INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -With 30 losses in the previous two seasons, the Detroit Lions are willing to consider any option available to get things turned around. Those options include trading the No. 2 pick in the draft and making a run at LaDainian Tomlinson.
“We’re open to just about everything,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. “Whether you keep the second pick or whether you trade down, it doesn’t change what you have to do – that’s make good decisions in the draft. There are blue chip players available a lot of different spots in the draft.”
The Lions, who were just 2-14 last year after going 0-16 in 2008, need to upgrade their running game. Detroit ranked 24th in the league with 101 yards per game. So Schwartz didn’t rule out picking up Tomlinson, the longtime San Diego Chargers back who was released Monday after a nine-year run in which he became one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.
.’ Every player has something they can bring and if they can help us win, we’ll look at just about everything. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.”
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JUST WORK OUT: San Francisco general manager Scot McCloughan said he’d like all the top prospects to attend the combine and work out.
“My personal, selfish opinion is you get a chance to compete, you come and compete,” he said. “It doesn’t matter, whether its dominoes, coming to the Senior Bowl or coming out here. Also, you can’t put it all on the kids’ shoulders. They’ve got agents, they’ve got people in their ears telling them what’s best for their future and what’s best for their draft status.”
McCloughan said he hasn’t downgraded a prospect for choosing not to show up.
“The guys that have gone to the Senior Bowl, they’re top-notch guys, and they come here and they work – are usually guys who end up in the NFL and have good careers,” McCloughan said.
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SMITH IS THE MAN: A year ago, San Francisco was rumored to be among the teams in the hunt for Michael Vick.
A year later, they feel much better about quarterback Alex Smith.
“I feel very good about saying that Alex Smith is our starter going into the next football season,” coach Mike Singletary said.
yed well the rest of the season. Smith threw for 2,350 yards and 18 touchdowns with 12 interceptions and was sacked 22 times. He completed 225 of his 372 passes.
It wasn’t just talent that won the job for Smith.
“It was his attitude that really stuck out throughout the whole thing,” Singletary said. “Whether he was hurt, whether he was learning, whether he was the backup, whatever the situation was, he was always very steady.”
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BULAGA HEALTHY: Iowa offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga doesn’t believe an illness earlier this season will hinder his draft stock.
The 6-5, 314-pound left tackle missed three games last season with a condition called thyroiditis, which Bulaga described as a viral infection that causes loss of stamina, fatigue, increased heart rate and loss of weight.
“I don’t think there’s any concern,” Bulaga said. “It was a three week thing that ran its course and now it’s gone. I’ve been checked by doctors at the Mayo Clinic and my doctor at the University of Iowa and have been cleared by both of them.”
Bulaga, the reigning Big Ten offensive lineman of the year, decided to forgo his senior season at Iowa and is projected by some to be a first-round draft pick.
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SIDESTEPPING THE RUSH: Rarely is a coach so honest when deflecting questions as new Buffalo coach Chan Gailey was on Thursday when asked about his quarterback situation.
ween quarterbacks Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick last season. Gailey revealed nothing about the team’s plans at the position.
“Every team in the league that doesn’t have an All-Pro quarterback or somebody that got votes for All-Pro is looking to improve their position,” he said.
A follow-up question did little to shed any more light.
“I’m going to sidestep that again by saying you’re always trying to improve your football team,” he said, drawing chuckles from reporters.
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ALMOST PERFECT: Indiana lineman Rodger Saffold claims he only gave up one sack last season.
He even remembers who got it – Wisconsin’s O’Brien Schofield.
“He’s a real big speed guy – lighter, but his inside moves were really crisp,” Saffold said. “Just being able to have that speed, then that counter speed is really beneficial to him.”
Saffold said he gave up just 14 sacks in his career. Now, he has to prove he can duplicate that level of success in the NFL.
He felt he played well at the East-West Shrine Game, and believes the combine offers him another great opportunity.
“I’m going to go out there and take it,” he said. “I’m not going to sit back and watch anybody. I have to make my focus on myself and show everybody what an Indiana football player is.”
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