06/27 — A month and a half ago, when Teddy Atlas' sessions of teaching New York Jets players some boxing fundamentals got all that publicity, linebacker Victor Hobson dropped the hint that he'd love to be a part of the legendary boxing trainer and TV analyst's regular segment on a future Friday Night Fights.

Either the hint worked, or Hobson has secret plans to outdo Mark Gastineau when his football days are over. Hobson and offensive tackle Anthony Clement will participate in "Teddy's Fight Plan" on Friday night in a taped segment that will air during ESPN/2's boxing card from Atlas' Staten Island stomping grounds. The two Jets will get in the ring and help Atlas analyze fight gameplans.

The main event at the St. George Theater will feature Emmanuel Nwodo vs. Darnell Wilson in a 10-round cruiserweight bout.

SI Hits and Misses

Sports Illustrated is certainly filling up the NFL off-season, albeit with talk-inducing rate-the-positions pieces that ultimately mean nothing. Peter King last week ranked the QBs, placing Chad Pennington 15th among his projected 32 opening-day starters. No big problem with underrating Pennington, although I do wonder about Chad's "intangible" score of 6 on a scale of 1-10, and also that he was rated below No. 14 Brett Favre, whom he soundly outplayed in Green Bay in Game 12.

This week it's Bucky Brooks' turn, and the former Bills WR ranks his top 25 receivers. At No. 19: Laveranues Coles. Not to be found: Jerricho Cotchery. That's OK, too. (Although again a quibble: new SF wideout Darrell Jackson at No. 24?) Cotchery, despite his strong breakout showing in 2006, doesn't have a 1,000-yard season. At this point he's still under the national radar, although not under this radar.

SI did some heartwarming work in this week's issue, though, executing a "Where Are They Now" as they reflected on Boomer Esiason and then-2-year-old son Gunnar on the cover of their Oct. 4, 1993, issue under the head "A Quarterback's Crusade."

Actually, I knew exactly where Boomer and Gunnar were this afternoon: in the Jets' practice bubble with the Long Island and New York City football players during the last practice for the 12th annual Empire Challenge (rescheduled for Friday night) that Boomer started in '96 in large part to help fund cystic fibrosis research. Gunnar's 16 now and looking well.