Billick will be working for the NFL Network during the draft, providing analysis and focusing mostly on quarterbacks. That?s where he made his mark ? though he failed to develop a quarterback in Baltimore.

Other NFL sources say the Ravens are more likely to select an offensive tackle with this pick, possibly Vanderbilt?s Chris Williams, Boise State?s Ryan Clady or, should he unexpectedly fall that far, Michigan?s Jake Long.

For Billick, this weekend?s gig could lead to a bigger role come this season. However, other stations have interest in him: CBS, ESPN and FOX. But the NFL Network and CBS seem to favor him more.

Regardless, this weekend will be unusual for him.

In the past, he was always in a team?s “war room” executing the draft.

 “To see the draft and be able to look at this from a team by team and a position by position standpoint I feel will be fun,” Billick said.

He knows how the draft has changed: technology. Because almost every game in college is now on TV, every player can be watched in four or five games on tape.

“The access we have to seeing tape on players now is amazing,” he said. “That?s why you can make the best pick and not just in the first couple of rounds.”

Like father, like son ? at least publicly

A Steinbrenner popping off? How unusual. But don?t infer that Hank Steinbrenner is just like his dad based on what he said Sunday.

That might be hard to believe given his statements regarding reliever Joba Chamberlain. But New York sources say the father spoke from passion; the son speaks from a business perspective. He understands the need to stay in the news in New York, so this is his way of doing so.

On Sunday, Hank Steinbrenner said of Chamberlain, “You don?t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. … You have to be an idiot to do that.” Never mind that Yankees GM Brian Cashman said afterward that Chamberlain was staying in the pen.

Steinbrenner also said he would not have allowed Chamberlain to be moved to the pen last year, a move he said was made “out of panic.”

But the younger Steinbrenner talks less to the baseball people than his father, who would contact them before, during and after games. The son focuses more on the YES network and the construction of the new stadium.

 “Bottom line, to Hank the Yankees are a billion-dollar business and to his father the Yankees was a passion,” said one person familiar with both men.

Will Kelly be drafted by the Redskins?

At 6-foot-4, Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly has the size Washington covets. The Redskins won?t rule out shorter receivers, but in their West Coast offense ? and with pint-sized wideouts in Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El ? theycould use more size.

Receivers in this offense take a pounding because of the short passes. They also want receivers to break more tackles. And there?s the need for another red zone target along with Chris Cooley.

Enter Kelly. The knock on Kelly, though, is speed. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds (after first running a 4.69). One NFL source, a former scout, said Kelly?s mistake was saying it stemmed from running on a “slow” track.

“No one I know would say he?s slow footed or un-athletic, just not a blazer,” the source said. “The problems started when he was complaining. He?s an immature kid and you wonder about that.”

Column inches

Opinions from around the nation on the hottest topics in sports:

» The Pistons won?t blow a 15-point second-half lead again, right? They won?t miss 12 of their last 15 shots, at home, including eight of their last nine, right? They won?t see their best player, Wallace, fail to come through in the clutch after playing so well earlier in the game, right?

? Mitch Albom writing about the Detroit Pistons losing their playoff opener to seventh-seeded Philadelphia (Detroit Free Press).

» Everybody at Valley Ranch was prepared for the day when a certain key player demanded to be paid like the very best at his position. The Dallas Cowboys just expected that player to be DeMarcus Ware, not Marion Barber. Has anybody who has done so little ever asked for so much?

? Jennifer Floyd Engel on Marion Barber?s demand for a contract (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).

» Being at school isn?t the same thing as being in school. Rationalize it any way you want, but one and done is mercenary sports, nothing more.

But if the NBA insists on an age minimum, then the least it can do is consider Major League Baseball?s draft stance. It isn?t perfect, but it beats this mess.

? Gene Wojciechowski writing about college basketball players having to stay in college at least one season (ESPN.com).

» Not sure why people are fussing that the excitement has been drained out of the golf season just because Tiger Woods didn?t win the Masters. I mean, the most dominant player in professional golf still has a decent chance of winning the Grand Slam this year.

That?s right. Lorena Ochoa just has to stay hot in June-August.

? Jeff Rude writing about Ochoa after her fourth straight win, without a week off (GolfWeek.com).

On the record

“We used to say that Japanese baseball was like Double-A or Triple-A baseball.  How wrong were we?  [Japanese players] have come over and starred in this league.”

? TBS analyst Ron Darling on the quality of players from Japan.

“It was more like an orangutan. I got the orangutan off my back.”

? Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol after his first career playoff victory following 12 straight defeats.

By the numbers

5: Consecutive years the previous Stanley Cup champion has failed to advance to the second round after Anaheim?s exit this weekend.

23.4: Millions of dollars Jason Giambi will earn this season. He?s currently batting .109 with six RBI after an 0-for-6 weekend in Baltimore with three strikeouts.