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 With the 10th pick in the 4th round, the Dallas Cowboys take Oregon State defensive end Victor Butler, apparently with the intention of making him an outside linebacker in the 3-4. He appears to be a serious project.
Holy crap this is a lousy draft. Thus far, not a single player likely to compete for a starting job this year.
NFL.com says,
Overview
An undersized pass-rush specialist with the Beavers, Butler must make the transition to outside linebacker in the NFL. A standout pass rusher who broke out to register 10.5 sacks as a junior despite only starting one game, Butler was first-team All-Pac-10 and tied the single-season sack record at OSU with 12 as a senior and leaves second in school history with 25.5 career sacks. It was his final two games with the Beavers that really have scouts intrigued. Butler earned Sun Bowl MVP after racking up 11 tackles, including five tackles for loss, four sacks and a forced fumble against Pittsburgh and showed surprising fluidity when operating in coverage while at the East-West Shrine Game.
High School
Three-year letterman as receiver, safety, defensive end and kick returner … Played defensive end only as a senior due to team needs … Two-time all-league and all-county as a senior.
Analysis
Positives: Rangy build with plenty of room for additional muscle mass. … Good initial burst off the edge as a pass rusher. … Capable of challenging the tackle and flexible enough to bend around the tackle to collapse the pocket. … Good closing speed. … Good lateral quickness and balance to redirect. … Shows some leg drive as a bull rusher. … Helped himself at the East-West Shrine Game, showing good upper-body strength to pop the tight end off the snap. … Good straight-line speed and agility to redirect in coverage. … Tools to warrant development as a rush linebacker. … Voted team captain.
Negatives: Classic “tweener.” … Essentially a one-trick pony. … Lacks the bulk to remain at defensive end and may lack the necessary speed and agility for coverage. … Questionable instincts for move a linebacker. … Relies on his agility to avoid blockers when in space. … Struggles to disengage from blockers once they’ve locked on. … Only one season as a starter.
Scouts, Inc gives him a decent grade.
| Overall Football Traits |
| Production |
3 |
2005-’07: Butler starts one of the 36 games he appears in accumulating 45 tackles, 18 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, four pass breakups, three fumble recoveries, and two forced fumbles. 2008: Butler starts all 13 games accumulating 65 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He earns first team All PAC-10 honors in 2008. |
| Height-Weight-Speed |
2 |
Adequate height and bulk but excellent top-end speed. |
| Durability |
1 |
Has not missed any playing time with an injury. |
| Character |
2 |
Voted team captain in 2008. |
| Outside Linebacker specific Traits |
| Instincts/Recognition |
3 |
Instincts are adequate-at-best but he shows good discipline and generally stays at home when offense runs misdirection. |
| Pursuit/Point of Attack |
3 |
Excellent range, takes sound pursuit angles and a sideline-to-sideline run stopper. Very good upper body strength but don’t see it enough on film and more effective in space than is in phone booth situations. Takes too long to shed blocks when gets reached and can get driven back. |
| Tackling |
3 |
Strong tackler in a confined area but doesn’t show great body control in space and is an inconsistent open field tackler. |
| Pass Coverage |
4 |
Fast enough to run with backs/tight ends down the middle of the field but takes too long to open hips. Not fluid changing directions so going to have some problems matching up underneath as well. Lacks ideal ball skills and not a playmaker. |
| Pass Rusher |
2 |
Greatest strength. Quick, gets good inside body lean and shows above-average closing speed. Can set tackles up to the outside before redirecting inside. |
No I’m not talking about some middle aged man propelling a ball at some objects at the end of a lane, but the games that climax every college football season. Bowl season officially starts this Saturday, here are the matchups for all the college football fanatics out there.
Dec 20
Eaglebank Bowl- Wake Forest vs Navy
New Mexico Bowl- Colorado State vs Fresno St
MAGICJACK ST. PETERSBURG BOWL- Memphis vs. South Florida
PIONEER LAS VEGAS BOWL- Brigham Young vs Arizona
Dec 21
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL- Southern Miss vs. Troy
Dec 23
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL- Boise St vs TCU
Dec 24
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL- Hawaii vs Notre Dame
Dec 26
MOTOR CITY BOWL- Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan
Saturday, December 27
MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL- West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Champs Sports Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Florida State
Emerald Bowl- Miami (FL) vs. California
December 28
Independence Bowl- Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL- North Carolina State vs. Rutgers
Valero Alamo Bowl- Missouri vs. No. 23 Northwestern
Tuesday, December 30
ROADY’S HUMANITARIAN BOWL- Maryland vs. Nevada
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL- Oklahoma State vs. No. 17 Oregon
Texas Bowl- Western Michigan vs. Rice
Wednesday, December 31
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL- Houston vs. Air Force
Sun Bowl- Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL- Boston College vs. Vanderbilt
Insight Bowl- Kansas vs. Minnesota
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL- LSU vs. Georgia Tech
Thursday, January 1
OUTBACK BOWL- South Carolina vs. Iowa
CAPITAL ONE BOWL- Georgia vs. Michigan State
Gator Bowl- Nebraska vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl- Penn State vs. USC
Fedex Orange Bowl- Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Friday, January 2
Cotton Bowl- Mississippi vs. Texas Tech
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL- Kentucky vs. East Carolina
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL- Utah vs. Alabama
January 3
INTERNATIONAL BOWL- Buffalo vs. Connecticut
January 5
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL- Ohio State vs. Texas
January 6
GMAC Bowl- Ball State vs. Tulsa*
January 8
FEDEX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME- Florida vs. Oklahoma
That’s 34 games, 68 schools spread over a period of 20 days for those of you keeping score at home. An ample supply of college football for any fanatics out there.
A few notes
*- There are a few bowl games remaining without corporate names in their title. Gator, Sun, Texas, Independence. Were these games unable to find sponsors?
*- Will Oklahoma St. and Oregon combine for 70 pts or more in the Holiday Bowl? This annually has been of the most high scoring affairs.
*- Oh how has the Orange Bowl dropped. A game that featured early triumphs of Joe Paterno led Penn State, Nebraska and Oklahoma in their glory days, the first major bowl appearance of Florida State, and the all time classic 84 battle between Nebraska and Miami, has Cincinnati and Virginia Tech playing this year. I’m sure they are talented football teams, but how many people are drooling to see them play in a prime-time network slot?
*- Arizona and BYU meet in a bowl 30 years after the former left the WAC conference for the higher profile Pac Eight(Now Ten, Arizona State joined also)
*- Vanderbilt makes a rare bowl appearance. Congratulations to Commodore fans, but this is a sign of how bowls are grown way out of proportion. 6-6 college teams get bids. When I was growing up I could remember Florida State going without a bowl in 1978 even though they finished the season 8-3.
It is my humble opinion that bowl season has gotten out of hand. Someone may say what’s the big deal? If someone wants to start a bowl game and there are two schools willing to play in it, does their records matter. A good football isn’t only a contest between stars at big name schools.
All true, but how much public money is spent on these affairs? Many of the teams are state universities who get funded by taxpayers. Then there is the game itself where police have to be taken from other tasks to work the day or night of the game or paid over-time.
With the economic downturn right now, you have to wonder if there will be less bowls in the near future. That would depend on how long a deal a corporate sponsor signed on for. I wonder how many fans of some schools plan to make a bowl trip. Are there 1,000 or more FAU Owls willing to journey from Florida to Michigan in December to watch the team play? Even if I were a Owl fan and had money, I’d stay home.
Enjoy the games.
The school gave him a contract extension three years ago. From AP-
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State fired basketball coach Jay John, whose team is 6-12 this season and winless in the Pac-10. Attendance is reaching record lows at Gill Coliseum and the school has had only one winning season since 1989-90.
Assistant Kevin Mouton will temporarily run the team after the rare midseason coaching change, which was announced Sunday night by athletic director Bob De Carolis. De Carolis did not rule out Mouton as a permanent replacement.
John, in his sixth season, received a five-year contract extension in 2005. Oregon State owes him about $1.1 million.
*****
John did not have a chance to meet with the team Sunday night. He had a record of 72-97 and a conference mark of 26-68, including 0-6 this season. The Beavers, however, showed some grit in nearly upsetting Washington on Saturday.
You have to wonder about the people in charge of OSU’s sports programs. They give a coach with limited results a contract extension, then fire him in mid-season for not turning around a perennial loser. Paying someone not to coach your team seems like a waste of money to me.
The Dennis Erickson road show is taking its act to Arizona State.
Dennis Erickson has accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State, Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said Saturday night.
The 59-year-old Erickson spent one season at Idaho in his second stint at the school, going 4-8. He led Miami to two national titles, also has been a head coach at Wyoming, Washington State and Oregon State and coached Seattle and San Francisco in the NFL.
Erickson has a 149-64-1 record in 18 seasons as a college coach. At Oregon State, he took over a program that had an NCAA Division I-record 28 straight losing seasons. His first team in Corvallis went 7-5 and made an Oahu Bowl appearance. His second Beavers’ team routed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl to cap an 11-1 season.
Erickson has been an enormously successful college coach, so it’s no surprise that he’s getting a chance to move up the ranks. I’m surprised Miami didn’t make a run at him.
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