Lane Kiffin reaction

National Football League
Draft King Analysis

Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.

The people of Port-au-Prince, Haiti are suffering tonight. A little more than 24 hours ago, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the city, causing widespread damage and claiming an untold number of lives. If you want to make a difference, there are a wide variety of charities that could use your assistance. Please help if you can.

Lane Kiffin went 7-6 as head coach at Tennessee. (Icon SMI)

If a college football player wants to jump from one I-A/FBS school to another, he is required to sit out for an entire season. For college coaches, the move can be done overnight. The jump by Pete Carroll from USC to the Seattle Seahawks (despite claims made that he'd never return to the NFL) created an opening at Southern Cal, a spot that was quickly filled by University of Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin.

There has been great uproar (possibly NSFW) in Knoxville among Vols fans about Kiffin's abrupt departure, particularly since Kiffin is bringing Coach Headbutt (Ed Orgeron) and his father, Monte Kiffin, along with him. Plus, with this happening before National Signing Day, Tennessee may lose some of its top recruits. Those are the breaks in college football. It's not the first time, or the last time, it will happen.

Alabama football fans are a hardcore bunch; I saw this first-hand during my 13 months living in the Birmingham area from 2006-2007. Their fanbase has to be thrilled right now, fresh off of a BCS Title win and the school's first-ever Heisman Trophy win. Naturally, this also makes them ripe for parody. With that in mind, check out this artwork on the underrated website "Everyday Should Be Saturday". The drawings, crafted by LSUFreek, are pretty spot-on. I'm just disappointed that there's not a drawing commemorating Andre Smith's bizarre choice to run the 40 yard dash shirtless at last year's pro day at Alabama.

And, now, it's time to dip into the mailbag.

From: Terry Davis
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Sat, Jan 9, 2010 at 3:06 PM
Subject: 2010 Mock Draft

I am a life long Browns fan and I think you are incorrect in your #7 pick.

I believe that the Browns will pick McClain, Hayden, Spikes or a top tier OT for the right side.

Lou: As always, I enjoy hearing from fans of a particular team in regards to who they might take in the draft. Typically the advice I receive (especially when it's a correction) tends to be strong, and I tend to give it a great deal of consideration.

It's been tough for me to get a read on what the Browns will do, specifically on defense, with Mike Holmgren coming on board and him opting to retain Eric Mangini as the team's head coach. Mangini is from the Parcells/Belicheck coaching line, which tends to feature a 3-4 defense. Holmgren's background is with the 4-3. The Browns have utilized the 3-4 dating back to when Romer Crennell was the team's head coach, and it would seem to be better suited to retain the 3-4 as far as finding success for 2010.

As for now I have Cleveland drafting Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy at #7. Cleveland has nose tackle Shaun Rogers under contract through 2014, though he suffered a broken leg in November 2009 and will have to work hard to be back to 100% for the 2010 season. If the Browns did end up selecting McCoy, he would likely be used in a defensive end role in a 3-4, since at 6'4" 285 McCoy isn't big enough to play nose tackle. The value of a 3-4 DE at #7 is debatable (since a 3-4 DE is primarily responsible to keep blockers off of OLBs), and it's quite likely that the Browns could find a better fit for the pick with another position.

McCoy is a tremendous tackler, but if Cleveland opts to go elsewhere, I'd think that Joe Haden would be more likely to go at #7 than either Rolando McCain or Brandon Spikes. Quarterback is clearly a need for the team, with early word out of Cleveland being that Holmgren is "lukewarm" on Brady Quinn. Though, if Jake Locker doesn't change his mind about going pro *and* if both Jimmy Clausen and Sam Bradford are off the board when the Browns pick comes up at #7, going QB at that spot might not be a realistic option.

As for an offensive tackle, the team has considerable money tied up in Joe Thomas, so I don't see them going in that direction at #7. What might be the best scenario for the Browns (short of Clausen or Bradford) is for Tennessee strong safety Eric Berry to fall to them. But there are plenty of angles and possibilities involved here, and I expect things to become clearer for them once free agency starts next month.

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