Draft's win-loss record
More Wetzel: The sights and sounds of Day 1
NEW YORK – The spin is always about how each team got exactly what it wanted.
Some are telling the truth. Some aren't.
While we certainly didn't break down as much film as all these front offices, here is our opinion on the winners and losers of the 2006 NFL draft.
THE WINNERS
New Orleans Saints
Reggie Bush is not only a great talent but also a showstopper. He's the exciting star that the franchise needs in these difficult times. The Saints were lucky but also smart. They didn't bite on poor trade attempts.
Vince Young
The Texas quarterback has been ripped to shreds since winning the national championship. From his selection of an inexperienced agent, to his throwing motion, to his supposedly weak Wonderlic test, it's been a rough couple of months.
All along Young said agents are "overrated" and placed much of the criticism on established agents planting stories in the media. He said it wouldn't matter in the end. And it didn't. He got selected ahead of Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler, going third to the Tennessee Titans in the best situation among teams at the top of the draft. The franchise also vows to build around his talents, not pigeonhole him into a bad offense.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos solved their most pressing short-term need – a wide receiver – by trading a second-round pick for Green Bay Packers wideout Javon Walker. The Packers were shopping Walker all week, demanding either a first-round pick or a player. Denver wouldn't have been wrong to use its first-rounder on Walker. If you think a breakout receiver is the difference between an AFC championship game loss and the Super Bowl, then you go get the best one available. That was Walker, not any of the college guys. Yet Denver held out and only spent a second-rounder.
That allowed the Broncos, with their first pick, to solve a long-term need at quarterback by getting Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler. He'll have time to develop behind Jake Plummer, who may be a Pro Bowler but is in his 10th season. That's a well-played draft.
Eric Mangini
It appeared the first-year New York Jets coach (along with rookie general manager Mike Tannenbaum) not only had a plan (no small thing when discussing the Jets) but was actually following it. Mangini wanted to strengthen the Jets' offensive line for the long haul and did so with two strong first-round picks – tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson of Virginia and center Nick Mangold of Ohio State. Mangini shook off any temptation to go with a flashy skill player, particularly a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Matt Leinart, who seemed built for New York. Instead, Mangini grabbed Oregon quarterback Kellen Clemens in Round 2.
The only surprising thing is that Mangini's mentor, Bill Belichick, almost never has wasted major capital or draft picks on offensive linemen. Belichick's philosophy has always seemed to be that you can always pick up good enough linemen. It is defense and skill positions where you spend. Only twice has Belichick taken an offensive lineman in the first round, and one of those times occurred last year when the Pats picked last.
Indianapolis Colts
Needing to replace Edgerrin James, the Colts got Joseph Addai, so they filled a critical need. But they also may have influenced two other teams' selections. The Texans admit they passed on Reggie Bush and Vince Young because they feared the Colts' offense. And New England may (it's all a rumor, of course) have taken running back Laurence Maroney because the Pats knew the Colts coveted him. It never hurts when you are being obsessed about.
New England Patriots
All that said about the Colts, the Patriots still got a great running back in Maroney, who tore it up at Minnesota. With Corey Dillon slowing down and New England forever in need of a ground game, this was another Bill Belichick special.
Jeremy Bloom
Finally freed from the NCAA's arcane rules that cut short his career at Colorado, the U.S. Olympic skier was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round. He could play right away on return teams. At least he finally gets to play.
THE LOSERS
Houston Texans
First off, they've put their first-round pick, Mario Williams, in an almost impossible situation. Unless he turns out to be a five- or six-time Pro Bowler and both Reggie Bush and Vince Young turn out to be busts, he won't live up to the expectations. The pressure alone can crush a young player, the way Darko Milicic never stood a chance when the Detroit Pistons selected him over Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade and others. The Texans must think the game gets played in a vacuum. It isn't. They've made things infinitely more difficult for Williams.
Second, the entire reasoning behind this selection was ridiculous. Maybe Williams is better than Bush and Young, but the Texans' thought process was so flawed we doubt even they think so. Owner Bob McNair explained it as such:
"You know, look at it this way, if we had Bush, would we outscore Indianapolis? Our decision was no. What's our best chance of beating Indianapolis? That's with a pass rush and that's Mario Williams."
The Texans went 2-14 last season. The Colts went 14-2. Making a draft move on beating a team that is 12 games better than you is so shortsighted and ludicrous you wonder if there is anyone with any sense of reality in Houston. The Texans need to try to get to 8-8 before they make personnel moves based on getting over the hump and into the Super Bowl.
Matt Leinart
People say you can't put a price on your senior year of college, but Leinart may have. He was the likely No. 1 pick last year – unless minor surgery scared off the San Francisco 49ers – and wound up going 10th to the Arizona Cardinals this year. That's an approximate $10 million loss in salaries. In terms of endorsements, there is no comparing the spotlight of San Francisco and Arizona.
USC
Between the pending NCAA and Pac-10 investigations, off-field issues and star players dropping in the draft, this was a rough week for the Trojans. After experiencing almost nothing but success for most of three years, this was a punch in the stomach.
The image of the program – pure gold a few months ago – took a beating. Bush is circled with scandal. Leinart is being asked if teams shied away because of his Hollywood lifestyle. The words "character issues" were used to explain the plummeting stock of LenDale White and Winston Justice. That's not exactly how you want to present your program to future recruits.
Of course, at least the draft is over. No matter where everyone fell, Bush, Leinart and the rest should have great success in the NFL. USC may not be so fortunate. The investigations into players' alleged dealings with agents – inquiries that are just beginning – have long-term potential and could force USC to vacate its 2004 national championship.
North Carolina State
The Pack had three of their defensive front four get selected in the first 26 picks. Saturday should have been a day of celebration. But how do you explain the 7-5 record? How do you explain North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest and Boston College all hanging 27 or more points on you last season?
This team should have been much better last year. Of course, N.C. State did shut out mighty South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders
Quarterback is the most important position in football. In fact, it isn't even close. The blueprint for success in the NFL for the last, oh, 75 or so years, has been to have strong quarterback play and good coaching. Yes, you can win without a QB, but that is almost the exception to the rule. In at least 80 percent of the cases, a winning, playoff-caliber team has an above-average quarterback. Without one, the odds of consistent success are stacked against you.
So here is Oakland, desperately in need of a quarterback, and Leinart falls to them at seven. Yet they take safety Michael Huff. Not even a cornerback – a far more valuable position – but a safety?
Then along comes Detroit, which hasn't had a great QB in about 50 years and signed two middling free agents after breaking free of Joey Harrington. Leinart is there and the Lions take linebacker Ernie Sims.
(We'll give the Buffalo Bills the benefit of the doubt, but they could be here, too.)
This is nothing against Huff and Sims; both may turn out to be great players. This is about placing the wrong value level on positions and thinking short-term rather than long. Leinart was the smart pick in both instances, not a safety and a 6-foot linebacker with a history of concussions.
Granted, the Lions' drafts under Matt Millen now have such low expectations that just having the helmet phone work is considered a success. But this was a chance to make people forget about past disasters.
