Posted March 27, 200618 yr nside Dish: Line coach draws Shelton to Dolphins By Dan Pompei - SportingNews Dan Pompei SportingNews.com Feel the draft Exclusive War Room insight Get the playbook Pro Football Draft Encyclopedia What made the Dolphins most alluring to LT L.J. Shelton wasn't the Miami night life, the climate, the chance to join an up-and-coming team, the absence of a state income tax or even the contract offer. It was the opportunity to play for line coach Hudson Houck. Upon meeting Houck, Shelton came away so impressed he said he would play for him even if it meant accepting $1 million less. Shelton, 30, who never has played to his potential in seven seasons with the Cardinals and Browns, believes Houck can take his game to the next level. It should be noted Shelton is precisely the type of blocker with whom Houck tends to excel. . . . In RE John Abraham, the Falcons were able to acquire one of the rarest commodities--a proven pass rusher. Now the challenge will be to keep Abraham on the field. Over the past three seasons, he has missed 13 games with injuries. The Falcons have a plan to improve Abraham's durability. Whereas he played as many as 90 percent of the snaps for the Jets when he was healthy, the Falcons will limit him to 70 to 75 percent of the snaps. The same philosophy helped DT Rod Coleman break out after the Falcons acquired him as a free agent in '04. The team has noticed that when Coleman stays on the field for more plays than he should, his production suffers. The only remaining issue is completing the rotation with Abraham. Look for the Falcons to add another end, either in the free-agent market or the draft. . . . Why would QB Brian Griese sign a five-year deal with the Bears when the Bears already have Rex Grossman, a young starting quarterback? Griese is tired of being a gypsy. The Bears will be his fourth team in five seasons. He could have re-signed with the Bucs on a one-year deal, but Griese wanted to know he would be in one place for a while. Of course, it also helped that the Bears gave him $7 million over the first two years of the deal. From the Bears' perspective, Griese's signing was the end of a long road. For three years they tried to sign a veteran backup, but they couldn't interest one of the better ones to come to Chicago given the dynamics of the competition at the position. Griese was the best available veteran after Daunte Culpepper and Drew Brees. Griese likely will be able to acclimate quickly because he has played in similar offenses and is a bright player. And chances are he'll get plenty of playing time--as will Kyle Orton--if this trend continues: The Bear s' third quarterback has gotten on the field in each of the past five years. . . . The Seahawks have many in-house possibilities to replace LG Steve Hutchinson, who signed with the Vikings. Newly signed Tom Ashworth could play right tackle, with RT Sean Locklear moving to guard. Or Ashworth could play guard. Another option is to promote backup Pork Chop Womack, who already is being paid like a starter. Another is to have 2005 first-round pick Chris Spencer play guard. The preference is to have Spencer take over as the starting center this year, but Robbie Tobeck, 36, probably can last another season as the starting center while Spencer plays guard. Though none of the players is expected to be in Hutchinson's league, none is a bad option. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=insi...v=tsn&type=lgns
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