JasonB over at Bleeding Green Nation interviewed me on his podcast (which is EXCELLENT) about the NFL Draft experience, the Eagles draft, and the Colts. Check it out.

If you have no noticed, mgrex30 and the21eraser have no avatars. This is a sad, sad thing indeed. So, for you creative folks out there, or you folks with access to cool programs like Photoshop, I think our 2008 Writing Fellows need some avatar love.

Please submit your creations as a FanShot. No crazy animation, please. And nothing dirty. Just something that looks cool and, hopefully, references the Colts or a certain Colt player.

The winner (or winners) get one full day to write stories on the main-page. And... GO!

On the heels of the NFL reaching an agreement with former team videographer Matt Walsh (tip to metal_militia) and former Colts TE Marcus Pollard agreeing to a contract with the Patriots (tip to Colt4Life), I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome MaPatsFan, who is taking over the blogging duties at Pats Pulpit for a while.

Some of you might remember MaPatsFan. He's commented here on Stampede Blue before, and I personally have always liked his comments and posts.

I'm hopeful that with MaPatsFan now running the show there our blog can have a second chance with Pats Pulpit. I've done the best I can to build a better relationship with the fans there, but I've taken it about as far as I can. It's now up to you loyal Stampede Blue readers to do what you do with all other fans: Act respectful.

Yes, we all hate the Patriots, and if Matt Walsh's testimony proves Bill Belichick cheated for years and lied about it pretty much nullifies the three championships they won from 2001-2005. However, regardless of what happens, we should be respectful of the fans at Pats Pulpit. How would we feel if it were proven that Peyton Manning has been cheating since 1999? How would we feel if such accusations were made, and then proven false? Again, I did much to fan the flames of our bad relationship with Pats Pulpit, which is why I need to take a back seat to all of you.

Welcome MaPatsFan. We all look forward to reading your stuff, and we certainly look forward to the two teams meeting again during the regular season.

SB Nation's own John Morgan, of Field Gulls fame, scored a nice interview with Notre Dame DT Trevor Laws. Here's a bit:

JM: Watching tape I notice you frequently use a compact spin move, how did you develop that move? Can you describe any other pass rush moves you employ and in what situations they're most effective?

TL: I have been using that move on and off for the last 4 years. This year it was my go-to move. I started to develop it with my old d line coach Greg Mattison. Other moves I use are bull, jab ole, and bite and go.

JM: What are some of the challenges involved with playing both end and tackle? Did you ever feel out of place?

TL: It was a big surprise to me that I was going to have to play end in a 3/4 my final year. During the spring I definitely struggled with my new position. It is a totally different technique than playing a 1 gap. Most plays you have to just sit back and read the play, and it was tough to get used to. As the season came along I felt much more comfortable with it and ended up having a great year playin’ both end and tackle.

We are down to the wire folks; down to the nitty-gritty. With just three picks to go until the SB Nation Mock Draft gets to #59, players like Chris Johnson, Trevor Laws, Earl Bennett, and now John Carlson are all gone. This leaves our community rep in the mock draft, Shake n Bake, in a bit of a pickle (hehe, love that stupid phrase).

Ok, though I am not the person charged with the responsibility for making this pick (ohthankyouthankyouGod), I feel it is my duty to help Shake get gauge what the community wants. I think we all agree that if Matt Forte is still there at #59, Shake's job is easy. We all like Forte, and so do the Colts. But what about some of the other players? Click the flip to find out more.

Poll

If Matt Forte is gone at pick #59 in the SB Nation Mock Draft, who should Shake n Bake pick?

• TE Dustin Keller, Purdue
• LB Xavier Adibi, VA Tech
• DT Lawrence Jackson, USC
• TE Fred Davis, USC
• TE Marcellus Bennett, Texas A & M
• WR Early Doucet, LSU
• Oh screw it! Reach for DE Marcus Howard, Georgia

  115 votes | Results

Continue reading this post »

I can now FINALLY talk about the next phase for Stampede Blue and SB Nation. This coming Monday, April 21, 2008, Stampede Blue will be upgrade to the new SB Nation 2.0-style blogs. An example of the upgrade can be seen at Indy Corn Rows, the SB Nation Pacers blog.

So, the obvious questions are likely along the lines of What's new? How do we post? Do I still have to make individual accounts every  single friggin' SB Nation site? The answers to your questions are available here and here. I'm confident you will be utterly BLOWN AWAY by many of the new features. Take the time to read both links, and I look forward to hearing all of your feedback on Monday.

Mock drafts are fun, especially this one. One of the great things about it is the ability for all readers to comment on picks, and get direct feedback from scouts, bloggers, readers, and even our college bloggers who watched many of these draft prospects every Saturday. I've been in a unique position because the Colts don't draft until the late 2nd Round. In a way, this has been me a perspective on the draft I haven't had in some time; it's allowed me the luxury to comment a bit more on people's picks.

We talked yesterday about TheSportsGuru's Chris Johnson pick. Despite Guru's and Styg's explanations, I still think it was a bad pick for a Denver team with a ton of holes. I personally don't view it any different than the Ted Ginn Jr. pick by Miami last year. On the flip side, many thought that Jimmy selecting Miami defensive end Calais Campbell was a bad move at pick #24, and I was one of the very few who saw that pick as right on the money. Tennessee has nothing at DE anymore, and the position is more a need than WR. To argue differently is to not know the Titans and how they win football games (hint, hint: They win with defense, not Vince Young). As shake n bake reminds us: This is a play draft, not a real one. So, when you see bloggers "arguing" over picks, understand that this is what the process is about. This is what makes it fun. I'm sure when Indy's pick comes up, people will have more than a few things to say about who shake n bake picks.

To read more about the mock draft, and see who else was picked, head over to Mocking the Draft.

I haven't done a podcast for a while because of other work, but tonight I plan to make a roaring comeback!

Eric Hartz of ColtPower.com will join me and TheSportsGuru on the SB Nation Football Frenzy. Eric will chat about the recently released schedule, go over some draft prospects in Round 2 of the Draft, and talk about who the Colts will likely pick.

All that and more tonight a 9pm Eastern. See you then!

Here are the pick so far:

1. Miami: DE Chris Long
   
2. St. Louis: DE Vernon Gholston
   
3. Atlanta: OT Jake Long
   
4. Oakland: RB B Darren McFadden (very controversial pick)
   
5. Kansas City: DT Sedrick Ellis
   
6. NY Jets: DT Glenn Dorsey
   
7. New England: CB Leodis McKelvin
   
8. Baltimore: QB Matt Ryan
   
9. Cincinnati: LB Keith Rivers

New Orleans is now on the clock.

With the draft just four weeks away, it's time to rev up your mock draft engines and hold on tight for the 2008 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft. This is the third year of our annual writers mock draft, and this year we're doing a few things differently (and for the better). First off, we now have an entire site dedicated to the NFL Draft: Mocking the Draft. It's here that the mock draft will get displayed as team writers submit their picks and offer write-ups on why their team will select Player X. BrianG and TheSportsGuru are the admins for the draft, ushering us lazy, undecided writers through the mock process and getting us to turn our picks in on time. And speaking of the process, here's how it works: Our partnership with New Era has given us access to some excellent player information.

The other change for this year is I will not be selecting Indy's pick in the mock draft. Our own shake n bake, who also has his own blog, will make the draft selection. His draft board is as follows for the late second round:

Check out Mocking the Draft for updates on who was drafted and why.