Friday, July 19, 2002

ProFootballWeekly.com asks personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum for his thoughts on the hottest topics in football. 

Falcons bring in Young, Dunn to create buzz

Former 49ers QB Steve Young and second-year Atlanta QB Michael Vick have formed a friendship through football that began last year. Young, a two-time Most Valuable Player who retired after the 1999 season, called Vick, the NFL's No. 1 overall draft pick in 2001, to wish him well before Atlanta started training camp. Young forged his reputation for exceptional passing accuracy and scrambling skills and knew Vick had the potential to do the same. Both are left-handed. Both have strong arms. After accepting an invitation last month from Atlanta head coach Dan Reeves, Young watched as Vick, the Falcons' starting quarterback as he enters his second NFL season, ran some drills on the last day of minicamp Friday. Before practice began, Young sat with Vick, position coach Jack Burns and backup quarterbacks Doug Johnson, Kurt Kittner and Dusty Bonner. They briefly watched some film before Young turned his chair around and fielded questions about Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders and the Super Bowl. Later, Vick spent some one-on-one time with Young as they took the 45-minute drive south from the Falcons' camp to downtown Atlanta. Along with Reeves and team owner Arthur Blank, Vick visited the NFL Youth Education Town center where Young's foundation, Forever Young, helped finance a computer room.

Buchsbaum: While signing Warrick Dunn and bringing in Steve Young to work with Michael Vick may sound like good ideas, they really may seem to be more about public relations than anything else. Dunn came to the Falcons because he felt he was going to be their Marshall Faulk and they were going to feature him and build everything around him. Instead, they ended up drafting T.J. Duckett, which means Dunn will probably go back to being a third-down and situational back, which is the reason he left Tampa Bay. With regard to Young, it may have been a nice photo session and may have gotten nice publicity, but really there was almost no teaching involved. Basically, it was a sit down and meet with you for an hour meeting in which they did nothing. Young was not able to impart much of his wisdom on Vick. But from a PR standpoint, it made the Falcons look very good and got them a lot of favorable press, which could sell tickets.

Redskins face challenge to sign draft picks

With a day before the 49ers and the expansion Texans open training camp and less than a week before most other teams follow suit, negotiations with rookies are moving at an extremely slow pace. Only three first-round picks have signed deals, making it more than likely that a large number of players will be holding out when training camps open. The Redskins, as much as any other team, are struggling to sign their draft picks. Patrick Ramsey (1), Ladell Betts (2), Rashad Bauman (3) and Cliff Russell (3) have high contract demands.

Buchsbaum: The Redskins are having a very hard time signing their draft picks. Both of their third-round picks, Bauman and Russell, feel they should be paid more like second-round picks. Ramsey feels he should be paid like a first-round quarterback, and Betts wants big money at running back after being drafted in the second round. The Redskins are strapped for money and do not want to put many incentives in their rookie bonuses. Overall, signings appear much slower than usual and you could have a lot of first-round picks holding out this year.

Lions DT Rogers to miss start of camp

DT Shaun Rogers will miss the first two to three weeks of the Detroit Lions' training camp after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle. According to Lions president and CEO Matt Millen, the ankle was bothering Rogers and was found to have some chips when it was examined. Rogers, taken in the second round of the 2001 draft was a starter as a rookie. He was third on the team with 97 tackles, including 62 solo tackles. He also had 3.5 sacks and six deflected passes. Rogers had surgery on the ankle after his senior season at the University of Texas.

Buchsbaum: The Lions have to be a little concerned about Rogers needing his ankle scoped. This was the same ankle that caused him to fall to the end of the second round of the draft, and although they say there is actually no structural damage involved, it still is a bit of a red flag.

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