Kenny Graham / Ikaika in Mini-Camp

Stephen Tsai writes that cornerback Kenny Graham will join the Warriors sooner than expected.

Because the Warriors had appeared to have spent their allotment of scholarships for the 2007 season, Kenny Graham of Bakersfield (Calif.) College was prepared to join the Warriors in January 2008.

But the Warriors' improved Academic Progress Rate score led to four scholarships being reinstated, one of which will go to Graham.

"I'm happy to be joining the team this year," said Graham, who will move to Hawai'i in July and report to training camp in August.

Defense gonna be a monster this year. Congratulations to Kenny!

UPDATE: Here's Sunday morning's article with a couple additional quotes.

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Here's another article profiling Ikaika Alama-Francis as he participates in Lions mini-camp, this one written by Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the Detroit Free Press.

Now he's a 6-foot-5, 280-pound athlete who "bounces around on his feet like he's 230 pounds," according to defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

Marinelli raves about everything from the quickness of his hands, to his tip-top conditioning, to how big his eyes get. He sees him as a young Cory Redding -- a guy with the ability to play either end and move inside to tackle.

While the defensive linemen have gone through their drills, Marinelli often has pulled aside Alama-Francis for one-on-one work.

Sometimes it looks like martial arts training. Marinelli turns into Mr. Miyagi from "The Karate Kid," the old master waving his hands, challenging the young pupil to react, teaching technique. Wax on, wax off.

Looking good for Ikaika-san.

And why not, here's more praise for Ikaika, this time from Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News.

He started playing football in college and he's got such a huge upside ... that inside of two years, this guy can be a dominant, physical force at the end position. And you can slide him inside, and let him rush the passer in the meantime.

Is Alama-Francis going to help their defense immediately, or is he just a project? Without question, he can help them immediately, he can play the run. Gaines Adams, as good as a pass rusher as he is, was a deficient run defender. Alama-Francis, with his size, is going to be able to stand up to offensive tackles. No, I expect a lot of these guys in this draft to be on the field for the Lions this year.