Welcome the the Day Before Friday edition of Pirate Booty. I hope you have already taken your Prilosec because we have a plethora of spicy Raider tidbits for you ingestion today.
The Raiders are a popular speculation home for Terrelle Pryor. We also have Louis Murphy teaching kids all of his performance tricks (get your mind out of the gutter—I'm talking about football). There is also the daily dose of two steps forward and one step back of lockout news. Read on, but first you have to jump over....
More on Terrelle Pryor
Players like Terrelle Pryor and Plaxico Burress will always find a speculation home with the Raiders. John Clayton thinks the Raiders are the favorites to grab Terrelle in the supplemental draft.
Five teams that may take a chance on Pryor - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN
New coach Hue Jackson works well with quarterbacks and could try to develop Pryor as a passer behind Jason Campbell. The Raiders also don't have a quarterback signed past this season. It might take a couple years to develop Pryor, but it might be a worth a mid-round choice for the Raiders to try.
While the Raiders like freak athletes like Pryor, and even drafted a similar prospect in Ronald Curry, ESPN's Bill Williamson points out a piece of Raider history that makes this move seem not as likely:
Clayton makes Raiders the Pryor favorite - AFC West Blog - ESPN
I could see the Raiders being in play, but I’m not so sure the Raiders should be considered the favorite to pull the trigger on Pryor. Oakland has never used a supplemental pick.
NFL.com's Mike Mayock sees Pryor as being limited to specialty packages, at least in the beginning. Mocking the draft thinks very highly of Pryor.
Mike Mayock weighs in on Terrelle Pryor - Mocking The Draft
What Mayock do was simply classify Pryor as a wide receiver prospect. Instead, he said on Total Access that Pryor would be best in special packages (something I mentioned in a Q&A Tuesday). "The value for him as a rookie is in packages," Mayock said. "I think the New York Jets are the best wildcat team in the NFL offensively. Why? Because Brad Smith can throw the football just well enough to keep you honest. That’s what I think this kid can do. He can be a package quarterback in Year One while you develop his skill set." That skill set, of course, could be immense. I've been saying the whole time about Pryor that he compares really favorably to Colin Kaepernick.
When it comes to Kaepernick comparisons, I think Colin displayed more accuracy. And a sexier set of intangibles.
In case you missed it, here is a collection of scouting comments, my thoughts, discussion thread and poll on Mr. Pryor:
Terrelle Pryor: Is He a Good Option for the Raiders or the NFL at All? - Silver And Black Pride
Raiders Grab Bag O' Booty
The other day on Pirate Booty we discussed the Pittsburgh columnist that claimed Ike Taylor should be valued equally to Nnamdi. It is a ridiculous sentiment. Shutdown corner agrees, and brings up many of the things we talked about in the comments.
Higher Education: The ‘greatness’ of Ike Taylor, and other things that will make your head explode - Shutdown Corner - NFL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
That's fine and all, but there's one number Harris is missing: Targets. You know, the number of times opposing quarterbacks throw the ball in a cornerback's direction. You may remember that it was said of Deion Sanders that people knew he was so good in his prime because nobody would throw in his half of the field. And according to Football Outsiders' metrics, that phenomenon still holds true. In fact, Asomugha has been targeted so infrequently through the years, we actually had to lower the baseline for eligible targets just to get him in the tables in the annual Football Outsiders Almanacs.
Mark down Jason Campbell for a membership in the Jason Campbell fan club.
Jason Campbell Has A Fan In Trevor Scott | Football News Now
"Obviously he has stuff to work on whereas everybody else does as well, but I like the guy," Scott added. "He can put the ball pretty much anywhere over the field. We’ll just see what happens with him coming back this year. He’s definitely like another leader on the team."
Mel Kiper looks at the current state of franchise. He regurgitates the same ol' draft commentary, and then gives his thoughts for next year.
NFL: Mel Kiper's summer look at the AFC West - ESPN
Next year's help, now: Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State I can see the Raiders going in a lot of directions here, but I don't think they'll be picking so high that a top QB will be available. Blackmon is precisely the immediate producer an expanding offense could use.
I'm not a big fan of receivers in the first-round. I am thinking safety right now. It should be a better draft for safeties, and the Raiders could draft a quality one at the end of the first-round.
More delicious quotes from Stanford:
Stanford Routt tells Pat Kirwan and Tim Ryan: "We run sixty plays on defense, fifty-six will be man to man..." - Silver And Black Pride
Stanford Routt: "56 of 60 plays are man to man..." on SiriusXMradio's Moving the Chains.
Little Blue Pills does a downright decent thing in the offseason for local youth.
Murphy waits out lockout, helps kids | wtsp.com
Before his senior year with the Florida Gators, Murphy hosted the inaugural camp at a YMCA in St. Petersburg. Since then, he's held the camp at his alma mater, Lakewood High School. The camp is free for the dozens of local kids who learned from Murphy and several of his NFL and college friends. Current Bucs' cornerback Myron Lewis and Tampa Bay's fifth-round draft pick, safety Ahmad Black, helped the kids learn specifics about football and life.
Around the AFC West
The NFL takes infringement issues seriously. I don't know why anyone thought the following would fly:
Kansas City Chiefs
NFL investigating trademark infringement involving 5 players and porn stars - The Washington Post
Eric Berry and Brandon Flowers were shown in their Chiefs uniforms as two of the hosts at the party May 20. The event was advertised as the official launch for Exxxotica, a three-day, adult-themed expo in Miami.
Chiefs' players weren't the only AFC Westers seduced into this orgy of deceit:
San Diego Chargers
CHARGERS: Rookie Liuget connected to trademark infringement case
Chargers first-round draft pick Corey Liuget, a Miami native, also had his name mentioned in the ad. "I was invited to a party by a friend that occurred on May 20th at Club Play in Miami," Liuget said in a statement released by his agent on Wednesday. "I had no prior knowledge of this event and did not authorize the use of my name to be associated with this party. I am disappointed that my name was used and associated with this type of event and will take all actions necessary to protect my good name and character."
You know what makes me happy? The thought of either Tim Tebow of Brady Quinn starting 16 games for the Broncos in 2011.
Denver Broncos
NFL Rumors - NFL Trade Rumors, Free Agency Rumors and More - Rumor Central - ESPN
"I can tell you unequivocally that if you talk to John Elway and John Fox, they will tell you emphatically that Brady Quinn is absolutely in the mix in terms of the competition for the starting job," ESPN senior NFL reporter Chris Mortensen said during an appearance on ESPN Radio back in mid-May. "They are not handing it to Tim Tebow. They are not handing it to Kyle Orton. They may have a depth chart to start out, but I know in communicating and speaking to both men that Brady Quinn is not forgotten."
Around the Lockout
The lockout continues....
NFL Lockout: Expecting a Deal in 2 Weeks 'Is Borderline Insane' - Silver And Black Pride
NFL lockout talks progressing, but agreement on new CBA doesn't seem to be imminent
Many, in fact, continue to expect a deal to be reached by early July. That said, many sources took a more cautious tone Wednesday, one day after many reports suggesting a deal was "almost done" or even "80-85 percent complete". Those sources characterized those reports as overly optimistic and said crafting a long-term CBA with so many moving parts is a complicated process and there were still chances for future snags or delays.
Here's a novel idea. The NFL is going to, among other things, make sure that everyone who buys a ticket to the Super Bowl actually has a seat.
The Associated Press: NFL hoping to make amends with next Super Bowl
Five months after the ticket debacle in Texas, NFL senior vice president Frank Supovitz came to Indianapolis to examine the Super Bowl host committee's plan. He left town with the impression that things are on track and ready to go despite the uncertainties the lockout poses to the game scheduled for Feb. 5.