We are crusing right along in the GSI Mock Draft here on the BLOG. Round 3 is often where the championship teams begin to seperate themselves from the wanna-be-contenders.

RECAP: ROUND 1 | ROUND 2

Here's Round 3:
21. PREUTH - RB Laurence Maroney - NE
22. CLASGENS - WR Braylon Edwards - CLE
23. HUMBERT - RB Jamal Lewis - CLE
24. BOLTON - WR Andre Johnson - HOU
25. DINSMORE - QB Tony Romo - DAL
26. MURDICO - WR Larry Fitzgerald - ARI
27. SIMS - RB Earnest Graham - TB
28. SIMON - RB  Reggie Bush - NO
29. WETZEL - RB Ronnie Brown - MIA
30. FISCHER - WR Marques Colston - NO

My Pick: There is not much difference in my minid in WR's 2 thru 6, I took Edwards mostly on I think his ceiling is still rising. He is a force in the red zone and hands down a top five wideout on my board. I ranked Larry Fitzgerald higher earlier in the week in WR RANKINGS, but when it came time to pull the trigger I went with Edwards. Look him to approach similar yardage as the 1289 receving yards he had last year, but 16 TD's is unlikely. Still, he has a good shot as any WR outside of Randy Moss to lead the league in touchdowns.

Biggest Reach: Just because the Bucs resigned him, I am not convinced Earnest Graham is going to be worthy of a third-round pick, much less the 27th overall selection. He did have 10 TD's and finished with 898 yards and Cadillac Williams will likely start to the season on the PUP list (if he plays at all) as he recovers from the knee. Still, Graham's 4.0 yards per carry is not very sexy to me and apparently Jon Gruden didn't think so either as he re-signed Michael Pittman and brought in Warrick Dunn. Tampa Bay's offense is unexciting and despite the fact he will see the bulk of the carries, Graham will not be as safe of a bet as a No. 2 RB as many think.

Final Take: The round clearly demonstrates it is much better to grab a No. 1 wideout than a second RB at this point of the draft. The gambles taken on RB's here are all very much gambles and even some of the ones that I agree with and like (Ronnie Brown, Jamal Lewis, and Reggie Bush if Deuce McAllister is healthy) are easily capable of blowing up on you. Just be prepared. If you wait to Round 3 to get a RB2 then I would seriously consider getting your RB3 within the next round or two, especially in FLEX leagues.

Though National League manager Clint Hurdle has to yet to name an All-Star pitcher, he has ruled out the Reds' Edinson Volquez, according to MLB.com.

Reds' manager Dusty Baker confirmed his phone call with the Rockies' skipper earlier this weekend.

"[Hurdle] said he would try to get him an inning in the middle," Baker said Sunday morning. "He wanted to start him but he has some wonderful options."

There is no doubt there are other candidates that are worthy of consideration, but once again the All-Star Game proves it is more about politics and popluarity than it is about recognizing the top performances.

The 25-year old right-hander leads the NL with a 2.29 ERA, second in wins (12), and is tied for second in MLB in strikeouts (116). Let's not forget the fact that Volquez allowed 1 earned run or less in each of his first eight starts, two earned or less in 15 of his 19 starts, and only allowed more than three earned runs in one start this season.  That's epic. I know I am bias, but the Reds should of have had their first All-Star starter since Jack Armstrong in 1990.

Arizona's Brandon Webb (13-4, 3.27, 106 K's)  struggled of late and pitched on Sunday so he is out as is the Giants' Tim Lincecum (10-2, 2.66, 116 K's), who also took the hill on the final day before the break with an impressive performance over the Cubs.

It now looks like the two most likely candidates to get the nod for the NL team on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium are the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano (10-3, 2.84, 78 K's) and the Brewers' Ben Sheets (10-3, 2.85, and 108 K's).

Hurdle better enjoy this shot as the NL manager as I don't he will ever get a second shot to do, I am little more confident that Volquez will. 

An official decision is expected to come sometime on Monday.

So, as I watch other MLB games and scan the leaders in certain categories, I can't help but watch how many former Reds pitchers are doing well. Let's start with Kyle Lohse. Remember this guy? He was awful. Very inconsistent. Now, he's got 11 wins with the Cardinals (a place that always gets the most out of their pitchers). Then there's Ryan Franklin. Again, this former Red was part of an abysmal bullpen for the Reds and was eventually cut for a bad work ethic and being fat and out of shape. And of course, there's Ryan Dempster. Who many people, myself included, referred to as The Dumpster, because his pitching stunk worse than a dumpster. Now, he's leading the Cubs pitching staff with quality starts and prior to that was a consistent reliever/closer for the baby bears.

So, I pose the question, why can't our assistant coaches ever reclaim these guys or help solve their problems? Dick Pole is supposedly a great pitching coach, but what has he done? Who has he reclaimed and saved? For God's sake, Homer Bailey, our once golden boy pitching prospect is in dire need of coaching. So, what are our assistant coaches doing? The same goes for our hitting instructors. How many have we been through? My last count was 822 in the last 6 seasons. And not one of them, ever taught these knuckleheads how to hit in the clutch.

So, either the Reds are made up of a bunch stubborn, uncoachable players, or our assistant coaches aren't earning their keep. Other than being a baseball name up there with Rusty Kuntz, what does Dick Pole bring to the table?