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| Runner-up bandits. Seattle Seahawks. Mike Holmgren got a gift, too, capitalizing on the 49ers fear that the Bears would take Andre Carter. The extra 3rd and 7th picks were outright robbery considering they traded down only two picks, could be sure of getting the player they wanted, and had less signing bonus to worry about. The player they got is Koren Robinson, the closest thing to Randy Moss since Randy Moss. The only question mark is his maturity. So what? Moss is a three-time Pro bowler and they still question his maturity. The Seahawks followed up Robinson with Steve Hutchinson, who has future All-Pro written all over him at guard. The next pick, Kenny Lucas, might turn out to be the best corner in the draft, even if it takes him a year longer to develop than the corners taken before him. Heath Evans, the fullback they took with the 3rd pick from San Francisco, looks a fullback who can actually run instead of just block and catch. The Seahawks were thus well on their way to being the draft bandits after their first four picks, but then too many gambles gave their final draft too much of a boom-or-bust look. None-the-less I liked the boom or bust gambles in rounds 4-6, with the exception of safety Curtis Fuller in round four. Fuller is one of those players who was considered a marginal prospect until he ran a 4.41 at the combine. The Seahawks closed out their draft with a very interesting three-pick 7th round that went all over the board. Dennis Norman, a tackle from Princeton, has the look of a steal in the mold of Vikings Matt Birk. Harold Blackmon, was a reasonable 7th round pick, meaning most people had actually heard of him. But final pick Kris Kocurek appears to have been taken for no other reason that he played noseguard and had a pulse. Honorable Mention Bandits: Baltimore Ravens. Although the Rams are generally regarded as having one of the best drafts by everyone, and the Ravens seldom mentioned, I put the Ravens ahead of the Rams for one reason: The Ravens did a great job with fewer picks.. Considering they picked at the end of each round, Baltimore got four terrific prospects in the first four rounds. TE Todd Heap was a huge gift at the end of round one, Gary Baxter a steal at the end of round 2, Casey Rabach a terrific value at center at the end of round 3, and Edgerton Hartwell a possible steal at the end of round 4. Baxter was considered the best cornerback prospect in the country going into his senior year, but since no one would throw his way, Baylor made him a safety to get him into the game, a position he's more suited for in the NFL anyway. This naturally dropped his stock, since he was raw at safety. But don't be surprised if Baxter turns out to be the best safety in the league in a few years. Hartwell is a smart, high-motor middle linebacker with Division II sleeper written all over him. But won’t Ray Lewis be around for years? Probably, but the uniform he ends up wearing may not be the Ravens – or have as many pads. Bandit notables: RAMS. The Rams deserve a lot of credit for parlaying an ex-coach and a backup quarterback into the picks needed to have a great draft. Two or three years down the road the Rams 2001 draft class might be the nucleus of a Bucs- or Ravens-level defense. But there is room to doubt how much they will be helped this year. With the exception of top pick Damione Lewis, who could be an instant star, the Rams may not get a lot of consistent help from the rest of their draft. SAINTS. For a team that was completely down the draft toilet due to the "anything humanly possible we can give you for Ricky Williams" fiasco of 1999, the Saints have done an incredible job of recovering. In addition to the Duece McAllister gift, the Saints appear to have gotten solid value with nearly every pick. On top of that, they saved the world from McAllister going to Philly, where we would have been throwing up all year over headlines about Dueces wild. Flusher Kings: Dallas Cowboys. The consensus, if not unanimous, pick for worst draft. It starts with the idiotic trading to move up for QB Quincy Carter, who they could have likely gotten by trading down. Jerry Jones, it appears to me, basically picked players with "nice-sounding" names. Heck, they even signed a free agent linebacker named Jerry Jones. Tony Dixon has a nice name, but most people don't think he's going to be the impact safety the Cowboys want. DT Willie Blade has a nice name, but most people think he's just a big blocking sled who will do little more than be a short yardage run-stuffer. I do like LB Marcus Steele in the fourth round, so I'm guessing Jones was thinking “I really need a steal here in the fourth.” The Cowboys were actually starting to pull themselves out of the draft toilet with some nice-sounding names who were pretty good late picks, like DTs Daleroy Stewart and John Nix. But then they capped off the draft with Char-ron Dorsey of Florida. Dorsey, a huge OT, was once considered a good prospect. But he showed up at the draft combine "slightly out of shape" said reports, and proceeded to "run" a 6.07 forty, meaning he was the only player at the combine who could be accurately timed with the "one Mississippi..." method. Flusher Princes: Tampa Bay Bucanneers. I know everyone is raving about how the Bucs stole Kenyatta Walker in the first round, but one player does not make a draft (see Ricky Williams exhibit in the Draft Hall of Shame). The rest of the Bucs draft is a collection of undersized effort guys, or guys with "potential." They appear to have drafted more to improve their special teams than their front line. Maybe the Bucs have enough front line talent that this is a good strategy, but it sounds like a draft that could go down the drain even if Walker is as good as expected. Dishonobable mention: Arizona Cardinals. Leonard Davis should be a monster tackle for them and possibly be the foundation of a great offensive line. Defensively, they made strides with several promising selections. I even like Bill Gramatica as a kicker who could combine with his brother to rival the Gogolak brothers. So why are they candidates for the toilet? Because they're the Cardinals. It doesn't matter whether it looks good or bad, sooner or later every Cardinals draft ends up in the toilet. Honorable mention dishonorable mention: Washington Redskins. This has more to do with the last three drafts than what they did or did not get this year. What they got this year has potential, but has any team ever gotten less with more than the Redskins? They had a decent team two years ago, were given a blank check by the new owner, another team's entire draft by Mike Ditka, and two years later they are mired in mediocrity and question marks. Certifiably insane pick of the draft: Marquis Tuiasosopo. The Raiders might know what they are doing in taking Tuiasosopo -- but in the second round? To be the certifiably insane pick you have to take someone on the first day nobody expected to be taken on the first day. The Raiders could probably have had Tuiasosopo two or three rounds later – at least. He’s a tough runner with great leadership skills, a real warrior. If you could will the ball into receivers hands and drive you team into the end zone of sheer toughness as an NFL quarterback, Tuiasosopo would have been a first round pick. Unfortunately, for the Raiders, he will have to throw the ball against NFL defenses. He won in college, but not always with his arm. Usually, that type of QB goes in the 6th or 7th round, if at all. Apparently the Raiders like Rich Gannon so much they were looking for another Gannon. They should have remembered that it took Gannon several teams and about 10 years to finally hit his stride. Note: Tuiasosopo was the reach of the draft, but nowhere near as certifiably insane as the reach of the 2000 draft, when the Vikings utterly wasted a second round pick on DE Michael Boireau. He would have been a reach even in the fifth round. The only thing good anyone could say about Boireau coming out of college is that he usually started for a Division I program. But the Vikings gave him a private workout and saw the second coming of Jevon Kearse. Fine, but why be worried somebody else would see what you saw in a private workout? Boireau now appears destined to never play a down in the NFL, meaning the Vikings are getting exactly what they deserve. Steal of the draft: Michael Bennett. The Vikings may go insane from time to time, but they truly got another in a string of first round gifts. It's amazing that people did not rate Bennett higher in the first place. They knocked him because of a minor scrap with the law and the fact that he only started one year. Hey -- he didn't start before that because he was playing behind a Heisman Trophy winner in a one-back offense! Bennett has the "super freak" look of a Randy Moss or a Brian Urlacher -- guys with an unreal combination of physical skills. Bennett is a world-class sprinter who’s also a tough, workhouse running back. Bennett is built like a slightly smaller Barry Sanders, but he has Bo Jackson's speed. He’s also a perfect fit for the Vikings offense. He'll be the rookie of the year if he stays healthy. |
| VIKING TURF |
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| Bandits & Toilets |
| 2001 NFLDraft analysis By Roger Helms |
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| FEATURE |
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| Chargers are top Bandits, while Cowboys flush Every year in the NFL draft, some teams make out like bandits and some teams toss their picks straight in the toilet. While it sometimes takes years to know which, here are the most likely bandits and flushers in 2001. Bandit Kings: San Diego. No, I'm not a Charger fan, so this is credible, okay? In order to be a candidate for the title of Bandit Kings, you have to first make reasonable picks, with no reaches, in the first five rounds, with at least one major steal. The Chargers were one of the few teams that did this. But they emerged from the pack by making the best draft day deal in Vick for Tomlinson + extra picks + Tim Dwight. They then sat back and watched as Drew Brees miraculously fell into their laps, giving them a major steal and the early lead for the title. The Rams had a shot at them, but their major reach in round one for Ryan Pickett knocked them out of contention. In addition to top pick Tomlinson filling an aching need, the Chargers drafted players with upside potential who will immediately improve team depth, at the very least, and could all be steals -- with Brees potentially the long-term steal of the draft. The final grade on the Chargers draft, of course, will depend on how Michael Vick and Drew Brees pan out. Charger fans will thus be grading this draft for years by comparing those two. Given that Brees had three times more pass COMPLETIONS in college than Vick had pass ATTEMPTS, guess who's going to be more polished at this point? But did the Chargers get too scared of having another Ryan Leaf moment? Possibly. Wasn't Vick worth the top pick? Maybe. Vick certainly has too much talent to be a complete bust, but will he turn out to be a smaller Dante Culpepper with more speed, a bigger Kordell Stewart who can throw, or simply a big Kordell Stewart? Like the Chargers, I simply see too many signs of the latter. (Note: Yes, it's possible Vick could turn out to be a bigger, faster Donovan McNabb, but it's also possible Brees could turn out to be a more accurate Joe Namath with better knees. Of course, it's also possible that Vick could turn out to be a bigger and much, much faster Rich Gannon, and Brees could turn out to be a smaller, if quicker, right-handed Kenny Stabler. Or perhaps Vick may turn out to be an absolutely gargantuan left-handed black Doug Flutie with world-class speed. But of course, Brees might also turn out to be a slow and diminutive white Dante Culpepper with better table manners. That's the beauty of the draft -- you just never know). (P.S. My personal opinion is that Brees will turn out to be a tactful and mysterious Terry Bradshaw with more hair, while Vick will turn out to be an extremely physical, highly emotional Mr. Spock with better ears). |
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