"Twenty-two and a half seems a bit of a reach," I scoffed. "The o-line needs to mesh and develop chemistry. Tommy needs to make the team his, and doesn't have the 'explosiveness' of Martinez, well, Martinez before his knee/toe/head injury slowed him down."
     Lloyd looked at me, strangely. "Martinez never had a head injury."
     "I know. It would have been nice to blame some of his decision making on one, though."
     "Let it go, man. T-Magic era died a lonely death in Minnesota, last year. It's Tommy Time."
     I shook my head at Lloyd.
     "Tommy Armstrong, Hero of the High Plains."
     "Keep working on it, man, something will come to you."
     Lloyd drifted for a bit, before resuming his analysis. "The running game will be awesome. The depth is amazing. Imagine having to chase Ameer Abdullah around. Once he needs a rest, Imani Cross comes in, and he's good enough to start on your team. Then Terrell Newby appears, and he's just biding his time to get to be the guy that  could start for your team. Fresh legs, all day long."
     "As long as the o-line is opening the holes for them," I pointed out.
     "Ameer will finish with 200 yards rushing, against the FLAt Owls."
     "Flat Owls?"
     "FLorida Atlantic."
     "Got it. Cute. How about the receiving corps?"
     "Kenny Bell is prepping his highlight reel for draft day, next year. Jamal Turner and Jordan Westerkamp will be viable downfield threats. We just need a big, go-to receiver to do what Quincy Enunwa did, last year. Cethan Carter needs to make the jump from talented freshman to reliable seem target, at tight end."
     I nodded. None of this was really new, but I liked to get Lloyd fired up. He was easier to work with, and didn't need to be prodded into action when he had his groove on. "What can we expect from the defense?"
     "Besides Randy Gregory looking like some mad scientist's attempt at making Frankenend? Combine Broderick Thomas' length and Grant Wistrom's motor and you get RG4. Brace yourself, he will get drafted, first or second round."
     "That's a bold statement."
     Lloyd just nodded, but with a look that said, 'get real, he's going to cash in'. The rest of the d-line will benefit if the Owls try to double team Gregory. Vincent Valentine almost demands a double team. They will bring pressure all day long, without getting beyond their vanilla scheme."

     "How about against the run?"

     The line will do a great drop cleaning up blockers, Santos, Banderas and Anderson are all good, not LaVonte David good, but good enough to fly around and make stops, they all grew up a lot, last year."

     "How about the final line of defense? If Johnson gets time and can get the ball airborne, will he have open receivers?"

     "If you had asked me before fall camp, I would say that the defensive backs were a solid bunch, that no-one would have to worry about. Then the injuries hit. Mitchell didn't get any taller, and Davie needs to show he can replace SJB and that's a tall order. I'm fine with Cooper, but Gerry at safety makes me a bit nervous, he switched to the position because he was undersized at linebacker. Cockrell is wowing everyone at nickel, so the big question is getting depth. They wont have a problem, this week, but a good receiving corps could stretch them."

     "Okey, so what is your final score prediction and how many touchdowns will Ameer end up with?"

     Lloyd closed his eyes and did that thing where he watched his numbers dance to music only he could hear. "45-13, maybe 20, either way, Huskers cover. Ameer will have two rushing touchdowns. Tommy will run for one and throw two, one to Kenny Bell."

     "That's getting pretty specific."

     "You want specific? The kickers will go a combined 1-for-3 on field goal attempts."

     "If you nail that prediction, I will buy you a glass of that Pappy Van Winkle Special Reserve." I hoped I had enough cash to cover that, since Lloyd was probably right.

     Realizing that I had been ignoring Tompkins, I made my way back over to him before the steam started seeping from his ears. "Sorry about that," I lied. "Lloyd tends to ramble a bit, when provoked."

     Jim looked at his watch. "I have to get going. I will have the files delivered to your office and you will sign for them. You do have a secure place to store them, don't you?"

     "Sure," I said. "I've got an extra large cookie jar with only a couple of oreos in it. Should be plenty of room and no one would ever think to look there."

     "Don't be a smart-ass, Sam," he snapped.

     "Don't treat me like some rookie that doesn't know what he's doing. Some files for a cold case that no-one but you gives a crap about should attract as much attention as a Shakespeare lecture at a monster truck rally. As long as you are being on the level, we're as Jake as Geddis in Chinatown."

     Tompkins stood up, tried to loom, his jaw clenched just a bit too much. "I need your full attention on this, if you treat all your clients like this, it's a wonder you're still in business."

    I nodded gravely, "You might just be on to something, there, detective."

     He turned on his heel and was through the door.

     I hope he didn't expect me to start digging until about 5:30 or so.