Undrafted Free Agent Signings

[alleycat]

Brandon Browner and Mitch Meuewhatshisname both signed with other teams (Browner with the Broncos).

http://www.collegesports.com/sports/m-foot.../042505aan.html

[HairOnFire]

Wilkerson was a consensus top 3 center prospect; the highest I've seen Ghiaciuc ranked is 6th, and most had him in the 12-20 range. If Wilkerson is healthy, I have no doubt he's the center of the future. Ghiaciuc will provide solid backup, Braham and Moore will be gone, and we'll be set at center for the next 10 years.

Two points.

First, I've joked about the wisdom of burning value lists, player rankings, and draft guides for a reason. We all know they're wrong but for some reason many of us use them as a source for misplaced anger. So let's get past player rankings for a second UNLESS you can find one that looks close to what the powers that be in the NFL actually determined. That being...

1 - Chris Spencer

2 - Richie Incognito

3 - Eric Chiaciuc

4 - Doug Preston

5 - Jason Brown

6 - Junius Coston

7 - Drew Hodgon

8 - Rob Hunt

9 - Scott Mruczkowski

So again, unless you can find a ranking of center prospects that looks like the one above...I'd suggest it was proven to be crap.

Last, I agree completely that if Wilkerson can get healthy he could surpass Ghiaciuc on the dept chart. That's precisely what makes him a great signing as an undrafted FA. However, the NFL, not the Bengals, determined that players previously thought to be higher ranked were undraftable(Wilkerson, Vince Carter) or overrated (Jason Brown).

[kingwilly]

ratfarts.

[alleycat]

rats!

It looks like James Butler is signing with someone in New York. I googled and there's an article on the atlanta journal-constitution, but you have to register and I loathe that sh@#. Here's what I copied from the google search age (posted an hour ago).

Star safety James Butler plans to sign a free-agent contract with the New York ...

Guess this means we trust in Body and really didn't see a need to bring others in...

[schweinhart]

Wilkerson and Patrick Body are both excellent rookie free agent signings. Both have a real chance to stick this year or next for Wilkerson if he goes IR.

Body is an excellent centerfielder. Runwise, he didn't look like 8th in the box, one-on-one with Jamall in open space material, from the Toledo games I saw. He didn't look like he had any more frame to build out either, but he'll swarm and look for contact. No doubt he makes the most of his op like Wendell Williams did last year.

[BeyondTheJungle]

Body has a good shot at the roster for no other reason than the fact that his competition is Kevin Kaeviharn. If Body is half as athletic as he sounds, he could put a scare into KK during training camp.

[schweinhart]

rats!

It looks like James Butler is signing with someone in New York. I googled and there's an article on the atlanta journal-constitution, but you have to register and I loathe that sh@#. Here's what I copied from the google search age (posted an hour ago).

Star safety James Butler plans to sign a free-agent contract with the New York ...

Guess this means we trust in Body and really didn't see a need to bring others in...

I believe Butler had a handful of teams interested and picked the Giants. I'm still scratching my head why he fell out of the 1st day much less the whole draft. No doubt teams were leary of him being a FS/SS tweener if there is such a thing but this dude has got the frame to get bigger and if anyon saw him play he's got great break on the ball vs. both pass and run.

There was another MAC DB Keon Newson I was eyeballing who is listed as a CB but played FS from what I saw of Bowling Green. He got grabbed by the Rams, though.

There's a few other safeties that might be left like Terry Holley, Jamall Johnson, Atari Bigby, Junior Rosegreen, Lamont Reid so maybe another gets in.

[HoosierCat]

So again, unless you can find a ranking of center prospects that looks like the one above...I'd suggest it was proven to be crap.

You'd be right...if actual draft order actually correlated to NFL success. But we know that isn't the case now, don't we? profootballtalk.com had a short item a couple days back on just that subject:

BEING NO. 1 DON'T MEAN MUCH

If NFL scouts were truly able to figure out who the best players at the pro level will be, they names would come off the board in the order of Hall of Famers, perennial Pro Bowlers, solid starters, and so on.

But the correlation between draft status and NFL success, as we all know, simply ain't there.  To confirm this, we decided to take a quick look at the first players taken in each of the prior 75 drafts (including the five AFL drafts that had formal first overall picks).

Of those 75 sessions, the first pick became a Hall of Famer only 11 times:  Bill Dudley, Charley Trippi, Chuck Bednarik, Paul Hornung, Buck Buchanan (AFL), Ron Yary, O.J. Simpson, Terry Bradshaw, Lee Roy Selmon, Earl Campbell, John Elway.

Adding Bruce Smith, Troy Aikman, Orlando Pace, and Peyton Manning as guys very likely to ultimately have bronze busts (one of which will have a ginormous forehead and bolts in the neck), the number nudges to 15.

There's a chance that the figure could end up being 16, but the jury is still out on whether Ron Mexico will have anything more than an STD display in Canton.

So that's it -- 15 out of 75, which means that, on average, one out of every five No. 1 picks becomes a Hall of Famer.

And it's not as if the other 60 guys on the list fall into the "close but no cee-gar" category, given that the roster sports names like Dan Wilkinson, Steve Emtman, Russell Maryland, Jeff George, Aundray Bruce, Kenneth Sims, George Rogers, Tom Cousineau, Walt Patulski, Jim Grabowski, Tucker Fredrickson, Lawrence Elkins, Terry Baker, Ken Rice, Randy Duncan, King Hill, Gary Glick, Harry Babcock, and George Cafego.

Bottom line is that NFL teams might be better off with crystal balls and tarot cards than Wonderlics and stopwatches. 

Hell, we wonder whether any teams previously have conferred with psychics when filling out their draft boards.

If none have, perhaps some should.

The long and short of it is that listing players of a given position in the order in which they are drafted produces just that...a list. And that list seems to have proven about as predictive as anything produced by Mel Kiper or the Drug Store List or Ourlads or any you'd care to name.

Finally, I'd point out that the assertion I'd originally questioned was DPM's claim that Ghiacuic was a "better prospect" than Wilkerson. I think the praise and awards he's hauling around make that self-evident. Whether he ends up the better player remains to be seen.

[wookie]

Passed in draft, Munoz will retire

Enquirer staff reports

Michael Munoz, an All-American offensive tackle at Tennessee, Moeller graduate and the son of former Bengals Hall of Fame tackle Anthony Munoz, is quitting football after being passed over last weekend in the NFL draft.

Anthony Munoz told the Associated Press on Monday that his son is quitting the game, but has no other plans at the moment.

"When you're not drafted, I think that's a pretty clear indication as Michael has said," Anthony Munoz told The Associated Press. "He'll tell you one door was closed and there's four or five other doors being opened at the same time. It's kind of a divine intervention here."

Anthony told the Associated Press that the family was "totally shocked" that Michael was not drafted.

Michael Munoz, who is 6-feet-6, 305 pounds, told WNOX radio in Knoxville he is ready to move on.

"I had fun playing football. But I never found my identity playing football," he said.

The Munozes did not initially answer phone calls from the Enquirer on Monday.

Michael Munoz, who was awarded the Draddy Trophy as the nation's top scholar athlete in December, told the Enquirer last week he thought there would be less pressure making the jump to the NFL than there was when he started playing college football.

"It's almost more pressure going from high school to college because you have so many things to think about," he said. "I've worked as hard as I can, and there's no doubt in my mind that I have done everything I can and put myself in a good position. It's kind of like the weight is off your shoulders."

He was widely expected to be a third- or fourth-round pick in the draft, but injuries may have hurt his chances. He is working on a master's degree in public administration. He and his wife, Emily, have been married for two years.

Looks like Cincy won't have the option of signing him as a FA.

[HairOnFire]

Body is an excellent centerfielder. Runwise, he didn't look like 8th in the box, one-on-one with Jamall in open space material, from the Toledo games I saw. He didn't look like he had any more frame to build out either, but he'll swarm and look for contact.

I don't think it would be wise to ask an athlete like that to change his body to fit a team need. However, one of the first articles I read after finding out he'd been signed quoted his agents about his ability to put on 10-15 pounds. Not sure where the starting point would be though. (I've seen his weight listed from 197 to 205.)

One of the bigger positives regarding this guy is said to be his willingness to support the run and his hitting ability. Plus, his career stats show a high number of forced fumbles.

[HairOnFire]

You'd be right...if actual draft order actually correlated to NFL success. But we know that isn't the case now, don't we?

No argument. I'm just trying to point out that it's not an indictment of the Bengals player rankings of the center position when the entire NFL makes the same conclusions. Highly ranked players like Carter and Wilkinson weren't drafted at all and Jason Brown was selected after Ghiacuic and Preston. So all of the pre-draft rankings were flawed, something we learn after every draft.

As for the Bengals, Wilkinson may indeed turn out to be a better player than Ghiacuic, as many predraft rankings implied, but injury concerns made him an undraftable prospect when it counted most. So I give props to the Bengals for recognizing that as well as being the team that stepped up and took a chance on him later. Rankings be damned, they feel they've added two players who have the potential to start at a position that screamed for youth.

[HairOnFire]

I'm having trouble confirming this but I've just read the Bengals signed SS Herana-Daze Jones of Indiana U. Jokingly mentioned it in another thread, but thougt I'd add it here since this is the official "Mudder/Fodder" thread.

BTW, I really DO like this guy. He's not the athlete Body is, but he's got some upside and he plays with an edge.

[HairOnFire]

Okay, I finally found out why I couldn't confirm the signing. It hasn't happened yet. But he's announced in the local IU press that he WILL sign with the Bengals some time this week. That'll have to do.

[schweinhart]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.d...416/1002/SPORTS

You and your Pravda comrades are spooky, Hair

As for Body, his agent proly told him he'd get drafted, too. Maybe he can add some mass but he looked skin tight. I'd guess he played closer to 190 than 200.

Anyways, the Bengals have addressed the safety position. Let the good times roll.

[HoosierCat]

Per gbn, you can add in an OT Scott Vierra and WR Sale Key...

[schweinhart]

http://www.collegesports.com/sports/m-foot.../042605aaa.html

And Kansas TE Lyonel Anderson.

[TJJackson]

Good place for a somewhat complete list of undrafted free agent signings

http://www.gbnreport.com/UFAsignings.html

Not totally up to date, there is some lag.....

[HairOnFire]

Anyways, the Bengals have addressed the safety position. Let the good times roll.

Under the circumstances it wouldn't surprise me if none of these guys stick with the team. However, it's just as true that I wouldn't have been shocked to see both of them, Body and H-DJ, drafted as high as the 5th or 6th round....moves that might have eliminated some of the post draft sniping around here.

Then again, probably not.