Bonus Nfl Draft Commentary

[vicfurth]

I wrote a, you could say, tough-love article about the NFL Draft. No, I'm not secretly Jay Mariotti...

Written by staff writer Vicfurth

Over the weekend, the NFL Draft came, stayed, stayed, & stayed some more with

more than a few shockers (and one not so much). Eli Manning was selected

#1 overall by the San Diego Chargers and promptly traded to the New York

Giants for Philip Rivers and extra draft picks. What I wonder is what kind of

example does this set for future #1 picks? Ooh, I know. It tells them that no mat-

ter who might pick you, if you whine and cry hard enough, you can play where

you want. Why did San Diego play the role of "your wish is my command"?

If they didn't trade Manning & he did sit out, it's not like they woulda done any

better. They could have the first pick again next year. Oh, well.

In other draft happenings, Robert Gallery went to the Oakland Raiders (without

whining about it) and Larry Fitzgerald went to the Arizona Cardinals, AKA

football purgatory (without whining; what's up with that?). In other news that I

found even worse than the Manning fiasco, Dallas had, in this writers' opinion, a

bad draft day. They had their choice of any running back-a hole they desper-

ately need(ed) to fill-and traded that pick to Buffalo for, mainly, the Bills'

2005 1st round pick, which could be a good or bad thing.

Well, all in all, the draft was, well, eventful. As I finish this article, it's ninety-

three days until training camp. By then we'll all be able to tell who really had a

good draft and who messed it up.

[Braden]

Eli was DEFINITELY not worth that many draft picks by moving up 3 spots. If the Giants bust again (which they probably will IMO) the Chargers could potentially be dangerous. This move was so great for San Diego, it will single-handedly revive them. They'll be in the playoffs before the Giants will. I just can't see two Mannings dominating the NFL

Cardinals fans... I feel your pain. I hate to see a franchise have so many bad things happen to them, you know, with Denny Green as your new coach, McCown being announced as starter, Emmitt staying on for another year, Tillman's trajic death, Fitzgerald being drafted despite already having two great WRs, one more year in those sorry excuses for uniforms, and one more losing season.

The Patriots are starting to piss me off... they WIN the Super Bowl and STILL manage to drastically improve their team. It's really painful to see, especially as a Dolphins fan.

Detroit had a GREAT draft. They now not only have a great young WR, but a great young RB too? Joey Harrington is one happy QB at the moment.

The Redskins IMO should have picked Winslow, but still got a good player in Taylor. I can see many Garcia-to-Winslow passes this year in the dawg pound.

Dallas traded down instead of going for a good quality RB... It is obvious that not even a great coach can bolster an offence with people like Quincy Carter, Troy Hambrick and Me-shawn Johnson. They do get Buffalo's 1st round pick, which could

be good, especially since Losman (soon to be nicknamed Loserman in Buffalo) was not worth the 1st pick.

Overall BIG winners of the draft:

San Diego & Detroit

Overall BIG losers of the draft:

Arizona & Buffalo (and potentially the GIANTS... Yes, them!)

[Phil]

I don't see Arizona as a big loser.

Denny Green did an outstanding job rebuilding in Minnesota, and he'll do an excellent job in Arizona, given the time and ownership support. McCown is a young quarterback who can only get better, they now have two top young WRs for him to throw to (in Boldin and Fitzgerald), and don't be surprised if some of their later picks turn up some diamonds.

New York gave up to much for Eli Manning.

Detroit did indeed have a good day.

My teams:

Denver had a good day. DJ Williams will solidify what should be one of the top defenses in the league (they were #5 last year, and only got better with the addition of Champ Bailey, John Lynch, and now Williams).

St. Louis picked a RB with their first rounder. Why? I don't know. I do know that if you want to hear a classic rant, get STL Fanatic started on Mike Martz. But STL hits the nail on the head IMO... Martz is destroying that club little by little.

[See Red]

Most things I've read about Eli say his arm, at this point in his career, is better than Peyton's was at this time. Also, what Eli did in college was amazing considering he wasn't at Tennessee like his brother was, Eli was at Ole Miss and quite frankly, his recievers weren't that good. Eli had to make alot of throws to recievers who didn't get hardly any seperation and still didn't have many interceptions. I think he's worth it. Although if I were the Chargers... I'd want Roethlisberger over Rivers.

The Redskins IMO should have picked Winslow, but still got a good player in Taylor. I can see many Garcia-to-Winslow passes this year in the dawg pound.

Sean Taylor was THE BEST player in the draft. Look for him to make an instant impact like Roy Williams did for the Cowboys defense a few years back. Taylor will be a force to be reckoned with.

And I don't think the Patriots got THAT much better... Yes, Corey Dillon is good but he carries some attitude problems and they could run the ball when they wanted to last year! He doesn't fit into their offense too terribly much because they use the short pass as a substitute for the run because that's what Tom Brady is best at. If you ask me... I think the Dolphins will win that division. Feeley is a VERY good QB.

*edit- also... Bronco's should have picked Steven Jackson! They were missing 2 of their 3 LB's last year and still had a top 5 defense... So I don't believe that was a huge problem for em! Not to mention they made their DB's WAAAAAY better over the offseason. You don't pass up a Steven Jackson when you plan on drafting a RB anyway! They shoulda gotten a WR or Jackson in the first round.

[Sterling84]

I thought it was a pretty entertaining first round and I echo most of the sentiments around the big deals. Unfortunately MIke McKenzie forced the Pack to draft corners (and a punter?) when there would've seemed more pressing needs two months ago.

Lame. Its no fun when my team doesnt get in the act. Although I guess I like the idea of a burner in Carroll.

[nitroseed]

I'm convinced that the Chargers knew what they were doing the entire time and used the situation to their advantage. I felt like from the moment that the Chargers heard that Manning wouldn't play for them and instead wanted to go to New York, they saw that they had all the leverage in the world to suck the Giants dry. I don't think they ever really wanted Manning that bad, but instead wanted Rivers. I think they knew Arizona and Oakland wouldn't select him, so they waited for the Giants to do so, and when they did, they took full advantage of the situation and they got the QB they wanted plus three extra draft picks. Brilliant maneuvering on the part of the Chargers war room.

[winters in buffalo]

I'm convinced that the Chargers knew what they were doing the entire time and used the situation to their advantage. I felt like from the moment that the Chargers heard that Manning wouldn't play for them and instead wanted to go to New York, they saw that they had all the leverage in the world to suck the Giants dry. I don't think they ever really wanted Manning that bad, but instead wanted Rivers. I think they knew Arizona and Oakland wouldn't select him, so they waited for the Giants to do so, and when they did, they took full advantage of the situation and they got the QB they wanted plus three extra draft picks. Brilliant maneuvering on the part of the Chargers war room.

I totally agree... brilliant work by the Chargers. Draft the kid, piss him off, and then trade him away for more than he's worth.

If John Butler wasn't dead, I'd have sworn he scripted the whole thing.

[Nick 1733]

I have to add my two cents.

First off the Manning situation.

The Chargers IMO weren't going to draft him until he said he didn't want to play for them.

I'm convinced that the Chargers knew what they were doing the entire time and used the situation to their advantage. I felt like from the moment that the Chargers heard that Manning wouldn't play for them and instead wanted to go to New York, they saw that they had all the leverage in the world to suck the Giants dry. I don't think they ever really wanted Manning that bad, but instead wanted Rivers. I think they knew Arizona and Oakland wouldn't select him, so they waited for the Giants to do so, and when they did, they took full advantage of the situation and they got the QB they wanted plus three extra draft picks. Brilliant maneuvering on the part of the Chargers war room.

Nitro already said it for me.

Now I have some things to say about the Broncos.

Every year Shannahan suprises everyone in the first round with a pick that no one could have predicted, I was hoping like none other that when Dallas traded w/ Buffalo that Denver would take Jackson, but I did not expect them to. Every back that Shannahan has drafted and became a standout was no higher than the 2nd round. Terrell Davis-6th '96, Olandis Gary-4th '99, Mike Anderson-6th '00, Clinton Portis-2nd '02. So apparently he saw something in Bell that no one else did.

Can you say Number One defense in the League, I sure CAN.

As of right now here is their starting "D"

DE's Trevor Pryce, Marco Coleman; DT's Monsanto Pope, Luther Elliss; OLB's John Mobley, Ian Gold (I think they'll sign him); MLB Al Wilson; S's John Lynch, Kenoy Kennedy (whoa, can you say Dennis Smith and Steve Atwater flashbacks); CB's Champ Bailey, Lenny Walls (good CB, will progress this season).

Now look what else Denver has done, drafted 2 QB's and moved Jarious Jackson to Safety. Look the hell out for the Broncos this season!!!

[MC Buffalo]

I'm convinced that the Chargers knew what they were doing the entire time and used the situation to their advantage. I felt like from the moment that the Chargers heard that Manning wouldn't play for them and instead wanted to go to New York, they saw that they had all the leverage in the world to suck the Giants dry. I don't think they ever really wanted Manning that bad, but instead wanted Rivers. I think they knew Arizona and Oakland wouldn't select him, so they waited for the Giants to do so, and when they did, they took full advantage of the situation and they got the QB they wanted plus three extra draft picks. Brilliant maneuvering on the part of the Chargers war room.

I totally agree... brilliant work by the Chargers. Draft the kid, piss him off, and then trade him away for more than he's worth.

If John Butler wasn't dead, I'd have sworn he scripted the whole thing.

If Butler wasn't dead, the Chargers would have never pulled this off....

Butler was a great guy and it's terribly sad what happened to him and his family, but he was not a very good General Manager. He took over a Super Bowl team in Buffalo when Polian left and ran it into financial ruins. Luckily in today's NFL you can go from Salary Cap Jail to freeing up cap space with just a year or two of purging players and dealing with the resulting crappy seasons.

The Chargers had made no significant progress under Butler (hence number one pick in the draft this year!). Butler was maybe the best evaluator of talent that any Scouting department has ever seen, but he just didn't have all the other attributes it takes to be a successful GM. His biggest fault as a GM, he never wanted anyone to "dislike" him or a move he made so he continually gave contract extensions and raises to aging veterans who had contributed in the past but were not worth the additional money he was throwing at them. His "win now" attitude in the dying days of the Kelly, Thomas, Reed and Smith era was at the expense of the future of the franchise.

For those who think that Eli Manning has set a precedant for future number one picks I say RELAX, Elway did the same thing back in 1983 and as soon as he started winning a few games everyone throughout the league and definatelymost fans forgave him. It took 21 years for it to happen again.

The Chargers made the most of the situation, but I do believe that Manning will turn out to be a better pro than Rivers. I guess the final judgement on these moves will have to be held until we see if the difference between E.Manning and Rivers is like the difference between P.Manning and Ryan Leaf or Elway and Dan Marino where both teams will be happy with what they have.

[CityOfWalrus]

I think the Titans got a steal with Travis Laboy in the 2nd round hes gonna turn heads and make everyone in nashville forget about kearse, I also read that former warriors Jeremiah cockheran WR signed with the bengals.hes special and over looked.. also Kelvin Millhouse Jr. a 6'0 CB/S that runs the 40 in 4.36, 40in vertical and bench press 225 25times..if sam madison can help him hes gonna be a huge steal that wasn't in the draft... let also not overlook Issac Sopoaga (4th round DT to 49ers) max bench press 500pounds, combine did 225 42times, also once did 225...52 times!...hes a steal already.....

all I hope is the 2005 Draft Timmy Chang gets his due.......