We’d rather just shut it down than to run a boring, poorly updated blog, which is what OTR is starting to become.

We can’t thank all of our readers enough. You guys have all been great and we had a ton of fun playing with everyone. Maybe we’ll do it again some day. We could have just let the blog die slowly and not update it, but that’s not fair to anyone. We thought we would give OTR a proper burial by at least letting everyone know that we are calling it quits.

Memorial services will be held Sunday, December 21st at 2 PM at the Lodi, NJ YMCA.

You can send thoughts and regards to MPerry_77@hotmail.com and MicahW@feverpitchmedia.com.

Happy Holidays to all of those in OTR land!!

It’s not that the Flyers were unhappy with his 11 goals and five assists in the playoffs, it’s just that they couldn’t fit Umberger into their salary cap structure considering they still need to re-sign Jeff Carter and Randy Jones.

They Flyers used that 19th pick on two-way Swiss defenseman Luca Sbisa.

PHOTO CAPTION: ‘barry’ was kind enough to forward his school picture from this year.

I spoke to ‘barry’ last night to let him know he was receiving this award and I asked him to tell us a little bit about himself that the readers might not know. Before I could even get out the question ‘barry’ yelled out, “Tomorrow is Monopoly night. Baltic Ave is my favorite.”

With a little snicker I responded, “That’s great, ‘barry,’ that’s great. Tell us more?”

The conversation continued for about ten minutes before he had to finish up his life-sized Simon Birch sculpture for his LEGO contest this weekend. But let me highlight some interesting facts ‘barry’ wanted to share with OTR and you, the readers. His favorite sports team is the Charlotte Sting. He loves the WNBA, because he doesn’t feel dunking should be legal. “It’s too violent,” he said. ‘barry’s’ favorite color is dark orange. And he has a pet turtle named after his favorite person of all-time, ‘Skippy’ from Family Ties, who was played by Marc Price.

Before we ended our conversation I asked ‘barry’ what his favorite comment (or as he likes to say, ‘coment’) was on OTR’s site. He singled out this quote under a Chad Johnson article:

“no coment micah? hummmmm why? because the jimmey rollins”

“Because the jimmey rollins,” I don’t think Micah or myself could have summed it up better. Again, we salute you ‘barry’ as OTR’s Fan Of The Year. Don’t stop commenting. Continue your schooling to get that grammar perfected. And tell your friends that OTR did an article all about you, buddy. You are the best.

OTR Note: ‘barry’ is now commenting as ‘mark.’ I guess he doesn’t realize we can see his posts are coming from the same computer. You will soon see ‘mark’s’ aka ‘barry’s’ comments (same grammatical errors). They are currently in moderation.

But then someone from the Cardinals called the Chiefs (what the? Who does that?) and told them the Eagles were looking to move up ahead of them to make a play for Albert. So the Chiefs called Matt Millen of the Detroit Lions and made a deal with him at #15.

They say the best way to grade a draft is three years later. Give the busts time to prove they are busts. Give some of the slow starters a chance to blossom. So we’re going to do that by looking back at the 2005 Draft. We’re just going to look at the first three rounds though…why? Because we are lazy. So here we go:

Arizona Cardinals:
1 8 Antrel Rolle DB
2 44 J.J. Arrington RB
3 75 Eric Green DB
3 95 Darryl Blackstock LB

Grade: D+

Atlanta Falcons:
1 27 Roddy White WR
2 59 Jonathan Babineaux DE
3 90 Jordan Beck LB

Grade: White turned into a good player this year. C

Baltimore Ravens:
1 22 Mark Clayton WR
2 53 Dan Cody LB
2 64 Adam Terry T

Grade: B

Buffalo Bills:
2 55 Roscoe Parrish WR
3 86 Kevin Everett TE

Grade: Parrish is a dynamite return man. Everett’s situation was tragic. B-

Carolina Panthers:
1 14 Thomas Davis DB
2 54 Eric Shelton RB
3 79 Evan Mathis G
3 89 Atiyyah Ellison DT

Grade: Ehhh…D

Chicago Bears:
1 4 Cedric Benson RB
2 39 Mark Bradley WR

Grade: I guess this depends on what you think of Benson. We didn’t like the fact that they already had Thomas Jones on the roster. We’re grading harshly today. D

Cincinnati Bengals:
1 17 David Pollack LB
2 48 Odell Thurman MLB
3 83 Chris Henry WR

Grade: Shame about the Pollack injury, he looked like he could have been something. He retired last week. Thurman and Henry have spent more time being suspended than they have on the field. F

Cleveland Browns:
1 3 Braylon Edwards WR
2 34 Brodney Pool DB
3 67 Charlie Frye QB

Grade: Edwards is a baller, Frye was traded last year after Week 1. B+

Dallas Cowboys:
1 11 DeMarcus Ware OLB
1 20 Marcus Spears DE
2 42 Kevin Burnett LB

Grade: Ware is an absolute monster. The other two, not so much. B+

Denver Broncos:
2 56 Darrent Williams CB
3 76 Karl Paymah DB
3 97 Domonique Foxworth CB
3 101 Maurice Clarett RB

Grade: Clarett never played a down. Sadly, Williams is dead, but that’s not the Broncos. Still…D

Detroit Lions:
1 10 Mike Williams WR
2 37 Shaun Cody DE
3 72 Stanley Wilson DB

Grade: What a waste of a #1. D

Green Bay Packers:
1 24 Aaron Rodgers QB
2 51 Nick Collins FS
2 58 Terrence Murphy WR

Grade: We like Rodgers and think he’ll be the guy. Great value at #24. Terrence Murphy? C+

Houston Texans:
1 16 Travis Johnson DT
3 73 Vernand Morency RB

Grade: Ehh. C-

Indianapolis Colts:
1 29 Marlin Jackson DB
2 60 Kelvin Hayden DB
3 92 Vincent Burns DE

Grade: We like Jackson and Hayden. B

Jacksonville Jaguars:
1 21 Matt Jones WR
2 52 Khalif Barnes T
3 87 Scott Starks DB

Grade: Jones hasn’t done anything. Barnes has issues with the law. D-

Kansas City Chiefs:
1 15 Derrick Johnson OLB
3 99 Dustin Colquitt P

Grade: C

Miami Dolphins:
1 2 Ronnie Brown RB
2 46 Matt Roth DE
3 70 Channing Crowder

Grade: We like Brown and Crowder. B

Minnesota Vikings:
1 7 Troy Williamson WR
1 18 Erasmus James DE
2 49 Marcus Johnson G
3 80 Dustin Fox DB

Grade: Williamson is terrible. C-

New England Patriots:
1 32 Logan Mankins G
3 84 Ellis Hobbs CB
3 100 Nick Kaczur T

Grade: Good stuff. B+

New Orleans Saints:
1 13 Jammal Brown T
2 40 Josh Bullocks FS
3 82 Alfred Fincher LB

Grade: Brown was All-Pro in 2006. B

New York Giants:
2 43 Corey Webster DB
3 74 Justin Tuck DE

Grade: Webster plays out of necessity more than anything else. But we LOVE Justin Tuck. B

New York Jets:
2 47 Mike Nugent K
2 57 Justin Miller CB
3 88 Sione Pouha DT

Grade: Nugent was not worth it in the second. D

Oakland Raiders:
1 23 Fabian Washington CB
2 38 Stanford Routt DB
3 69 Andrew Walter QB
3 78 Kirk Morrison LB

Grade: Washington just got traded for a fourth rounder to the Ravens. Andrew Walter isn’t very good. We love Morrison though. C

Philadelphia Eagles:
1 31 Mike Patterson DT
2 35 Reggie Brown WR
2 63 Matt McCoy LB
3 77 Ryan Moats RB

Grade: Patterson is a very nice tackle. Brown is a serviceable #2 if he has dynamite on the other side (which he doesn’t). McCoy is a joke. Moats can’t learn a playbook or pickup a blitz. He’ll be cut shortly. C

Pittsburgh Steelers:
1 30 Heath Miller TE
2 62 Bryant McFadden DB
3 93 Trai Essex T

Grade: Miller is a nice TE. C

San Diego Chargers:
1 12 Shawne Merriman OLB
1 28 Luis Castillo DE
2 61 Vincent Jackson WR

Grade: We’re going to bump them up because of Jackson’s emergence last year. A-

San Francisco 49ers:
1 1 Alex Smith QB
2 33 David Baas G
3 65 Frank Gore RB
3 94 Adam Snyder T

Grade: We think Smith is a stiff and he went #1. Gore is injury prone. C-

Seattle Seahawks:
1 26 Chris Spencer C
2 45 Lofa Tatupu MLB
3 85 David Greene QB
3 98 Leroy Hill OLB

Grade: Tatupu is a baller. David Greene? C+

St. Louis Rams:
1 19 Alex Barron T
2 50 Ronald Bartell CB
3 66 O.J. Atogwe DB
3 81 Richie Incognito C

Grade: Barron is a holding machine. Atogwe had a good year last year. C

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
1 5 Cadillac Williams RB
2 36 Barrett Ruud LB
3 71 Alex Smith TE
3 91 Chris Colmer T

Grade: Smith could be worse. Cadillac wears down. C-

Tennessee Titans:
1 6 Pacman Jones CB
2 41 Michael Roos T
3 68 Courtney Roby WR
3 96 Brandon Jones WR

Grade: What do you think? F+ (the plus is for Roos)

Washington Redskins:
1 9 Carlos Rogers DB
1 25 Jason Campbell QB

Grade: Rogers is ok at best. Campbell we like, but the jury is still out. C

“We had like a stable full of running backs that are capable,” Rhodes told Sirius Satellite Radio Tuesday. “We went and drafted a guy that – he’s a great runner, don’t get me wrong – but I don’t understand the logic behind it. I don’t really think that (coach) Lane Kiffin wanted to take a running back in the first round, let’s just put it like that. He has to deal with it now, but I don’t think that’s what he wanted to do.”

That’s a nice way of saying: “He was throwing stuff around the War Room when the decision was made.”

“It’s a little bit of a risk, yes,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “There’s a lot of guys who have gone over the last two days with more substantial things hanging over their heads.”

Shirley was suspended for the first two games of the season for conduct detrimental to the team.

“That was a team issue, a personal team issue with coaches and teammates. I made a bad decision and it was one of those things that I had to pay for,” Shirley said.

But why stop there when you could keep it going? He was then arrested on October 8th after he crashed his car into an apartment building. According to the Fresno Bee, he was charged with hit-and-run, driving under the influence, and driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent or higher.

But is that a reason not to draft a guy? C’mon. Who hasn’t gotten wasted and turned our car into a one-man destruction machine? Easy mistake. Still, he got suspended for the season (although that was overturned after four games because medical documents said he had a concussion before the accident. Ah, a concussion. Those aren’t problems at the NFL level).

So what do you do next? Drive with a suspended license and expired tags, duh. He’s pleading not guilty to a bunch of the charges and a jury trial is pending.

“I have a court date May 21. And right now, everything’s going kind of smooth. I can’t really get into the details about it, as advised to me by my lawyer, but it’s going smooth,” Shirley said. “It’s looking real good, and hopefully I can get that expunged off my record.”

The Bengals have really gotten a jump on things. Why wait for a player to break the law when they are on the team when you can draft guys who have gotten a head start?

Photo Caption: “I SAID: I want more headroom in the shot!!”

Congratulations to Caleb Campbell, who became the highest player drafted from Army since 1947. Thanks for serving our country! If it was up to OTR to defend our freedom, we’d all be speaking Afghani.

“I’m serving my country in a different way, but I am serving my country,” Campbell said on ESPN shortly after the Lions selected him.

While we are at it, thanks to everyone overseas who is risking their lives so that idiots like us can spend an entire weekend talking about some stupid sport.

None of this means anything. Throw all the information out the window.

What’s this all mean? Absolutely nothing, but it’s fun to talk about. Who the hell knows what they will do?

OTR thinks this blows. The draft is being ruined because they decided to start at 3pm and everyone and their mother is getting a hold of this information. The Eagles should be on the clock by 2:30pm. Geez.

You can bet that this won’t happen again. There will be changes made next year.

We think the Falcons made the right move. You have no QB. You need a QB. Hence….taking a QB. We’re not claiming that Matt Ryan will be a stud at the next level, but you simply can’t win in the NFL without a good quarterback so the move makes sense. At least they are trying.

We heard earlier this week that Brown could be used to jump up to the #2 slot, so it seems now that he has reached the equivalent of Lito Status in New Orleans. Lito Status is, of course, ’someone take this guy from us now.’

So what does this mean? Well, a lot. It’s widely known that the Eagles want to bolster their tackle situation to prepare for the eventual losses of Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan. Names such as Chris Williams and Jeff Otah have been bandied about (Mental note: use the term “bandied about” more often) quite a bit this offseason, but the addition of Brown would quell that talk.

We’re not ones to speculate and make assumptions, but let’s speculate and make assumptions. If the Eagles did this deal, they would then have acquired their young tackle, and own the #19, #40 and #49 picks in the first two rounds. The team could then address the needs of wide receiver, safety, defensive end and maybe even a running back to help Westbrook.

We all know that Westbrook is a keg of dynamite. But what happens if he goes down? The season is most likely over. No more of the “complement” back for #36; they need someone who can provide his explosion should something happen to him.

In the absence of a possibility to land a marquee wideout, this deal makes a ton of sense.

Editor’s Note: We think we misread Brookover’s report. We took it as the Saints adding Brown and a later pick to the second round pick. But upon re-reading, we think he meant instead of a second round pick.

He says that they already have their guy, so we’ll see.

Side note: A lot of teams want to trade up in a draft where no teams wanted to trade up, huh? Wasn’t that what we’ve been hearing for the last three months.

Bill Parcells likes his guys, doesn’t he? Parcells, ahem, Jeff Ireland traded his fourth-round pick to the Cowboys in exchange for LB Akin Ayodele and TE Anthony Fasano.

Ayodele became expendable when the Cowboys acquired Zach Thomas a couple of months ago. Fasano is a former second-round pick that never did much of anything in Dallas as a #2 to All-World Jason Witten. The main difference on the field between Fasano and a warm sack of donkey crap would be the sack.

We’ve been hearing this one too and it wouldn’t surprise us. Jake Delhomme is coming off of an injury and the Panthers were simply brutal at the QB position without him.