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With the college football season getting underway this weekend, one of the best games for watching 2009 NFL draft prospects will take place Saturday when USC visits Virginia.

But while USC is obviously the more talented team, here's a surprise prediction for you: The player in that game whose name Roger Goodell will call first next April will be Virginia left tackle Eugene Monroe.

Monroe is a 6-foot-6, 315-pound senior who has nimble feet for a big guy. He started 11 games for the Cavaliers last season and didn't allow a sack in any of them, and his coach compares him to the two Virginia offensive linemen drafted in the first round the last two years, D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Branden Albert.

There is absolutely no reason to think that Usain Bolt wants to play in the NFL. He's the best sprinter in the world and may become the best sprinter ever, he'll make millions in endorsement income as a three-time gold medalist, and American football isn't particularly popular in Jamaica.

But I've heard from several football fans who think Bolt, who's 6-foot-5 and the fastest man in the world, would be a great NFL player. So could it happen?

I'll admit it: in the weeks and months leading up to the NFL draft, I hated the idea of the Steelers drafting a running back with their first-round pick. There were much bigger needs along the offensive and defensive lines, and running backs, in general, are pretty easy to scare up and for relatively little cost (hi, Willie Parker!).

On draft day, however, that's exactly what happened: Pittsburgh used the 23rd overall pick on Rashard Mendenhall, running back. Thing is, given how events unfolded during the first 22 picks, it was hard to fault the Steelers; they did what diehard draft nerds are always preaching: took the best player available.

And now, two days before training camp begins, the club has signed Mendenhall to a five-year deal. Obviously, Parker is the feature back (or, at the very least, is listed atop the depth chart), but head coach Mike Tomlin has plans for the revamped rushing attack.

"Our initial plan is he's going to be a supplemental runner," Tomlin said. "The growth of his role will be determined on his ability to execute from an assignment standpoint, how he deals with being a professional athlete.

"To this point he's shown he's mature and unique for a 21-year-old guy. Hopefully, that translates into him growing and developing as a member of this football team quickly."

With plenty of lingering questions about the state of the offensive line, the skill position players will be responsible for keeping Ben Roethlisberger upright. If the offense can create match-up problems at running back and wide receiver, the o-line deficiencies could be minimized. If that doesn't happen, it could be a long, painful 2008 for Big Ben.

Randy Moss, following the path trailblazed by Joe Gibbs decades earlier, is the latest (only?) NFL employee to enter the world of NASCAR. Both Gibbs and Moss are from the South (North Carolina and West Virginia, respectively), so they presumably grew up with the sport.

Now that Moss heads down the home stretch of his football career, he's looking for investment opportunities. Or maybe he just loves auto racing. But this is Randy Moss, so his every move is scrutinized for motive since, you know, he has something of a history of underachievement. No worries, though:

"I am used to that," Moss said Thursday. "I have been doubted my whole life. I am up to the challenge." ... "I have been a fan just from watching the guys and the energy they bring," said Moss, a West Virginia native. "I just met Dale ( Earnhardt) Jr. for the first time and I felt like a kid." ...

"I am not jumping into NASCAR because of the color of my skin," he said. "It's about the love and passion I have to win and about being a fan with an opportunity that has come my way."

Sounds like Moss, who bought a 50 percent ownership in Morgan-Dollar Motorsports (now "Randy Moss Motorsports!") is fully committed to this thing, so good for him. And since he won't be driving -- just observing -- I'm not sure how his sometimes lackadaisical approach to his job is even a factor. Oh, right, it's not.

The fun starts July 19.

Marcus Nash was the Denver Broncos' first-round draft pick out of Tennessee in 1998, and while Nash was productive in college, the Broncos quickly learned that his college quarterback, Peyton Manning, could make any receiver look good. Nash was a bust in the NFL.

But he has caught on in Arena Football, where 2008 was his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season.

Unfortunately, it will also apparently be his last. The Dallas Morning News reports that Nash, playing for the Dallas Desperados, underwent surgery this week to repair a broken neck suffered in last week's playoff loss to New York. According to the paper, Desperados coach Will McClay said the injury could end Nash's career.
Nash finished his NFL career with four catches. He was Arena Football's offensive player of the year in 2004.

Via PFT.

For those of you looking forward to the supplemental draft to break up the drudgery between now and the start of training camp, I have some bad news: it's been canceled due to lack of interest. That's right, this year, you won't be able to sit in front of your computer and wait for random NFL.com updates alerting you to which team team took a fourth-round flier on a player you've never heard of.

"No one applied at the time of the deadline," 49ers general manager Scott McCloughan confirmed Thursday. The NFL sent out a memo to all 32 teams informing them of the announcement Wednesday.

The cancellation comes as a surprise because there had been rumblings that several players were considering applying, including high profile talents such as Southern California middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, Oklahoma State tight Brandon Pettigrew and Mississippi State offensive tackle Michael Brown.

Yes, surprising, indeed. Last year, the Chargers forfeited a 2008 fourth-rounder to take Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver, and a round later, the Ravens grabbed offensive tackle Jared Gaither, who could be in line to replace Jonathan Ogden.

Oliver only appeared in three games last season, but Gaither made two starts, and heads into training camp tentatively penciled in as Baltimore's left tackle.

According to NFLDraftScout.com, only 37 players have been selected via the supplemental draft since its inception in 1977, with Bernie Kosar, Cris Carter and Brian Bosworth among the most noteworthy. One of these names is not like the other.

A fight broke out between two teammates Wednesday at the NFL Rookie Symposium, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting.

The annual Symposium is supposed to be the place for the 252 rookies who were drafted in April to learn how to conduct themselves as professionals. But yesterday it was the setting for a fight between the Buccaneers' first-round draft pick Aqib Talib, and seventh-round draft pick Cory Boyd.

The fight apparently broke out during a session on personal finances Wednesday, but the two players had been jawing at each other throughout the Symposium, which began on Sunday.

Both players have been in trouble before. Talib, a Kansas cornerback, was suspended two games in 2007. Boyd, a South Carolina running back, was suspended for the entire 2005 season.

High School: Huge Hit and Tough Catch - Watch more free videos

Like kickboxing, pro-athlete-blogging is the sport of the future. Cowboys linebacker Kevin Burnett recently started a blog and he's covered all sorts of interesting topics, from the nuances of the Cover-2 to explaining why Roy Williams isn't as bad as he looks.

Yesterday, he wondered if high school athletes should be allowed to enter the NFL draft, what with kids "getting bigger, stronger, and faster and constantly raising the bar of performance."

Do you think the high school football players should have to wait three years before entering into the NFL draft? Yes I do believe that high school kids are not ready for the NFL although I do think some freshmen would have been better off leaving.

That's not a completely insane argument, although, unfortunately, Burnett ends up straddling the fence on the issue.

Personally there are very few teenage bodies that can handle the NFL. On top of the physical try someone like Bill for your first coach. To me that would just be too much to handle for most but I do believe it can be done. With that being said I am not for or against the rule I just believe the option should be there.

My two cents: I'd say the gentleman in the video above is probably ready for the NFL draft. And the fellow in the after-the-jump footage, well, he's not even close, although I'd love to see him in a preseason game.

(By the way, I applaud Burnett for making his blog HATER PROOF. FanHouse could definitely use some of that.)

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that he thinks the NFL's salary structure -- in which highly drafted rookies are guaranteed eight-figure paydays before they ever set foot on the field -- is "ridiculous" and "something wrong.

Yesterday NFL Players' Association chief Gene Upshaw took issue with Goodell's comments when he addressed the 252 drafted players at the NFL Rookie Symposium.

Think how much better it is to get picked 252nd in the NFL draft than 251st. The 251st player is just some guy struggling to make a roster. But the 252nd -- and last -- player chosen in the draft is Mr. Irrelevant.

This year's Mr. Irrelevant, former Idaho linebacker David Vobora, will try to make the St. Louis Rams' roster in a few weeks, but right now he's enjoying perks like a visit to the Playboy Mansion. He talks about it in an interview with the Idaho Statesman:

Q: Can you describe what your trip to the Playboy Mansion was like for those of us who probably won't ever get the chance to experience it for ourselves?

A: In the simplest terms - it was a slice of heaven. The mansion was awesome. We got to go for Hef's movie night. He likes on Friday nights to watch old black and white movies. The playmates toured us around. We got to see the famous grotto and spend some time at the mansion, which was beautiful. Everyone wants to go to the mansion for the girls, and we got to meet "The Girls Next Door" and take pictures with them. It was great to spend time with them and Hef.

Somewhere, 251st overall pick Kennard Cox is cursing the Bills for drafting him.