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Pro Sports Wrap - Sports Personality of the Day:Seth Smith

There is an eighty percent chance that Cedric Benson remains with the Cincinnati Bengals for another season. He showed up at player workouts, he likes Andy Dalton, and he is happy that the playbook contains more running plays than last year. The Bengals passed it way too much last season, and that just doesn't make sense for a team with a running back who is easily better than the quarterback.

"I've been very passive the last three years, almost because I've had to," Benson said to the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I'm not saying I'm a totally different person or I'd be crazy vocal or anything like that. I would be a little bit more expressive. I work hard and am passionate about it. I want the guys I'm playing with to be the same way."


Scouts are saying that Terrelle Pryor is only worth a sixth or seventh round pick in the supplemental draft. I think a team will take him in the fourth round, because I know that teams that want to develop a young QB will take him when they can. He was also great at OSU as a player, so I don't think he'll go that low in the supplemental draft. He seems like a career backup to me. He has upside, but he's just so raw and doesn't seem like a good enough player. Pryor is no Bernie Kosar guys. The people that say that don't even know the whole Kosar story anyway.

Kerry Collins wants to stay with the Titans and wants to groom Jake Locker. I would keep him for that reason, and you never know what happens in the NFL. I love Locker, but he could hit a rookie wall and Collins would be a nice stopgap for a year. He's better than what they have, and the Titans don't even have a real backup right now. Collins should be re-signed to a cheap one-year deal. I bet he'll take it.

"When we came to Nashville [in 2006] I told my wife, 'We are going to ride this thing out here as long as it goes and that is going to be it,'" said Collins, the Tennessean reports. "I know I am getting near the end, but I still have good football left in me. If it makes sense on both sides to do it, I'd be good for coming back. Physically, I definitely have a couple of years left in me, no doubt. But I want to see where the Titans are at, too."


Ronde Barber says he won't retire yet. I think he's a subpar corner at this stage of his career, but there's really no reason for him to retire. The Bucs need to keep their leader on defense, and he means a lot to them with uncertainty looming over Aqib Talib's future in Tampa. The Bucs are a pretty good team, and Barber wants to see the playoffs again. Ronde is also making sure that he retires when he has to. He saw what happened to his brother Tiki, and he knows that he still needs football.

"I'll play until I can't do it anymore," Barber told NFL.com. "I'm fortunate to be in a good situation. I have a coach who I'm comfortable with, and he's comfortable with me. I have a GM who understands me and wants me around. We'll play it year by year. I think all parties involved will know when it's time for me to be done."

Jerry Reese is one of the best general managers in the game, and he says that the Giants will re-sign Ahmad Bradshaw and keep Brandon Jacobs. Bradshaw is very important to the Giants, and Jacobs is also vital to the team's success. They are a dynamic duo who play well off of eachother. Bradshaw is the all-around guy, and Jacobs is the bruising back who grinds out yardage. Jacobs thought he was the odd man out and that the Giants wouldn't be able to keep him around and re-sign Bradshaw. Reese and most of us know that the Giants will gladly keep both of them around.

"I guess you have to consider the source when Brandon starts talking," Reese said on ESPN radio. "You can't read a lot into what Brandon is saying sometimes. We do expect Brandon to be part of the football team this fall. He is under contract. Brandon does talk a lot and like I said, sometimes you got to tune some of that stuff out that he is talking about."
Sticking Around
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New England Patriots B Nate Solder has a ton of upside, and he'll develop on the bench under assistant offensive coach/offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia who is one of the best in the league's history. Ras-I Dowling is a physical corner with good length who fits the Pats' system. He'll most likely start right off as a nickel corner, and he can match-up against the tall receivers of the NFL too. Shane Vereen was a poor pick, but the Stevan Ridley choice was a pretty good one. He's the power back they need, and while he was somewhat of a reach, I think the Pats have something special worked up for him.

Ryan Mallet's character concerns are somewhat overblown. There really was none of that when he was at Arkansas, and he showed he could lead in college. While there are concerns, he can't really do anything stupid under Belichick. Marcus Cannon was my favorite pick by the Patriots, and I thought it was the best value pick in the draft. He will start right away if Matt Light is not re-signed, and he is a versatile lineman that was worth a second rounder. He only fell because he has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but he'll make a full recovery. The trade with the Saints was a nice one at the end of round one.

New Orleans Saints C plus- Cameron Jordan was a much needed choice because the Saints really needed a pass rusher. Jordan will give Gregg Williams even more options in his defensive schemes, and Jordan is a great player that should never have fell that far. My problem was the trade at the end of round one. It wasn't the picks they gave up. It was the fact that they traded up for a running back. Although Mark Ingram won the Heisman once, you should never trade up for a running back.

If you look at last year's draft, the Chargers dealt a crazy amount of picks for Ryan Mathews, and he was disappointing in his rookie year. Running backs are easily replaceable in this league, and it's so easy to find a starting-caliber back. The Saints could have waited and been like the Eagles and picked a guy like Dion Lewis where the value was good. Linebacker Martez Wilson is a leader, but he's going to need some seasoning before he can play. It was a solid choice though.

New York Giants B plus- I liked what the Giants did in the draft. They desperately needed a cover corner. Terrell Thomas is a physical corner, but he doesn't really cover and the other corners are terrible. The Giants went ahead and picked Prince Amukamara, who fell to the 20th pick because of character issues. I love his speed, and he is the most instinctive corner in the draft- even better at that than Patrick Peterson.

Marvin Austin will add another guy into an already very good defensive tackle unit, but he is a great one-gap tackle. Although D-Tackle wasn't a need, the Giants took a good player. I almost never doubt their scouting. Jerry Reese and his guys are among the best in the business. Jerrel Jernigan was the best slot receiver in the draft, and the Giants are preparing for Steve Smith to walk. I loved that 6th round pick to get Greg Jones. He was a great leader in the middle for Michigan State, and he'll bring his solid talents to the pros. The Giants do have good LBs, but they know that he was incredible value in the 6th.

Oakland Raiders D This was another poor draft by Al Davis. Stefen Wisniewski is the son of their offensive line coach, and he will finally give the Raiders a solid player in the interior. He's a smart player that is a true leader. The Raiders traded up to get everyone's sleeper Taiwan Jones. It wasn't a position of need, so the only way to justify trading up for him is for Jones- and his Al Davis like speed- to fulfill his super-sleeper expectations loaded onto him by all of us.
Next Project: Nate Solder
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