Tavern Talk: NFL Free Agents To Watch

National Football Post

The first week of the season for me in any personnel department was spent reviewing teams’ final rosters after the 53-man cutdown.

Now, I understand the opening-day roster is a work in progress, but for a player to be on a roster now means he has some value to the franchise. Since being in scouting is like being in the information business, it means it's time to review how teams were built as they enter the new season.

First thing I wanted to do was have the pro assistant make a tape on all the college free agents who made other NFL rosters. Again, not from being in second-guess mode, but rather to learn from the tape, to determine if we had made a mistake with our own evaluation.

Some of these players may not have fit our team in terms of the height, weight, and speed requirements, or fit the scheme, but it helps to learn what kind of players are making NFL teams.

To become a better scout, you must first learn what is playing in the NFL and, more specifically, what is playing for your team.

Here is a breakdown of all the college free agents who made teams as of Tuesday. What’s striking is the fact that only 29 players made NFL teams, which is very low, and reaffirms that the ‘09 draft was not strong and had no depth.

The other striking fact that came out of this little project was that nine linebackers made NFL teams. This stat can imply two things: First, that teams are in dire need of athletic players to cover kicks; and second, the linebacker position has become hard for many college scouts to evaluate.

Whenever there’s a twofold element to the evaluation, i.e., run player/pass defender or blocker/receiver, mistakes are more apt to be made.

Only eight teams did not have a college free agent make their team: Miami, Cleveland, Houston, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco. The surprise team here is the Eagles, who normally have one or two.

Each player on this list is worth watching:

2009 college free agents on active rosters

 

AFC East

Buffalo
Ashlee Palmer, LB
Garrison Sanborn, LS

New England
Brian Hoyer, QB

New York Jets
Jamaal Westerman, LB

 

AFC North

Baltimore
Dannell Ellerbe, LB

Cincinnati
Quan Cosby, WR/PR

Pittsburgh
Ramon Foster, RT

 

AFC South

Indianapolis
Ramon Humber, LB
Jacob Lacey, CB

Jacksonville
Julius Williams, DE
Russell Allen, LB

 

AFC West

Denver
Chris Baker, NT

Kansas City
Pierre Walters, LB

Oakland
Nick Miller, WR
Desmond Bryant, DT

San Diego
C.J. Spillman, FS

 

NFC East

Dallas
Kevin Ogletree, WR

New York Giants
Bruce Johnson, CB

Washington
Edwin Williams, C

 

NFC North

Green Bay
Evan Dietrich-Smith, G/C

Minnesota
Kenny Onatolu, LB

 

NFC South

Atlanta
John Parker Wilson, QB

Carolina
Garry Williams, RT

APJonathan Casillas

New Orleans
Jonathan Casillas, LB

Tampa Bay
Marc Dile, G
Demar Dotson, T

 

NFC West

Arizona
Reggie Walker, LB

St. Louis
Roger Allen, G

Seattle
Michael Bennett, DT

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