Thursday, June 12, 2008

Cleaver, Murray

Recent weeks have two New Mexico State football players at NFL camps in hopes of making Week 1 rosters. Tight end Nick Cleaver with the Rams and defensive lineman Maurice Murray with the Chiefs.

They are both in good situations. The Rams like to throw the ball and have a solid quarterback in Marc Bulger. Their tight end position is fairly thin. Randy McMichael is the lone guy who should make the team from the group but he's good, not great. Anthony Becht, a former first rounder, hasn't done much on the pro level. It seems like Nick has a shot and that's all you can ask for. He can catch the ball and he might be a nice fit with their personnel and system.

Maurice, too, seems to be in a good spot. Kansas City is very young. They're moving Murray to defensive tackle where he's lining up next to first round pick Glenn Dorsey. Dorsey is going to be a starter from Day 1 and the Chiefs also have veteran Ron Edwards. Still, it seems that if Murray can make an impact he can stand out in a group that needs a jolt. After Dorsey and Edwards there are a bunch of players like Murray - young and uproven. At that point, the hungriest players win the battle.

Lets all pull for these guys to make their respective teams. They represent NMSU and it would be nice to see them make an impact. Best of luck fellas.

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