The Unsigned Free Agents

Three Hawks who went undrafted are currently on NFL rosters fighting for a roster spot and a fourth is looking for a home. Mitch King, reigning B11 Defensive Player of the Year, is with the Tennessee Titans. Matt Kroul, King's brother from another mother, is with the New York Jets, and Rob Bruggeman is fighting for a spot on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Andy Brodell signed with Green Bay initially and then failed a physical and never got a chance to compete in rookie drills. A couple of things to remember- a lot of players take this route and stick including reigning Defensive POY James Harrison and the star of my fantasy team Wes Welker. There are way too many examples to list. Here is a more in depth look a each players situation.



Mitch King

Tennesee Titans



Currently listed as the third string LDT on the official web site of the Titans ( www.titansonline.com ). He will compete with Javon Haye and Joson Jones for playing time or a spot in the rotation. Tony Brown and Sen'Derrick Marks are the other sure things for roster spots. Another guy that King could be battling is vet Kevin Vickerson. In my opinion King has landed in the best destination he could have. Jim Washburn, his position coach, is very highly regarded around the NFL and former Hawk Jared Clauss told me he is the best in the business. I think King has a good chance to make the opening day roster depending on how many players the Titans want to have in their D-line rotation. It would be good for him to get reps as D-end also, the more you do the more valuable you are. I also think that King is athletic enough to make an impact on special teams. At worst I see him being signed to the practice squad as insurance in case of injuries to the vets ahead of him on the depth chart, but I really think he will play and make a name for himself in a short amount of time. Some day scouts might look for football players instead of athletes.

Rob Bruggeman

Tampa Bay doesn't publish a depth chart until training camp begins but some other sites have Bruggy listed as the third string center. The other centers listed are Jeff Faine (who may be the best in the NFL) and Sean Mahan. However rumors are that Mahan is involved in a positional battle with starter Aaron Sears and top backup Jeremy Zuttah. That might mean more reps for Rob. The Buc's overhaul of their coaching staff includes a transition to a zone blocking scheme being run by Pete Mangurian. Here is a nice article about Rob's signing following the first round of OTAs www.pewterreport.com/articles/view/5444 which includes some tidbits about why he signed with Tampa. I think Rob has a very good shot at earning a roster spot and at worst will be on Tampa's practice squad.

Matt Kroul

Kroul signed with the New York Jets. This is a bit of a puzzler to me for a couple of reasons. He doesn't have the traditional size or length of a 5 technique DE in a 3-4 and the massiveness needed to play nose. He will compete with Marques Douglas, Kareem Brown, Mike DeVito, Ropati Pitoitiva, Brian Schaefering, and fellow UFAs from this seasons class and cornholers Zach Potter and Ty Steinkuhler. That is a lot of guys to split reps with. One thing going in Matt's favor is that almost everyone there is starting from scratch as Rex Ryan has taken over the Head Coaching position. Ryan also seems to fill his roster with guys like Kroul- smart, hardworking, and adaptable football players. UFAs don't just get a chance to back up but they can win starting jobs. Kroul could remind Ryan of one of his favorites in Baltimore Kelly Gregg. The other thing Matt might have going for him is he is one of 3 players listed on the roster whose postition is listed as DL instead of a specific position. Baltimore used to change fronts constantly and I am sure that Matt can adapt to the calls and audibles as he seems to have a knack for diagraming plays on napkins. Ryan runs an attacking style of defense but he needs the d-lineman to attack gaps and occupy blockers which is essentially what Kroul did for Iowa. I am not sure that Matt will make the Jets but if he makes it to the last round of cuts he has a shot to get picked up by another team and now has some experience in the 3-4. ( I know Iowa runs a 3-4 on passing downs, he played nose during it and drew it up for me on the aforementioned napkin.)

Andy Brodell

Andy initially signed with Green Bay but failed his physical and never got a chance to compete. His agent Jack Bechta writes a column on one of the web sites I have linked here and he wrote an incredible article about the process Andy is going through here -http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/the-last-shot-the-long-shot.html . I also heard third hand that Andy may be attending one of these types of camps (or has attended) for the Saints. I hope Andy keeps chasing the dream and gets 100% healthy. Several NFL teams could use help at reciever and punt returner and I think if he got a chance he would make it hard on them to cut him.

And that is the end of my NFL coverage for the class of 2009 for awhile at least. I am burned out on it and training camps haven't even started. I am sure I will return to this topic in late July or early August and I will try to update Fletcher, Olsen, and Myers contract status.