FanHouse Logan Mankins

Near the end of last week's Patriots-Dolphins tilt, and after the game had pretty much been decided, Miami's Channing Crowder and New England's Matt Light shared a moment. Specifically, Light tried to yank out Crowder's weave while Crowder did his best to get away.

Ultimately, both players were fined $15,000 because, as everybody knows, pulling hair is just as offensive as having your hair pulled. And even though Crowder and Channing were the only players taking part in the extracurriculars, we learn that the NFL has subsequently fined Joey Porter. No idea if he did anything wrong, but it's probably safe to assume that he was guilty of something. Actually, his gum-flapping incited the whole melee. From the Miami Herald (courtesy of MDS at PFT):

Somewhat overshadowed by the end-of-game Matt Light Hair-Pulling Extravaganza! was the news that Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano tried to bench linebacker Joey Porter and failed miserably. Porter's only been in Miami two seasons, but he has a history of paying his coaches no mind (or, more specifically if you're Cam Cameron, no respect)

Unlike Cameron, however, Mr. Peezy admitted he was wrong to ignore Sparano. Via NFL.com's Adam Schefter:

Porter personally apologized to Dolphins coach Tony Sparano for refusing to leave the closing minutes of Sunday's 48-28 loss to the Patriots after he drew 15-yard penalties on back-to-back plays.

Not only did Porter apologize to Sparano, he apologized to the rest of his Dolphins teammates as well. Porter knows that what he did Sunday was wrong and he tried to take responsibility for it after the fact

Schefter also writes that "there could be further repercussions from the team or the league." Given that Commissar Goodell has decreed Light will be fined but not suspended for fighting like a 13-year-old girl (nice call, Logan Mankins!), I can't imagine that they would punish Porter for disobeying his coach.

Of course, I never thought I'd see the day when players would get fined for dancing in the end zone so what do I know. That's right: nothing.

Unless you were a Patriots fan or a self-loathing Dolphins supporter, you probably missed the live showing of Channing Crowder and Matt Light offering their interpretation of the Pacman-bodyguard hotel bathroom cat fight. You've no doubt seen the replay, although it's still not clear what precipitated the whole thing.

Thankfully, the Boston Herald's Karen Guregian has some answers, via Light's offensive line mate, Logan Mankins:

"He was doing a good job, drilling [Chowder] right in the head," Mankins said of Light, "so kudos to Matt." ...

[As to why the fight happened:] "Any time you have a team with the guy 55 (Joey Porter), he just won't shut up the entire game," Mankins said. "Then I think some of the other guys are starting to play the way he does."

Mankins also figures that Light won't face a suspension, just a fine. While whaling away on a dude not wearing a helmet might seem like an offense worth of a little time away from the game, as Mankins rightly points out, a precedent has been set. A few weeks ago, John Henderson actually tried to remove Andrew Whitworth's eyeballs and all it cost him was $15,000.

As the 2005 draft class continues to be dismantled one underachieving pick at at time -- most recently highlighted by 32 teams wanting nothing to do with fourth-overall selection Cedric Benson -- the Boston Globe's Mike Reiss reminds us in today's edition that all but one (with injury exceptions) of the first 10 picks in that draft were forgettable.

Cornerback Pacman Jones (No. 6) and receivers Troy Williamson (No. 7) and Mike Williams (No. 10) are already with their second teams. Meanwhile, quarterback Alex Smith (No. 1) is in a battle to hold down the starting job in San Francisco, while Antrel Rolle (No. 8) is being moved to safety in Arizona after failing to excel at cornerback.

Reiss rightly gives Ronnie Brown (No. 2), Cadillac Williams (No. 5) and Carlos Rogers (No. 9) passes because of injuries, but if nothing else, Benson, Brown and Williams reinforce the theory that using high-round picks on running backs is a waste of time and money.

Of the first 10 selections, only Braylon Edwards has lived up to the pre-draft hype. In fact, if we staged one of those dopey mock re-drafts, DeMarcus Ware (No. 11) or Shawne Merriman (No. 12) would probably be the first-overall pick, followed by some combination of Aaron Rodgers, Luis Castillo, Heath Miller and Logan Mankins.

Two things: A.J. Smith is obviously a genius, and nothing like having a tight end as a top-five selection -- Kellen Winslow couldn't even do that, and he's a soldier.

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.

Thanks to some 2007 draft-day wheeling and dealing, the Patriots have the seventh-overall pick in 2008. The most glaring needs on the roster reside on the defensive side of the ball, specifically in the secondary (which is why the team, in typically unpredictable fashion, could look to fill any number of positions).

Asante Samuel, one of the top-5 cornerbacks in the NFL, signed with the Eagles early in free agency, and backup Randall Gay is now with the Saints. New England has signed four warm bodies but are without a legitimate big-play cornerback. Which is why it seems logical that they would take Leodis McKelvin or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Except that the Patriots also have concerns at linebacker. In FanHouse's mock draft, if the Jets hadn't selected Vernon Gholston with the sixth pick, he'd be coming to New England. Even with Gholston off the board, the Patriots could still take a linebacker, and one that's more versatile than Gholston.

USC's Keith Rivers can play either inside or outside linebacker, and with Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel on the downside of solid careers, and Rosevelt Colvin no longer with the team, New England could use an athletic playmaker. And more than the athleticism, Rivers offers flexibility, something head coach Bill Belichick values.

Take a look at the first round of the 2005 NFL draft. If you were to take those 32 players, put all their names in a hat, and draw them randomly, you'd probably come up with a better ordering of how good they are than the NFL's general managers came up with.

At the top of the 2005 first round is 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, who's looking more and more like a bust with each passing game (and who is clearly not as good a quarterback as Jason Campbell, picked 25th by the Redskins). At the bottom of the first round is Patriots guard Logan Mankins, who's maybe the best guard in the NFL.

As Mark Craig writes in the Star-Tribune, the top 10 of that draft features exactly one player, Cleveland Browns receiver Braylon Edwards, who is having a good season in 2007. Whether it's off-field problems (Pacman Jones), injuries (Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams) or just general suckiness (Cedric Benson and Mike Williams), the 2005 Top 10 is a mess.

Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.

Overlooked Player of the Half-Season nominees: