Will A Blue Hen Become a Dolphin?

This from the Palm Beach Post writer Tim Graham

"Who knows Joe Flacco?

A select group of draft-eligible quarterbacks have generated a vast majority of the attention this winter. Matt Ryan, Brian Brohm, Andre Woodson, Colt Brennan and even John David Booty get mentioned most often when discussing this year’s draft class.

But because Flacco hails from the I-AA Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, he’s largely unfamiliar to anybody other than college football savants and draftniks.

Those days are over. Flacco’s stock is soaring, and the Dolphins are interested in the 6-foot-6, 232-pound accounting major. He certainly fits the classic quarterback mold Dolphins football operations exec Bill Parcells covets so much.

Although Parcells wasn’t at the Senior Bowl last week, the Dolphins interviewed Flacco there and came away highly impressed — maybe enough to take him in the second round.

The Dolphins also are high on Ryan. Who isn’t? But it’s debatable whether they should use their No. 1 overall pick to acquire Ryan or use it on a greater need and grab Flacco later.

Earlier today, fans had a chance to see Flacco’s skills on display in the College Football All-Star Challenge on ESPN. The annual exhibition, taped Tuesday at Arizona State, showcases players about to enter the draft in a skills competition.

Flacco cleaned up among the quarterbacks who participated: top-rated passer Ryan (Boston College), Brennan (Hawaii), Booty (USC) and Chad Henne (Michigan).

Flacco easily won the long ball competition. His throws of 74 and 71 yards were the best two tries. He said he would have hit 80 yards with a tighter spiral.

He also won the quarterback scramble, an obstacle course of sorts. He runs the 40-yard dash in about 4.9 seconds but looked surprisingly nimble for someone his size. Flacco also finished third in the accuracy competition.

Without question, Flacco will be popular at the NFL combine later this month in Indianapolis.

But he’s already high on the Dolphins’ watch list."

Below is the Flacco highlite reel. My favorite line? "You can't DO THAT any better than that, Scott Zolak!"

Fins Might Not Have Their Man at OC

Over the weekend, the Sun-Sentinel had an article, saying the Dolphins were trying to get the Saints' QB coach, Pete Carmichael to become the new offensive coordinator. Ethan Skolnick blogged here that this would be a good hire for John Beck's progress. Carmichael has been Drew Brees' position coach since Brees' second year in the league; the Saints QB is the player most often Beck draws comparisons to from people in the know. Prior to working with Brees, Carmichael coached at Louisiana Tech under Gary Crowton, who recruited and coached Beck at BYU. (shout out to my favorite La Tech alum, PJ Brown, whose textbook gutwrench suplex of Charlie Ward is my favorite Heat play of all time.)


Profootballtalk.com is reporting that the Saints are not going to release Carmichael (they are not under any obligation to) and that the Fins are interviewing ex Falcons offensive coordinator Hue Jackson today.

Kind of disappointing if this turns out to be accurate, as I was eager to see a young offensive mind like Carmichael come in and lead the type of offense the Saints had, and with the Fins having similar personnel, albeit unproven (Deuce: Ronnie, Reggie: Booker, Brees:Beck).

If it's not Carmichael, I'd bet the OC will end up being Chris Palmer- the Giants QB coach, Tony Sparano's mentor since college, and a Parcells guy, but he can't be interviewed until the Super Bowl is over. Palmer's claim to fame? Being the expansion coach of the Browns and picking Tim Couch #1 overall to lead your franchise. Not exactly something you want bolded on the old curriculum vitae if you're noted as a QB guru.

Someone is REALLY sad the Cowboys lost!

click the arrow in the center to play the video