FanHouse Rhett Bomar

The Giants announced in a press release today that linebacker Michael Boley had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip and is likely to miss 8-to-10 weeks as he recovers. That obviously means Boley won't be ready for the start of training camp, and it throws into doubt his availability for the start of the regular season. But the hilarious way in which the Giants constructed this press release was designed to make sure you know that they don't consider this a very big deal at all.

The release is titled "Giants Rookie Signings; Boley Surgery." The first three paragraphs announce the signings of third-round pick Ramses Barden and fifth-round pick Rhett Bomar. Then, out of nowhere comes the totally unrelated fourth paragraph:

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

With the departure of Plaxico Burress, and the failure (unwillingness?) to make an expensive trade for a veteran star, there was little secret how the Giants would attack the NFL Draft. They needed at least one receiver to help out Eli Manning and the unheralded returnees he has to throw to. Instead of settling for one, the Giants picked up a pair.

Last year, Matt Forte and Leodis McKelvin opened some eyes with their Senior Bowl performances, and both would go on to have outstanding NFL rookie seasons. Andre Woodson, on the other hand, struggled in the college football showcase game, and the former Kentucky star's draft stock plummeted -- he eventually ended the 2008 season on the Giants practice squad.

While a poor Senior Bowl won't automatically torpedo a prospect's NFL aspirations (Joe Flacco stumbled through the game last year), it's a great way for players to separate themselves in a crowded field.

After the jump: a quick rundown of those who impressed and those who didn't.

Just over a month ago, Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy was enjoying an undefeated season and the idea of coming back to Texas for his senior season. McCoy even went as far as saying, "I'm going to play here for four years," when asked about his potential leap into the millions.

Now, the story is changing and McCoy is saying he will test the NFL waters after this season ends and if he gets picked up in the first or second round, may leave Austin sooner than expected.

McCoy, after the Longhorns finished off a 49-9 win against Texas A&M on Thursday, told reporters that he will file paperwork to receive feedback from an NFL advisory committee about his draft prospects. McCoy said he plans to return to Texas, but if he were rated a first- or second-round draft pick, he could change his mind.

"I think it would be foolish not to look at it like that," McCoy said, according to the Dallas Morning News.

While it seems like a sudden change of heart, the underlying theme here is obvious for anyone that watches the NFL right now. The quarterbacking situation is pitiful and I'm sure if McCoy catches any Sunday action while icing that right arm he realizes that this is as good a year as any to jump to the NFL and possibly start right away with one of these struggling organizations.

The Sooners are no strangers to the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. With six football cases in their file, it's no shock to find them near the top of this list. That said, prior to Bomar-gate Oklahoma had kept its nose clean for almost 20 years. Almost.

In incidents contained in the 1988 case report were touched off when the NCAA's Project Intercept picked up on some suspicious Sooner recruiting practices. Project Intercept was a program which interviewed top prospects in basketball and football, trying to catch violations of NCAA recruiting rules. For all intents and purposes, it was a fishing expedition... and during their fishing in 1985, the NCAA hooked a whopper.Sorry, No Photos

Rhett Bomar and JD Quinn (and Oklahoma's rich history of flaunting NCAA regulations) just landed Oklahoma in a fair bit of trouble, but don't come crying to Quinn for sympathy:



Oh, the irony of JD Quinn telling someone -- anyone -- to "get a real job." While it's understandable Quinn is a little testy -- I imagine his inbox looks a lot like the FanHouse's comment section when you say mean things about Montana -- he's proven himself to be a selfish little man over the past couple years. Figuratively. I mean, obviously. As soon as he got booted off the team, he sold OU out in public, then tried to backtrack. The guy had the audacity to say "all I did is take cash" as if it had not been specifically and repeatedly pointed out that doing so would only lead to bad things.

I'm with the OU fans in all this: why do these guys get off basically scot free while Oklahoma takes the fall? Bomar and Quinn should have their eligibility stripped; then they can find out what real jobs are like. (I suggest blogging!)

Previously On FanHouse:
Oklahoma Claims It Did All It Could to Prevent Extra Benefits
JD Quinn: "All I Did Is Take Cash"
NCAA and Oklahoma at an Impasse?
Oklahoma Must Forfeit 2005 Season

It's starting to sound like it.

We've reported before (here, here) on Oklahoma's various snafus as it relates to the whole Rhett Bomar little work/big pay deal with a certain auto dealership. Oklahoma felt it did the right thing in catching Bomar in the act and kicking him and teammate J.D. Quinn off the team as sacrificial lambs. But then the NCAA smacked them down some more and now Oklahoma's steamed.

Red meat, please settle nicely onto my plate:

Oklahoma ``strongly disagrees'' with the NCAA's allegation that the university failed to adequately monitor the employment of dismissed starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and other athletes at a Norman car dealership, according to documents released by the university Friday.

``We ... assert that the University met, if not exceeded, industry standards regarding our student-athlete employment monitoring,'' University President David Boren said in a letter dated March 7, which was obtained by The Associated Press through an open records request.

``There were no other reasonable additional steps we could have taken that would have prevented these violations or detected them any sooner,'' Boren said in the letter.

The NCAA has claimed that Oklahoma violated its own guidelines by failing to collect earnings statements from 12 football players who worked at the dealership, and as a result did not detect NCAA rules violations.

Strangely enough, both sides are right. Welcome to the wacky world that is the NCAA ...

The University of Oklahoma has responded to NCAA allegations related to former quarterback Rhett Bomar and former offensive lineman J.D. Quinn. While the school does not deny that the players broke the rules - by accepting payment for hours not worked - OU officials believe there was little more they could have done to prevent the missteps.

"We strongly disagree with this charge and assert that the University met, if not exceeded, industry standards regarding our student-athlete monitoring," OU president David Boren wrote in a letter dated March 7 to the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

"There were no other reasonable additional steps we could have taken that would have prevented these violations or detected them any sooner. "The employment standard the allegation attempts to establish goes beyond current industry expectations and would add an impractical component to an already involved monitoring process for all Division I schools."

Oklahoma self-reported the violations and dismissed Bomar and Quinn from the team last August. The Sooners have not reallocated the scholarships of the two dismissed players and they will also utilize one less coach for off-campus recruiting during the fall evaluation period. The school hopes that the NCAA will accept these self-imposed scholarship and recruiting restrictions, rather than dishing out more severe punishments. Oklahoma is expected to appear before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions on April 14.

This is one amateur's assessment of how the Oklahoma quarterback derby will shake out this spring.

The Contenders:
Joey Halzle (JR) 6-3, 198
Sam Bradford (R-FR) 6-5, 197
Keith Nichol (FR) 6-2, 180

As you can see, all three quarterbacks lack that classic dropback build. They're smaller, more combo-style passers, particularly Nichol who has some running ability and played cornerback as well as quarterback in high school. He's also the closest thing to a blue-chipper among the quarterbacks. The Sooners earned his commitment late in the recruiting game this year after he spurned homestate Michigan State where he would have been one of the gems in their recruiting class.

Halzle was signed out of a junior college last year (probably as much-needed insurance) and failed to beat out senior Paul Thompson last year after incumbent quarterback Rhett Bomar was kicked out of school.

The way I see it, Halzle has a slight edge on Bradford thanks to his junior college experience and extra semester with the offense. Neither quarterback distinguished himself as a backup last year. If form holds this spring and fall, Halzle will probably be the Sooners' starting quarterback as ties tend to go to the veterans.

Eventually, Nichol has a chance to make a push for the job as his pedigree's a little better than the other quarterbacks who are both relative unknowns at a position that tends to be played amongst blue chippers at major programs like Oklahoma.

I suspect Halzle earns the starting nod in the fall and plays well enough to hold the job for much of the year. From there he's either going to run away with the job, look decent and buy time for Nichol or fall on his face and open the job to Bradford or Nichol. The first option sounds unlikely, as does the third, leaving the second option as a time-buyer who will complement the Sooners' ground game rather than propel the offense as happened with guys like Jason White and Josh Heupel.

The real question at that point becomes this: can Nichol distinguish himself enough through spring, fall and the early season to be ready to outplay Halzle and become a long-time starter in the mold of Rhett Bomar before he got himself kicked out of school? There's no way to really know, obviously, but I suspect he'll fall just short and Halzle will ride out the season as the Sooners' starting quarterback.

Agree? Disagree? Be kind as this is just an outsider's perspective to what certainly will be a very guarded, highly competitive situation.

The NCAA is alleging that a third, unnamed Oklahoma player may have received excess pay as an employee of an automobile dealership that overcompensated at least two Sooner players last year, quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn. Both players were kicked off the team and Oklahoma later filed its investigation and punishment results to the NCAA after self-reporting the incident.

UPDATE: The Oklahoma City Oklahoman's Mike Koehler writes in to tell us that the third player has been identified: walk-on receiver Jermaine Hardison. Thank you Mike.

Oklahoma's report appears to contradict the NCAA's allegation.

The [Dallas Morning News] reported that in the preliminary report Oklahoma submitted to the NCAA in August, the university said only Bomar and Quinn had accepted the excess pay. A third, unidentified player was referenced, but aside from Bomar and Quinn, "all other student-athletes were paid for the number of hours worked," the university said.

So who is that third player? To my knowledge no other player has been publicly named, but for purely dramatic reasons I'm sure some people will naturally jump to the conclusion that Adrian Peterson was in on the scheme. That's doubtful at best to these eyes, but you never know. Peterson was investigated and cleared last year for driving and later returning a car from Big Red Imports when his family decided not to purchase the vehicle.