2007 NFL Training Camp – Culpepper to Oakland
by oiler on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 08:40am
- With talks between Oakland and JaMarcus Russell stalled, the Raiders signed Daunte Culpepper on Tuesday. It’s a one year deal, which sends a direct message to Russell. Both players have similar skill sets, only one is in camp.
- We’re still waiting to hear how bad it was, but Chester Taylor was forced to leave practice Tuesday morning because of a “right forearm contusion”. Luckily, for everyone but Taylor, the Vikes have plenty of depth at running back.
- Now that Cam Cameron is in Miami, fantasy speculators want to know if he can turn Ronnie Brown into LaDainian Tomlinson. Brown seems to have gotten in top shape this offseason, dropping 10 pounds and looking fit, but the level of success these LT-type expectations will be held back more by the Dolphins’ offensive line than Brown’s ability to run the football.
- With Corey Dillon no longer in New England, it’s possible that the Pats will be giving Heath Evans more responsibility in the offense. He’s certainly shown he can step in and provide quality short term relief, but for a guy who scored his first career TD last season (after 79 career games) I wouldn’t expect too much to come out of this.
- Clinton Portis was held out of practice because the tendinitis in his troublesome right now is back. Ladell Betts in ‘07!
- Mike Martz is looking for ways to get T.J. Duckett involved in the offense. TJ and Tatum Bell sure do sound like a nice compliment of backs while Kevin Jones is still out. If they can keep their OL healthy this time around, maybe that whole 10 win thing isn’t so crazy?
- Terry Glenn is having surgery on his right knee after injuring it in practice last week. He’s expected to miss about two weeks.
- A great move for Chicago the other day in picking up DT Darwin Walker from Buffalo. The Bears were paper thin at the tackle position after losing Tank Johnson and a couple of backups from last season.
- Let the nightmare of 2007 Jags football begin; center Brad Meester is out 8-10 weeks with a broken bone in his right ankle.
- Oh, and the Jags signed Tim Couch over the weekend.
- Willie Parker is talking about being an every down back. Willie Parker is talking about being LT. Is Willie Parker crazy? FG’s Sigmund Blum is a fan.
- Meanwhile, things don’t look good for Kevan Barlow in Pittsburgh. Apparently, the RB coach there is a fan of pass protection and loves the work that Parker and Najeh Davenport are doing.
- Kyle Orton is stepping up in the race to be Sexy Rexy’s #2.
- The Bills are looking to find ways to get Roscoe Parrish more involved in the offense.
- Fragile Frank Gore broke his hand, and will miss the preseason. If you’re drafting, this 49ers OL is a good one and was a real important factor to Gore’s breakout season. Right now, in the world of RBBC role playing, Maurice Hicks is the Warrick Dunn type and Michael Robinson is the TJ Duckett,type. It’s also being argued that Gore’s injury has a silver lining but I don’t think you’ll be able to draft Gore much lower than before. People realize its only a hand injury and so forth. But for anyone who watched Gore run in college, maybe staying away isn’t a bad thing.
- Mike Holmgren really likes DJ Hackett. A lot of people do really. And right now Hackett has a lead on the #2 WR job opposite Deion Branch.
- John Clayton’s notes from Vikings camp aren’t really encouraging for those who want to believe this team will be successful this season.
- The Redskins intend to keep Antwaan Randle El as a starter over Brandon Lloyd.
- Pro Football Reference takes a lengthy look at how the Chiefs have fallen.
UPDATE: Adam Schefter reported that the one year was a demand of Culpepper as well. He turned down a 3 year offer from Jacksonville in search for a one year deal.