Rob Phillips adds some more perspective to the Bobby Carpenter mystery – where will he play?
Carpenter isn't known as a pure pass rusher like Ware or Spencer, but he did show flashes of that ability after Ellis got injured. Ellis' rehabilitation appears to be coming along smoothly, and the Cowboys clarified that drafting Spencer offers no indication they're concerned about Ellis making a full recovery. They're expecting the 31-year-old to be back, and good as new.
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"[Last year] was difficult but it was a great learning experience for me," Carpenter said. "Coming into this year I feel like wherever they want me to play I can do it. Last year I probably wasn't quite ready. I hadn't played inside in a couple years and trying to learn it in a new scheme was difficult.
"But now looking at it, I've got some experience in there. I know the do's and don'ts. Now I just have to tweak some of the things at the position and hopefully excel from there."
Hat tip to Burt D for the link
BTB regular Deke mentioned in the comments below this article about the NFL potentially moving the first round of the draft to Friday night.
According to an industry source, the league has had preliminary discussions about moving the first round into prime time on Friday. The remaining rounds would be conducted on Saturday and Sunday.
The thinking on this issue appears to be twofold. One, carrying the opening round in prime time means more viewers would be available to watch. Two, some NFL officials believe it would be a good idea to give teams time to decompress before Round 2.
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The biggest issue with having Round 1 of the draft at night would be making sure it could be done in a reasonable amount of time. Saturday's first round took 6 hours, 8 minutes, easily topping the previous high of 5:48 set in 2002. But getting it shortened might be a challenge because there doesn't seem to be much of an appetite from NFL officials to cut down on the current 15 minutes between picks.
What do you guys think of that idea?