning the game, defeating Seattle by the final 23 to 10 and going 2 and 0 on the season. Tyler Hutson (NFL Gridiron Gab) says the following about the game: Gore Electric in 23-10 Win Over Seattle

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

St. Louis Rams

Last game on this post is one that has both rosters with ex Tar Heels. At FedEx Field, it was the St. Louis Rams (+9) versus the Washington Redskins, with the stadium holding 87,780 fans. For St. Louis, who has two ex on their team, it’s fifth year center Jason Brown, a corner stone for the Rams’ offensive line along with rookie wide out Brooks Foster, who is not listed on the depth chart for now and does not see any playing time in the game. On the other side it’s the oldest ex Heel in the NFL, long snapper Ethan Albright, who has been in the league for 15 years. When it was all said and done, in what you can not call a shoot out, it was Washington squeaking it out by 2 points, beating St. Louis by the final score of 9 to 7. At NFL Gridiron Gab the title of the recap by Matt Loede is Redskins Defense Does Enough to Hold Off the Rams in a 9-7 Win.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

(NFL) Week One

As I keep going in this edition of “Heels in the League” (NFL) I assure you that next week I will be taking the games and splitting them in posts in two days. That is so you do not have to get post after post after post about the ex Carolina players now in the National Football League. All I can do this week is to apologize and hopefully not bore you to death as I give you the third part of Week One. There should be one more, which I will do either later tonight (but more likely tomorrow morning). For now all I can do is to hope you enjoy this next post about the “Heels in the League” (NFL) for the opening week of play…

The first game has a touch of carolina on both squads with the Washington Redskins (-4) came north to take on divisional rivals the New York Giants. In what will be their last season there, the game was played in Giants Stadium in front of 78,206 fans. For the Redskins their ex Tar Heel on the roster is Ethan Albright, a 15 year veteran who does the long snaps for the Washington squad. On the other side, it’s rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, who had two catches (18 yards) before coming out of the game hurt, while the other is Madison Hedgecock, who started for the G-Men at the fullback position but didn’t have any stats for the boxscore. In the end it was the home team taking this game as the Giants came away with a 23 to 17 victory in their first game of the season. At the NFL Gridiron Gab Jeremy Fuchs says Giants Kick Off Season Holding Off Washington 23-17.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

The next game that featured someone that once played at Kenan Stadium is in the game between the San Francisco 49ers (-1) and the Arizona Cardinals. The game was played at Univ. of Phoenix Stadium in 61,981 fans. The home squad doesn’t have any ex Tar Heels, but the visiting team does, not just one, but two of them and both playing on the defensive side of the ball. One is San Fran’s first rounder, defensive end Kentwan Balmer, who had one tackle (one solo) in the game. The other player is eleven year vet Dre Bly’, who plays corner and had a heck of a game with three tackles (3 solos & 1 for a loss) and with three pass deflected. Thanks to this defense the 49′ers beat the Cards by the final score of 20 to 16. Checking once again the great web site NFL Gridiron Gab, here is what the said about this game.

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

Finally, the last game in this post that we talk about an ex Carolina player now in the National Football League is in the game between the St. Louis Rams (+6.5) and the Seattle Seahawks. This game was played at Qwest Field in front of 67,610 fans. The team that has ex Heels on it is St. Louis, who carries not just one, but two of them on their roster. Brooks Foster, a rookie wide out, did not touch any pass in this game, while Jason Brown, the first string center for the Rams, started and played well (from what I could see of the game). In the end it was not to be for the Rams, as Seattle shut out St. Louis by the score of 28 to nothing. Devon Heinen at NFL Gridiron Gab entitles his piece on this game Seahawks Open Mora Era w/ Impressive 28-0 Shutout of Rams, and you really can’t disagree with that!

Box Score — Play-By-Play — Drive Chart

Heels in the League (NFL)

With the National Football League opening up its season tonight it is time to check out how many ex Tar Heels will be playing in the NFL. From what I was able to gather (checking the rosters and the official web page of the Tar Heels) there are two dozens in all, of which twenty-three in rosters of 15 teams and one on the practice team of the Dallas Cowboys. That means that each week you can look forward to a very lenghty “Heels in the League” (NFL), and hopefully it will be filled with tidbits of what the ex Carolina players did along with many links to the games they were in. For now enjoy the list of the UNC players that now are at the next level, and with which team:

Garrett Reynolds, OT Atlanta

Julius Peppers, DE Carolina
Hilee Taylor, DE Carolina

Jesse Holley, WR Dallas (practice squad)
Gerald Sensabaugh, S Dallas

Vonnie Holliday, DE Denver
Richard Quinn, TE Denver

Jeff Saturday, C Indianapolis

Willie Parker, TB Pittsburgh
Jeff Reed, PK Pittsburgh
Greg Warren, DS Pittsburgh

Sam Aiken, WR New England
Brandon Tate, WR New England

Madison Hedgecock, FB NY Giants
Hakeem Nicks, WR NY Giants

Wallace Wright, WR NY Jets

Greg Ellis, LB Oakland

Kentwan Balmer, DT San Francisco
Dre’ Bly, CB San Francisco

Jason Brown, C St. Louis
Brooks Foster, WR St. Louis

Ryan Sims, DT Tampa Bay

Alge Crumpler, TE Tennessee
David Thornton, LB Tennessee

Ethan Albright, DS Washington

A quick note about another ex Tar Heel being signed with the National Football League team that drafted him. A very small online article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that ex Carolina wide out Brooks Foster has signed with the Saint Louis Rams. The senior from Chapel Hill was the franchise’s fifth round pick (160th overall), and while the details of the deal were not revealed, it’s reported that it is a four year deal for the young receiver. All of this works out well for both the player and the team as the Rams will begin their training camp 10 days from today. For those that remember this past NFL Draft Foster was the third wide receiver from North Carolina to be picked, going after Hakeem Nicks (1st round – NY Giants) and Brandon Tate (3rd round – NE Patriots)

Brooks Foster

And while most will think of Foster as the third option until Brandon Tate went down with a season ending injury that needed surgery to repair an ACL and MCL. After that it was Hakeem Nicks, who led the ACC in total yards this season with over 1,200 receiving yards while adding 12 touchdowns and Foster, who had 30 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns while playing in 13 games. I am of the opinion that some of those yards that Nicks got is because Foster had to be looked at as well on the field. In other words, do not think for a minute that Foster is only good for a decoy or to give the starters a breather. He can make the plays (see pic) and he can help his team to win games.

In the end I believe that in the coming years we will hear the name “Brooks Foster” often on Sunday. Maybe not in the way that the big wide outs, but definitely contributing to his St. Louis Rams. All I can do now is wish the wide out out of Boiling Springs, South Carolina all the best as he begins a new journey in his football career.

Brooks Foster

A bit late, but let me get this post out to say congratulations to two more ex Tar Heels that now will be going to the mini camps of their respective teams. Garrett Reynolds and Brooks Foster joined Hakeem Nicks (29th overall ~ 1st rounder), Richard Quinn (64th overall ~ 2nd rounder) and Brandon Tate (83rd overall ~ 3rd rounder) as the quintet from Chapel Hill to now have moved on to the National Football League. And while none of them are officially part of any team yet, chances are they will all be seeing the football field on Sunday. And that is something that should excite both the fans and the coaching staff, since no better way to get the 5 star recruits than to show them that from UNC they can head on up to the NFL.

Reynolds, a 6’7″ 295 offensive tackle, is going a bit south to try his luck in the National Football League, having been selected by the Atlanta Hawks at the 156th overall pick (5th round). In his career the big man in the line started 32 games, and was a 2nd team All ACC team in 2008. Not long after Reynolds went, another ex pupil of Butch Davis had his name called in the NFL Draft. The third player to go in the second day, as well as the third wide out to go from Chapel Hill, Foster was taken by the St. Louis Rams with the 160th pick overall (5th round). Even if playing behind a pair of very talented receivers (Nicks and Tate) Foster had over 1,200 yards (on 97 catches) and six touchdowns while donning the carolina blue.

To all of these fine young men: all the best as they move on to the next chapter in their lives. I think they will rappresent North Carolina in a great way and make all Tar Heels proud to have had them on our team and now being in the NFL.

Hakeem Nicks

In the middle of the week between the first/second round and the third/fourth round of the NCAA Tournament (aka March Madness) I thought I mix it up a bit by finding some articles and posts about the trio of wide receivers from Chapel Hill heading to the NFL Draft. I think I found plenty about ex Tar Heel wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. Plus I also found another site where it ranks all the wide outs that will be in this year’s draft, and along with Nicks they have Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster in the Top 30. But be warned, there is also an article that puts a very negative light on all the top receivers.

In WalterFootball.com’s web site it has the 2009 NFL Draft: WR Rankings. Hakeem Nicks is ranked fourth in the list, and the site says he is either a first or second rounder. Just like all the other sites or articles I have read about Nicks, the consesus is that he helped himself greatly at the NFL Combine. The surprise, at least to me, is that the site has Brooks Foster as the second of the North Carolina trio, coming in at the 25th spot, and seen as a 5th/6th round pick. One thing that stood out for Foster is that he did 27 reps of the 225 bench press. Last in the list is Brandon Tate, ranked 30th in the list, and thought of as a 5th through 7th round pick. Walter Football says that the drop off might be because of the lost weight Tate has had, having dropped 12 pounds since the injury.

WalterFootball.com also has a NFL Mock Draft with four rounds in it. They see Hakeem Nicks as a middle second round pick going to the Cleveland Browns. I have to say that I disagree with this, and there is a blogger from the Colts that agrees with me. The Stampede Blue believes that Nicks is the way to go for his team, and I have to say that either Indianapolis or the New York Giants is where I would see the wide out from Chapel Hill going in this draft. However we seem to be in the minority, because looking at New Era Scouting the junior receiver is again being projected to be a second rounder, more precisely, a middle second rounder. The site also believes that Nicks could be as good as TJ Houshmandzadeh or as bad as Jericho Cotchery.

And lastly, and let me remind you again, do not get mad but this link isn’t going to make anyone look good, here is a story about how the top WR didn’t do well in the wonderlick test. This is what the post on the FanIQ page said of the receivers from this class:

Seems the wide receiving corps is especially stupid this year. Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech scored a 15, Darrius Heyward-Bey of Maryland scored a 14, and Percy Harvin of Florida scored a 12. Not real good. But don’t worry, there was someone who was worse. Hakeem Nicks of UNC wowed everyone with an 11. A score of 10 suggests a person is literate, so at least all of the receivers can read this, I hope.

I am not a true believer of this (or many other tests), but I do find it interesting that most of the top wide outs going into the NFL this year are all scoring pretty low. On the other hand, I do not believe that this test is going to lift anyone if they do well or drop anyone if the do not do so well. I think that teams look for talent and integrity in a player and I firmly believe that Nicks has both of those things. As the draft comes closer and closer there will be more articles/blogs/mocks and I will make sure to get them on here for all to read.