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National Football League
Draft King Analysis

February 11, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com

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Here we go again: Brett Favre has told the New York Jets that he plans to retire. Favre, who turns 40 later this year, has flirted with retirement in the past, though this move seems to have the look of a final decision to retire. Favre played 18 years in the NFL and is a lock to be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Brett Favre
Brett Favre spent one year with the New York Jets. (Icon SMI)

According to the New York Daily News, Favre's retirement will clear up $13 million in cap space for the Jets. That should be helpful for the Jets with free agency just around the corner, particularly with the team expected to make a run at players like Ravens ILB Ray Lewis and possibly one of the numerous veteran quarterbacks who are likely to hit unrestricted free agency.

Apparently the USC/UCLA jersey controversy from last season (where USC violated NCAA rules by wearing their red jerseys at UCLA) has influenced the NCAA to a make a move toward change its jersey rules. The NCAA football rules committee today approved a provision allowing both teams to wear non-white jerseys in games when there is a "clear contrast in color" between the two jerseys. That hinges on both teams agreeing to the jersey change and conference approval. I imagine that uniwatchblog.com will have much more on this issue in the future.

It's a bit different in the NFL, where teams wear either "light" or "dark" jerseys. The home team gets to pick light or dark, while the road team takes the other slot. Usually light means a white uniform, though there are exceptions, such as New Orleans wearing gold jerseys at home in 2002 against Minnesota (which wore their purple uniforms) and the Patriots with their seldom-seen "gray" alternate jerseys.

USC vs. UCLA
Red vs. blue without penalty? It could happen in 2009. (Icon SMI)
There are rumors swirling about the possible use of the franchise tag by several teams. I'll have more on that as we get closer to February 19, but it will be most interesting to see how it plays out.

Teams like the Carolina Panthers and the Baltimore Ravens have multiple high-profile players on the brink of unrestricted free agency, and there will be intrigue in which players end up being tagged. Moreover, there are teams like Tennessee and Atlanta which might end up using their tag on a kicker or a punter.

It will be a very busy month in the NFL after Valentine's Day weekend, with the February 19 deadline looming for the franchise tag to be used and being overlapped by the 2009 NFL Combine, which is slated to take place in Indianapolis from February 18-24. Imagine being a GM in this situation, evaluating the upcoming free agent class and then trying to negotiate with players you might otherwhise lose from your own roster, all while keeping track of everything at the combine.

Perhaps the biggest wild card prospect at quarterback is Sam Houston State QB Rhett Bohmar, the one-time starter at Oklahoma, who was booted from the team in August 2006 for allegedly receiving payments for work not completed from a local car dealership. Bohmar played for two years at Sam Houston State, a FCS (I-AA) team. In just 19 games from 2007-2008, Bohmar set the school's career passing record with 5,564 yards.

I've read that former Virginia Tech RB Brandon Ore received a invitation to the combine (slated as "RB24"), but as of this writing I haven't seen Ore's name on any official NFL combine lists. Ore, who played in 2008 at Division II West Liberty State, is arguably a bigger wild card than Bohmar.

At this point Bohmar appears likely to go in the round 3-5 range, whereas the general consensus seems to be that Ore will be either a late round pick or go undrafted. One would think that Ore could improve his status by participating at the combine, though there is obviously risk involved since a bad combine workout would put Ore at a severe disadvantage going into the draft.


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