[Dodd] Top Fives: Scooping sponsors while highlighting the best - CBS Sportsline
...College football's five best recruiters sponsored by headhunters.com...

...Todd McNair, USC: The former NFL running back has found his niche on Pete Carroll's aggressive staff. Credited with landing five-star backs Joe McKnight and Marc Tyler this year...

Pirates' Urquhart to play this weekend - Port Huron Times-Herald
...Bad news for the Continental Indoor Football League: The Port Huron Pirates' defense just got a little stronger.

Defensive end Daniel Urquhart is expected to return to the lineup Saturday after missing four games with a right ankle injury...

..."I'm getting back into shape," he said...

..."Daniel adds explosiveness," Featherstone said..."The pocket will collapse a whole lot faster."...

[Schwartz] NFL-READY - NY Post
Of all the rookies set to infiltrate Giants training camp in Albany this summer, Steve Smith is poised to outshine them all...

...Smith, a polished receiver from USC, appears to be far ahead of his classmates when it comes to readiness to make an instant impact.

On the first day of...minicamp...Smith, with every step and each catch, soared above the other 50 players...no one can ever say he hasn't been fully versed in what to expect.

Consider this: In college, he stepped on the practice field and was surrounded by the likes of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White and Dwayne Jarrett, an array of offensive talent that certainly could not be recreated at any minicamp...

Bush appears at Saints camp - Baton Rouge Advocate
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush took a break from his offseason jet-setting to make a cameo appearance at the team’s training facility.

Bush arrived Sunday for the first time since the program began in mid-March, then visited with the media for 20 minutes Tuesday before leaving town...

...He said he came to “show my face, talk to some of the coaches, some of the players,”...

...The training facility’s spot on Bush’s offseason itinerary came after stops at the NBA All-Star Game, the White House, Spain, and the Playboy Mansion...

Also, Bush continues jet-setting ways - New Orleans Times Picayune
Bush goes with the Flo - Biloxi Sun-Herald
Training season: Shape guru helps Bush, L.T. prime - USA Today

Keyshawn to visit today - Nashville Tennessean
Since Keyshawn Johnson was cut by Carolina after the draft, Tennessee Coach Jeff Fisher said repeatedly Johnson could be a possible Titans target but that he'd have to talk to Johnson, a longtime friend, face to face before the Titans moved forward.

That meeting is now scheduled to take place today...

..."He's a possibility here," General Manager Mike Reinfeldt said. "You look at the consistency of his career, year-in, year-out he's been a productive guy. He's a big guy, a big target, a possession guy, a veteran. I think those are things that would interest us."...

...Fisher has known Johnson since Johnson was a kid, which could give Fisher sway to help create the right dynamic...

Also, Johnson to visit Titans today - Nashville City Paper

Cards want speed, versatility on O-line - Arizona Republic
...That kind of versatility requires mobility...

...It's especially important that the guards can run, because they're often asked to pull in this offense. That's why coaches want right guard Deuce Lutui, who played at 338 pounds last year, to lose weight...

...In coach Ken Whisenhunt's offense, guards don't just hit the linemen in front of them and then try to block a linebacker if they can. They'll often be asked to sprint to the other side of the ball and hit defenders in the open field...

...Lutui is losing weight and looked much better in the team's recent minicamp than he did in its first...

Also, What A Difference A Year Makes - Official Cardinals Website

This year, Palmer no spectator - Cincy Post
There is no sideline work for Carson Palmer this year. After having to watch his teammates go through offseason workouts, drills and practices without him last year, the Bengals quarterback quietly resumed his role under center Tuesday...

...Last year Palmer worked with trainers and strength coaches as part of the rehabilitation process that resulted in him returning from surgery to repair two torn knee ligaments to start all 16 games last season. He was selected to a second straight Pro Bowl and become the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for more than 4,000 yards.

"He looked really good," said wide receiver Chad Johnson. "It's nice to have him out here. We can get ourselves in a rhythm right away."...

Also, Palmer has team feeling better - Cincy Enquirer

[Wexell] Minicamp was no place for phonies - Uniontown Herald Standard
...On the other side of the room was more truth. Troy Polamalu had returned from a religious retreat on an island in Greece. He was pure ... just pure. The reporters peppering him with questions about money, money, money made me laugh...

...Four of us reporters were sitting at lunch when Troy came up to reply to one reporter's interview request. Troy told him not to rush his lunch, that he would wait in the hall until he was done eating. The reporter would hear none of it, of course, and immediately left to get the interview done. He came back a few minutes later shaking his head. "Is that guy for real?"...

...when I approached Troy for our chat in the locker room, he couldn't get his glove off to shake my hand. He was persistent, though, and finally did yank it off to follow the code of polite society. I didn't care, but he did. That made me care a whole bunch in the end...

White not worried about losing weight - Nashville City Paper
Running back LenDale White, who said Thursday he hopes to be back within two weeks from an injured left hamstring, says his weight is not an issue and that he will have it under control by the time training camp rolls around. White, who was around 260 pounds entering the offseason program, said Thursday he was around 245 pounds.

“I’m getting real close. I’ve still got till August,” White said. “I don’t really know what the coaches want me at. We haven’t really discussed that situation, but I’m getting closer. I’m getting the weight down every day. It’s getting easier. The conditioning is getting easier, so it looks good for me now. I’m at about 245 right now.”

White, listed last year at 235...says he is motivated to be the starter and does not presume that he is the front-runner.

Also, Titans' White sits out practice - Nashville Tennessean
Titans face quandary in backfield - Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle

UTC hires new tight ends coach - Chattanooga Times Free Press
Former NFL player Brad Banta has been hired as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's tight ends coach, Mocs coach Rodney Allison said Monday afternoon.

Banta, a 1994 University of Southern California graduate, played tight end and long snapper in the NFL from 1994-2004. He played for the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions.

According to the Lions' official Web site, Banta was "One of the league's most accurate long snappers throughout his career."

UTC will be the 36-year-old Banta's first coaching job.

[Mandel] Overflowing bag - CNNSI
...rank all 11 Division I-A conferences...

...2) Pac-10: I've always felt one reason the Pac-10 doesn't get taken seriously by most of the country is that outside of USC, no one has been able to stay consistently good recently. At the same time, however, no one has been consistently bad, either. In other words, the league's image is a victim of its own balance. USC appears to be the cream of the crop again this year, but remember, the Trojans lost to two Pac-10 teams last year...

Trojan horse: USC product Lua could be big weapon inside - Boston Herald
Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll might not have had room in his Trojan starting lineup for Oscar Lua last year during the linebacker’s senior season, but he has a hunch the Patriots just might have a place on their roster for his former defensive captain.

Carroll believes Lua possesses several Patriot-like qualities, especially when it comes to the protypical, 3-4 inside linebacker. More importantly, he believes Lua has traits Bill Belichick favors.

“He’s tough, he’s smart, he can handle a lot of different defenses, a lot of different schemes, and bring a great attitude with it,” Carroll said Friday night, on the eve of the Pats’ minicamp. “He’s real fiery, he’s a big hitter. You can count on him to make big plays on short yardage and goal-line situations. He can throw his body around. He can leap up over the top of a pile. He’s a guy they’re really going to like.”...

Also, Newest Patriots receive a handful of lessons - Boston Globe
Pats' Lua a go-getter - Attleboro Sun-Chronicle
Lua admires older Junior - Westborough Telegram