Where are they now?

With pre-season NFL practice underway, I thought I would give you the latest round-up from some of the former GT guys fighting for spots:

DARYL SMITH
Smith is playing strong in the spring - link here.

Second-round pick Daryl Smith will not be held back. He's surging to the head of the linebacker class.

Another nice comment about Smith here:

On the defensive side of the ball, linebackers Tony Gilbert and Daryl Smith earned Del Rio's notice. “Tony Gilbert was laying the wood on a couple of people and Daryl Smith flashed,” Del Rio said. Smith is a second-round pick who has made a strong impression.

On the intensity of the LB competition, see this Q&A:

Andrew from Jacksonville: The August 5 poll on jaguars.com is what will be the most competitive position in training camp? Wide receiver got 34 percent of the vote and offensive tackle only received 5 percent, however, I believe the most competitive position battle will be between Mike Pearson and Ephraim Salaam at left tackle. What is your take on the most competitive position battle?

Vic: In my opinion, linebacker is the hot spot. Tommy Hendricks, Greg Favors and Daryl Smith are each trying to find a place in the starting lineup, and Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith says his best three linebackers will play, so position wouldn't seem to be as much an issue as performance is. At this point in time, the competition at linebacker is so intense that I'm not taking anything for granted.

DEZ WHITE
Dez is picking things up well in ATL:

CB Andre Woolfolk had some trouble in one-on-one work, landing awkwardly as he mis-timed a deep incompletion to WR Michael Jenkins and then got beat by WR Dez White, losing too much ground on the bump to close downfield

Also looks like White is becoming adept at using proper NFL techniques to make plays:

Rookie Matt Schaub stepped in for Vick and connected on a deep pass to wide receiver Dez White down the middle.

The play resulted in a touchdown despite the protests of Titans cornerback Samari Rolle, who told officials that White had pushed him in the back to free himself for the catch.

A small mention here by the AJC -

Wide receivers Dez White and rookie Michael Jenkins were particularly impressive.

Another mention here:

In the offseason, the Falcons signed free agent Dez White and drafted Michael Jenkins in the first round, and the new guys immediately jumped ahead of Edwards and Farris on the depth chart.

KELLY CAMPBELL
Looks like Campbell is playing well also. Mention here.

Culpepper connected on several long passes -- to Randy Moss, Nate Burleson and Kelly Campbell -- during three practices with Kansas City this weekend.

Here's another mention:

Kelly Campbell beat Eric Warfield for a long touchdown pass on a deep post pattern

Evidently Campbell likes to play it up to the pre-season crowd, and uses great grammar:

Wide receiver Kelly Campbell thought the offense deserved a round of applause after the afternoon drills against the Chiefs, so he exhorted the crowd by waving his arms and cupping a hand behind an ear.

When Vikings fans responded, Campbell bowed and blew kisses to the crowd. Someone yelled, "Speed kills," and Campbell yelled back, "Yeah, it do."

. On another note, Campbell has had a sore back and missed part of practice.

But playing up to the crowd isn't all he has been up to. Evidently in a scrimmage against the Chiefs, he got mugged out-of-bounds, leading to a brawl. Link here.

The next fight started during a special-teams drill when the Chiefs' Julian Battle mugged Minnesota's Kelly Campbell out of bounds. Vermeil, who helped play peacemaker during that brawl, said the Chiefs were to blame.

“We throw a guy out of bounds and then pile on him, you're asking for problems,'' Vermeil said.

The teams had three bench-clearing brawls in the night practice. Two were precipitated by the Chiefs, irritating Vermeil.

On another note, Campbell seems to be the team leader when it comes to rookie hazing, even for WWA wrestler turned Vikings player Brock Lesner. Evidently he wasn't too keen on the rookie hazing, but Campbell didn't care. - funny stuff.

"It's gonna happen," Minnesota wide receiver Kelly Campbell says, laughing. "Either he's gonna sing the song, or he's gonna get taped up. Just because you've been on TV rasslin', you're still a rookie to the football league."

It's simple, as best as the Minnesota Vikings can see it. Rookies sing for the veterans at lunch. Lesnar, once a multimillion-dollar WWE professional wrestling champion, is fighting for a spot on the Vikings' practice squad as a defensive lineman. That makes him a rookie, and that means singing.

So move over, Al Green; here comes Brock, square head, blond crew cut and all. He's built like a stack of different-sized boxes. There's no neck to speak of, more of a head-neck unit. He's not as tall as you'd think, but he sure is as wide, with Alaskan-worthy pipes.

But his biceps aren't the pipes the vets care about. Campbell's already called for a song once, last week. He told Lesnar to belt out some WWE theme music. The room hooted. Lesnar, who's usually a good sport, refused.

"He told Kelly he was gonna suplex him across the table," says defensive end Chuck Wiley, practically giggling. No matter. How many times do we have to tell you: some wailing is coming, or else Lesnar might find himself attached to a goalpost, which is what happens to rookies who act like vets.

"You know, he's won a couple championships," Campbell cracks, really on a roll now, "he thinks he ain't gonna do a song. I really don't care how big he is. He will be getting taped up. He's gonna go through the whole rookie routine."

But after all this, the REALLY important news is that Kelly Campbell is a new father - check it out:

Receiver Kelly Campbell left camp Wednesday for the birth of his child. He is expected back today

Now that is something to be proud of - congrats!!!