The 2011 Senior Bowl allowed some of the nation’s top draft prospects to demonstrate their talents for NFL coaches and scouts. Here are a few thoughts on this year’s Senior Bowl and how it could affect New England’s draft plans:

• I won’t say too much about defensive linemen since it will be one of the major topics of discussion on Foxboro Blog this week, but Purdue DE Ryan Kerrigan and Cal DE Cameron Jordan really stood out. Kerrigan might be a bit undersized to play DE in a 3-4 alignment, but there is no doubting his motor. I won’t be surprised if Jordan is off the board before the Pats pick at 17, but if he’s available, he could be a solid value.
• While Florida State QB Christian Ponder has drawn praise for his MVP performance, he seemed a bit unsteady at times. I was really hoping a QB like Locker or Ponder would stand out so they’d slide up the draft board into the top 16, allowing a better position player to drop to the Pats. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of the six QBs in the game did enough to cement themselves in the first half of the first round. Ponder helped his stock, but probably not to that extent.
• Miami WR Leonard Hankerson definitely helped his draft stock by reeling in five passes for 100 yards and a score. His 48-yard reception showed great field awareness and concentration and could go a long way in showing scouts that he is working to eliminate the drops that have plagued him throughout this collegiate career. His 6’2” frame would be a nice addition to New England’s WR corps. He was the best wideout on the field on Saturday.
• Texas A&M OLB Von Miller had a strong game and showed why he is a consensus top 10 pick in most mock drafts. If the Patriots make a surprise move up the draft board in the first round, it would likely be to take Miller. His playing style is similar to Clay Matthews, and that is the kind of player the New England defense has been sorely lacking over the past two years. He’s one of the few players in this draft class that I think could step in and contribute from Day 1.
• Washington OLB Mason Foster also showed a real nose for the football. He’s a four-year starter who led the Pac-10 in tackles this year, and he made several unassisted open-field stops in the game. I’m not sure he fits New England’s needs for a pass-rusher, but he seems like the type of player Belichick would love to nail down with the second pick in the second round. If the team is sold on Jermaine Cunningham as a pass-rusher, drafting Foster would seem to make sense.
• The thud you may have heard in the New England area was Boston College offensive lineman Anthony Costanzo’s draft stock hitting the floor. He was projected to be a possible first-round pick, but he struggled mightily in the game and did little to earn much praise in Senior Bowl practices. Unless Belichick and Company see something in him that I don’t, it appears unlikely the Patriots will draft him unless he’s hanging around in the third round.
• Nobody on the offensive line for the North team looked very good. Colorado OT Nate Solder appeared to be the best of the bunch. Several sources have given him positive reviews in practice, so I doubt his draft stock will take much of a hit.
• Mississippi State OT Derek Sherrod may have turned a few heads. He seemed to play with good leverage, which was one of the knocks on him. New England’s primary need on the offensive line is at guard, and I’m not sure his skill set at tackle would translate well if he moved into the interior offensive line. In a best-case scenario for the Pats, he could improve his draft stock to the point that some team desperate for offensive line help takes him in the top 16.
• On the interior offensive line, Rodney Hudson from Florida State looked solid. He’s one of the few interior offensive linemen with a possible first-round grade. Baylor offensive linemen Danny Watkins also had a rare first-round grade for an interior lineman coming into the game, and he did nothing to hurt that perception. I won’t be surprised if one of those two players is in New England next year.
• Louisville RB Bilal Powell was the game’s leading rusher with 50 yards on 10 carries, but I don’t think he did much to set himself apart from the rest of the RB crop. Due in large part to the struggles on the offensive line, no running back from the North was particularly impressive. If New England drafts a running back this year, I’d be willing to bet that it won’t be any of the guys who played on Saturday.
• I doubt New England will draft him due to their depth at WR, but you could certainly make an argument that no player did more to help his draft stock than Ohio State WR Dane Sanzenbacher. He was a late invite to the Senior Bowl, but he still hauled in five catches for 62 yards. Nobody will mistake this guy for a #1 receiver, but he likely moved up a few rounds in the draft with strong performances in the Senior Bowl and Sugar Bowl.

Here we go again
I kinda wanna be more than friends
So take it easy on me
I'm afraid you're never satisfied.

Here we go again
We're sick like animals
We play pretend
You're just a cannibal

And I'm afraid I wont get out alive
No I won't sleep tonight

- Neon Trees, "Animal"

I don't know why, but that song just popped into my head this morning as I read reports of Logan Mankins' latest take on his impending free-agency.  To sum things up, Mankins feels that the team has no intentions of signing him to a long-term deal and that he won't be playing for the Patriots next season unless they put the franchise tag on him. 

Mankins' feelings on the tag: "I wouldn't be happy."

Before we all do our collective face palm, let's rewind a little bit.  I fully believe that the Patriots are interested in signing Mankins to a long-term deal and that he is thier top free-agent priority once the new collective bargaining agreement is worked out.  He's obviously closer to the situation than I am, but I highly doubt the Patriots have no intentions of locking him up.  Whether or not the team intends to sign Mankins to the type of super-expensive long-term deal that he's looking for is another story. 

Adding to the tension is Mankins' latest barb at Robert Kraft.  Supposedly the team had an extension worked out towards the end of summer that broke down when Kraft wanted a public apology for Mankins' comments in the press during the contract dispute.  Mankins had previously apologized to Kraft privately.  Here is Logan's take on that situation:

"Well, everyone knows I apologized to Mr. Kraft. He told everyone."

Ouch.

I think at the end of the day Mankins will receive his next contract from the Patriots.  If the two sides can't come eye to eye, then Bill Belichick will likely go cut-throat and slap him with the franchise tag.  New England simply can't afford to let Mankins just walk away without compensation.  In that case, they would either need to trade him for a draft pick, or at least use him for one more year as a stop-gap at the wide open guard position. 

The whole situation continues to be ridiculous as I'm not even sure that there's any team out there who will pay Mankins the type of money that he's looking for.  The comments in the press need to stop, and the two sides just need to sit down and come up with a fair, equitable agreement.  The Patriots need Mankins, and Mankins has the opportunity to cash in on a generous long-term deal with a perrenial winner.  It's time for the bearded one to stop saying "Oh oh, I want some more" and take a bite of reality.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff will be running the show for the AFC this weekend.  Other than the fact that it means the Patriots aren't in the Super Bowl, do you consider this to be a benefit, hinderance, or a non-factor as the Pats prepare for the 2011 season?

Stephen: The way Bill Belichick dedicates his time and resources to building the best football team, I have little doubt that coaching the Pro Bowl will affect his preparation for the 2011 season. Whether its scouting other players or talking to potential free agents, he will find some way to benefit from coaching the AFC squad. The man has won three Super Bowl titles and is generally viewed as a great talent evaluator and roster manager. Missing a week or two for the Pro Bowl will not affect the way the Patriots and Belichick prepare to address their needs this offseason.

If any player on the Patriots roster could be considered a Pro Bowl snub, who would it be?

Jason:  I think you could make a very good argument that TE Rob Gronkowski was a snub. Zach Miller was selected as the backup TE, but Gronkowski scored twice as many TDs and had a higher average yards per catch. Miller had 18 more catches and 139 more yards, but in my book, the 10-5 TD edge should have given the edge to Gronk. On the plus side, his youth and continued development with one of the league's elite QBs makes it likely that he'll be taking the trip to Hawaii sooner or later.

With the off-season underway, the Foxboro Blog crew will be sitting down at the round table and hashing out some of the critical issues facing the Patriots this spring and summer.  We'll begin this series of round tables with some more light-hearted discussion about the Pro Bowl.  Here's today's topic...

The Patriots had six players (Brady, Mankins, Wilfork, Merriweather, Mayo, and McCourty) named to the Pro-Bowl, the most of any team in the league.  There were rumblings in the media that this was too many. Who do you think definitely deserved to make the team, and which selections may have been questionable?

Rick: The guys who definitely deserve to make the team were Brady, Wilfork, Mayo, and Devin McCourty who is IMO the defensive rookie of the year in the NFL considering that the cornerback position would be a nightmare without him. Meriweather did not deserve to make the team because he had a very off year and at times Belichick would bench him for dumb plays like running into James Sanders on the James Jones TD against the Packers and then the illegal hit against Todd Heap. He needs a reality check this offseason. Logan Mankins had a good HALF A YEAR, but I feel you have to play at least 3/4 of the season to be Pro Bowl eligible.

Wes Welker admitted yesterday that he regretted the veiled shots he took at Rex Ryan by making multiple foot references in a press conference leading up to the Patriots playoff game with the Jets.

"I’m not going to get into any details about it, but I don’t think it’s worth putting coach (Belichick) in that situation. So in a sense, I do regret it. As much as you might want to get enticed into that stuff, at the end of the day, it’s just not worth it."

While I certainly saw the humor in what Wes did during his press conference, I was pretty against it at the time.  Like Wes admitted, it simply wasn't worth responding to anything the Jets were saying that week.  In some ways, Welker's comments just re-enforced that the Jets trash talk was having the desired affect.  They were trying to get under the Patriots skin and distract them from the task at hand.  If the trash talk isn't affecting you and all you're thinking about is the game, then you don't spend time thinking up all the different ways you can slip the word "foot" into your press conference.

I’d like to thank everyone for joining me for the first-ever Opening Lines “Special Edition” column. Can you feel the excitement in the air? We’re just a few short days away from one of the most exciting events in sports, featuring the best from each conference facing off in an effort to earn the ultimate bragging rights for the 2010 season. A game where legends are made, dreams are crushed, legacies are decided and champions are made. I’m talking, of course, about the Pro Bowl.

The Pro Bowl is basically the league’s half-hearted attempt to engage fans by allowing them to vote for their favorite players to represent their conference in a meaningless game for a national television audience. It’s kinda like American Idol, except you couldn’t beat up nearly as many of the truly annoying contestants. The event is so prestigious, a few players choose to skip the event each year because it’s not worth the extra practice time and risk of injury just to get a free Hawaii vacation that they could afford ten times over from a single game check. But on the plus side, it actually allows players like 49ers MLB Patrick Willis to find out what it feels like to play football in January (yeah, I went there). And it gives the fans a chance to see all of the stars from New York Jets. Yep, aaalllllll three of them. Oh, did anyone mention the Patriots are sending seven to Hawaii? You can add that to your long list of disappointments this morning, Jets fans. You may have won one lousy playoff game, but you’re still just the annoying little step-sister of the AFC East who still can’t find a date to the prom. /end anti-Jets rant

Even though I was rooting for the Jets to win, there was definitely some severe satisfaction in watching Rex Ryan and his group of thugs go down in flames tonight.  There will be no Super Bowl for New York.  Six months of non-stop trash talk has amounted to... 

Nothing.

They didn't win their division.  They didn't win the conference.  So much for "leading the league in wins", Rex Ryan.  The only things the Jets lead the league in this season were sexual harrassment scandals, illegitimate children fathered, explitives spoken, DUI's, foot fetish video appearances, cell phone pictures of penises, weight of their head coach, and unmet expectations.

It's the question that I've been asking myself all week:  Who do I root for in the AFC Championship?   As a Pats fan, the correct answer is that I root for a huge earthquake to level Heinz Field and swallow up both the Jets and the Steelers, but that's not very likely.   So assuming that no natural disasters occur on Sunday, other than Rex Ryan's post-game dump, which team do I throw myself behind?  Back in the day when my NBA team, the Timberwolves, were relevant and they would get ousted from the playoffs, I would often turn myself into an NBA monk and just pretend the rest of the post-season never happened.  Unfortunately, there's just no way to do that this time around.  The AFC Championship isn't being played at 10:30 PM on TNT like a Kings/Lakers game, the Super Bowl is a national event that everyone talks about, I happen to run a sports blog network that will be covering the games heavily, and I just like football too much to ignore it when there's only three games left until, well, who knows with the lockout?  So like it or not, I have to pick a side. 

In most situations like this, I just choose the team that I happen to like better.  With Jets/Steelers it becomes a little more difficult as I have to realy sit down and figure out who I hate less...

Why I Hate the Jets: 

- Rex Ryan is the antithesis of everything I believe a football coach should be.  He has no class.  He has no character.  He is loud-mouthed, self-serving, and puts himself in front of his team.  He allows his players to say whatever they want, no matter how inappropriate, and as a result has bred a 53-man team of pretty crappy role models.  He is a gigantic blight on the National Football League, and other than serving as a great villain for anyone with an ounce of moral character to despise, he adds no positive value to the game of football.  

And he likes to suck toes.  Just had to throw that in there. 

- The Jets have sexaually harrassed Inez Sainz this season, as well as had a scandal about sexual harrassment against Jen Sterger come to light.  Santionio Holmes was investigated for assualting a woman.  Antonio Cromartie needed a loan from the team to pay his child support for the nine children he's fathered with eight different women in six different states. I'm not Mr. Feminism, but that seems like a locker room full of scum bags to me.

- Mark Sanchez is not a good quarterback.  His team wins in spite of him, not because of him.  I'm tired of hearing people praise him when it's the Jets defense that gets the job done. 

- The Jets hurled profanity laden tirades against the Patriots last week, including a threat of injury to Wes Welker by Bart Scott.  Total classlessness.  You would never hear a Bill Belichick team disrespect their opponent like that.

Why I Hate the Steelers:

- The Pats beat them handily in two AFC Championship games and all we've heard from them is whining. 

- They've won six Super Bowl titles, which is the most ever.  I could respect it, if the last two they won weren't complete and utter crap.   They were a 6th seed in 2005 and beat Cincy in the Wild Card round by putting a cheap shot on Carson Palmer and tearing his ACL at the start of the game.  They lucked out on a missed Vanderjagt chip shot in the next round.  In Super Boxl XL, the most rigged football game I've ever seen, the referees have openly admitted that they made horrible calls that cost Seattle the game.  Three years later, they were bailed out (as was the rest of the league) by Brady's ACL tear and the streaking Patriots getting locked out of the playoffs despite being 11-5.  They barely eeked out a Super Bowl win against a Cardinals team that the Pats beat 41-7 weeks earlier. 

Basically, they've fielded two of the worst Super Bowl teams in recent memory, who won it all by getting lucky, getting bailed out by the refs, and having other teams beat the actual good teams.  In both those seasons I've failed to see them put forth a true "Championship" level effort.  Where is the defining moment where they overcame a huge challenge to prove they were the best?  There isn't one.   If they win again this year, they could very well do so by facing a slate of a 5th seed, a 6th seed, and a 6th seed.  Pathetic.

A Super Bowl is a Super Bowl, and if it were any other team, I'd leave it at that.  But the last thing I want to hear is PIttsburgh fans spouting off about "seven rings" when three of them basically meant their team were the tallest midget at the circus during the three weakest seasons over the course of a decade.

- Ben Rapistberger.  It would really irk me to see yet another shoud-be-convicted-felon hoist the Lombardi Trophy.   The only thing Ben Roethlisberger shold be holding between his hands are prison bars. 

I was processing the Patriots’ season after their disappointing home playoff loss to the New York Jets, Bart Scott’s interview with ESPN stuck in my head. He told him that the Patriots’ defense “can’t cover a nosebleed.” It turns out he was right. In that game, the Patriots had a good cornerback in Devin McCourty, but who did New York keep exploiting? They exploited the weaker cornerbacks in Kyle Arrington and Darius Butler. It begs the Patriot fan to wonder, do we have enough elite cornerbacks to get back to the Super Bowl without a legitimate pass rush?

Now, you can make up for the pass rush if you have top cornerbacks. Look at those same New York Jets. With Darrelle Revis and now Antonio Cromartie, New York was able to drop their guys into coverage and not allow any room for receivers to get open. This limited guys like Branch, Welker, and Gronkowski to get yards after the catch.

On a lot of mock drafts, New England’s picks are projected most likely in the first round to come from the defensive end or the running back positions. If that is the case, I would want New England to go after cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha of the Raiders. Asomugha’s contract was voided after the 2010 season because he did not make certain incentives on his deal.

Yes, New England does get Leigh Bodden back after an ACL tear last summer. But, how will Bodden’s health be coming off a surgery that basically needs two years to heal up to full strength? It is a huge gamble to put him at that number two cornerback slot. Asomugha is a playmaker who can develop his own island in  Foxboro and be a part of a championship team in his prime. Asomugha and McCourty could equal Revis and Cromartie in terms of production and definitely improve a very bad pass defense.

New England made a play at Julius Peppers last offseason and now they need to make the right move in March regardless of the CBA situation and get themselves a bonafide star. Plus, it would allow them to have a veteran leader on the defensive side of the ball to compete with the Jets come 2011.