Apr 28 2008
Draft Updates
Just some quick news:
Bryan Kehl was selected by the Super Bowl Champions, the NY Giants, in the 4th round. They were expecting to take him in the 3rd but a WR they were interested in slipped down the board and they couldn’t pass it up. They did trade up to get him in the 4th and he will be heading out soon. He is in a good situation in NY where they lost their top two OLB’s since winning the giant BLING.
Also, Kelly Poppinga will be joining the BYU-Alumni Florida division (ie. Miami Dolphins) as a free-agent. He also had an offer from Seattle but decided Florida is the place for him. He joins former Cougars John Beck and John Denney as a Dolphin. I’d guess several other players will sign FA contracts (last year several players, I think 8 total and Coats ended up starting a game for the Bengals.)
22 Responses to “Draft Updates”
Thank you for the updates. I was dissapointed that we did not have more players in the draft, but then remembered that almost everyone will be back in a cougar uniform next year and felt much better.
Josh: Agreed. Not a big loss this year in seniors. Next year I’d anticipate 2-3 (minimum) drafted, with some going first day.
Peter- great to hear you are back; see if you can post things that are not on the BYU website or Daily Herald.
Kehl landed in a great spot and not just because the Giants are the reigning Super Bowl champs. Playing behind arguably the best defensive line in the NFL will give Kehl opportunities to make plays when called upon.
I felt bad for Kehl that his draft report said he had “deficiencies in pass coverage” because those deficiencies were the result of an anemic 3-man pass rush that required him to sustain pass coverage a lot longer. That won’t be a problem with the Giants.
Good luck, Bryan!
Walt, you have always been very complimentary toward me, but I am going to take you to task about your recent posts because they are contradictory and confusing. First, you read Cruiser’s articles for a year, post comments complimenting Cruiser’s articles and information and asking Cruiser question after question, which he generously answered. Now, since Cruiser quit writing his articles, you are on record criticizing Cruiser for providing insider information, you even called him a “mole” (which you later retracted, but clearly you are suddenly not pleased with Cruiser). Then today, in your entry above you criticized Peter for posting information that can be discovered on the BYU website or Daily Herald. So, I’m confused, do you want inside information or don’t you? Do you want Josh and Peter to provide you with the nuggets of information that no other site was providing or would you prefer the lifeless information provided by the SID? I know you have opined that Josh and Peter should ask some alum/staffer to be a guest columnist, but nobody is going to do that for the pay they would receive (likely nothing).
Also, FYI about the Bruins blogs, they do have inside information. In fact, they have a lot of inside information, including tips about specific player’s performance in practice/games, injuries, weight lifting, recruiting, the coaches private opinions of the team, whether or not there are divisions on a team, whether or not the team likes a certain player, etc. The primary source for this inside information is from Brian Dohn’s Blog. Most, if not all, other Bruin blogs get their inside information from Dohn. I believed Cougar Legion was becoming BYU’s insider website, much like Brian Dohn’s is for UCLA, perhaps that can still happen, if BYU will allow it, like all the other big schools do.
Well said NorCal Bruin. Well said.
NorCal Bruin- Let me answer your comments, but I am not in any way attempting to take you to task:
1. My allegiance and loyalty are to the BYU football team and Coach Mendenhall first and foremost
2. I did like Cruiser’s posts
3. I did not know who he was (that he was an ex-player) or how he was getting his info
4. I now know BYU’s side of the story, which I will not share, & I agree why they would be upset with what happened
5. An ex-player should know what is kosher to share and what is not.
6. The alumni whom I know are independently wealthy or close to it and don’t need or want compensation
7. Neither Josh nor Peter have commented on my suggestions and the fact that they have not leads me to believe that they want ownership of, total credit for and want no outside help.
8. What is more important: the success of Cougar Legion or the success of Josh and Peter?
9. I have never met Josh or Peter but have communicated with and tried to help Peter outside of the Blog
10. I am making suggestions that I hope would improve the Blog; that is my only purpose
11. I was not talking about any UCLA Blog other than Bruin Nation and have not seen somebody reporting something that a coach said that if made public could be damaging to the coach or the team
12. The BYU football hierarchy does not want insider information to get out unless they control it and it’s their team so we play by their rules
13. If the Blog cannot get insider information via what Cruiser did, then there are other ways to do it like I have already suggested which is to join arms with Jeff Reynolds & other staff members
14. It appears that Josh & Peter are terribly offended by what happened (others have voiced the same opinion) and would rather fight than switch (”I Did it My Way”)
15. If you cannot get inside information then do a player highlight every week, which would be insider info, but not the kind that BYU thought Cruiser was giving out
16. I do not believe that there are any programs out there that want the kind of info that Cruiser was getting (when he crossed the line)
17. I for one do not want to read what I get from the Cougar Update which is e-mailed to me daily and of which Cougar Legion is a part
I know very little about football, but I have been in the corporate financial consulting, venture capital and M&A business for 20 years helping start-ups and early stage businesses get started and grow. I have seen many founders/inventers go under because they would not merge with or turn the reins over to new management. They just could not see that they would have been more successful had they owned 5% of a new company rather than 100% of their old one. This appears to be a classic example of that. I do not know how old Josh and Peter are, their background, football knowledge, etc., but I do feel that they need help and input from others who have a BYU football background (a synergistic effort).
I hope Cougar Legion does succeed but also know that the BYU football program is being run by the right coach at the right time and it will flourish with or without Cougar Legion. “Some men see things that are and ask, why? Other men see things that never were and ask, why not?” The potential for this site is unlimited…but not if it continues in the direction it’s heading and not without the blessings of BYU. My very best to you NorCal Bruin, to Josh, Peter and the entire Cougar Legion.
Bull. Running Cruiser off the web was nothing short of cowardly. You know what they say about a prophet in his own country. Cruiser was truer and bluer than most, without being greedy over the good news of BYU.
Can we please move past it? I can guarantee that most of us have entirely forgotten about it and don’t think about it at all. Some reason people don’t believe that we both got busy and the site slowed down because of that. Trust me, we would be writing if we had the time. We don’t sit at home stewing thinking “Darn that Jeff Reynolds!” In fact, I’m going to lunch with him this week.
Walt: Why would BYU let a coach/player write? Never going to happen. I would love to have a former player write, but don’t exactly have those types of connections. I have asked about getting media credentials and do everything on the up and up and the answer was “probably not.” We are working with BYU, not against them.
That being said, lets move on. I know its the summer doldrums (though its only 50 today) but there are better and more productive things to do to fight about something that is over.
Walt,
Why don’t you go start your own blog? Enough with trying to tell Josh and Peter how to run their blog.
Oh, wait! This is a blog about the Cougars! I almost forgot.
Bryan Kehl is going to have a lot more early success in the NFL than we saw John Beck have last year. Fortunately, there is not as steep of a learning curve for linebackers transitioning from college to pro ball. Does anyone feel like Bryan can work his way into the rotation this year?
Patrick-
I agree with Peter, let’s move on. Look at all of my posts during the last few weeks and all I have tried to do is make recommendations on how to improve the site.
Walt-
I know–it’s driving me nuts!
I hope we can get back to having fun, discussing whatever there is to of BYU football. (Blogs are supposed to be fun, talking about stuff, in this case, BYU football. Comparing them with small businesses is not accurate, so let’s have no more of any venture capitalists writing long comments of his suggestions. If said VC doesn’t like this forum, maybe he’d like to move to/start a new one. If he knows very little about football, then read, learn, and ask intelligent questions. Whoops, sorry, I’ve strayed from the topic)
Patrick, I think it’s possible. It’s hard to leave Kehl’s speed and know-how on the bench, he’s probably still got a lot to learn about pro ball, but I can see him stepping up.
So is it voluntary summer workouts now for BYU football? I don’t even know what’s going on. The San Jose Sharks lost a 4 OT game on Sunday/Monday to knock them out of the playoffs. I go into sports sleep until fall camp, waking up only for the golf majors. (By the way NorCal Bruin, are you a Sharks fan? I’m from Sunnyvale)
Brentar -
I am a playoff Sharks fan. So, I don’t know if that qualifies me as a true fan or not, but I love following them in the playoffs. Actually, that’s my attitude about hockey in general. I believe the best sport to watch, especially live, is playoff hockey (i.e. the 4 OT Sharks v. Stars game. I couldn’t watch it on television, but I kept track of the game by continually updating my ESPN link. Despite this lack of visual or audio communication, my stomach was still in knots)
Walt -
Regarding UCLA’s football, though I am excited about the future of UCLA football, I am not expecting much from the upcoming season for the following reasons:
1. UCLA has lost almost 90% of its starters (offense and defense combined) from last season,
2. They are installing their fourth offense in four years,
3. Their injury prone senior quarterbacks were injured in consecutive non-contact drills,
4. None of the quarterbacks (including the injured) are good,
5. The best running back (Kahlil Bell) is still recovering from major reconstructive knee surgery (it is anticipated he’ll be ready to practice in August, but we all know he will need time to gain confidence and his burst),
6. The offensive line is very inexperienced, and reportedly, not very good
7. The wide receivers are relatively slow (although there are reportedly a couple speedsters in the freshman class), and
8. UCLA is playing a very difficult schedule (Tennessee, Fresno St., at BYU, and the Pac-10).
On the bright side, reports are that the defense is going to be very good this season (especially the front 7), the freshman class appearing in August is very talented, especially in the offensive and defensive backfield, (safety, cornerback, running back, and quarterback (primarily Crissman)).
Based on these facts, I wouldn’t be surprised if UCLA wins 4-5 games. However, my predictions could be wrong since I also predicted that BYU would beat UCLA by over 10 points in the LV Bowl. In the LV Bowl I underestimated how solid the UCLA defense would play. Hopefully (for me and all other Bruin fans) UCLA’s defense will continue to play big, fast, and aggressive! Hopefully for BYU fans, Anae will counter UCLA’s speed and aggression by running a screen-play, bootleg, or I-formation play-action pass. However, unless Andy Reid taught him something this off-season, I would be surprised!
Patrick & Brentar- In any business or venture (including this blog) to be successful, you have to have vision (”Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Prov 29:18), the right product, at the right time and the right people. I believe that Josh and Peter have the vision, the right product at the right time, but they lack the manpower to pull it off. They were doing great until Cruiser stepped down but now it is clear that they need to do a restart. I have made some suggestions on what they might consider but my guess is that they are so busy that they do not have the time right now to revamp the site. I guess we can all send in a post here and there but where does that get us? Until those two come out of the woodwork, the site and we are doomed. Again, I am not going to and do not want to start another site, but I think this one could succeed tremendously by just adding a few qualified writers. I think I will talk to some BYU athletic dept people, get their take and come back to you later.
NorCal Bruin- I did not realize that UCLA lost so many starters. That being said, I still think they will be dangerous because of the new staff and excellent athletes.
Josh & Peter- please forgive us, know that we are indebted to you and plead with you to come back and save us from what appears to be a BYU football three month draught. I think I speak for all subscribers in saying that we are all ready, willing and able to help and participate.
GO COUGAR LEGION!!!!!!!!!!!
Just a couple of notes:
1. NorCal Bruin – You have stated the obvious, UCLA will be a very young team in September, BYU at home should win that one. (Had Anae not had that fumble in the last seconds of the first half, BYU would have won by 10.)
2. Not to resurrect the dead, but I have been thinking a lot about the Cruzer issue. While I loved Cruzer’s stuff, and really miss it, I have come to believe that a sports team is a ‘family”. A lot of things go on there and it’s not healthy to air the dirty laundry in public. While I dislike censorship, I do believe in privacy. The line between privacy and censorship is pretty thin sometimes. Coach Mendenhal has done a stellar job in program management – the best I have ever seen, so I will give him some room here.
In the meanwhile, I miss football! We need to keep the flame alive. A weekly article would be helpful. Any fans, like Walt, please share any available info.
By the way, the note on Kehl, The pro scouts said that Beck had a weak arm? Kehl has great coveage skills, the media just will not give any BYU player due credit. In the combine, Kehl’s performance didn’t make many highlights.
Forget asking for a post every 7 days, today marks the 10th day this page has gone without an article.
Meanwhile someone is chatting with everyone on cougarboard about how he is having lunch with Jeff Reynolds (mabye Peter? - if so, of course he didn’t bother to mention on cougarboard that this was only because we called his bluff on this website - instead this mystery person was busy asking us little people what questions we would like an important person like him to ask Jeff). It would be sad if Peter/Josh could find the time in his busy schedule to post on cougarboard (multiple times) but can’t seem to find time to manage his own site. Either Josh and Peter realize they lost credibility on this site and don’t know how to get it back or they just threw in the towel with Cruiser.
If you don’t have time to manage your website and find information to share about the football team, let’s at least have a report on how the lunch appointment went and whether you were able to pass along any concerns to Jeff. Or are we going to have to find out about it on cougarboard?
NorCal - Interesting comments. I have a hunch that a fair amount of what happens with UCLA in Provo will depend on what happens in the Rose Bowl vs. Tennessee.
UCLA beating Tennessee in the friendly confines of the Rose Bowl would give the Bruins a boost of confidence which would carry over to the BYU game.
If UCLA loses to Tennessee, I think they try and regroup vs. BYU (obviously). But I think what UCLA lost most from last year was not necessarily talent (they did lose some very talented players, but have more coming in), but leadership. Kahlil comes the closest to being able to fill a leadership void on offense, but as you said, he may be having some struggles of his own to deal with. On defense none of UCLA’s current players were the core leaders last year, unless maybe an LB was? Having Walker as DC is a great plus for defensive stability, but if the BYU game starts going south for them, even Walker won’t be enough for them to maintain a winning effort.
What I would anticipate is a tough, defensive battle for the first third of the game. If BYU finishes with a lead of 7-10 at halftime, however, I think UCLA’s confidence will start to erode. Last year the Bruin defense had enough leadership to play inspired even when the offense fell flat. They were still playing to win. Until new leadership develops, they may struggle to duplicate that this year.
R.I.P.
Cougarlegion
Today marks the 22nd day since Josh & Peter abandoned Cougarlegion. Since neither of them bothered to refute that they have had the time to post on cougarboard during this period of abandonment, I guess it is true after all and we all have to recognize the hard reality that cougarlegion is officially dead. I guess this site should have been known as “Cruiserlegion” since it died with him. The death of this website is sad for those of us who live away from Provo and enjoyed getting information that would otherwise be unavailable to us.
Is this thing on? The site seems abandoned…
I believe Peter posted that the site would go quiet during the summer prior to practice beginning. I’ll wait for an email notifying me of a post and if it doesn’t come by August, then I’ll put flowers on the RIP sign.
For those still interested in BYU football, Greg Wrubell has been writing a blog. He posts almost daily, and is a great source of information. Here’s the link:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=&nid=497
Also, BYU-TV rebroadcasts classic BYU football games every Saturday morning. I like to set my DVR and record the action. Then I can watch it at my leisure. Here’s the link to the tv schedule.
http://www.byub.org/sports/
Go Cougs!