MMQB (cont.)

Ten Things I Think I Think

After not throwing at the combine, Matthew Stafford threw 50 passes in front of reps from all 32 teams last week in Athens, Ga. AP Peter King's Mailbag Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Peter King on Twitter

1. I think it's not a surprise to see no change in the Thanksgiving Day schedule, but I can tell you this isn't set in stone. The Lions and Cowboys will host games; there's no groundswell for a change, in part because there's no recent evidence that hosting the game (and the resulting mini-bye week that follows) is a competitive advantage.

Detroit stinks, obviously, but the Cowboys are only 6-6 in their last 12 Thanksgiving Day games. I suppose it's no time to kick Detroit (the city and the franchise) when it's down, but if Jim Schwartz doesn't turn this team around, how many more bad football games are we going to be subjected to? The league doesn't want to put a bunch of 44-10 games on national TV.

2. I think the Lions won't really know what they want to do with the first pick in the draft until March 31, or later. That's the date the Lions will go, en masse, to Athens, Ga., to work out Matthew Stafford. In Stafford's carefully orchestrated 19-minute throwing session for coaches Thursday ("This wasn't real football,'' Stafford said of the session, conducted in shorts, T-shirts, no pads and no defense), he displayed a strong deep arm and good touch on intermediate throws. But when the Lions work him out, they'll have him throw their routes, with their coaches calling the shots.

3. I think there's no consensus on the first round in the draft, with the draft 33 days away. But the lobby guesswork after a long Sunday of pigeonholing NFL people and agents leaves this top five: Detroit, Georgia quarterback Stafford; St. Louis, Baylor tackle Jason Smith; Kansas City, Virginia tackle Eugene Monroe; Seattle, Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo; Cleveland, Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry.

4. I think you look at that and say, "Aaron Curry fifth? I thought he might go to Detroit first.'' Well, he might. But here's the question you ask yourself with Curry: Do you want to take a linebacker who doesn't sack the quarterback first overall and hand him $34 million? Can you justify that financial outlay for a three-down linebacker, but a linebacker who doesn't rush well, a linebacker who averaged one sack for every 17 quarters of college football he played?

5. I think I keep hearing Marvin Harrison is finished. He's not being pursued by any teams now, and I think he'll never play again. He's too proud to be someone's third receiver, he doesn't love the game enough to play third or fourth receiver somewhere, and he has no interest in limping through a season for $3 million plus incentives.

6. I think, on the other hand, Torry Holt is bound for Tennessee. He's going to like running under those Kerry Collins bombs.

7. I think, as one executive I respect pointed out Sunday night, older players have been like kryptonite this year in free-agency, except to those on the Bill Belichick tree. The Patriots sign thirtysomethings Fred Taylor, Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs and Al Johnson. Kansas City (with former Pats VP Scott Pioli now the GM) signs Bobby Engram and acquires Mike Vrabel. Denver (with former Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels now coaching) plucks Brian Dawkins from the Eagles and LaMont Jordan from New England.

These guys are mostly one-year fixes at sub-$4-million-a-year salaries, with immense pride and leadership on their résumés. In the cases of Vrabel and Dawkins, the Chiefs and Broncos are paying about $3.5 million for example-setting in the offseason program and the locker room that new administrations find vital.

8. I think it's a strange sight, and definitely a changing-of-the-guard sight, to come to a league meeting and not see Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Herman Edwards (and the AWOL Belichick, who hates these things like old buddy Bill Parcells did and stayed home). Changing-of-the-guard time, folks.

9. I think there are better days ahead for Paul Zimmerman, and I'm hoping you, my marvelous readers, are going to be a part of them. I've had so many people approach me since Paul's three strokes around Thanksgiving asking, "What can I do to help?'' Next week, I'm going to give you a way. But first, I want to send along a nice bit of writing Paul's wife Linda has done, talking about improvements for Paul, who remains unable to speak intelligibly, read or walk without assistance, but has returned home to his New Jersey residence, with Linda caretaking full-time. Next week I'll have details for how you can help in the effort for the Z-man's full recovery.

Linda writes: "I read a column in the New York Times. Layng Martine Jr. wrote about taking care of his paraplegic wife for the last 15 years. I figured if he could do it for 15 years then I could give it a real shot! One very important thought that he conveyed was the fact that all it has really taken is EFFORT. He felt that was a small price to pay. Somehow looking at it that simply helped me immensely -- gave me a new perspective! It was a turning point for me. I wrote a thank you to him.

"What started out rough has ended with joy! I can't tell you how excited we are about all of Paul's progress. Hmmm, where to begin? How about finding a bottle of dessert wine in the fridge? I looked at Paul and asked him, 'How the hell did you get this here?' It had been in the family room. Somehow he got it and tucked it into his wheelchair and hauled it two rooms to the fridge. I haven't been further than 10 feet from him in weeks. I realized that for days he had been trying to tell me that he wanted to chill a bottle and have it with dinner ...

"Paul is whipping through flash cards. He in now organizing the 'sequencing action cards.' Cards that I find confusing -- I keep second-guessing which event comes first, the walk in the orchard, or eating the apple? He has become annoyed at the picture flash cards and is working his way through identifying the alphabet. You can't imagine my joy. I have been going over the alphabet 'till I'm ready to pop. I thought it was useless. Now he can identify 70 percent. We also put together the puzzle of the United States that [Paul's daughter] Sarah sent. A few weeks ago, impossible.

"He insists on 'reading' the daily papers. For months I have gotten them. He looks at them. I really think that all of his concentrating is paying off. He spent over an hour working on a Suduko puzzle; he only filled in two numbers, but I'm sure that he was really figuring things out and that we'll see the results in a few days! The occupational therapist bought a booklet of diagrams illustrating his daily arm/hand exercises. After she left, I found him at the table with the booklet open and he was going through each one. I know this all sounds like small potatoes, but you have no idea how long we have been working on picture identification. It is miraculous!''

Is there any doubt we're going to see the good doctor back in business one day down the road with someone like Linda piloting the rehab train? Looks promising to me.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. I guess I missed 24. Shows like that, when you don't watch from the beginning, seem like way too much of an investment to pick up in season four or five or six.

b. Springsteen did a great job on The Jon Stewart Show the other night. Did Working on a Dream, alone, with a guitar and harmonica.

c. You can't pay cops enough. You just can't. Three cops dead, and a fourth gravely wounded, after a routine traffic stop in Oakland on Saturday. We don't tell police officers enough how much we value their service.

d. Coffeenerdness: Peet's may be outnumbered by four Starbucks here in Dana Point, but the drive to find the lonely little Peet's is worth it.

e. They over-built in Orange County. So many people want ocean views that they crammed hundreds of units on the beautiful, weather-whipped hillsides and cliffsides of the county abutting the Pacific Ocean. And now the beautiful, weather-whipped hillsides aren't so beautiful anymore.

f. Couldn't you just feel a nation pulling for Siena on Sunday?

g. I still think the best way to have a chance to win your tournament bracket every year -- after the research the NCAA does putting the brackets together -- is to take the team with the better seed in every game. That wouldn't be as fun, but it would give you the best shot to win.

h. Dave Goldberg and Paul Zimmerman, you are sadly missed, by many, here.