You Never Know
Before you get too hot and bothered about the NFL draft this weekend (not that I’ll be paying attention, not with the Cowboys not having a pick) it is instructive to look at the first round of the draft 10 years ago (formatting courtesy Wikipedia)
| Pick # | NFL Team | Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Browns | Tim Couch | Quarterback | Kentucky |
| My comment: You can’t blame the Browns for taking the best QB off the board, but you can blame them for not finding someone to block for him. | ||||
| 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | Donovan McNabb | Quarterback | Syracuse |
| My comment: Did the Eagles make the right call here? Wasn’t the popular decision at the time, of course, but does it look any better ten years later? I say no, but it’s hard to say that they should have taken someone else. | ||||
| 3 | Cincinnati Bengals | Akili Smith | Quarterback | Oregon |
| My comment: Oopsie. | ||||
| 4 | Indianapolis Colts | Edgerrin James | Running Back | Miami (FL) |
| My comment: Easily the best pick of 1999, not least because the Colts passed up Ricky. | ||||
| 5 | New Orleans Saints (From Carolina Panthers via Washington Redskins) | Ricky Williams [2] | Running Back | Texas |
| My comment: I loved watching Ricky Williams run in college; there never was a better back. I think Ditka was 100% right in moving up to draft him here, but you have to do better due diligence on the total package than what happened here. | ||||
| 6 | St. Louis Rams | Torry Holt | Wide Receiver | NC State |
| My comment: Seven Pro Bowls and a likely HOF candidate. | ||||
| 7 | Washington Redskins (From Chicago Bears) | Champ Bailey | Cornerback | Georgia |
| My comment: Will be remembered a lot more for the Clinton Portis trade. | ||||
| 8 | Arizona Cardinals (From San Diego Chargers) | David Boston | Wide Receiver | Ohio State |
| My comment: You can call him a bust, but wasn’t anybody really going to help those Cardinals. | ||||
| 9 | Detroit Lions | Chris Claiborne | Linebacker | USC |
| My comment: Buzzard luck for the Lions again. | ||||
| 10 | Baltimore Ravens | Chris McAlister | Defensive Back | Arizona |
| My comment: Exactly the kind of pick you want to make – somebody that can contribute for a championship team. | ||||
| 11 | Minnesota Vikings (From Washington Redskins) | Daunte Culpepper | Quarterback | Central Florida |
| My comment: Anything you say, really, is kind of a backhanded compliment. He played longer than you’d think considering the size he was. He wasn’t no Akili Smith. He’ll always be remembered, unlike a lot of other guys on this list. Probably the greatest Central Florida player ever in the NFL. You see what I mean. | ||||
| 12 | Chicago Bears (From New Orleans Saints via Washington Redskins) | Cade McNown | Quarterback | UCLA |
| My comment: Poor Jay Cutler, you just know something bad is going to happen to him. | ||||
| 13 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Troy Edwards | Wide Receiver | Louisiana Tech |
| My comment: Wasn’t all his fault; he hardly seemed to get on the field. | ||||
| 14 | Kansas City Chiefs | John Tait | Tackle | Brigham Young |
| My comment: Anonymous, played a lot of games for a non-contender. Not the sort of career that you dream for yourself, but better than Akili Smith. | ||||
| 15 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Anthony McFarland | Defensive Tackle | LSU |
| My comment: Booger. Heh. | ||||
| 16 | Tennessee Titans | Jevon Kearse | Defensive End | Florida |
| My comment: Like the previous pick, when in doubt, go for the guy with the cool nickname. | ||||
| 17 | New England Patriots (From Seattle Seahawks) | Damien Woody | Center | Boston College |
| My comment: On second thought, there are some people who shouldn’t have cute nicknames at all. | ||||
| 18 | Oakland Raiders | Matt Stinchcomb | Tackle | Georgia |
| My comment: Currently a partner in a financial services firm. Just sayin’. | ||||
| 19 | New York Giants | Luke Petitgout | Tackle | Notre Dame |
| My comment: “False start, number seventy-seven, offense. Five-yard penalty, repeat third down.” Love it Love. It. | ||||
| 20 | Dallas Cowboys (From New England Patriots via Seattle Seahawks) | Ebenezer Ekuban | Defensive End | North Carolina |
| My comment: God damn Jerry Jones’s sorry soul to hell. | ||||
| 21 | Arizona Cardinals | L.J. Shelton | Tackle | Eastern Michigan |
| My comment: Not a bad pick here; someone who was a decent competitor at a hard-to-fill position and is still playing. | ||||
| 22 | Seattle Seahawks (From Dallas Cowboys) | Lamar King | Defensive End | Saginaw Valley State |
| My comment: Easily the worst Wikipedia entry this far in the first round. | ||||
| 23 | Buffalo Bills | Antoine Winfield | Defensive Back | Ohio State |
| My comment: Easily the best pick in the lower third of the draft. | ||||
| 24 | San Francisco 49ers (From Miami Dolphins) | Reggie McGrew | Defensive Tackle | Florida |
| My comment: Meh. | ||||
| 25 | Green Bay Packers | Antuan Edwards | Defensive Back | Clemson |
| My comment: Couldn’t stay healthy. | ||||
| 26 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Fernando Bryant | Defensive Back | Alabama |
| My comment: Solid career, certainly nothing for anyone to apologize about. | ||||
| 27 | Detroit Lions (From San Francisco 49ers via Miami Dolphins) | Aaron Gibson | Tackle | Wisconsin |
| My comment: Set record for heaviest NFL player ever, which is probably all you need to know. | ||||
| 28 | New England Patriots (From New York JetsTraded to Pats, along with 97 3rd and 4th Round, and 98 2nd Rounder for Bill Parcells.) | Andy Katzenmoyer | Linebacker | Ohio State |
| My comment: Neck injury; not much you can do with a neck injury. | ||||
| 29 | Minnesota Vikings | Dimitrius Underwood | Defensive End | Michigan State |
| My comment: Even less you can do with chronic untreated mental illness (from an NFL perspective, I mean). | ||||
| 30 | Atlanta Falcons | Patrick Kerney | Defensive End | Virginia |
| My comment: Went to Princeton Day School, which is near my house. Huh. Other than that, I have little to add. | ||||
| 31 | Denver Broncos | Al Wilson | Linebacker | Tennessee |
| My comment: Chose to retire rather than play for the 2008 Lions, showing superior intellectual ability. | ||||