Initial Impressions from the 2006 Draft

Is the NFL draft as much fun for team owners as fantasy drafts are for the rest of us? Probably not, considering that fantasy leaguers aren’t grilled (and often roasted) by the media about every single pick. And there certainly was a lot of intense grilling going on this Saturday, as surprises were plentiful and mock drafts were turned upside down and inside out. Analyzing this draft isn’t easy, and as always, we won’t be able to make final judgments until this year’s draft class has several years of NFL playing time under their collective belts. Nonetheless, here are a few impressions and observations from a wild draft.

And the 2006 Guts Award Goes to…
No matter whether you agree with Houston’s decision to select North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams or felt that the Texans had lost their marbles (and personally, I still feel they should have traded down), you have to admire the team for not bowing to outside pressure. With every analysist on the planet making a case for Reggie Bush and a fanbase torn between Bush and Texas’ Vince Young, the Houston brass took the road less traveled in order to fill what they felt was a greater need. We’ll see whether the move pays off; if it doesn’t, owner Bob McNair and company will have a whole lot of explaining to do.

On the Other Hand, I’m Not So Sure About This Line of Reasoning
According to McNair, adding Williams to the defense gives his team a better chance of beating the Colts than having Bush on the roster. That may or may not be the case, but shouldn’t the Texans find a way to get past San Francisco before setting their sights on Indianapolis?

Bud Adams Sticks it to Houston Fans, One More Time
Vince Young, who brought a title to Texas, is headed to Tennessee, home of the team that once called Houston home. If the NFL’s plot lines were orchestrated by cheesy soap opera writers, this is exactly how things would have turned out.

Thank Goodness He’s from Long Island
The always vocal Jets supporters who made their way to this year’s draft at Radio City Music Hall were pulling for their team to take Matt Leinart with the fourth overall pick, but didn’t seem too upset with the selection of D’Brickashaw Ferguson. I wonder whether the reaction would have been different had Ferguson played high school ball in, say, Omaha rather than Freeport.

Some Members of the Media, However, Were Less Than Pleased
While Jets fans were able to cheer a native son, not to mention a player who should greatly help the team, those sports journalists who like to focus on lurid gossip rather than the action on the field weren’t happy campers now that Leinart will be calling the Arizona desert home rather than sampling the nightlife of Manhattan. Too bad, guys. But hey, there’s always Derek Jeter. Fantasy owners, in the meantime, have already started salivating over the prospect of Leinart passing to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in 2007.

Déjà Vu All Over Again … and Again…
Memo from the Cardinals to Kurt Warner: Say, Kurt, you don’t mind grooming another young passer to eventually take your job and drive you out of town, do you? (But just to show we care, we did draft USC guard Taitusi Lutui in the second round, which should make your life a lot easier.)

At Least Everybody’s Mock Draft Had This One Right
AJ Hawk to Green Bay. You knew it, I knew it, everybody knew it. Good fit for the Packers. IDP leaguers should keep an eye on him, too: he has the potential to post solid numbers as a rookie.

Everybody Loves This Pick, So Why Don’t I?
Vernon Davis to San Francisco. Don’t get me wrong, I think Davis will be an excellent player at the NFL level, and his presence should also help quarterback Alex Smith’s development. I also feel that Davis represents solid value at the sixth overall pick. But is tight end truly the greatest need on a team that limped to a 4-12 record last year, allowing a league-worst 391.2 yards per game in the process? Yes, the 49ers also had the 22nd pick in hand, which they used on Manny Lawson, the other NC State defensive end. Nevertheless, the selection of Davis seems like a luxury, especially with several excellent TEs available much later in the draft (Leonard Pope, for example, wound up lasting until round three). Still, fantasy owners will presumably be happy with this pick.

Don’t Believe Anybody Who Claims to Have Gotten This Pick Right in Their Mock
Forget Mario Williams at #1; the biggest surprise of the opening round was Tampa Bay’s selection of Oklahoma’s Davin Joseph with the 23rd pick. Joseph is solid, and was probably the best guard in the class of ‘06, but most observers expected him to be available in the middle of the second round.

You Know the Nearer Your Destination…
We figured LenDale White would drop significantly, and he did, all the way to Tennessee at #45. But Winston Justice slip slidin’ away to pick #39 came as a considerable shock to most observers. The Eagles, who apparently had considered taking the offensive tackle with the 14th pick, couldn’t have been happier.

Rolling the Dice
The Chargers gambled on Antonio Cromartie with the 19th pick. If he’s healthy, the cornerback has the talent to become an elite cornerback, but after missing the 2005 season following a knee injury, he’s also a considerable risk. This selection could well be remembered as the steal of the draft, but could just as easily wind up being a wasted draft pick who spent more time on injured reserve than on the gridiron. Still, the risk-reward ratio looks good at #19, and Cromartie wouldn’t have lasted long if the Chargers had passed on him.

The Difference Between Pittsburgh and San Francisco
Pittsburgh gave up a lot, picks #32, 96, and 129, to move up just seven spots in the first round in order to grab Ohio State WR Santonio Holmes. But when you’re the defending champion and already have a rock-solid roster, you have the luxury of paying what it takes to fill your handfull of needs. Of course, having all those picks didn’t exactly hurt, either.

Wait a Minute – Belichick Took Two Guys We’ve Actually Heard of?
Sign of the apocalypse? Well, probably not, but it is unusual for Patriots guru Bill Belichick to make it through the first two rounds of the draft without pulling a huge surprise out of his bag of tricks. Heading into this year’s draft, New England’s pick at #21 was the one that showed the highest degree of variance in mock drafts as prognosticators often plugged in little-known defenders in an attempt to guess Belichick’s sneaky plans. Instead, he filled an obvious need with an obvious pick, adding Laurence Maroney to the roster in the first round, providing the Patriots with a capable future successor to Corey Dillon. In the second round, in a classic case of the rich getting richer, New England traded up in order to snare WR Chad Jackson, who had surprisingly slipped out of the opening round. Then again, since so few were expecting Belichick to take this route, does that mean he had us fooled again?

Forget Putting a Franchise in LA
Just put one in Columbus instead. Five of the draft’s first 29 picks – AJ Hawk, surprise top ten selection Donte Whitner, Bobby Carpenter, Santonion Holmes, and Nick Mangold – played their college ball at Ohio State. Then again, so did Maurice Clarett, but the less said about that, the better.

 
Arlo Vander is getting ready to congratulate the team that lands Boston College DB/WR Will Blackmon on the second day of the draft.
 

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