There Is no offseason!

Mike Glennon (Photo credit: akulawolf)

“Football season is over. I can’t wait for August”

Are you kidding me? Really? I hate hearing that. As all real football nerds know, this is the greatest time of the year. This is five months of Christmas Morning!

I’m a Raiders fan. They suck pretty badly right now. But you know what? They are 0-0 just like everyone else.

The Combine is coming up. How could you not be excited? The lb. who runs a 4.5? He could end up on your team. How about a WR who does 20 reps on the bench? That is the beauty of the Combine. I can’t root for EVERY player, as there is a chance he’ll put on my favorite uniform. Amazing.

I DVR the Combine and watch it back. I make lists of second and third tier players who may be sleepers. I watch for stars that may be busts. I even watch the stands to see if the coaches and owners are sitting together or apart. Remember how far Holmgren and Mangini sat apart? I sure do.

Then there is free agency. I watched the whole Peyton Manning courtship, even though I knew he wasn’t going to my team. I also watched Brett Favre, Anquan Boldin, Nnamdi Asomugha and hundreds of others. The right (or wrong) free agent signing can change the shape of a whole division, or even conference.

Playing the games is only half the fun!

As a parting shot, here are a few scholar-athletes to follow at the combine.

Xavier Rhodes    CB          FSU        He’s big for a CB 6’1”. Also, he has shown good ball skills. If he shows good speed… look out.

Ezekial Ansah      DE          BYU       Three months ago, no one was talking about this guy. If he nails it at the combine, we could see him go mid first. That’s a pretty good jump.

Jarvis Jones         OLB        GA          Sure, everyone knows him, but did you know he transferred from USC because they wouldn’t clear him to play due to spinal stenosis? I expect him to be more tired from physicals than from anything else.

Akeem Spence    DT          Illinois       A 308 lb. DT that runs a 4.8, it makes me a little giddy.

Mike Glennon     QB          NC State              I had to toss a QB in here. While there is no Luck / RG3 action this year, it may be the most entertaining QB combine in a long time. With no clear cut number one, everyone is likely to throw and do everything. That is good for both fans and scouts.

Is there anyone you are looking forward to seeing? Anyone want to see Manti Te’o grind through his interviews?