At this point, Drew Brees is as confused as anyone else when it comes to the NFL. (Getty Images)

To this point, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees hasn't said too much about the bounty scandal that has two of his more important teammates -- linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith for either a full season (Vilma) or four games (Smith). Short of one ill-timed WMD comparison, of course. While all four suspended players (also including former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita and former defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove) have agreed to fight the suspensions in the absence of any tangible evidence of their involvement, Brees has focused on his own contract situation and the franchise tag currently placed on him. Brees discussed his contract situation when he went on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday morning (no real updates there), but he opened up for the first time when Patrick asked him how he felt about the NFL's disciplinary process to date.

First, Patrick asked Brees why other people won't step up to exonerate Hargrove, whose alleged involvement in the Saints' bounty system was wrapped up in what could be incorrect evidence. Specifically, the NFL's belief that Hargrove was caught on the sideline during the 2009 NFC Championship game asking for payment for a play. Hargrove has denied that the voice on tape is his; some have suggested that it's teammate Remi Ayodele.

"I'm not sure," Brees said. "And to be honest with you, you can't really see his lips [in the sideline video], and then, there's this voice. Is it Hargrove? Is it Remi Ayodele? There are all these names thrown out there, and it's basically anyone who's in and around that picture. Regardless, when you look at all of the guys -- you look at Hargrove, you look at Jonathan Vilma, Fujita, Will Smith ... I really to this point have not seen any hard evidence, or any truth, that shows there guys were contributing money or accepting money, or what have you, to a 'pay-to-injure' scheme. There was money changing hands to guys with the intent to seriously injure someone or end their career?"

The real problem, as Brees sees it, is that the NFL's proclamations are more about shock-and-awe tactics than the revelation of any true evidence. "I think 'pay-for-performance' has been lumped together with 'pay-to-injure' in this whole thing," Brees said. "I think the facts and evidence -- everything that's been either twisted or fabricated -- it just seems like this entire NFL investigation has been geared toward a predetermined conclusion that they wanted to reach for whatever reason. As opposed to just going out and trying to identify the facts. I think the facts that have been presented thus far don't show any proof that there was a 'pay-to-injure' scheme going on. I'd like to think that as the quarterback of this team, I would have heard about something like that going on."

Patrick then asked Brees about the allegations of filmmaker Sean Pamphilon, who has said that based on his involvement with the team, he believes that Brees knows more than he's letting on. "Well, I'm really not sure what he has against me, nor what he's accusing me of," Brees said. "I really don't know Sean Pamphilon -- I've had two encounters with him. I sat down with him and filmed something for Steve Gleason for his own personal footage that he was putting together -- his battle with ALS and for his family. And then, a brief snippet talking about Sean Morey, and all the work he's done with the NFLPA, and the CBA negotiations last year. But I can't sit here and waste my time talking about everything he's accusing me of. I'm not even sure what he's accusing me of."

(Getty Images)

There seems to be a lot of that going around. The biggest problem about the bounty scandal from the players' perspective is that nobody seems to know what the parameters are for these offenses, nor for the punishments involved. And it's not just Saints players commenting in this fashion. I spoke with Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs on Tuesday for a separate piece, and he said that he's just as eager to see the actual evidence as anybody else. Perhaps because Briggs knows that, based on the whims of the NFL, he or any of his teammates could be next.

"The facts that have been presented thus far do not back up the punishments that have been levied," Brees said. And if that's the case, why aren't the coaches, including the suspended ones, standing up for the players involved? That's where things got really interesting.

"I have pretty good knowledge, and I've been informed, that a lot of those coaches feel like there are further sanctions being held above their heads if they don't co-operate with the investigation," Brees said. "So, even though punishments have already been levied on the coaches, and they've been determined, there are further sanctions possible if they do not co-operate. I believe that if they were to speak out on behalf of the players, maybe that's the fear they have.

"Some are beginning to speak out, but honestly, the facts speak for themselves. Has the NFL presented anything that is concrete, factual evidence that shows that guys were involved in a pay-to-injure scheme? Besides talking about what was said? There's a big difference between tough talk and tough action. We know locker room talk -- we see it on NFL films all the time. Guys yelling and screaming. If you take something out of context, you can surely form it into something that it's not. Unfortunately, that might be what happened here."

Michael Vick has found a new peace after doing a lot of damage. (Getty Images)

Quarterback Michael Vick and cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones were highly touted draft prospects, and both players were taken early in the first rounds of their respective drafts -- Vick first overall out of Virginia Tech in 2001, and Jones sixth overall out of West Virginia in 2005. Each man started out hot in the NFL before running into serious legal trouble. Vick, of course, served almost two years in a federal penitentiary for his role in the Bad Newz Kennels dog-fighting ring. Jones was recently found liable to the tune of $11 million for his role in a Las Vegas strip club shooting in 2007.

Vick has seen a measure of personal and professional redemption since, while Jones is still looking to establish a foothold in the NFL to a serious degree. Both men served long NFL suspensions, and their names are each synonymous with a side of the NFL that the league would prefer didn't exist. However, each man spoke at this year's Rookie Symposium, an annual orientation for first-year players.

From Vick and Jones, the message was simple: Don't do as I did.

"I'm a firm believer in God, and I believe in karma," Vick said during his speech. "If you do so much, if you cross so many people, if you don't appreciate what God gave you and the position that you're in, he'll take that away from you. And he took it away from me.

"As I sat in a prison cell, I understood why I was in there. That's bad. You don't want to end up that way. True story: I could see it all coming. I could see it happening. I thought about it. I asked myself, 'Should I stop doing what I was doing?' And I didn't stop. That's having no discipline."

Vick was especially pointed on two subjects -- personal associations and money management.

[Related: Great Starts: 2011′s best third-day draft picks]

"The best thing for me to do was going to prison, being able to separate myself," he said of his former entourage, which included key members of the dog-fighting ring. "I wasn't strong enough to get away from them. I wasn't strong enough to say, 'We're not going this direction. I ain't living like this no more. We can't condone this type of activity.' I wasn't strong enough. I needed the legal system to say, 'You all can't be around each other anymore.' That's the situation I created."

Vick then moved to the matter of financial responsibility. Though he's the only person in the history of the NFL to sign two different contracts worth more than $100 million on the high side, Vick has experienced serious money trouble along the way. "Trust yourself," he said. "Everyone in here can count, right? Raise your hand if you can count. Shoot, I can count. Count your own money. You make it. You don't need an accountant and all that -- that dog and pony show. That's just extra. An extra invoice that you're going to get.

"Get a couple people you're going to trust -- that you're going to get to know. There are people out there that you can trust. My situation? I had a couple of judgments against me. People who were holding my money while I was in prison weren't paying my debts. And I had money to pay it."

For Jones, the messages to send were about regretted choices and missed opportunities.

(Gillette)

For the next entry in our Great Starts series, we turn our attention to those draft picks who impressed the most in 2011 despite their status as third-day picks -- those players taken from the fourth through seventh rounds. New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese (who would know) once said that the late rounds are where personnel guys make their money. Here, based on Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value metric, are the most impressive third-day picks from the 2011 season. Based on these players, the front offices of the Eagles and Seahawks should be in for a nice little bonus.

K.J. Wright, Jason Kelce, and Sam Acho were among 2011's surprise rookies. (Getty Images)

1. K.J. Wright, LB, Seattle Seahawks (4th round, 99th pick) -- Wright, who tested off the map at the scouting combine out of Mississippi State, started his NFL career by replacing former fourth-overall pick Aaron Curry in the Seahawks' starting defense. His ability to pick up the defensive playbook allowed him to perform at a preternatural level, and Pete Carroll sees him as a potential inside linebacker in the future. Wright could develop into that rarest of linebackers -- capable of playing inside and outside in multiple fronts, and doing so at a very high level all around.

2. Jason Kelce, C, Philadelphia Eagles (6th round, 191st pick) -- A former walk-on linebacker at Cincinnati. Kelce turned himself into a draftable offensive lineman with pure tenacity. He beat incumbent Jamaal Jackson for the starting job in Eagles camp, and impressed legendary line coach Howard Mudd enough to become the Eagles' first center to start his first NFL game since 1968. Kelce played very well through injuries, and Mudd may have his next Jeff Saturday if Kelce can stay healthy.

3. Brian Rolle, LB, Philadelphia Eagles (6th round, 193rd pick) -- Not a bad sixth round for the Eagles, no? We included Rolle in our "Hidden Pro Bowlers" column, mentioning that he put up a higher Stop rate (one of Football Outsiders' defensive efficiency metrics) than a lot of major stars at the outside linebacker position. Rolle rose through the ranks quickly in his first NFL season, going from special teams to the nickel package to replacing benched fellow rookie Casey Matthews. With DeMeco Ryans now on board, Philly's linebacker corps -- one the weakness of the team -- is now a real positive, and Rolle could benefit from Ryans' mentorship as Brian Cushing did in Houston.

4. Sam Acho, LB, Arizona Cardinals (4th round, 103rd pick) -- Acho got a chance to show what he could do as Joey Porter fell victim to injuries, and by the time his rookie campaign was through, he picked up seven sacks -- the most for a Cardinals rookie since Simeon Rice had 12.5 in 1996. As with many young Cardinals defenders, Acho thrived in the aggressive schemes put up by underrated defensive coordinator Ray Horton, and head coach Ken Whisenhunt was impressed as well.  "It doesn't take very long to figure out when you're around Sam how smart he is," Whisenhunt said last November. "He's got athletic ability, but he makes plays because he understands where he needs to be and what he needs to do. What a good young man and a good young player."

5. Richard Sherman, CB, Seattle Seahawks (5th round, 154th pick) -- Sherman came to Stanford as a receiver, but former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio saw him as a cornerback, and that's where he spent his 2009 and 2010 seasons. Sherman fit the Seahawks' profile when it comes to defensive backs -- big, physical, and aggressive -- but few expected the rookie season he had. Replacing injured cornerback Walter Thurmond, Sherman showed early flashes when he did a fine job against Cincinnati's A.J. Green in late October, and he finished his initial campaign with four interceptions - including three in his last six games.

6. Roy Helu, RB, Washington Redskins (4th round, 105th pick) -- Mike Shanahan is every fantasy GM's nightmare because he alternates running backs so frequently, but in Helu, Shanny's got a guy he may want to see more often. Helu started just five games in 2011 -- the second-lowest total on our list -- but he still managed to gain 100 yards or more in three straight games late in the season against the Seahawks, Jets, and Patriots. He also grabbed 14 passes for 105 yards against a pretty darned good San Francisco defense, proving his versatility. One wonders what he could do in a more expansive, RGIII-led offense.

Houston's Whitney Mercilus is more than a one-year wonder. (Getty Images)

With the draft over and all wrapped up, we thought it would be a good idea to get back on the phone with our buddy Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN's "NFL Matchup," and talk about the NFL by division. Who did themselves the most favors in the draft, and who came up short when addressing their roster deficits?

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the AFC South Draft

We started off with the NFC West a month ago, jumped to the hyper-competitive AFC North, and then moved to the NFC South and NFC East. Now, it's time to turn our attention to the AFC South. What did the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans do to update their rosters? Greg also discussed the pros and cons of the NFL's decision to make "All-22" film available for public viewing on every play in the upcoming season, and you can also see a transcript of his thoughts in this article.

Related: [Cosell on quarterbacks, running backs/wide receivers, tight ends/offensive line, OLB/DE/DT stars, the ILB/DB class, and overall draft review]

On Houston Texans first-round pick Whitney Mercilus' alleged "one-year wonder" status: "I'm not saying there aren't cases where that's been true, but that's an individual thing. If you want to generalize with anything, there will always be examples on either side. I would rather evaluate a player's skill set based on how I go about doing it ... we have our certain sets of principles we use when we evaluate. He passes all tests you look for when you want to say, down the road, he can be a really good NFL pass-rusher in that kind of defense."

On the Indianapolis Colts' second-round pick, TE Coby Fleener: "I think he's going to be a good player. He's primarily a movement player -- that's what he did at Stanford. He did block on occasion, because clearly that's the nature of their offense, and he'll probably do that with Indianapolis. But for the most part, I think he's a detached player. You line him up on the outside, or flex or in the slot, and I think that's what he does best."

The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the AFC South Draft

On Jacksonville Jaguars first-round receiver Justin Blackmon: "Blackmon is at his best working the short to intermediate areas. Think of how Roddy White is used in Atlanta -- and I'm not saying that Blackmon is Roddy White this season -- but Roddy White doesn't run a lot of vertical routes unless it's a specifically designed shot play. He works a lot of shorter routes in the middle of the field. A lot of crossers and drag-type routes. I could easily see Blackmon doing that, and being very successful."

In NFL personnel since 1979, Billy Devaney is now taking stock. (Getty Images)

It's fair to say that former St. Louis Rams general manager Billy Devaney has stepped on a few cracked sidewalks through an NFL career that started in 1979, when he was hired as a college scout for a Washington Redskins team that went on to win three Super Bowls in a span of a decade. Devaney followed Redskins GM Bobby Beathard to San Diego in 1990 and lasted until 2000, when the regime that drafted Ryan Leaf in 1998 was sent packing. Devaney was also the Atlanta Falcons' assistant general manager for one year -- unfortunately, that one year was 2007, when the Falcons were dealing with Michael Vick's arrest and imprisonment, not to mention Bobby Petrino being ... well, Bobby Petrino.

After he left Atlanta, Devaney was hired by the St. Louis Rams to rebuild a roster that had aged ungracefully, with little to show in the way of upcoming prospects. He ran four drafts in a row for the Rams and stocked the team with some interesting talent, including quarterback Sam Bradford, ends Chris Long and Robert Quinn, offensive tackles Jason Smith and Rodger Saffold, and linebacker James Laurinaitis. He also hired head coach Steve Spagnuolo, and after a 7-9 record and near-NFC West title in 2010, it was thought that the new Rams were ascending. A 2-14 decline in 2011 put that to rest, and combined with the 1-15 mark the team put up in 2009 (and other complications), it was enough to send Devaney and Spagnuolo packing. While Spagnuolo is now in a different kettle of fish as the New Orleans' Saints' defensive coordinator, Devaney retreated back to his home in Atlanta to reflect on how it all went wrong.

When he joined Rob Rang and myself on our KJR-AM "Chalk Talk" show last Saturday, Devaney was more than ready to dish about where the Rams started to nosedive again. He hadn't done so before to our knowledge, but Devaney was very forthright about what went wrong in St. Louis.

"I still ask myself that, almost every day," Devaney said, in response to that question. "The short version is when I was named general manager, we were looking for a head coach. And went through the hiring process, had great candidates, and knew [Steve] Spagnuolo from way back when I worked at the Redskins, he was an intern, so they hired Spags. As soon as Spags gets hired, the team is for sale. Chip and Lucia [Rosenbloom] inherit the team from Georgia Frontiere. Through a whole mess of legalese and tax issues, they tried everything they could to keep the team and they weren't going to be able to.

"So the team went up for sale. It was an old roster. Really old roster. There were some guaranteed contracts on there that we had to live with. Spags and I got together with Chip and we said 'Listen, this is going to be a complete overhaul, let's just bite the bullet and, rather than do it piece meal, let's blow the whole damn thing up.'"

Devaney thought that Sam Bradford could be a franchise cornerstone. (Getty Images)

When I commented that he inherited a roster that looked a lot like Steven Jackson and the Pips, Devaney didn't hesitate to agree. "That was it. And you know what? I would have probably been happier with some of the Pips, quite honestly."

The talented Chad Ochocinco was a fish out of water in New England. (Getty Images)

The 2007 season brought us the most explosive version of the New England Patriots offense, when Randy Moss was reborn as far more than a malingering speed receiver, and Wes Welker put himself on the map as the ultimate underneath slot receiver. Moss, for the Patriots' system, was the perfect weapon in all ways. Not only was he a speed demon who could split any two-safety combo 40 yards downfield, but he grasped the Pats' complex route concepts to such a degree that Tom Brady famously said that Moss was perhaps the smartest player he'd ever suited up with.

When Moss finally lost his jets, the Pats looked in different directions for their much-needed speed receiver. Joey Galloway was one option, but he zigged when he should have zagged once too often, got the Brady Stare, and became an afterthought at best. The same thing happened to Chad Ochocinco, who was traded from Cincinnati to New England after the lockout, and didn't have the knowledge base to transition from a Bengals offense that allowed him to go free-form a lot of the time to one that thrived on precision in all things. Specifically, option routes in which Tom Brady and his targets must see the same things at the same times. It was way over Ocho's head, and that became apparent as the veteran posted his worst numbers in years for a team that was supposed to be his saving grace.

"I have to trust in Deion [Branch] and Wes [Welker] and all those guys out there to be in the right spot so I can play fast and anticipate what they're doing," Brady told the media in early June, right around the time Ocho got his walking papers and subsequently headed to Miami. "If everyone is not on the same page, it doesn't work. A lot of what these practices are about is everybody getting on the same page. You have a lot of new guys from other teams, rookies. The faster we can get up to speed and get better as a unit, the better we're going to be."

This is the Brady Stare. Receivers do not ever want to see it. (Getty Images)

It isn't simple at all, as New England receivers coach Chad O'Shea said the week before a Super Bowl XLVI loss to the New York Giants in which Ocho was limited to one catch, and the Giants cheated their safeties up through the game with impunity. "At times, there are four decisions that a receiver needs to make after the snap the way our offense is. That's one of the advantages of our offense, that we give players a lot of flexibility within the system to take what the defense gives us. And that's definitely something that's unique about our offense."

O'Shea wasn't kidding. In one Patriots playbook I've seen (the 2004 version), there were 25 different single receiver routes, and that doesn't count all the available options. Nor does it cover where those routes are run in a split on the field, or how the receivers run routes in tandem. There were 17 different two-man route combos in the playbook I saw, and five different three-man route combos. Once you've mastered all that stuff, there's then the matter of the call in any pass play -- the name of the route group that a team decides on any pass play for anywhere from one to five receivers. Add in the protection at the line, and you have the start of what will be an eventual Patriots play call.

This is '1 Out Slot ZAC.' There are hundreds more like it, and none are the same. (Doug Farrar)

One example (diagrammed here): "1 Out Slot ZAC." In this play, the fullback (lined up wide left) runs a 14-yard in, though he should look for an outside release if anyone's cheating up expecting something quick. The halfback reads blitz, hits a run sneak through the A-gap if he's free, and digs sharply to the right. The "X" or iso receiver does a sight adjustment, reads the coverage, and could either come back outside, or loop to the seam, depending again on the coverage. The "Z" receiver motions from right slot, and heads 6 yards upfield, into a four-way option. The "Y" receiver could turn a "chute" route, or he might hook inside.

That's one pass play -- one variation of a subgroup -- in a playbook that would rival the phone book for any large metropolis in overall ginormosity. And there are other ways in which offenses can confuse.

In a West Coast offense, when timing is the order of the day, you'll see things like "U Take Off" calls (in which an in-line tight end is directed to run up the seam off an in route, based on coverage) or a "Deep Over" option where a receiver is tasked to read the safety coverage, and head up the seam if it's single-high or the safety to his side is otherwise occupied. On one play, an outside receiver may have to discern -- and in a big hurry -- whether he's running a "hot" route (close to the quarterback, most likely on a blitz read), a 15-yard in-cut or curl, or a 20-yard dash upfield. Obviously, if the quarterback and receiver aren't in sync on this, the quarterback will get pummeled, the ball will fall harmlessly to the ground in a place where the receiver isn't, or someone with the wrong uniform will be doing something unacceptable with the ball in the opposite direction.

In a three-digit system like the ones employed by the San Diego Chargers of Sid Gillman and Don Coryell, and later by Mike Martz with the "Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams, different issues arise. Receivers are directed to break their routes at times to adjust to a scrambling or pressured quarterback. Martz told his receivers to "break at a friendly angle" to the quarterback. On a simple halfback post, the back could have as many as three different options once he hit the middle of the field, based on the coverage. And the receivers? Fuhgeddaboudit. The Rams set up different calls for their routes based on six alternate coverage concepts -- retreat zone, retreat man, cloud, trail, bump, and quads. Some adjustments are minimal per those coverages (an up-and-in, or "Chop," translates pretty well), while others direct receivers to take different cuts, or route tails, or both, based on what they see.

The idea, with all those inherent complications in all those different systems, is to simplify the process as much as possible without dumbing the offense down and negating the advantage of the option concept. That's where practice comes in. And more practice. After that, a little more practice. Preceded and followed by a looooong time in meeting rooms, coordinating assignments.

"Most everything we do has an option to it," Seattle Seahawks receivers coach Kippy Brown (who directs receivers in a run-based West Coast offense) told me in early June.

The eye in the sky tells us more than we may imagine. (Getty Images)

For football geeks everywhere, the recent announcement that the NFL was going to release coach's tape on every play of every game through its NFL Game Rewind package was a large slice of heaven. As a football fan, you could compare it to mono vs. stereo, or black-and-white vs. color TV. Or, go back and play one of those 8-bit Madden games, and compare it with the more recent iteration. The differences are that drastic. The overhead and end zone angles we will now see on every play (Game Rewind had previously inserted overhead views in about 15-20 plays per game) give us so much more to view and understand.

When you watch coach's tape, or "All-22," (so named, obviously, because you can see all 22 players on the field at all times), you are going to see more play development than you will in most standard camera angles. You will see route combinations in ways you never have, and you will see defenders reacting to them in ways you never imagined.

Here, by way of example, are two views of Eli Manning's amazing throw to Mario Manningham with 3:46 left in Super Bowl XLVI. It was one of the best passing plays in Super Bowl history, and it's even more impressive when you see the entire field. Both views are at the moment when Manning releases the ball. He has already made the decision to throw to the read on the back side of his view, which means he's scanned the easy stuff, and he doesn't like it.

Here's the angle you saw on TV:

(NFL Game Rewind)

And here's the overhead view:

(NFL Game Rewind)

This is where two of Manning's primary attributes -- decision-making and ability to take successful risks -- really come into focus. In the standard camera angle, you see that the Giants are blocking their butts off for Manning, and that his hot route is open. With the All-22, we see that his hot route is bracketed, there's an intermediate zone set up to cover and corral any crossing routes or quick patterns to the middle of the field (seemingly a point of focus for the Patriots defense during this game; both inside linebackers fired out into coverage right off the snap), and that Manning is clearly expecting Manningham to outrun his coverage, because the defender has what looks like ideal inside position on the boundary.

We also see that a second Patriots defender is positioned to converge on Manningham, which is exactly what happened. When you see it from this point of view, Manning's throw is even more ridiculously impressive.

So, even if you're not quite sure what you're looking at from a schematic perspective, the overhead view shows you a lot more -- even at stop-action rates. That's the value. The concern from some quarters is that the release of this additional information will allow some pseudo-experts to throw some more weight behind their ill-informed evaluations, claiming that "Well, I watched the All-22, and I think [insert name of coach/player/front office executive] should be fired immediately!"

As Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN's "NFL Matchup" told me recently, it's not anywhere near that simple. These new perspectives on the game require an entirely different level of understanding as much as they provide it.

"One thing that people have to recognize is that, if you really want to watch coaching tape, it's work," Cosell said. "It's not a 10-minute exercise. And it's work that takes an awful lot of time. I can honestly say that it took me three or four years, sitting with quarterbacks and coaches right next to me, to have any real sense of what I was looking at. Beyond just the simple stuff. And it really takes a lot of work to do that.

"I really think that there will be a lot of people who are willing to do that, and then there are a lot of people whose initial response will be, 'Great! Now I can see the coaching tape!' They'll look at it for 15 minutes and say, 'Wow -- [the players are] really small. I have a tough time seeing a lot of these guys. I don't want to do that anymore.' For some, it will be really great. For others, it seems great, and it won't be. Some people will make judgments that they shouldn't, because it really takes time to understand concepts, schemes, and what people are supposed to do within those concepts and schemes."

Former NFL safety Matt Bowen, who does fabulous analysis for the National Football Post, said basically the same thing on Twitter -- even when you've got a playbook in front of you, this stuff is hard to read.

@MattBowen41

Cosell expressed his own concerns about how All-22 might be used. "I'm not naming names, but a beat writer, for instance -- if he pops on the tape, and the team he covers gives up a touchdown, and he sees the receiver relatively wide open, he's going to write that they blew the coverage. Well, I don't know if you can say that without knowing what the coverage is, and what the responsibilities of the players are. Any zone coverage has holes in it, and a proper route combination can exploit those holes. If there was a zone coverage that didn't have holes, every team would play that coverage all the time!

"I could draw up route combinations, and if it was the right one, you'd have a wide-open receiver. That doesn't mean the coverage was blown."

(Gilette)

We all know about the great stories of undrafted NFL players who go on to Hall of Fame careers -- from Kurt Warner to John Randle and on and on, there are more than enough guys who evaded the draft to let know that the player selection process is, at its heart, a bit of a crapshoot. However, the most obvious players aren't always the ones who came in and impressed right away. Here, per Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value metric (explained here), are the 10 players who managed to get things going right away despite their undrafted status. Yes, four of these players had headstarts in the Canadian Football League, but we're counting them anyway. They still had steep learning curves to master once they hit the NFL.

Dominic Rhodes, Everson Walls, and Brandon Browner all impressed unexpectedly. (Getty Images)

1. Dominic Rhodes, RB, Indianapolis Colts (2001) -- It's a credit to Bill Polian's once-great personnel acumen that there are two players he picked up a street free agents on this list; we won't mention his last five drafts in total. In any case, Rhodes was a short (5-foot-9) afterthought guy out of Midwestern State until he hit the field as a starter following Edgerrin James' knee injury. He gained 1,104 yards on just 233 carries, and scored nine rushing touchdowns, for a 6-10 Colts team that was still finding its feet. Rhodes went back to afterthought status in the seasons after, though he did gain 113 yards on the ground in the most important game of the Peyton Manning era -- the Colts' Super Bowl XLII victory over the Chicago Bears.

2. Derrick Deese, OG/OT, San Francisco 49ers (1995) -- The 49ers had an unparalleled record of player analysis and development through the Bill Walsh era, but Deese was a nice surprise in the 49ers' last Super Bowl year -- its first without Walsh's heavy influence. Deese came in undrafted out of USC and started 15 games at right guard in a line that broke things open for one of the most productive offenses in NFL history. It was 1998 before he started an entire season, but he went on to be San Francisco's primary left tackle through the last five seasons of his career, form 2000 through 2004.

3. Warren Moon, QB, Houston Oilers (1984) -- Moon is a bit of an oddity, of course, He ripped it up at Washington, and would have been selected within the first few picks a generation later, when the NFL wasn't quite so stupid about black quarterbacks. Moon had to blow up the CFL for a few years before the Oilers brought him on in 1984. He went on to a Hall of Fame career and a well-deserved reputation as an important part of NFL history. After his early success, anyone who claimed that quarterbacks of his "type" couldn't succeed would look as dumb as they actually were.

4. Everson Walls, CB, Dallas Cowboys (1981) -- Undoubtedly, there were some people in NFL front offices who had some explaining to do after Walls picked off 11 (yes, 11!) passes in his rookie season after the Cowboys took a flier on the man from Grambling. Walls was no fluke, either -- he led the NFL in interceptions in three different seasons (including his first and second) and finished his career with 57, which ranks 11th all-time.

5. Herm Edwards, CB, Philadelphia Eagles (1977) -- Yes, the famed coach and analyst should be known for more than his funny quips and the Miracle at the Meadowlands. The undrafted San Diego State star picked off six passes in his rookie campaign, and forced two fumbles for good measure.

6. Brandon Browner, CB, Seattle Seahawks (2011) -- Last time anybody in the NFL saw Browner before 2011, he was a Denver Broncos undrafted guy in 2005. Before he could even get started, a fractured forearm cost Browner the 2005 season and a 2006 roster spot. He spent five years in the CFL before Pete Carroll and John Schneider took a shot on him. Browner rewarded the Seahawks with an impressive and altogether unlikely season. Of the ten players on our list, only Browner and Warren Moon started all 16 games in their first seasons. Browner picked off six passes, returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and helped his first official NFL team establish the man coverage concepts it didn't have the personnel to do before he arrived.

7. Dieter Brock, QB, Los Angeles Rams (1985) -- Brock has the weirdest career arc of any player on our list. He spent 11 years in the CFL before playing just one season in the NFL, with the Rams in 1985. In that one season, he helped lead his team to an NFC Championship appearance against the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears, who kicked the hell out of them as they did nearly everybody else. Still, Brock's one-and-done season is worth mentioning -- he set Rams rookie records for passing yards (2,658) and touchdown passes (16) that stood until Sam Bradford came into the league. Brock's passer rating of 81.8 still stands as the franchise's rookie mark.