Here it is everyone, the Growlzone.com 2008 NFL preview. It’s sure to be more exciting then Michael Phelps’s win in the 100m butterfly, more fun then a party involving Chris Henry, a college sorority and a keg of tequila and more messed up then Shawn Merriman’s knee (if that’s possible).
(June 11, 2007) -- At a time when a handful of players are being exiled out of the league, one is trying to get back in.
Cincinnati middle linebacker Odell Thurman, coming off his year-long suspension, was eligible to apply for reinstatement for the first time. Thurman, according to a Bengals official, did. In fact, as if to prove his eagerness, Thurman had his reinstatement application ready to go for weeks now.
Odell Thurman has a good chance to be on time for two-a-days.
The league does not confirm whether it has received reinstatement applications from a player, but the soonest Thurman could come off suspension is July 11.
Typically it takes the league four to six weeks to render its decision, but that would mean Thurman is expected to learn his fate before training camp. The league could hand down its decision anytime before then.
Last month, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said if Thurman is reinstated, the middle linebacker will have the chance to win a job with the Bengals. Cincinnati could use him.
During Thurman's rookie year in 2005, he was as good a defensive rookie as any in the league. He led the Bengals with 98 tackles, intercepted five passes, rang up 1½ sacks and was a dominant defender.
Since then, Thurman has been thrown for a loss. In February, Thurman pleaded no contest to drunk driving while also admitting he was undergoing treatment for alcohol abuse.
{mosimage}Suspended Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman had a 90-day jail term for a drunken-driving conviction reduced to six days in treatment.
Hamilton County Municipal Judge John Burlew said today he was treating Thurman like any other first-time offender.
Thurman, 23, who is living in Monticello, Ga., where he grew up, also had his driver’s license suspended for six months and was placed on probation for two years.
This was supposed to be the homestand during which the Reds proved they weren't really the Bad News Bears. After all, the lowly Nationals and Pirates were coming to town. Maybe we should've thought about another angle, the one that had the Nationals and Pirates thinking, "Ah, the Reds. Softer than the beds at the Hyatt."
Coach-speak: Bengals boss Marvin Lewis usually is about as forthcoming as a mob snitch in Little Italy, but lately he's been causing quite a stir. First, Marvin blurted out on WLW that Odell Thurman might be worth saving. Then last week, on ESPN Radio, he suggested that Chris Henry was a victim of "profiling" by the Cincinnati Police Department.
Northern Kentucky authorities said Monday that more testing would be needed to determine whether suspended Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry had failed a drug screening.
Henry's agent insisted that the drug test was negative and the Bengals said they were awaiting more information from the authorities in northern Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Bengals, plagued by a series of off-the-field problems for more than a year, waived linebacker A.J. Nicholson hours after he appeared in a court Monday on a domestic violence charge.
A spokeswoman for the Kenton County attorney's office said there would be more testing in the Henry case.
With the 2007 NFL draft winding to a close, the thoughts of who was good and who was not start to fly around in my head. So I decided to put together a list of the top 5 and the bottom 5 of this draft. Keep in mind as you read through this that the status of any draft will not completely show itself for 4 to 5 years, as some picks will not reach full potential until that time. Also, teams that made a lot of trades to set up a stronger future, stood pat in what they currently have in place but wanted to have the availability of mutlitple picks in drafts to come, cannot be fully evaluated, yet.
I'll start with the teams that seem to be watching Andy Griffith re-runs during the draft.
5. Houston Texans - I understand you are an expansion team just 5 years ago. When Carolina & Jacksonville were expansion teams they went to the playoffs a couple times each in that same period of time. Way to take another risk, but you get to be on this list for not picking Reggie Bush last year. As long as you pick in the top 16, you belong on this list for that pick. I'm not sure this team understands the object of football is to score as much as possible on offense and try to stop the other guy when not. BAFOONERY.
Czar's breakdown: The Bengals apparently took nothing but good guys in this draft. First pick Leon Hall of Michigan was a solid choice, although some teams are worried about his single coverage skills. RB Kenny Irons averaged 4.9 yards a carry over his last two seasons at Auburn and will be a solid backup to Rudi Johnson. Irons a is very physical between the tackles kind of runner. FS Marvin White of TCU has a chance and Nevada QB Jeff Rowe has the physical tools, but was inconsistent as a player. Rowe was ranked by most teams as the seventh-best quarterback in this draft. The Bengals closed the seventh round by taking two players from Notre Dame. Offensive lineman Dan Santucci, who had 25 consecutive starts for the Irish and is considered a tough over-achiever. Santucci has a chance to play all three interior positions. Safety Nedu Ndukwe had 98 tackles this season.
The Team 
