Chaun of the Dead
Mar 19, 2008 2003 Draft, 2008 Season, Big dudes doing the little things, Chaun, DeMeco Ryans, Dunta Robinson, President Lyndon Veins Johnson, Spin City
Building off of BFD’s last post–or, more accurately, one sentence in the italicized post script to that post–I thought I’d cobble together some information on the newest Texan linebacker, Chaun Thompson. Anyway, the Google pointed me to this series of five articles run by CNNSI.com in the weeks leading up to the 2003 NFL Draft.
It seems that CNNSI decided to follow Thompson through the combine and his pro day, telling the story of the “intriguing” prospect from little-known (in football terms) West Texas A&M. While Thompson was ultimately a second-round pick by the Cleveland Browns, some of the information in these articles is still illuminating. I think. Or maybe I am just looking for column filler.
A native of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, Chaun is comfortable in the warm weather that embraces the Lone Star State.
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“I really don’t have a preference,” Thompson said of his eventual NFL destination. “Wherever I have to go is OK with me. I just want to be there. Whoever calls, I’m there.
“My mom doesn’t care, either. She just wants me to keep playing. … I love my mom,” he said. “She’s never had nothing; just hand-me-downs.
“I’m just thinking about the opportunity. My mom says not to blow my money, but I’m going to help my mama.”
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Thompson — a new-age linebacker, complete with size and speed — went man-to-man last week with his fiercest competitor yet. He asked Faith Boyd’s father for his daughter’s hand in marriage. “And you know he had to give me that fatherly talk,” Thompson added. “‘I love my baby, I never harmed my baby … you better not …’
“I was scared,” he admitted, “because when he said ‘you better not’ he was clinching his fists!
“Then he started crying and went inside. … A few minutes later his wife came out asking, ‘What did you do to my husband?’
“I was nervous,” Thompson said, “because they’d never seen him cry. … The Combine was nothing like asking a dad for his daughter’s hand.”
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“Then I walked in and bench-pressed 225 [pounds] 29 times. I was pumped about that; others didn’t get as many. Those Division I players are just like me; you’ve got to hit the weight room and work hard.”
Despite his impressive workout — his 29 reps at 225 pounds was tied for most among the 12 inside linebackers who participated in the combine drill — Thompson said he remained in awe of his surroundings.
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A three-year starter at the Division II school, Thompson finished with 104 tackles as a senior and played well in two all-star games.
“All I want — all I can ask for — is that one chance,” Thompson said. “I’m maybe not the greatest, but one team is going to give me a chance. … I’m not going to ask for $17 million after five years; I’ll take a pay cut to get a championship.”
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“On Dec. 11, an AFC scout saw Chaun at 223 pounds run a 4.44″ in the 40-yard dash, recalls Griffin. “We sent Chaun to San Diego to work out and then he turns up in Indianapolis at 240 pounds and still had his speed.
“It just goes to show that Chaun is willing to work at all costs for this, his dream. He added 20 pounds, kept his speed and he has 34 1/2-inch arms — all of that is what teams find intriguing.”
Like I said, Thompson wound up playing in Cleveland, where he never missed a game in five seasons. He was a starter at SLB in 2004 and 2005, with that 2005 season being his best effort by far (102 tackles, 9 TFL, 5 sacks, 4 QB pressures, 2 FF, 1 FR). He lost the starting gig in 2006, but remained a solid contributor on special teams. Digging around the internets some more, I can’t come up with any particular reason that he lost his starting spot other than Romeo didn’t like him much. That’s fitting, however, because it appears that many, many Browns fans disliked Thompson because he was a second-round pick. I’ve never really understood Browns fans, though. I mean…you know your actual team is in Baltimore, right? Just sayin’.
Anyway, given the incredibly reasonable deal we gave Chaun (2 years, $4MM, $650K guaranteed) and given that his numbers as a starting SLB are as good as anything we’ve had in recent years and given that he is a Texas boy who wanted to come home to be closer to his family, I have to say that this my be my favorite signing of the offseason. Assuming he wins the starting job, I think it’s reasonable to pencil him in for 5-8 sacks, 75 tackles, 2-3 FF, and other numbers in keeping with that. And that is my reasonable, low-ball estimate, because here is the kicker: When he played his best season in Cleveland, he did not have a DeMeco Ryans lining up beside him, freeing him to go after the QB with reckless abandon; and he did not have a Mario Williams in front of him, eating up double teams and creating nice, large gaps for him to blitz through. Maybe I am just doing my usual self-convincing, but I am actually excited about our linebacking corps right now.
Even if he doesn’t win the starting SLB position, either because Kevin Bentley is way better than I imagine or because Zac Diles makes a seamless transition over there, it’s safe to say that Thompson will be a contributor in 2008. He has (as BFD pointed out) the speed and size to be a situational end, which is good because Anthony Weaver apparently died some time in late 2006. He’s a top-notch special teams player. And he can still get reps in nickel packages and as a backup SLB.
As a bonus, he also makes the spelling of Dunta’s name seem slightly less silly.
Taking this Bentley for a test drive
Mar 3, 2008 2008 Season, Fuck the Cowboys, Kevin Bentley, Spin City, Stats
With the recent departure of Charlie Anderson to Miami, today’s signing of Kevin Bentley makes sense from a depth standpoint at the very least. I liked Anderson, but he was never going to be anything more than a backup LB on a good team. If the Dolphins want to pay him, be my guest.
But, like I said, the departure of Charlie left a need for a linebacker. Enter Kevin Bentley.
(This is where you say “who the fuck is Kevin Bentley?”)
Fear not, dear readers…I shall enlighten you. And, by “enlighten you,” I mean “Google his name and then make some sweeping generalizations that end with me embracing his signing.”
The most impressive thing about Bentley is that he is apparently agile as hell. As proof, I point you to this list, which shows Bentley tied for the sixth best shuttle time at the Combine since 1999. He is tied with Terrence Newman and Jason Allen and (perhaps even more impressive) Bentley is the ONLY linebacker on that list. His time was only one one-hundredth of a second slower than Dante Hall.
His other Combine numbers are nearly as impressive. 4.68 in the 40, a 10″ broad jump, 23 reps, and a 39 inch vertical. In short, Bentley would seem to have the tools to play in the NFL.
(Here is where you say “but that was in 2002…not exactly yesterday, asshole!”)
This is true. Since being drafted by the Browns in ‘02, he has posted one 96 tackle season (2003) and an additional season over 60 tackles (2004). He was then shipped to Seattle where he saw action almost exclusively as a special teamer. By all accounts, he was very adept at this job—as one might expect from a fast, agile, 234-lb linebacker.
In the end, I agree with Tim that this signing means both that Smithiak saw something they liked in Bentley (probably his versatility—in addition to playing special teams, he’s played all three LB positions) and that they are becoming more and more sold on the idea of Zac Diles contributing at strongside linebacker this year.
Now, maybe I am drunk (I am), but I really, REALLY like the idea of a starting LB trio of Diles, DeJesus, and Greenwood. Add to that the possible contributions of Bentley as a nickel linebacker and we (might) suddenly have depth and talent across our LB corps.
Or Diles might flop at SLB, Bentley get cut during camp, and we are back to square one. At least we aren’t giving $8MM guaranteed to learn that lesson.
Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf would be proud
Jul 17, 2007 History, Huh?, National Media, Spin City, Teams that aren't the Texans
Like a toddler to an open electrical outlet, Matt Mosley is once again drawn mindlessly to a Chron.com article ripping the Texans (or, more accurately this time, Texans fans). While the article Matt links to is crap at best, that is not what concerns me. [Author's Note: See BRB for a breakdown of that article.]
What does irk me is Matt’s snarky comment.
How much longer can the Texans use the “expansion” thing as an excuse?
Gee, Matt… I don’t know. You want to see something cool, though?
0-11-1
4-9-1
5-8-1
4-10-0
5-8-1
Know what that is? That’s your beloved Cowboys first five years in the NFL. If my math is correct1, that’s 18-46-4. If we throw out the ties, that’s a winning percentage of 28% (and, if we include the ties, we can accurately say that Dallas won 18 of their first 68 games). Eww.
Fast forward a few decades, and the Texans currently stand at 24-56-0. That’s a winning percentage of 30%. Again, if we trust my math, 30% is better than 28%.
I know the rebuttal–the Texans were given high draft picks and the Cowboys just had to assemble a team from cast-offs and spare parts. That overlooks that the majority of our original roster was assembled of cast-offs and spare parts. It also glosses over how much easier it was to build a team before free agency, hard salary caps, revenue sharing and whatnot if a team had a proactive owner with deep pockets. Did we get the first overall pick that first season? Sure. And we botched it (in retrospect) and we STILL have a better record after five seasons than Dallas did.
By now, I don’t expect Matt Mosley to suddenly start supporting the Texans. I would, however, appreciate it if he would just shut the hell up and not even mention them. Well, that, or try not to look like an ass when he does talk about them. Either way.
1 I mistakenly wrote 18 of 60 in the Hashmarks comments. Guess I was giving them the benefit of the doubt.
