New Mexico Dragons

[MJZiggy]

Ok gents. We have our team set for now. Where's my head coach? When's minicamp? I believe we get the same extra one that a new coach gets?

Fos, how's Daunte's knee coming? Any other major injury concerns to report? What's the haps in Dragon Land? The beasts of the desert want to know!

[Bretsky]

Report back next offseason.

After such an outstanding offseason, thanks to our wonderful staff and Nutz, I've taken a slight leave and will be back soon. Just noticed Charles Woodson's annual salary.........who the h@ll signed him anyways ?? Oh crap, that'd be me. I didn't ever imagine having his cap figured over 6MIL per year. ouch. It's apparent that our cap situation is tight; after such an outstanding draft we'll be evaluating the positions soon and may release a few veterans to let them pursue other less promising opportuities.

Cheers,
Bretsky

[LEWCWA]

We can look at releasing manumalla what ever is name is TE. He has been traded to San Diego and will be a back up their....Anyhow I think he is a good option to cut.

[LEWCWA]

This team is way to good to be an expansion team, we musta cheated!!

[HarveyWallbangers]

This team is way to good to be an expansion team, we musta cheated!!

We're just brilliant.

[MJZiggy]

I'm bumping this three pages. I'll catch up to it eventually.

[MJZiggy]

Official New Mexico Dragons Press Release

The Dragons are pleased to announce the promotion of new Head Coach Harvey Wallbangers. Coach Bangers is quoted as saying he is very excited about this new opportunity and will give it his best shot as long as it doesn't take too much time away from the baby.

The team is delighted to have his level of expertise on the field and we look forward to a winning season.

Go Dragons!!

[HarveyWallbangers]

PRESS RELEASE from Harvey Wallbangers, head coach of the New Mexico Dragons:

The Dragons will be holding their first mini-camp this weekend. All practices will be open to the public.

We're excited to see the group together for the first time. The GM and Director of College Scouting have done a wonderful job of assembling a team that the fans can be proud of. I believe this team has a legitimate chance of competing for a championship in the first year, and that's something all Dragon fans should be excited about.

Currently, we have 58 players on the roster. The GM is in contract negotiations with several rookie FAs, and we anticipate signing many of them before the first mini-camp this weekend.

[HarveyWallbangers]

GM Bretsky, sign me some more players. My guys are going to get worn out if you don't.

[Bretsky]

GM Bretsky, sign me some more players. My guys are going to get worn out if you don't.

Patience is a virture Mr Wallbanger; I'm whining and dining several of them right now at the Dragon Club downtown and you will be sure to have some signatures by morning.

[Bretsky]

The New Mexico Dragons are proud to announce the signing of several undrafted Free Agents that will have some solid opportunities to add youth and talent to our roster.

With the outstanding offseason and draft, the Dragons are looking at rewarding their fans with an instant winning tradition and focused on signing players from proven programs who are hungry to take the next step into the NFL.



The Dragsons have signed the following undrafted rookies to minimal contracts

MATT BERNSTEIN, the Brusing Fullback from the UW Madison
BRETT BASANEZ, a promising QB from Northwestern
TIM DAY, TE from Oregon
ADAM STENAVICH, OG from Michigan
MIKE KUDLA- DE from Ohio State
FREDDIE ROACH- LB from Alabama
SCOTT WARE- S USC
ANWAR PHILIPS-CB Penn State
DONAVAN RAIOLA- C from UW Wisconsin
MIKE BELL- RB from Arizone

[Bretsky]

On a sidenote, the Dragsons have cut OG Lonnie Friedman and signed FA Punter Kevin Stemke to a minumum wage deal with no signing bonus.

Rumors are they are auditioning a number of kickers to compete with Ryan Longwell.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Bump

[HarveyWallbangers]

Coach Harvey released this statement about the shape of the roster after the Dragon's minicamp this weekend.

QB

We believe Daunte Culpepper has a legitimate chance at being ready in week one. If not, we've protected ourselves with the acquisition of Brian Griese. Griese worked hard this offseason learning the playbook, and we were impressed with his knowledge of the system. Brett Basanez wasn't just a body that we picked up. We feel he has a legitimite shot at making the roster. We're also excited about Reggie McNeal. We are going to give him a shot at winning a roster spot at quarterback, but he also has the athleticism to play running back or wide receiver.

RB

Reggie Bush tweaked his hamstring, but he looks the real deal. He should give us a dynamic playmaker in the backfield that we can spread out wide. We'll use him in a lot of different ways to create mismatches. At this time, we also plan to utilize him in the return game. We anticipate that Thomas Jones will share the workload at RB. Najeh Davenport didn't participate at this camp, but should be ready at some point during training camp. There's going to be a real battle between Davenport, Jerome Harrison, and the rookie free agent we picked up, Mike Bell. We were impressed with Bell. Harrison looks like he has a future in the NFL as a third down back at worst.

FB

William Henderson and Jim Kleinsasser give us two great, veteran fullbacks, but Matt Bernstein really opened our eyes. Kleinsasser gives us the flexibility to use him at TE if Bernstein continues to progress.

WR

So far, Terrell Owens and Charles Rogers have been model citizens. I know they had problems with their former teams, but they are getting a fresh start here. Demetrius Williams really stood out in our receiver drills. We're excited about his future. Reche Caldwell is a real pro, and we anticipate him being a good subpackage receiver. Hank Baskett is a big kid who we liked on draft day. He's going to learn study hard to learn the playbook though. We are loaded at receiver, so to have a shot at making the roster, he's going to have to study harder.

TE

Eric Johnson appears to be recovered from his injury. Leonard Pope should give us a good red zone threat early. We're hoping he learns the offense quickly, so we can use two tight end sets a lot this season. Tim Day was a nice pickup by our personnel department. We are going to have tough decisions to make at tight end.

OT

Jon Runyan is a true professional, and he came into camp in great shape. We like the athleticism of L.J. Shelton, but he hurt his ankle on the first day. We'll see how that report comes out. We like what we saw of Zach Strief. We feel he can push our backups, John St. Clair and Ephraim Salaam, for a roster spot. Those guys are going to have to come to training camp ready to earn a roster spot.

OG

Right now, Rick DeMulling and Chris Liwienski have the inside track at the starting guard spots, but Fred Matua really has the athleticism we look for at guard. Adam Stenavich looks like a hard-nosed kid, but he needs to show improvement with his footwork if he's going to make it in this offense.

OC

Matt Birk is healthy. His hernia is something he'll have to deal with this year, but we are encouraged right now. We're really excited about Greg Eslinger. It should be a good battle between him an Russ Hochstein as the backup center.

DE

Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila had an excused absence from this camp. Greg Ellis is a solid professional. He really looks motivated. He should give us a solid LE. Brett Keisel was really impressive. We think he has a good shot at getting a lot of snaps at DE--rotating with Ellis and KGB. It should be an interesting battle at the backup positions between Dwan Edwards, Julian Jenkins, and Mike Kudla. Kudla is a strong kid with pretty good athleticism. We were surprised he didn't get drafted.

DT

We really liked the work ethic of Rocky Bernard and Ryan Pickett. We think they make a good combination inside. Hollis Thomas is a great leader out there. Johnathan Sullivan has intriguing potential, and we are working with him to improve his consistency.

LB

The coaches are still deciding on the best three linebackers to put out there. Will Witherspoon and David Thornton will start. It should come down to a battle between Ben Taylor and Dexter Coakley. If Coakley ends up being one of our three best linebackers, then we'll start him at MLB, Witherspoon at WLB, and Thornton at SLB. If Taylor wins a starting spot, then we'll start him at SLB and move Witherspoon to MLB. Shawn Barber got nicked up at this camp, so we don't know what we have there yet. We anticipate Isaiah Kacyvenski giving us great special teams play. Spencer Havner and Freddie Roach also caught our eye. They could battle for a roster spot.

CB

We really like what we saw out of corners. Charles Woodson is in fantastic shape. Sam Madison and Andre Dyson should give us great corner play. Ashton Youbouty was everything we thought he would be. Allen Rossum has the inside track as a backup corner and returner, but Anwar Phillips flashed some ability.

S

We don't know how this will shake out. Lawyer Milloy has one starting spot. Mike Green and Brian Russell are solid professionals. Bryan Scott has a lot of ability, but he'll need to show us that he'll do what it takes to be a starter on this team. He definitely has the potential to start. We were really impressed with Daniel Bullocks. It's just a matter of how long it takes him to learn the defense. Scott Ware made some plays also. We really like the depth we have here.

ST

We are looking to bring in a camp leg to help alleviate the stress on Ryan Longwell's leg. Kevin Stemke was inconsistent, but Jason Baker also needs to improve his consistency. Right now, Baker has the inside track at punter. Russ Hochstein has the inside track at the long snapper job, but he has to win a roster spot as a backup interior linemen. We won't carry somebody just to long snap. He has to show the ability to be a solid backup linemen also. Rossum didn't disappoint in the return game.

[HarveyWallbangers]

One of the goals of the Dragons is to keep the fans as well-informed as possible. Thus, I'm releasing the current depth chart after one minicamp and two OTAs.

QB Daunte Culpepper, Brian Griese, Reggie McNeal, Brett Basanez
RB Thomas Jones, Reggie Bush, Najeh Davenport, Mike Bell, Jerome Harrison
FB William Henderson, Jim Kleinsasser, Matt Bernstein
WR Terrell Owens, Reche Caldwell, Hank Baskett
WR Isaac Bruce, Charles Rogers, Demetrius Williams
TE Eric Johnson, Brandon Manumaleuna, Leonard Pope, Tim Day
LT L.J. Shelton, John St. Clair
LG Chris Liwienski, Adam Stenavich
C Matt Birk, Greg Eslinger, Russ Hochstein
RG Rick DeMulling, Fred Matua
RT Jon Runyan, Zach Strief, Ephraim Salaam
LE Greg Ellis, Mike Kudla, Julian Jenkins
LT Ryan Pickett, Hollis Thomas, Johnathan Sullivan
RT Rocky Bernard, Dwan Edwards
RE Brett Keisel, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila
WLB David Thornton, Shawn Barber, Isaiah Kacyvenski
MLB Will Witherspoon, Dexter Coakley, Freddie Roach
SLB Ben Taylor, Spencer Havner
LCB Sam Madison, Andre Dyson, Anwar Phillips
RCB Charles Woodson, Ashton Youbouty, Allen Rossum
SS Lawyer Milloy, Bryan Scott, Scott Ware
FS Daniel Bullocks, Mike Green, Brian Russell
K Ryan Longwell
P Jason Baker, Kevin Stemke
KR Reggie Bush, Allen Rossum, Najeh Davenport, Jerome Harrison
PR Allen Rossum, Reggie Bush, Charles Woodson
LS Russ Hochstein, Greg Eslinger