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Rising stock
Aaron Hernandez
TE, New England
Hernandez won the Mackey Award as the best tight end in college football, but the NFL viewed him as a one-dimensional player - a tight end who couldn't block - so he slid to the fourth round. Now he's carving out the same niche he carved for himself at Florida. He caught a 45- yard pass on opening day and turned in his first 100- yard game as a pro in the second week against the New York Jets, the king of NFL pass defenses. He could become the same type of weapon as the Colts' Dallas Clark.
Falling stock
C.J. Spiller
HB, Buffalo
Spiller was electric in his college days at Clemson, generating points running, passing, catching and returning kicks. The Bills couldn't wait to get him on the field, installing him as the starter ahead of past 1,000-yard rushers Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch. But it's a big jump from the ACC to the NFL. Spiller has rushed eight times for 9 yards and caught eight passes for 31 yards - an average of 2.5 yards per offensive touch.
Around the Ranch
Nick Folk has converted all seven of his chances for points this season. The New York Jets kicker has made all five of his field-goal tries and both extra points. He kicked a 49-yard field goal against New England. Folk sure would look good in a Cowboys uniform right now, wouldn't he? He was a Pro Bowl kicker for the Cowboys in 2007 and followed that with 102 points in 2008. But when he suffered a slump in 2009 the Cowboys cut him. Good kickers are hard to find. Folk is a good kicker.
DRAFT WATCH Safety
As the old saying goes, if you can play, the NFL will find you. It didn't take the long for the NFL to find Shiloh Keo far from the bright lights and national television cameras. He plays safety at Idaho and plays it very well. A three-time team captain, Keo is the school's career leader with a 14.2-yard punt- return average, including a school-record 100- yarder against Northern Illinois in 2007. He intercepted four passes in 2007, blocked a kick in 2008 and already has three interceptions this season, including one at Nebraska. Keo is the top- rated safety for the 2011 draft. Here's a list of the top 10 safeties:
Player School Ht. Wt.
Shiloh Keo Idaho 5-11 218 Duke Ihenacho San Jose State 6-1 210 Troy Woolfolk Michigan 5-111/2 198 Quinton Carter Oklahoma 6-1 195 Joe Lefeged Rutgers 5-111/2 200 Jeron Johnson Boise State 5-10 195 DeAndre McDaniel Clemson 6-0 214 Eric Gordon Michigan State 6-0 230 Da'Norris Searcy North Carolina 6-01/4 200 Ahmad Black Florida 5-9 185
Commish for a day
As the scheduling czar, when a team plays on Monday night, I would not send it on the road the following week. That shortens the week of preparation by a day at each end. Yet the NFL is sending 12 teams on the road this season after playing on Monday nights. The San Francisco 49ers played the Saints on Monday night and visit Kansas City this weekend. This season, the Chiefs draw two teams at home on Sundays that are coming off Monday nighters - the 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 24.
If Super Bowl were played tomorrow
The most impressive team through the first two games has been the Houston Texans. Who'd have thought two weeks into the 2010 season we'd be declaring Houston the best NFL team in the state of Texas? So let's go with the Texans and Green Bay Packers again this week. The two teams generated 64 points and 872 yards last week. The highest-scoring Super Bowl ever was 75 points by the 49ers and Chargers in January 1995. That mark could be in jeopardy if the Packers and Texans meet up in Arlington.
