NFL And Draft News: Another Top Tar Heels Player Could be Suspended? More on Bowers.

Suspended is premature, but according to college football talk, North Carolina Defensive End Quinton Coples was interviewed this week about a party he attended with former suspended Tar Heels Robert Quinn and Marvin Austin. At this point Coples is Mel Kiper Jr.’s number two overall rated prospect for the 2012 N.F.L. Draft. Coples had 10 sacks last year and has good size for a defensive end, he’s listed at 6’6 275 pounds.

This would be another major blow to a program that has done an excellent job of assembling N.F.L. talent recently. Last year’s scandal ruined the Tar Heels chance of contending for a B.C.S. Bowl game. Hopefully everything went well in Coples interview with the N.C.A.A. representative and we can all enjoy watching and scouting him on the field this upcoming season.

How did the N.C.A.A. know that Coples attended a party that he could have received benefits through his former teammates? Facebook photos. Other than Mark Zuckerberg has facebook improved anyone’s life in a good way?

And does this say anything about how Butch Davis runs things?

Stay tuned for more on this story.

Other news and notes:

CBS draft scout takes a look at some defensive linemen (who started less than three games and who were not drafted in the first round) that could be poised for breakout seasons next year in the N.F.L.

Draftinsider.net writes that Bowers camp say that his career longevity is 50/50 if “his knee responds as Shaun Rogers did, who had a similar procedure on his joint, Bowers will have a long career. Otherwise it could be a situation similar to Willie Howard, who spent two years in the league before his career was cut short by the same type of injury.”. Here’s to hoping it’s more like Shaun Rogers knee. Bowers overcame a lot of personal struggle this past season to vault himself into top 5 consideration before it was discovered he could have a serious problem with his knee. I, for one, hope that all of his hard work pays off.

Also from draftinsider.net: the fact that Kendric Bruney went undrafted might have to do more with poor interviews than it has to with his lack of height and speed. And that Stefen Wisniewski would have slid into the fourth round had he not been selected by the Oakland Raiders. I don’t understand that. I like Wisniewski’s game and thought he was a very good pick in the second round, but this isn’t the first time I’ve heard or read that The Wiz was a 4th round prospect, I still maintain that he was a good pick in the second round.

Some other news: Darrelle Revis is working out the Jets first round pick last year, Kyle Wilson. Revis is trying to “bring out the beast” in Kyle Wilson. With Antonio Cromartie potentially becoming a free agent this year, Wilson could be in line for a lot of playing time and his progress could go a long way in ensuring the Jets are again competing for a Superbowl birth.

Ray Edwards of the Vikings says he will NOT play for the Vikings this year.

“I’ve openly said I won’t play for the Vikings, because of the simple fact of my backup is getting paid 70 more percent than I am — there’s no way I can do that to myself. I’d rather do what I love doing. I love doing football as well. But if there’s nobody that’s going to trade for me, I will be definitely focusing on boxing.”

I understand the sentiment, and I think we all could. Imagine if you were someone’s boss, but they made more than you did. That would be difficult to deal with, but in team sports there’s no place for that. Ray Edwards definitely has value in the trade market though if that’s a route the Vikings wish to go.

A couple of Patriots News and notes. The New England Patriots are expected to show interest in OL Robert Gallery if he reaches free agency. They may also show interest in Davone Bess.

Lastly, Kansas City Chiefs Eric Berry admitted that there is a rookie wall saying, “”But I have to tell you this: When the season was over, I didn’t do anything for about a month. I didn’t go out or do anything. I was supposed to go home (to Georgia) and I didn’t even book my flight. I just stayed in the house, watched TV. I just sat around the house. I wasn’t used to playing that many games. My body was just through afterwards.”

He went on to basically say that he’d never ask out of any play, that he takes pride in his work and enjoys it. It’s just a reminder though that the rookie wall is real. Rookies have never played so many games before or had to learn so much about the game in such a short time period before and the rookie wall is definitely real.

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