Angel
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Final grades
A true evaluation of 2001 draft five years later
Peter King, SI.com
Readers of this space know how much I hate grading drafts a day or two after the draft. It's like going to law school, passing the bar, and the next day someone says: You're going to be an "A'' lawyer. How in the world does anyone know who the "A'' lawyer is going to be until he or she has been out in the real world for a while?
And so I'm going to continue with my irregular series of grading drafts five years after the fact. Now we know how they've turned out and now's the time we can figure who did a great job and who stunk up the joint. The 2001 draft is the famous Vick vs. Tomlinson and Brees draft. Now you'll get to find out who won the thing, San Diego or Atlanta. The answer is: neither. They both grade out well, but they did not win it all.
(Because I'm not feeling like Jack the Ripper as I write my last column before a month break, I won't tell you who gave the Bears an "A'' for their 2001 draft. Suffice it to say I will not be so charitable to a team that hasn't retained one of its six 2001 picks ... and which made David "I Like to Drop Footballs" Terrell the eighth pick in the draft.)
Anyway, on with the show. And if you're like me, you're going to be very, very surprised at a few things -- like the pre-MarvinLewis Bengals outdrafting the in-their-prime Belichick-and-Pioli Pats. I graded teams based on three criteria, and in this order: how many of their 2001 draftees are still contributing players on the team; how many of the draftees are contributing players elsewhere; and how many second-day hits the team had.
You know what's so interesting about this list? Two things. One, some of the teams you think don't have any idea how to walk and chew gum at the same as far as personnel goes did the best job. I don't know what that says, except maybe this: Don't believe the hype. Look at the reality. Two, lots of bums got picked in this draft. I'd say the vast majority are non-contributors. Seattle had 12 picks, only one of whom will start for the team this year. I can smell the last eight New England picks from here.
I'll start with the A's and move down.
A
1. Cincinnati. Now this is really saying something. The impression league-wide is that Marvin Lewis rode in on his white horse four years ago and saved this team from eternal damnation. Judging by the way Jim Lippincott and MikeBrown and then-coach Dick LeBeau ran this draft, I'd say that's only about 70 percent right. The Bengals are the only team, by my calculation, that got four of its current top 10 players from this draft. Starting defensive end Justin Smith was the first pick, fourth overall, and he's been a steady starter since he held out as a rookie. Smith has contributed a good but not Freeney-like 34 sacks in five years. I can still hear the screaming for how they reached for Chad Johnson at number 36 overall; he's averaged 94 catches a year, loudly, the last three years. And they got two direct hits on Day 2: Running back Rudi Johnson (Round 4), who has rushed for 3,869 yards the last three years, and in Round 7 one of the best No. 2 receivers in football, T.J. Houshmandzadeh. How many second receivers have averaged 75.5 catches over the last two years? A great, great job by the Bengals.
2. Carolina. Then-director of football operations Marty Hurney (now the GM) should have gone straight to Vegas after the first day. Dan Morgan, Kris Jenkins, Steve Smith. Wow. And even though Chris Weinke has flamed out since a rookie year when he earned the starting job, he has started 16 games and remains a decent backup for Jake Delhomme.
That's it. Two A's.
B
3. Atlanta. The Vick pick is still being debated, and I don't think he's going to go down as an all-time great, but the fact is, he's an electric presence every time he plays and helped change the culture from mediocre to threatening in Atlanta. In Round 2, Alge Crumpler has turned into a top-three NFL tight end and has started all but 13 of his Falcons games in five years. Seventh-round pick Kynan Forney has started 68 games and is a fixture at right guard. Two other decent players from Round 4 -- offensive lineman Roberto Garza and linebacker MattStewart -- started for the Falcons before leaving as free agents. Not a bad haul.
4. Baltimore. Picking last because of its Super Bowl win only adds to the shine of this draft. It's a shame the cap-ravaged Ravens couldn't have kept these guys when they got good. The top four picks -- Todd Heap, Gary Baxter, Casey Rabach and Ed Hartwell -- are all average or better NFL starters. And when you get four of those out of one draft, you've drafted very well.
5. San Diego. I struggle giving a "B'' for a two-person draft, but what put me over is the impact of the two. LaDainian Tomlinson is on his way to being one of the best 10 backs ever. And for the last two years Drew Brees has been one of football's top-five quarterbacks. Getting him with the 32nd pick was a steal. Brees' injury and his departure doesn't diminish the impact he had in the last two years in San Diego. I also give late GM John Butler credit for hooking tackle Brandon Gorin in Round 7. He's an average player, but he has started 18 games for the Patriots in recent seasons.
B-
6. Arizona. Picking second, it's pretty hard to screw up. Leonard Davis has been a good piece of the puzzle, though not the dominant player everyone predicted he'd be, in his 75 starts in the desert. Fitting that the Cards gave up on maybe the best player in this crop, defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who they let walk (to Tennessee) after two knee injuries. Vanden Bosch turned into one of the league's best pass-rushers last year and signed a lucrative deal with the Titans to stay. Third-round Adrian Wilson has turned into a strong up-the-middle presence at strong safety in his 61 starts, and second-day picks Marcus Bell and Renaldo Hill have had decent backup careers elsewhere.
7. Indianapolis. Picking 30th after dealing down eight spots with the Giants, the Colts got Reggie Wayne, who has proved durable, consistent and slightly explosive, making 304 catches in five years. Idrees Bashir was an OK starter, but no one cried when he left as a free agent before the 2005 season. Two second-day guys made BillPolian's draft a good one -- offensive linemen Ryan Diem (fourth round) and Rick DeMulling (seventh). Both turned into above-average NFL starters on the line.
8. Buffalo. Surprise, surprise. All you western New Yorkers who kicked Tom Donahoe on his way out the door should remember the weekend of April 21-22, 2001: Nate Clements (80 games, 80 starts at corner), AaronSchobel (75 starts as a DE), Travis Henry (3,749 rushing yards with the Bills) and JonasJennings (52 starts at tackle before leaving as a free agent for the Niners). Not bad.
9. Tampa Bay. One pick in the top 80 and the Bucs still came out with six usable players. Tackle Kenyatta Walker was the one, in a trade-up, but what followed was good enough to help the Bucs win the Super Bowl the next season. Safety Dwight Smith, who returned two picks for TDs in the Super Bowl win over Oakland, came in Round 3, back DB John Howell in Round 4 and fullback Jameel Cook and serviceable defensive end Ellis Wyms in Round 6. And fifth-rounder Russ Hochstein has become a decent fill-in guard for the Patriots.
C+
10. New York Jets. Poor Jets. A nice little draft and nothing to show for it. Look at the top four picks. Santana Moss is beating the Cowboys for Washington. LaMont Jordan, when he can hang on to the ball, is running reasonably well for Oakland. Kareem McKenzie is an anchor on the line for the team across the Hudson River. Jamie Henderson is out of football after a motorcycle accident. Seventh-rounder James Reed was a good defensive lineman, but he's gone after five years to Kansas City.
11. Detroit.Jeff Backus, Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers came in the first three picks and have all been regular starters. So you say: Hmm. Three picks, three starters. Nice start to the Matt Millen era. "Nice'' is the word. How good have these guys been if the Lions have stunk so badly? I do know Rogers is a heck of a player. Not sure about the other two. Millen gets a little credit, but not much, for finding Mike McMahon at that powerful football factory, Rutgers, in Round 6.
12. San Francisco. A slew of pretty good players -- pass-rusher Andre Carter, linebacker Jamie Winborn, running back Kevan Barlow, wideout CedrickWilson and, in Round 7, tight end Eric Johnson from Yale. All BillWalsh's prize last pick did was catch 82 balls in 2004 before getting hurt last year.
Continued....