Boston Dragons - 2008 season

[kingfc22]

Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs. Are you kidding me? Playoffs?

The 2008 offseason has begun and the Bostonians are getting anxious. After 3 straight losing seasons and zero playoff appearances in 5 seasons the fans want some results. "This owner is asking us to shell out some serious cash for season tickets. And what do we get? Crap," said Paul Johnson who has been a season ticket holder since '03. Heather Violette had this to say, "I'm tired of watching this team lose. We had to sit through the Sante experiment and then we had to see us tie West Virginia. You have got to be kidding!!!"

2007 was supposed to be the year the Dragons made the playoffs. Some magazines had them earning a wild card berth, but a 2-7 start to the season ended that hope. However, the Dragons came together and started to gel and they were able to win 3 of their final 5 games.

[kingfc22]

Offseason Begins

GM David Gonzalez once again entered the offseason looking to rid himself of Sammy Harvey. Ever since Gonzalez took over the team he has never agreed with Harvey's moves. Things came to a head last season when Harvey selected QB Glenn de Marco in the 4th Rd. of last year's draft.

Gonzalez had a few targets that he would have liked to land, but the team's owner would not give him the money needed to get that new head coach.

Offensive coordinator James Friedsen has left the team and joined the Albuquerque Matadors staff. Gonzalez hired Grant Roberson as his replacement. Roberson has been in the league for 4 seasons. He was a offensice coordinator in Hartford for a season before leading Reno the past 3 seasons as their head coach.

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Free Agency

Our goal was to go into the 2008 season in a decent financial situation and also shore up some of the weaker spots on our squad. First thing we had to do was renegotiate with a few guys to free up some cap space.

WR Daryl Magallanes agreed to a $3.51M contract over 3 years.
CB Larry Morehead agreed to a $18.24M contract over 5 years.
RB Tory Wigfall agreed to a $12.29M contact over 5 years.
WR Brian Christe agreed to a $11.08M contract over 4 years.
SS Billy McBride agreed to a $6.8M contract over 3 years.

Once we had the cap space we targeted some guys right away. The first player to join the Dragons was punter Alton Laliberte. He is entering his 18th season, but should be a nice upgrade over Jason Oaks. On that same day we worked a deal with the Portland Seals that sent DE Abram Blake in exchange for a 4th and 5th round pick in this year's draft.

We went after QB Gerald Sanders a few times, but the money that we were offering him was not enough to sway him to come to Boston. The greedy ol bastard eventually ended up in St. Louis. So as of right now, the starting QB spot still belongs to Burdette.

A few days later we signed T Al Samuels to fill in our backup role to Laird and Click. We did not attempt to resign Jewel Hershey which might come back to hurt us in the future, but it was the decision that we decided to make.

Knowing that Burdette needed more protection on the O-Line we went after C Brian Guiterrez. He rejected our first offer, but he eventually signed a $4.67M contract over the next 2 seasons. Rumors have it that Brian may move to RG this season.

DT Maximo Abshire was resigned. The 15 year veteran will be there to provide much needed leadership to our young D-Line. We also added G Marcus Roscoe and CB Anthony Hill. Both guys will be battling to find a reserve spot on the roster.

We did not get everyone that we wanted. After trading away Blake we knew we needed to find a replacement. We targeted Gus Cantrell and Jessie Pettaway, but we lost out on both guys. GM David Gonzalez eventually signed DE Malcolm Carmody to fill in the reserve role behind Webb and Gaddis.



Up next: The 2008 draft.

[kingfc22]

The 2008 IFL Draft

Going into the draft we had a couple things going in our favor. First, we needed a DT for the future and this draft was top heavy on DT's. Secondly, we had 4 picks in the top 70 and this was a deep draft so we were likely to get quality with each pick.

Our first goal like I mentioned earlier was to get a DT. We had our fingers crossed that Toby Torres would fall, but he was chosen #3 overall. The clock quickly went by and our pick was due.

1.7 (DT) Earl "Mount" Hood - Ohio State - 6'2", 305 lbs. Earl was the second strongest DT in the draft and our scouts project him to be a solid run stopper with the ability to rush the passer at will. Our scouts have heard whispers around the league that Hood might not be ready for the IFL, but with his size and speed equal to most DE's we couldn't pass him up. Earl is currently penciled in to start on the D-Line sandwiched between Webb and Gaddis.

Our next picks were 2.7 and 2.25. Since our other main concern on the roster is our interior line we knew we had to move up. This draft was very light on interior lineman which was proven when LG Andy Klesko went 6th overall. We made a bunch of phone calls to teams trying to package picks to move into the 21st overall to 26th overall range. We had our sights set on RG Skip Browning. The 6'4" Browning would have been a great addition to our squad but it was not meant to be as he was chosen by Lawrence with pick 1.27. Once we saw Browning go we had to get our next highest rated interior lineman on our draft board.

We went to the phones again and we found a listener. We were able to package our picks 2.7 and 7.7 with 4.12 which we received in the Abram Blake deal in order to select at 2.1.

2.1 (C) Junior Huffman - South Carolina - 6'6, 299 lbs. Huffman was the highest rated C in the draft and he will enter the season as a backup to David Oglesby, but if he works hard in camp he could win a starting spot. We thought about moving the big man to guard, but we have decided to move newly aquired Brian Guiterrez there instead.[/u]

2.25 (CB) Lawrence Currie - Texas A&M - 5'10", 188 lbs. Looking over our roster and what was available at this time in the draft we decided to go with a cornerback. Not only is Currie good against the run, but he can return punts and cover on special teams. The youngster will try to fight for the nickel cornerback position. We had SE Sammie Bass high on our board, but he was chosen 5 spots earlier by Vermont.

3.7 (WLB) Neil Weems - Virginia - 6'0", 212 lbs. We were holding our breath hoping Weems would fall here. We decided to pass on him at 2.25 and the plan worked out. Weems will get valuable time behind Andrew Valley. Weems fits our defensive scheme and he allows us to keep last year's 5th round pick Dieron Tierney as a ILB.

4.7 (K) Jeff Lynn - Colorado - 6'2, 203 lbs. This was another pick where we had a few guys almost fall to us. Our number one guy on the board at this point in the draft was RG Ted Massengill. He went at 4.1. Our second guy on our board was TE Neal Henshaw. He went at 4.6. Thinking we could still get some solid value in the 4th round in this deep draft we decided to trade RG Drew Waters and our 5th round pick via Portland for 4.8. With back to back picks we could take a chance on a kicker that will hopefully provide us with some much needed consistency.

4.8 (SE) Tyrus Stickland - Miami - 6'2, 192 lbs. After missing out on Sammie Bass earlier we still wanted to add some depth to our receiving corps. Tyrus has great hands and should be a nice target to throw to on 3rd downs.

5.7 (SS) Preston Paxton - UCLA - 6'2, 197 lbs. Preston was another guy that we wanted and were able to draft. He is a hard hitting safety that is not afraid to play around the line of scrimmage.

6.7 (DE) Phillip Schulz - Notre Dame - 6'1, 251 lbs. At this point in the draft we were looking for the best player available and our scouts decided that Schulz was the man to choose. He will have a shot at making the roster as he will compete with Nick McDonald to be the backup to Webb and Gaddis.

[JesterBlaze]

Nice write up on your team's draft experience. Browning looks to be a slight boom so far...

[kingfc22]

Rookie Negotiations

In GM David Gonzalez' first season, he had some trouble dealing with the rookies that were drafted. Especially first rounder, Tony Moriarty who ended up holding out and missed training camp.

This year was a different story. #7 overall pick, Earl Hood signed a 6 year deal worth a little over $22 million dollars and is very excited to get his first IFL season underway. We signed 4 of our draft picks to 4 year contracts and the other remaining guys all signed for 3 seasons.

We have also added FS Norbert Fitzgerald, LT Gilbert Kersey, FS C.J. Cook, WLB Ike Moreland, MLB Kerry Kemp, and DE Junior Lewis to our pre-camp roster. All these guys went undrafted and look to find a fight for a spot in Boston.

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THE 2008 PRESEASON ROSTER

Training camp has come to an end and it is time for some football. Word out of Boston is that rookie Earl Hood looks like the real deal and other teams should be afraid of the Dragons D-Line. The coaches were also impressed my the work ethic of CB Lawrence Currie and CB Anthony Hill.


Quarterbacks

#7 Jerald Burdette (4th Yr. - LSU) - 6'4", 219 lbs. Burdette took over the starting job last sesaon in week 5 and never looked back. He posted the highest QB rating in team history. Burdette is excited about the additions to the O-Line.

Career Stats: 12 GS, 212/345 (61.4%), 2175 yds, 10 TD, 7 INT, 80.7 QB Rating

#5 J.B. Fogarty (3rd Yr. - Arkansas) - 6'1", 203 lbs. Fogarty came to the Dragons last year from Newark in the deal that sent Reuben Sante away. Fogarty has made some nice strides this offseason and in training camp and will enter the season as the #2 guy.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 11/20 (55.0%), 96 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, 47.0 QB Rating

#17 Dana Mason (3rd Yr. - Auburn) - 6'4", 213 lbs. Dana has not been impressive in offseason workouts and he has lost the #2 spot to Fogarty. We have hired specialty coaches to work with Mason to help him grasp the offense, but his learning skills are just not what they need to be.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 0/1 (0%), 0 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT, 39.5 QB Rating


Running Backs

#34 Tory "Mack Truck" Wigfall (8th Yr. - Peru St.) - 6'1", 228 lbs. Tory had his best season of his career last year. He ran for over 1200 yards and also added 42 receptions. The coaches contribute his solid season to Tory being able to get a breather while then rookie Tony Moriarty took some carries. During the offseason, Tory signed a 4 yr. extension that will have him in Boston through 2012.

Career Stats: 77 GS, 1436 att, 5311 yds, 25 TD, 3.69 YPC, 204 REC, 1598 yds, 12 TD

#38 Tony Moriarty (2nd Yr. - Iowa) - 6'0", 212 lbs. Although Tony missed trainng camp last season due to a holdout team officials were still happy with what they saw. Tony is a great change of pace back and he has a nose for the endzone.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 142 att, 518 yds, 6 TD, 3.64 YPC, 5 REC, 21 yds, 0 TD

#23 Ross Benson (4th Yr. - Miami) - 6'4", 229 lbs. Ross saw his playing time severly cut last season with the rookie getting most of the carries the Ross got in 2006. However, he is not just a roster filler. He is an excellent member of our special teams unit and his 16 tackles did not go unnoticed.

Career Stats: 1 GS, 126 att, 565 yds, 5 TD, 4.48 YPC, 4 REC, 20 yds, 0 TD


Fullbacks

#30 Karl Santana (9th Yr. - Texas A&M) - 6'1", 239 lbs. Karl does a great job blocking for the run and pass. He doesn't get many touches during the season, but without him Tory and Tony would have a problem getting those holes they run through. Karl is also very solid coming out of the backfield and catching passes.

Career Stats: 61 GS, 143 att, 768 yds, 6 TD, 5.37 YPC, 236 REC, 1317 yds, 5 TD, 52 KRB, 31.1 BPCT

#25 J.J. Stevens (2nd Yr. - Florida St.) - 5'11", 218 lbs. J.J.played very sparingly last season as would must guys when Karl Santana is the starter. He will be looking to make an impression this preseason.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 1 KRB, 50.0 BPCT

#35 Douglas Mohler (10th Yr. - Wake Forest) - 5'7", 252 lbs. Douglas is the leader in the clubhouse for our backfield. All the young guys look up to Douglas because he has proven that it takes more than just size to succeed in the IFL. Mohler looks to enter the season as the #3 guy again this season.

Career Stats: 2 GS, 37 att, 180 yds, 0 TD, 4.86 YPC, 63 REC, 380 yds, 1 TD, 7 KRB, 33.3 BPCT

#32 Steven Meagher (Rookie - Maryland) - 5'9, 221 lbs. Steven is an undrafted rookie and he impressed the staff in training camp and is going to get a shot during the preseason to make the roster. He looks to be a better blocker than Stevens, but he doesn't have the hands that J.J. does.

[SteveBsFan]

Nice report!

[kingfc22]

Wide Receivers

#80 Josh Sullivan (3rd Yr. - Tennessee) - 5'11", 195 lbs. Josh was a little more productive in his sophomore season than his first, but he is still struggling with a case of the dropsies. Josh did increase his YPC and we look for a strong 3rd season out of him.

Career Stats: 32 GS, 79 REC, 1097 yds, 13.8 YPC, 8 TD

#86 Daryl Magallanes (6th Yr. - Utah) - 6'1", 197 lbs. Daryl saw his playing time cut down a lot last season, but he still managed to be productive as a #3 receiver. We expect the same kind of production out of him this season.

Career Stats: 61 GS, 262 REC, 3593 yds, 13.7 YPC, 12 TD

#88 Brian Christie (7th Yr. - Kansas St.) - 5'10", 187 lbs. Brian was our leading receiver last season with 53 receptions. He also signed a nice contract extension to stay with the Dragons through 2011.

Career Stats: 70 GS, 289 REC, 3840 yds, 13.2 YPC, 19 TD

#84 Rodny Sena (8th Yr. - Kentucky) - 6'1", 212 lbs. Rodney saw limited action as a reserve wideout and will have to beat out rookie Tyrus Strickland for the #4 spot on the roster this season.

Career Stats: 6 GS, 80 REC, 1020 yds, 12.7 YPC, 2 TD

#89 Tyrus Strickland (Rookie - Miami) - 6'2, 192 lbs. Tyrus was taken in the 4th Rd. of this past draft. At Miami, he caught 43 balls for 684 yards and 3 TD's. He has good hands and projects to be a decent wideout that can provide some depth to the Dragons roster.


Tight Ends

#85 Weldon Brownell (9th Yr. - San Diego St.) - 6'5". 250 lbs. Weldon enjoyed the team's move last season to get rid of Sante as he and Burdette seemed to have an instant connection. He caught 36 balls in 2006 which was 12 more than the previous year. The one concerning thing about Weldon was his lack of good blocks last season. We hope to see improvement in this area this year.

Career Stats: 64 GS, 122 REC, 1234 yds, 10.1 YPC, 4 TD

#87 Joshua Winstead (6th Yr. - Utah) - 6'3", 261 lbs. Joshua will once again backup Brownell this season. He is an important member of our special teams and he can be called upon to make the big catch when needed.

Career Stats: 7 GS, 40 REC, 368 yds, 9.2 YPC, 1 TD

#81 Clay Fields (5th yr. - Wisconsin) - 6'8", 284 lbs. We just resigned Clay to a contract to be our #3 TE again. Since rookie Junior Huffman looks to be our new long snapper we no longer needed to use a roster spot at TE to field a player with that ability.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 2 REC, 24 yds, 12.0 YPC, 0 TD

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Centers

#58 David Oglesby (12th Yr. - UCLA) - 6'2", 295 lbs. David is coming off a season where he suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for the last 6 games of the season. He will be hard pressed to keep his starting position as the team drafted a center in the 2nd Rd. of the draft. On a side not, David did not allow a sack last season.

Career Stats: 71 GS, 149 KRB, 36.4% BPct, 17 SkA

#77 Junior Huffman (Rookie - South Carolina) - 6'6", 299 lbs. Junior is a fine physical specimen. He is eager to line up across a defender and then smack him in the mouth once the ball is snapped. Junior will also be in charge of the long snapping duties this season.

#76 David Green (Rookie - James Madison) - 6'4", 295 lbs. This undrafted rookie is a long shot at making the final roster and is mainly just a roster filler during the preseason.



Guards

#74 Judson Standley (9th Yr. - Temple) - 6'3", 315 lbs. Judson is our starting LG, but he is looking to improve on a poor 2007 season.

Career Stats: 64 GS, 113 KRB, 32.0% BPct, 17 SkA

#62 Riddick Hammond (3rd Yr. - Georgia Tech) - 6'3", 296 lbs. Riddick is still fighting to get playing time. However, if Standley doesn't improve on his play from last year, then we might see Riddick in the starting lineup.

Career Stats: 5 GS, 7 KRB, 24.1% BPct, 2 SkA

#68 Brian Guiterrez (16th Yr. - Boise St.) - 6'4", 307 lbs. Brian is a longtime member of the IFL. He has been named 1st Team All-IFL twice in his career as a center. This offseason he signed as a FA and has made the move the RG. He is a solid run blocker, but his pass blocking skills have started to deteriorate with his old age.

Career Stats: 74 GS, 192 KRB, 33.6% BPct, 24 SkA

#61 Marcus Roscoe (5th Yr. - Duke) - 6'0", 284 lbs. Marcus is currently the #4 guard on the roster and he is looked up to as a mentor to the younger guards on the roster.

Career Stats: 1 GS, 3 KRB, 33.3% BPct, 2 SkA

#78 Alonzo Wolfe (Rookie - Purdue) - 6'5", 307 lbs. Alonzo will see some action during the preseason, but it is unlikely that he will beat out Roscoe for a spot on the roster.



Tackles

#60 Antonio Laird (14th Yr. - Miami) - 6'8", 307 lbs. Antonio is entering his 14th season and he is coming off of one of his better seasons in a while. He was also named the league's strongest man.

Career Stats: 74 GS, 143 KRB, 31.5% BPct, 35 SkA

#70 Darrell Steed (2nd Yr. - Oregon St.) - 6'2", 297 lbs. Our 3rd Rd. pick a year ago will need a good preseason to show the coaches that he has the ability to play at this level. He did not get on the field last year.

#66 Bradley Click (11th Yr. - Kentucky) - 6'6", 323 lbs. Bradley is our starting RT and he is a good all-around blocker.

Career Stats: 66 GS, 94 KRB, 29.7% BPct, 26 SkA

#72 Al Samuels (6th Yr. - UNC) - Al was a FA pickup this offseason. He has spent all of his career with Texas up until this point. He did get 7 starts in 2006.

Career Stats: 15 GS, 23 KRB, 35.3% BPct, 7 SkA

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Kickers

#4 Carter Garland (7th Yr. - Western Michigan) - 6'0", 228 lbs. After a suberb 2006 season, Carter had a miserable 2007 season. He only hit on 69% of his field goal attempt and we will need for him to be better since we play in a lot of close games. He did hit a new career long of 53 yards in 2007.

Career Stats: 80 GP, 111/149 FG, 53 LG



Punters

#3 Alton Laliberte (18th Yr. - Virginia Tech) - 6'3", 208 lbs. Alton was one of the first guys to sign with us this offseason as a free agent. He has spent all of his career in Newark and we are looking forward to him ending his career in Boston. He has a very strong leg and he gets some good hang time as well on his punts.

Career Stats: 80 GP, 43.0 AVG, 159 In20

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Defensive Ends

#93 Fritz Gaddis (6th Yr. - Norther Illinois) - 6'2", 280 lbs. Last season Fritz had a suberb training camp and entrenched himselft and left end for the Dragons. This season we want to see him get to the QB more often. He did not manage to record a sack in the final 10 games of the season.

Career Stats: 66 GS, 168 TKL, 13.0 SCK, 59 HUR, 4 FFum

#97 Malcolm Carmody (9th Yr. - Cincinnati) - 6'4", 260 lbs. Malcom is another player we signed this offseason. He looks to replace Abram Blake as the #1 guy off the bench behind Gaddis and Webb. He spent his last 2 seasons in Lansing before entering free agency.

Career Stats: 61 GS, 124 TKL, 15.0 SCK, 46 HUR, 2 FFum

#98 Phillip Schulz (Rookie - Notre Dame) - 6'1", 251 lbs. The golden domer was selected in the 6th round of this past IFL draft. He is in competition with Nick McDonald for the 4th DE spot and will need a good preseason to find a spot on the final roster. Our scouts let us down a little with their recommendation on selcting Phillip.

#56 Raymond Webb (2nd Yr. - Georgia) - 5'11", 231 lbs. Raymond's rookie year got better as the year went along. He never did seem to gel with Abram Blake and rumors have surrounded the team that Webb forced the front office to make the move.

Career Stats: 16 GS, 39 TKL, 4.0 SCK, 9 HUR, 0 FFum

#95 Nick McDonald (5th Yr. - LSU) - 6'5", 273 lbs. Nick was motivated this preseason with the team drafting Schulz. He is out to prove that he belongs on the team.

Career Stats: 7 GS, 9 TKL, 1.0 SCK, 4 HUR, 0 FFum



Defensive Tackles

#79 Maximo Abshire (15th Yr. - Duke) - 6'5", 280 lbs. Maximo was thought to be done with the Boston organization after they did not offer to renegotiate with him during the '07 season. However, as the college scouting reports started to pile in it was clear that his influence would be needed if the Dragons were to select one of the many young stud DT's.

Career Stats: 80 GS, 256 TKL, 18.0 SCK, 53 HUR, 6 FFum

#99 Earl "Mount" Hood (Rookie - Ohio St.) - 6'2", 305 lbs. Earl was our first rounder this season and was #7 overall. Earl looks to have an immediate impact on the AC East and he fills up the gap on the D-Line between Gaddis and Webb. We hope this addition makes the Boston defense one of the most feared in the IFL.

#96 Levon Joslyn (3rd Yr. - Oregon St.) - 6'2", 286 lbs. Levon is excited to show what he can do on the field. Our scouts continue to tell us that he has the potential to be a premier run stuffer.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 8 TKL, 0 SCK, 2 HUR, 0 FFum

[Cringer]

So can we skip your team in the preview now?

[kingfc22]

Linebackers

#53 Virgil McIver (11th Yr. - Idaho) - 5'11", 240 lbs. Virgil is coming off a rough offseason and he was not in shape. He led the team with 93 tackles last season, but it was the first time under 100 for the standout ILB.

Career Stats: 75 GS, 557 TKL, 11.5 SCK, 7 INT, 11 FFum

#54 Andrew Hulse (10th Yr. - Boston College) - 6'0", 220 lbs. Andrew had a career season in 2007. He had a career high 86 tackles, 2 sacks and also added 3 INT's. Can he repeat his success from last season?

Career Stats: 49 GS, 280 TKL, 5.0 SCK, 4 INT, 3 FFum

#52 Shawn Hinsley (5th Yr. - Oklahoma St.) - 6'1, 216 lbs. Shawn is not a guarantee to be on the roster at the end of this season. If teams around the league suffer injuries, then he might be moved to allow for him to get on the field.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 25 TKL, 0 SCK, 0 INT, 0 FFum

#55 Jonathan St. Louis (4th Yr. - West Virginia) - 5'11, 217 lbs. Jonathan did not have a good year in 2007. He got hurt to start the season and it seemed like he could never get on track.

Career Stats: 45 GS, 181 TKL, 13.5 SCK, 0 INT, 3 FFum

#57 Matthew Stanley (6th Yr. - Tennessee) - 5'11", 220 lbs. Matthew is once again stuck behind a bunch of guys due to the depth of the Boston LB corps. Stanley did get a lot of plaaying time last season due to the injuries that his St. Louis and McIver.

Career Stats: 27 GS, 139 TKL, 1.5 SCK, 3 INT, 3 FFum

#50 Deron Tierney (2nd Yr. - Wisconsin) - 6'2", 235 lbs. Tierney was only on the field for 1 play last season. The staff will look to get him more involved this season in preperation for a possible starting spot in the future.

#91 Andrew Valley (8th Yr. - Minnesota) - 6'1", 250 lbs. Andrew had a very strong '07 season. He was second on the team with 88 tackles and tied for the team lead with 4 sacks. He is in the final year of his contract and we are not sure if he will be back.

Career Stats: 57 GS, 315 TKL, 9.0 SCK, 4 INT, 7 FFum

#51 Neil Weems (Rookie - Virginia) - 6'0", 212 lbs. Neil was drafted in the third round and he may be the starter next season at WLB. He is good against the run and is good and diagnosing a play as it develops.

#94 Ike Moreland (Rookie - Washington) - 5'11", 231 lbs. Ike went undrafted and was signed as a FA this offseason. He is a longshot at making the club, but he will get lots of chances this preseason.

[kingfc22]

Cornerbacks

#21 Willie Ames (4th Yr. - Boston College) - 5'11", 191 lbs. Willie is a STUD. Hands down, the guy can play. He can play against the pass and he also is strong against the run.

Career Stats: 48 GS, 157 TKL, 10 INT, 25 Defn, 2 FFum

#22 Milton Martin (12th Yr. - Utah) - 5'10", 190 lbs. Milton was brought in to add depth last season, but this year we have some youngsters that will be gunning for his spot. Milton used his experience to his advantage last year as he was our nickel back.

Career Stats: 56 GS, 250 TKL, 21 INT, 33 Defn, 6 FFum

#24 Lawrence Currie (Rookie - Texas A&M) - 5'10", 188 lbs. Lawrence was our 2nd pick of the second round. He had 58 tackles last season in college and he was very good against the run on film. He should also contribute to our special teams unit.

#33 Anthony Hill (5th Yr. - SW Oklahoma St.) - 5'10", 178 lbs. Anthony was another one of our FA signings. He has played 2 seasons in Vermont and spent last year in Cleveland. He will be fighting for the nickel and dime spot.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 5 TKL, 0 INT, 0 Defn, 0 FFum

#26 Larry Morehead (8th Yr. - Indiana) - 6'1", 190 lbs. Larry just signed a nice fat contract and will be with the Dragons through 2012. Last season he had a career high 69 tackles and he also had 12 pass defensed. Larry is an important part of our defense because most teams tend to throw away from Ames.

Career Stats: 69 GS, 250 TKL, 11 INT, 42 Defn, 4 FFum



Safeties

#41 Billy McBride (9th Yr. - North Carolina Central) - 5'10", 210 lbs. Billy just renegotiated a contract this preseason and will be in Boston for the next 3 seasons. Billy has suffered injuries in each of the past two seasons and he looks for 2008 to be injury free.

Career Stats: 70 GS, 285 TKL, 11 INT, 35 Defn, 4 FFum

#45 Dallas Perrone (11th Yr. - Maryland) - 6'2, 200 lbs. Dallas is the leader in the secondary and he is also our mentor to the young guys. He will probably be inactive for most games as we drafted a player that will be Perrone's backup.

Career Stats: 38 GS, 197 TKL, 5 INT, 14 Defn, 2 FFum

#28 Preston Paxson (Rookie - UCLA) - 6'2", 197 lbs. Preston was selected in the 5th round and has been chosen to be the guy behind Perrone. He had 79 tackles and 4 INT's last season for the Bruins.

#27 Quinn Surdyk (2nd Yr. - Texas) - 6'3", 203 lbs. Quinn did not see a lot of playing time this year, but he has come into training camp and battled hard with incumbent Leslie Harris. The staff is looking for a strong preseason effort out of Surdyk before they announce a starter at Free Safety.

Career Stats: 0 GS, 6 TKL, 0 INT, 1 Defn, 0 FFum

#43 Leslie Harris (3rd Yr. - Miami) - 6'3, 213 lbs. Leslie has not progressed like we would have hoped. He is a great knack at getting his hands on the ball, but he does not seem to fit the scheme that we play. He will need a strong showing this preseason to beat out Surdyk.

Career Stats: 25 GS, 68 TKL, 3 INT, 7 Defn, 0 FFum

#44 Norbert Fitzgerald (Rookie - Penn St.) - 6'1", 222 lbs. Norbert impressed our staff in training camp as he came in as an undrafted free agent and worked hard. He will get a shot in preseason to try an earn a spot on the roster. Last season he had 78 tackles with 4 INT's at Penn St.