Darren McFadden healthy and ready to roll

Posted by Josh Alper on April 6, 2012, 1:25 PM EDT

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It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Darren McFadden on a football field, but his coach feels confident that the wait won’t stretch through this year’s offseason activities.

Dennis Allen isn’t allowed to work with players on the field until later this month. He said that he’s been hearing good things about McFadden’s status from the team’s strength and conditioning coaches, however.

2012 NFL Mock Draft 1.0

Here is my first attempt at a Mock Draft for the upcoming 2012 NFL Draft.

1. Indianapolis Colts - Andrew Luck - QB
2. Washington Redskins - Robert Griffin III - QB
3. Minnesota Vikings - Matt Kalil - LT
4. Cleveland Browns - Trent Richardson - HB
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Morris Claiborne - CB
6. St Louis Rams - Justin Blackmon - WR
7. Jacksonville Jaguars - Michael Floyd - WR
8. Miami Dolphins - Quinton Coples - DE
9. Carolina Panthers - Dontari Poe - DT
10. Buffalo Bills - Riley Reiff - LT
11. Kansas City Chiefs - Luke Kuechely - MLB
12. Seattle Seahawks - Ryan Tannehill - QB
13. Arizona Cardinals - Melvin Ingram - DE/OLB
14. Dallas Cowboys - Stephon Gilmore - CB
15. Philadelphia Eagles - Fletcher Cox - DT
16. New York Jets - Courtney Upshaw - OLB
17. Cincinnati Bengals - Mark Barron - S
18. San Diego Chargers - Whitney Mercilus - DE
19. Chicago Bears - Michael Brockers - DT
20. Tennessee Titans - Nick Perry - DE
21. Cincinnati Bengals - Dre' Kirkpatrick - CB
22. Cleveland Browns - Kendall Wright - WR
23. Detroit Lions - David Decastro - C/G
24. Pittsburgh Steelers - Doug Martin - HB
25. Denver Broncos - Stephen Hill - WR
26. Houston Texans - Dont'a Hightower - MLB
27. New England Patriots - David Wilson - HB
28. Green Bay Packers - Peter Konz - C
29. Baltimore Ravens - Cordy Glenn - G
30. San Francisco 49ers - Alshon Jeffery - WR
31. New England Patriots - Janoris Jenkins - CB
32. New York Giants - Johnathan Martin - LT

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Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

Redskins already teaching Robert Griffin III their playbook

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 6, 2012, 12:29 PM EDT

AP

The Redskins can’t draft Robert Griffin IIIfor another three weeks, but they’re already confident enough that he’s their quarterback of the future that they’re teaching him their playbook.

In fact, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has already traveled to Waco, Texas, where Griffin was the Heisman Trophy winner at Baylor, to meet with Griffin. And Chick Hernandez of Comcast SportsNet is reporting Shanahan will visit Griffin a couple times a week for the next several weeks.

Sapp calls Williams audio "the most heinous, egregious thing in the history of the game"

Posted by Mike Florio on April 6, 2012, 9:24 AM EDT

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Michael Irvin, a Hall of Famer who has a reputation for saying exactly what he thinks, had some strong things to say on NFL Network in response to the audio from Gregg Williams’ speech to his players the night before the NFC playoff game between the 49ers and Saints.  Warren Sapp, a likely future Hall of Famer who has a reputation for saying exactly what he thinks, hasn’t been on NFL Network very much since saying exactly what he thought about the man whom Sapp thinks “snitched” on the Saints’ bounty system.  So Sapp’s reaction to the Williams’ tape came via phone interview with Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group.

Bucs kick the tires on Derek Landri and Amobe Okoye

Posted by Josh Alper on April 6, 2012, 12:37 PM EDT

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The Buccaneers are in the market for help at defensive tackle and their first choice is Amobi Okoye.

Okoye isn’t likely to return to Chicago, but he isn’t a sure thing to wind up in Tampa either. While Stephen Holder of theTampa Bay Times reports that Okoye is interested in the Bucs, they are competing with the Broncos and Bengals for his services. Their choice might be Okoye, but they aren’t sitting around twiddling their thumbs while he makes his decision.

Holder also reports that the team is talking to free agent Derek Landri about joining the team. Landri spent 2011 with the Eagles, where he recorded 21 tackles and two sacks in 12 games as a rotational player. Landri, who started all 16 games for the Panthers in 2010, is considered a fallback option at this point for Tampa.

Whichever tackle winds up in Tampa should wind up with a chance to earn a fair amount of playing time. The team has two young starters in Gerald McCoy and Brian Price, but neither of them have been able to stay healthy and Price hasn’t quite lived up to the pre-draft reports of his ability. The other reserves are not impressive, which means there would be a lot of snaps for the taking for either Okoye or Landri next season.

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Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

Michael Irvin "almost threw up" when he heard Williams audio

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 5, 2012, 7:20 PM EDT

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Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin was sickened when he listened to the audio of former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams urging his players to hurt players on the 49ers.

Irvin said he understands that coaches fire up their players by talking about physical football. But when Williams urged his players to go after 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree’s ACL, he crossed a line that Irvin believes is unforgivable.

“Since you were a baby you’ve understood never take out a man’s knees and on this tape he’s talking about taking out an ACL,” Irvin said on NFL Network. “I almost threw up when I heard it. I pulled back any covers that I may have had for a coach. If he is out of the league forever, it would be only the right thing to do.”

Williams is currently serving an indefinite suspension, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will consider allowing Williams back into the league after a year. Irvin said he doesn’t think Goodell should permit Williams coach again.

“The Commissioner, you can’t let [Williams] back in,” Irvin said.

After hearing the speech, a lot of people share that sentiment.

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Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

Kelvin Hayden joins the Bears

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 5, 2012, 5:15 PM EDT

AP

Kelvin Hayden is heading to Chicago.

Hayden, a free agent cornerback who spent last season with the Falcons, has agreed to a one-year contract with the Bears, Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports.

Prior to signing with the Falcons last year, Hayden played six years for the Colts in the same Cover 2 defense that Lovie Smith runs in Chicago. He’ll know the defense from Day One.

Hayden played in eight games for the Falcons last year, starting one, and had two interceptions, one of which came against his old team in Indianapolis.

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Coming soon, TTR's 2nd Annual Mock Draft Contest!

Dolphins land Tyrell Johnson

Posted by Josh Alper on April 5, 2012, 4:48 PM EDT

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The Dolphins announced Thursday that they signed free agent safety Tyrell Johnson.

Johnson was the 43rd overall pick of the 2008 draft and played 49 games for the Vikings over the last four years. He spent the 2009 season as a starter, but didn’t do a very good job defending against the pass. He’s been limited to reserve and special teams roles for most of the last two years and never lived up to the status of a second-round pick in Minnesota.