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| Friday, September 1 By Chris Mortensen Special to ESPN.com | |||||
In June, when LaVar Arrington turned an excused one-day absence into a weeklong pass from the Washington Redskins, it sent up red flags among coaches and players.
Chargers coach Mike Riley was "excited" to see Ryan Leaf perform in a football game for the first time in 20 months, but he is guardedly optimistic about Leaf's future. "The best thing we can do with Ryan is just go day-to-day, week-to-week," said Riley. "When we can see that this thing is going to be OK, then we can look at a bigger picture. If he's healthy, he's going to get some time because when he throws the ball you do see something special." Leaf's passing performance in San Diego's preseason win over the 49ers provided the first glimmer of hope in a long time. His first four completions covered an average of 20 yards. He was intercepted once on a bad read, but Riley and the staff did not fault him for two lost fumbles because he was blindsided on protection breakdowns. Chargers personnel director Billy Devaney was encouraged, saying, "Ryan made a couple of great throws. ... It reminds us of why we drafted him." Leaf remains No. 3 on the depth start behind Jim Harbaugh and Moses Moreno. While Harbaugh gives the team great leadership skills, his average arm is diminishing. And the Chargers signed free agent receiver Curtis Conway to give them a deep game. Moreno has shown he's capable, but he's not Dan Marino. The Chargers, for now, remain realistic. They know that Leaf must prove he can handle any future adversity. Dayne or Alexander? Ron Dayne is "exactly what we thought he was," according to New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi. He's a 260-pounder with good feet. Maybe Dayne isn't a true pile-mover, but he's a workhorse. Still, you wonder whether the Giants will ever regret choosing Dayne over Shaun Alexander, the former Alabama running back who slipped to the Seattle Seahawks with the 19th pick in this year's draft. Based on early impressions, Alexander might be something special. He had two 11-yard touchdown runs in Seattle's opening preseason game against Indianapolis. The Seahawks have a guy who may be in the same mold as the Colts' Edgerrin James. The Colts thought James, especially with his receiving ability, fit the NFL mold better than Ricky Williams. Alexander's receiving and running skills fit the West Coast offense, although NFL scouts' biggest question is whether he could truly pound the ball between the tackles, which backs such as James and Dayne certainly can do. One Seahawks coach, sensitive to Ricky Watters' status as the starter, felt that Alexander was "so smooth that he reminds me of Marcus Allen." Alexander has shown that he's not only smooth, able to run routes and catch the ball, but that he has great vision and instincts that allow him to avoid a lot of hard hits. Seattle coach Mike Holmgren has been adamant that Watters will be the starter, but that Alexander will get his share of carries. Watters, who had a 1,200-yard season in 1999, has been very supportive of the rookie, serving as a mentor. He was the first to congratluate Alexander after his inaugural TD run. But if Alexander proves to be a special player, how long can you hold him back, and how will Watters handle it? "Right now, you sense greatness in Alexander," said a Seattle source. "The coaches see it, the players see it. If it's real, even Ricky will see it, and these things take care of themselves." Rookie reality Plaxico Burress got a taste of the NFL in two weeks when, after a spectacular preseason debut against the Cowboys, he was shut out by the Miami Dolphins' aggressive man coverage led by All-Pro cornerback Sam Madison. But one AFC Central scout did say, "Based on what I saw against Dallas, you just don't do the things he (Burress) did, and say it's a fluke. He might be a cross between Keyshawn Johnson and Randy Moss, not good news for the rest of us. His consistency is the question, but it usually is with rookies, even great rookies." As for the Dolphins' defense, Carolina Panthers George Seifert was more than impressed watching film as he prepared for Thursday night's exhibition game with Pittsburgh. "That (Miami) defense is about as good as I've seen," he said. "Very impressive." Fiedler's still in the fight As for the Dolphins' quarterback race, don't count out Jay Fiedler, who is due back by the final preseason game after hip surgery. Damon Huard has been adequate, and he won games while subbing for Dan Marino last year, but the coaching staff is anticipating a tough decision. One coach said, "Fiedler is smart as a whip, but he's got a lot better arm than Steve Walsh (another smart guy). There's something about him that's hard to express. He's one of those guys who just seems to have the right stuff." Don't get excited about Jim Druckenmiller, who threw for 147 yards against the Steelers. The Dolphins have discovered what the 49ers saw -- a strong-armed, but slow delivery passer who won't challenge for the job. He was sacked four times, and nobody was blaming the offensive line. In fact, the Dolphins will take a hard look at Mike Quinn as their No. 3 quarterback. He played under offensive coordinator Chan Gailey in Pittsburgh and Dallas. The Dolphins also will be watching the waiver wires, which is where Drucknemiller probably will land. A changed man Titans coach Jeff Fisher sees a rejuvenated man in Carl Pickens, the wide receiver the team signed after he was finally released by the Bengals. The fade pass he caught from Steve McNair for a touchdown last weekend is just a sign of the potential Pickens brings to the defending AFC champion. "He's worked really hard to learn our offense, but the thing that really excites me is that Carl is having a blast," said Fisher. "You don't talk about how nervous you are for a preseason game (as Pickens did) if you're a rear-end. "I've seen him work his tail off, do things veterans hate doing. I've seen him flat-out whipped, and fans are yelling at him, and he's waving to them, they keep yelling, and finally he drops his helmet and signs autographs for 20 minutes when you know he'd love to be inside in the air conditioning." | ALSO SEE
NFL Training Camp 2000 | ||||
