DC Metro Sports - Around Happy (Once Again) Valley, with Penn State Football

As I continue to discuss the 2006 NFL draft in this week’s AHV, there’s a bunch of news in the area of free-agency. Five more members of Penn State’s Big Ten championship team were signed to NFL rosters this week. These latest additions to the professional ranks may offer more surprises than expected. I also want to continue what I think about other players taken in the draft.

Last week, when I was talking about Mario Williams I said “he looks great on highlight reels and has all the numbers behind him.” Well, I’d like to apologize. I didn’t explain myself enough. If you look at any highlight reel, it’s obviously going to show the “best” of the player’s career. After all, that’s the whole point, but sometimes you have to look deeper. I think the number one overall pick in the NFL draft would be a good place to start.

If you look at Mario Williams’ stats, most of his inflated numbers came from low quality opponents. Tamba Hali (20^th overall pick, KC) had four sacks against one of the top offensive lines in the game – Wisconsin’s. I totally agree that Williams’ height, weight, speed, and so on are great tools to work with, but is the talent large enough to warrant such a lofty pick? (Cough, cough, Courtney Brown) We’ll see come August.

I truly think that the absolute bargain pick of the first round was Chad Greenway (17^th overall, Minn.), from Iowa. During his career with the Hawkeyes, he was a tackling machine with 401 tackles in last three years. He was all over the field and consistently made plays in every game. He will be a great addition to the Vikings’ defense which has struggled, especially at linebacker.

Again, I loved the way Vernon Davis projected himself during his selection. Outstanding

On to Penn State.

Did I call it? Or did I call it?

“I imagine that guys like Matt Rice, Scott Paxson, Anwar Philips, and Chris Harrell will sign free-agent contracts soon,” I happened to write in my last edition of this article.

What happened?

All four of those guys signed free agent contracts this week. One that I didn’t count on was Isaac Smolko, Penn State’s hero of the Northwestern game this past season. He was the most unpredictable player on this year’s team. One minute, he’s dropping a sure, wide open touchdown pass. The next, he’s making a season-saving catch on 4^th-and-15. Well, now he’s hoping to impress the Super Bowl champs in their camps. He signed with the Steelers this week.

Ok, I can’t resist saying it. I hope Anwar Philips lays an old school Penn State hit on Reggie Bush during practice that will make Reggie realize how we play football here on the east bank of the Mississippi. Philips signed with the Saints this week.

Another addition to the Steelers this week was Scott Paxson. It’s quite a story how he overcame the criminal charges and trials (acquitted in all) to end up signing a contract with such a good team. He’s an underrated defensive tackle and will contribute faster than most think, even if he doesn’t start right away.

Matt Rice and Chris Harrell signed with the Bills and the Cardinals, respectively this week. While it’s entirely possible that these guys could earn starting jobs soon, they may have to chill out in the backup roles for a while. I don’t think they mind though. Rice is a solid athlete at the end spot and can use his work ethic and under-the-radar approach to earn his way to a higher position on Buffalo’s depth chart. Chris Harrell is such a vicious hitter and dominant force on the field it will be difficult to resist getting him some game time.

I have one request though.

Please pick off Matt Leinart in practice!

That wraps this week’s “Around Happy (Once Again) Valley, with Penn State Football.” Come back every Sunday night/Monday morning for more weekly round-ups of what’s going on in Nittany Lion football. And as always, please e-mail me your thoughts, opinions and questions at

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