USC's Carroll knows QBs, and praises Booty's talent

Southern California has been a dominating college football team since Pete Carroll took over as head coach in December 2000. He has helped develop some outstanding quarterbacks, with two Heisman Trophy winners (Carson Palmer in 2002 and Matt Leinart in 2004) and Matt Cassel, who was a seventh-round choice in 2005 and now is a backup to Patriots star Tom Brady.

Carroll said he thinks the Vikings drafted another super quarterback in USC's John David Booty in the fifth round Sunday and that they will be very impressed with what he can do when he comes to training camp.

"The other two guys [Palmer and Leinart] were both 6-5 guys," Caroll said. "They're prototype sizewise. John [6-3, 213] is clearly as accurate as the other quarterbacks, understood the system, executed it statistically, did all the same kinds of things.

"Had he not gotten hurt this year, where we lost a couple games, we would have had a chance at an undefeated season and he might have been right in the mix of the Heisman thing."

Carroll said that because Booty's injury (a fractured middle finger on his throwing hand) happened right in the middle of the year, the Heisman hype for him died down.

Carroll said Booty was born to be a quarterback and praised his composure. No other college football team played in more pressure situations, with every opponent shooting to upset another great Trojans team.

"We played in all the most difficult situations you could play in college football, and he excelled in all of those and he's not going to have any problems," Carroll said. "He'll understand the system, he'll execute it well, he'll be a good leader, he'll be poised, and he'll throw the heck out of the football. He can really, really wing the football."

"He had to do it for a couple of years behind Leinart, so he's been in that role before until he waited his time," Carroll said. "He was very patient and very focused and tuned in. His brothers played in the league some, and he just knows. He understands how this all works. He'll compete like crazy but he'll understand, too. So I think he's a great guy for you to get."

Key game Carroll said one game that might have really turned Booty into a great quarterback was during his junior year -- his first year as a starter in 2006 -- when the Trojans fell way behind against Oregon State. Booty completed 24 of 39 passes for 406 yards, including three touchdown passes in the final 16 minutes, before the Trojans lost 33-31.

"That was, I think, probably the game ... when he just realized he could do whatever we needed him to do whenever we called on him. He really grew from then on," Carroll said. "I think he never lost to a [Associated Press-ranked] team or something like that. He's 9-0 against [ranked] teams or whatever it was, some stat like that; he played really well in big games. He was great in the Rose Bowl, too, beating Michigan and Illinois."

Carroll is convinced Booty is ready for the NFL and what he needs to do is learn the system and adapt to it.

"He's been taught by pro coaches, and the [USC] system is as close as you can get to what everybody else is doing," Carroll said. "They're not going to do anything more complicated than what we've done, so he understands coverage principles and all that kind of stuff. So I think he's going to fit in fine.

Carroll described Booty as kind of a quiet, conservative person.

"He's a kid from the South, from Shreveport, Louisiana, real polite and respectful," Carroll said. "Two-time captain at SC, that's a big deal. Not too many guys have been two-time captains before. He was actually chosen captain by his teammates his junior year before he had ever played a game, so they already took to him. Hard-working, dedicated ... he's all of the right stuff."

Scott Studwell, Vikings director of college scouting, played for the Vikings when Carroll was a linebackers coach here from 1985 to '89. They are very close personal friends, and you can bet Studwell knew everything good or bad about Booty before the Vikings drafted him.

Carroll must know what he is doing. When we had our conversation Sunday afternoon, he already had 10 players drafted and was waiting for one more.

"[Offensive lineman] Drew Radovich is the guy we're waiting on right now to see if he'll go in these last 10 picks or so," Carroll said. "It's been a big draft for us, and each year it's a big deal, but we had seven guys in the first two rounds. It's a pretty big deal."

Childress said he didn't have any idea why Birk is taking a stand.

"You know what the thing about this is, [there is] no different circumstance than Darren Sharper is, and Darren Sharper's here," Childress said. "The last year of a contract, Jimmy Kleinsasser's here."

Jottings Gophers football coach Tim Brewster talked about junior wide receiver Marcus Sherels and how he earned a scholarship after his great performance this spring and in the spring game. "What I've seen is this: There's a bunch of really good football players in the state of Minnesota that are walk-on type of guys," Brewster said. "[They] maybe aren't the most highly recruited players, but they're going to come in and help your football team win games. Marcus Sherels is one of them. He is not on scholarship yet, but he's going to be the first minute that I can put him on. I'll tell you what, we've got a young man coming in here this fall, Mike Rallis from Edina, [a walk-on running back who is] going to be an outstanding football player for the Gophers."

Jared Allen's salary was $2.35 million last year, so his $74 million total salary over six years, with $31 million guaranteed, is one of the biggest jumps in NFL history. The Vikings saved what they would have paid a 17th pick in the first round, so there was some consideration when the Wilf family decided to come up with the big money.

The word is that Kim Royston, the former Cretin-Derham Hall safety who decided to leave the Wisconsin football team, is trying to decide between Boston College, where he would get a scholarship, and Minnesota, where he would not because the Badgers will not release his scholarship to any future opponent.