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2010 NFL Mock Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars

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With the 10th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars take Tim Tebow, oh wait, that is supposed to be the second round. While it is almost inevitable that Tebow will be taken by the team who plays in the same town as the University of Florida, it will probably be in a later round. As of right now, the team that feature MJD, needs to improve its defense in the first round.

10th Pick: ILB Rolando McClain (Alabama)

Coming off of a National Championship, this hard nosed, smart and studious defensive juggernaut will immediately succeed in the NFL. With a big frame and quick feet, McClain will be able to take over a defensive game. Jacksonville should be very happy with this pick and will most likely get a high return for the money they will spend on him.

2010 NFL Mock Draft: Buffalo Bills

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With rumors flying that Marshawn Lynch will be traded, one would think they could take C.J. Spiller. With no quarterback and no absolute stud receiver though, they will most likely stay away from the skill positions. Rebuilding starts in the trenches and that is where the Bills will be during the draft.

9th Pick: OG Mike Lupati (Idaho)

Buffalo has the book end tackels required to dominate on the offensive line, but need that guard to secure the interior. Lupati could be that guard. He is coming out of Idaho, which is not exactly a football power house, but has produced solid talent in the past. If Lupati can show he is an NFL caliber guard this year, then the Bills will be in a great position to draft that franchise quarterback next year.

With Spiller still on the board though, a trade would not be unheard of. This could be one of the most valuable picks in the draft, especially for teams who need a running back.

2010 NFL Mock Draft: Oakland Raiders

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With C.J. Spiller on the board it would be easy to predict that the Oakland Raiders would take him. In reality though, Davis knows he does have to make a smart pick this year. After DHB was failure last year, the owner and general manager understands that a good pick this year will keep fans around for a few more years. Until he drafts yet another guy for speed, that is.

8th Pick: OT Brian Bulaga (Iowa)

The University of Iowa does two things very well, make offensive lineman and make defensive lineman. With JaMarcus Russell projected to be the starter next year, the Raiders are going to need to give him some time to throw. Bulaga can give Russell the time he needs. When a team has a quarterback that isn't accurate and doesn't move well, the best thing it can do is give him time to read the defense and find the open man. If he is truly NFL material, he will make the plays.

Keep in mind though, this is Al Davis and Spiller did run a 4.3 at the combine.

2010 NFL Mock Draft: Cleveland Browns

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After being punished by Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu year, after year, after year, the Cleveland Browns will finally have their own play making safety. Cleveland's problems last year were not so much on the offensive side of the ball, as they were on the defensive side. Sure, Brady Quinn and Derrick Anderson didn't exactly light it up, but when they did the defense didn't keep them in the game. Rebuilding their swiss cheese secondary will start in the secondary.

7th Pick: S Eric Berry (Tennessee)

Current safeties Mike Adams and Abram Elam are solid players, on the second or third string. Berry adds a sense of controlled chaos and physicality that could fire this defense up. As mentioned earlier, a good d-line is required to have an outstanding secondary and you can't get much better than Pro Bowl nose tackle Shaun Rogers. Berry should have the opportunity to grab some errant passes if Rogers gets penetration.

One pick surely doesn't fix a defense, but by adding Berry the Browns are taking a step in the right direction.

2010 NFL Mock Draft: Seattle Seahawks

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One could argue that Pete Carrol would like to try to keep Matt Hasselbeck up right and see what he has. In reality though, Carrol seems to want to run things his way and if they wanted to keep up right why would they trade Rob Sims? The former USC Head Coach is the kind of guy who wants to do things his way and will most likely want to start of with his own quarterback.

6th Pick: QB Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)

Clausen is a good choice for Seattle because he has played through tough elements before. The midwest is not known for its warm and sunny conditions in November and December and neither is Seattle. Carrol knows he is going to need a quarterback that can not only throw the ball to vertical receivers, such as T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but can also power the ball through the elements. From what we have seen at Notre Dame, Clausen can do that.

Welcome to the NFL Jimmy Clausen, make sure you packed your umbrella. Oh, and make sure you keep an eye out for Patrick Willis from San Francisco when he blows through your line.

Terps Retain Fridge

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The University of Maryland Terrapins has decided to keep Head Coach Ralph Friedgen around. This seems to be best for the team on a number of fronts. For continuity, as we discussed months ago, the Terps have already named Offensive Coordinator James Franklin as the successor. This season's bad record can be blamed on the bad offense, so the change would either cost the University double in dead contract costs or leave the team with pretty much the same scheme. The second is the cost. In this bad economy, asking members of the Terrapin Club (which of full disclosure, I am a member of), to pay for Fridge's contract when he's not working for the team seems in bad judgement.

We know this is has not been a season to remember, unless you want to point it out as the worst season ever for Maryland football. But Friedgen has been the only reliable coach the team has had in quite a bit of time. One bad season should not sink him. Of course, Maryland has not been stellar in his tenure, but it will take much longer than the few years he's been coach to build the team to a national powerhouse.

Terps Slammed by Cal

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In a rematch from last season, the Terrapins did not far so well. The California Bears defeated Maryland 52-13. The Terps had upset Cal last year and caused a small You Tube sensation with Kevin Barnes hit on Jahvid Best causing the Best to vomit on field. Too bad Barnes is now on the Redskins.

Joking aside, Ralph Friedgen kept his team in the game for the first couple of drives, but played it safe and punted away. The defense did it's work and held Cal to no scores early. But just 3 drives in, they let Best break out for a 73 yard touchdown. Maryland then fumbled the kickoff and Best ran it in for a short score. All told, that was the end. The Terps tried to come back, but only got as close as 14-6 before Cal broke loose. You could have stopped watching at halftime.

For unranked Maryland, starting with a loss to begin the season wasn't so bad. However being blown out is. Friedgen should be able to get his team back on track in the coming weeks, but this opportunity to break into the Top 25 is gone. It will be much tougher to do so the rest of the season.

MWC & WAC Cave to BCS

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The Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences ended their fight against the BCS by signing the Bowl Championship Series agreement. Again, the power conferences and greedy NCAA get the upper hand and allow the BCS to continue without formal objection for the next few years.

I've stated disgust of the BCS system and this changes nothing. Now that practically any team that would be worthy of the national championship is included in the BCS. But then again, not really. With the BCS calculations, who you play and when you play them become important. There is no guarantee that Notre Dame will decide to play a WAC team. Or that Florida will play a MWC school. While not perfect, the 8 team playoff suggested by the MWC can help. The biggest issue with the BCS is how do you decide who is the better undefeated teams between 3 teams. Or three 1 loss teams? An 8-team playoff helps with this unless there are 9 undefeated teams or other combination that puts some teams in and some teams out with the same record. NCAA, let's try this again in a few years and get it right? In the meantime, I'll wait till November when the basketball season starts.

The BCS is Communism

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I knew it! Something was so fundamentally wrong with the Bowl Championship Series. It was un-American or something. Rep Joe Barton (TX-R) put it together for all of us at a meeting of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. "It's like Communism. You can't fix it."

Those of you who know me and know of my hatred for the BCS know I agree with Rep Barton, to an extent. Those that don't know, here's a primer, my rant earlier this year and my plan to fix it. I don't know Joe Barton from Bartolo Colon. While I appreciate his passion for changing the system, comparing it to Communism is crazy. After all the reason the BCS and it's predecessor, the Bowl System, exist is because it's all about the money. Surprisingly John Swofford, the BCS coordinator and ACC commissioner, said that very thing in the same meeting.

While many of us do not prefer the BCS, it's here to stay for awhile. Really, Barton and his bill co-sponsor, Rep Bobby Rush (IL-D), should be concentrating their efforts on something more important. Like how the new Yankee Stadium could have been built so poorly for wind management.

MD Football Hires Successor

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Maryland football has solidified the future of the team by naming James Franklin the future head coach after Ralph Friedgen steps down. "Fridge" still has three years remaining on his contract. This is a good sign for the program as they won't have recruits wondering about the coaching of the team. They will know Franklin will be there. Since he is the current offensive coordinator, there may not be much change in the system.

This is where the Terps athletic program is succeeding, by allowing a plan of succession. Let's hope Debbie Yow and her staff can give Gary Williams the room he needs to work. While she supported him earlier in the week, that does not guarantee future seasons, thus putting recruits at the position of guessing if Williams is still around when they play.

BCS BS

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30 Rock, Law & Order, Scrubs. Three solid shows. Also three things I'll be watching off my DVR Thursday night instead of the Fedex BCS National Championship Game. BTW, to the powers that be, "BCS National Championship" is redundant, since you have Championship twice. Those of you who know the real BMT probably know of my hatred of the Bowl Championship Series. The rest of you now get the details. This has been something that has been brewing in my mind long before we started the DC Sports Page, but I have motivation to write it this BCS season.

Michael Wilbon wrote a column that inspired me to write this even more. Like I really needed more impetus to do it. While I am not a sports journalist, and have never been a huge fan of college football, I agree with his stance 100%. Why watch any bowl game except one, when it has already been decided, down to two teams, who the champion will be? And they can't even get that right.

Terps Win Humanitarian Bowl

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The Terps won the Humanitarian Bowl yesterday 42-35. I'd like to provide some insight, but I only caught the last 10 minutes of gametime because they started this game at 4:30 PM EST on a Tuesday! If you need details, go to ESPN.

So begin a mini-rant on the inequities of the bowl system. First, of course there are reasons that the game started at 4:30. The evil TV empires dictated it. It's 2:30 Mountain Standard Time and that's when bowl games are played in the mountains. The time was dictated prior to the invitation of the participants. I know, it's because the Terps basketball team had a big game against Elon at 7:30 EST.

Really there is no good reason to have this bowl game at that time. It is December 30, a Tuesday. If it were a weekend, a Friday, a holiday, even New Years Eve, I might buy the time. But over half of America is at work then. That is those of us who have jobs in this economy. We don't all have TVs in our offices or at our desks.

Besides the fact that bowl games provide revenue to participating schools, there is no reason to have this game. My alma mater is getting money, and now we can rejoice. We are the Humanitarian Bowl Champions! Or maybe we are the great Humanitarians!

I'll step off the soapbox for now until I write the full BCS story I've had in my head for quite awhile.

Terps Ride Roller Coaster Back to the Top

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Maryland’s ride through the schedule took another interesting good turn as they dispatched UNC 17-15 at Byrd Stadium on Sat. Maryland knocked off yet another top 25 ranked team this season. The Terps now control their own destiny. If they win out, they'll appear in the ACC Championship game for the first time.

ESPN has already started to feature a weekly article with bowl projections Bowl Projections. After this past week's results, ESPN has Maryland making a return trip to the Orange Bowl or a nice trip to the Gator Bowl in a rematch from the regular season a few years ago with Notre Dame.

A Cold Breeze Blowing by College Park & Friedgen

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Maryland's loss to Middle Tennessee State (24-14) last weekend could be the end of an era at College Park. The expansion of the ACC to become more of a football conference has yet to occur. Maryland must battle back the rest of the season in a conference that appears to be in another down year. Maryland may find its way to another bowl game this season, but the chances of returning to a BCS bowl game are but a distant memory.

As Maryland had consecutive ten plus seasons for the first time in school history, Friedgen looked to make huge leaps in recruiting by luring athletes from such states as Florida, Georgia, and California. He had hoped to improve depth and speed to the roster after his first couple of seasons. After taking Vanderlinden's recruits to the Orange Bowl in his first year it showed how great a coach Friedgen was going to be. Unfortunately Maryland aimed too high too quickly.

Another Bowl Game

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Why? Why? Why?

In a brillant move that benefits no fans, the NCAA has granted Washington, DC the Congressional Bowl..

What purpose does this serve? RFK or Nationals Park? First of all, RFK should be demolished so Daniel Snyder can build the 1 million capacity retractable dome. Second, why ruin a perfectly good baseball park with a football game? Apparently after rejecting the +1 championship, they thought yet another bowl game to add the to 670 we already have makes it so much better.

The participants are going to be something like the 10th best ACC team and one of the service academies. I hope Navy, the participant for the first Congressional Bowl, makes it to a BCS bowl so the Congressional Bowl organizers will have to scramble for the Coast Guard Academy's football team.

The College Recruit that Wasn't

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This story has been so interesting. Interesting enough that I didn't really care who Daniel Synder interviewed for 62 and 3/16 of an hour. The question is why did Kevin Hart go so far with the lie?

And The Heisman Goes To

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A year that marks some exceptional performances has two standouts among the field of candidates. Tebow & McFadden separated themselves from their peers. In a two man race, Tebow's tools, stats, and on field presence during the game give him a slight edge. Tebow has all the attributes that NFL scouts salivate over and he's not even eligible for the draft yet. McFadden will certainly be an impact player in the NFL.

BCS

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Watching the ESPN BCS Bowl Show special, I could only think to myself I'd like a pep talk from Lou Holz. He's awesome! He should have a Super Bowl commercial giving the loosing team at half time a (fake) pep talk and at the end of the commercial - drink a soft drink.

When talking about a particular conference, Lou mentioned something to the effect that some people may mention that while other teams in other conferences played additional tough conference games this team/conference went to the bakery and played cupcakes. He has such a great way with words.

I don't even know what else was on TV, but Lou had my attention. He made so many valid points about coaches leaving to go coach and recruit for their new team and leave their old one, that every team had a chance to play for the title by not losing and any team can make a case to be in whatever bowl game they'll be playing.

Oh, and yes it's Ohio State vs. LSU for the title and Hawaii plays in a BCS Bowl.

Maryland Terrapins Bowl Bid

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After Maryland demolished the Wolfpack, the Terps became bowl eligible. The two most likely scenarios involve MD playing in Boise or San Francisco.

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