Manning wants head start on rookie season
Posted: Sun April 19, 1998 at 9:36 AM ET
 PHOENIX (CNN/SI) -- This was clearly the least suspenseful NFL draft in years, and a draft that defined where the power base in college football is today. Twenty-three of the 30 first-rounders are from east of the Mississippi, including the top gun.
The first overall pick, Peyton Manning, will try to begin paying dividends for the Colts immediately. The NFL has a rule that prevents draftees from reporting for full-time work until June 1. But Manning, who got his undergraduate degree from Tennessee a year ago, will appeal to the league that he be allowed to digest that 300-page Colts playbook immediately. Good idea -- Manning’s first NFL start, against Miami, is 20 short weeks away.
Minnesota a good fit for Moss
The big individual story of the day ended at pick No. 21, when the Vikings picked Randy Moss, the troubled Marshall wideout. Mike Ditka says Moss is a kid who needs tender loving care, and the Vikings are the perfect place for that.
His rookie year mentor will be 32-year-old Cris Carter, who overcame marijuana problems early in his career to become one of the league’s elder statesmen today.
At No. 21, Moss is the steal of the first day of the draft.
Just pick, baby
This bring us to the Raiders, who made a huge offer to try to get Moss at No. 7 from New Orleans. That bid failed because the Saints wanted offensive tackle Kyle Turley so bad. The Raiders ended up with a starting corner (Charles Woodson) and a starting tackle (Mo Collins), but they reached for Chester McGlockton’s replacement at the top of round two, Leon Bender.
One that got away
Finally, the most disappointed team of Day One must be Jacksonville, crushed when the Bears wouldn’t deal them the fifth pick, so they could take running back Curtis Enis of Penn State. Jacksonville instead got a talented player, but a fumbler, in Fred Taylor, because they wouldn’t surrender the 25th overall pick in the draft.
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