Joe Thomas: 11th-best player in the NFL

Or so said Peter King in his NFL season preview, which landed in my mailbox last week. That's pretty amazing: Joe Thomas is 11th best player in the NFL! It happened so quickly, and so quietly. Earlier this summer Sporting News called Joe the best tackle in the AFC, but he was probably still overshadowed by Walter Jones and Flozell Adams in the NFC.

Just goes to show you what a premium position left tackle is, and what a supreme talent Joe is.

Can't remember the last time a former Badger was considered one of the top 10-20 players in the NFL. Did Troy Vincent ever reach those heights? Maybe Paul Gruber.

Troy Vincent: Union boss?

Heard on the Packers' pregame show Friday that former Badger Troy Vincent is a leading candidate to replace the recently deceased Gene Upshaw as executive director of the NFL Players Association. Although there are several other top candidates, including Trace Armstrong and Robert Smith (you know, the guy who quit football at Ohio State to focus on his studies, who now works for ESPN), Vincent is right up there.

Along with Don Davey, Vincent was one of the last standouts of the immediate pre-Alvarez era in Madison. He was an electric athlete who didn't get much of an opportunity to showcase his skills at cornerback because opponents had such an easy time exploiting the other 10 guys on the field. Most of his highlights came as a returner.

The Packers had a chance to draft him at#5 in the 1992 NFL Draft but Ron Wolf inexplicably took the shorter, less likable Terrell Buckley, and we all know how that turned out. T-Buck talked his way out of Green Bay in a few years while Vincent went on to become a perennial Pro Bowler and one of the league's most respected players. At least Ron got that quarterback situation right.

This is a situation worth monitoring, because the NFLPA executive director post is one of the most influential in spots, especially with a new NFL collective bargaining agreement coming up soon.