Airing reactions to the NFL draft
Posted: Thu April 23,
1998
How do you grade the Cowboys' draft? Rumors had them trying
to make a deal with
Arizona.
—Brandon Pierce, San Francisco,
Calif.
Yes, they tried to deal for Andre Wadsworth. On the day
before the draft, Jerry Jones called Arizona owner Bill
Bidwill and offered two No. 1 picks and a second-round
choice for Wadsworth. Cardinals vice president Bill Bidwill
Jr. wanted the Cowboys to
throw in a Pro Bowl player, but it never got that far. On
the morning of the draft, Bidwill said no dice. He told me:
"You could sort of figure the value of the player by
the volume of offers, good offers, we were getting. So I
said no, and we shut it
off." The reports that Bidwill wanted to dump the pick
because he'll have to pay Wadsworth a $9 million bonus or
so are bogus. As Bidwill Jr. told me: "The signings
bonuses for the picks we'd get in return would be at least
that much, so why not take the
great player?'' I could say this is the first good decision
this franchise has made since drafting Neil Lomax, but I'm
not that
cruel.
Why do you think the Broncos selected two running backs
when they already have proven and reliable backs in Vaughn
Hebron and Derek
Loville?
—Alex Usorov, Denver,
Colo.
Simple. Loville is a weak link. Hebron is only average. You
don't want to leave your team's running game in their hands
for a few weeks if Terrell Davis gets a knee injury or the
mother of all
migraines.
I have been a life-long Steelers fan so this is sort of a
homer question. I was reading your mailbag and someone
asked you who would be the Top 10 QBs in the year 2005 and
Kordell Stewart was not on the list. Was this an oversight
or do you think he will not continue to
blossom?
—Doug Guido, Tampa Bay,
Fla.
My mistake. I plumb forgot Kordell. Put him on the list,
around four or five. I'm concerned about his accuracy, but
everything else about him says he's going to be a
player.
What were the Lions thinking adding another cornerback? And
passing on the offensive line for a huge project of a
quarterback? In the age of Barry Sanders, the window for a
championship is closing. They don't have time to develop a
quarterback.
—Craig Stevens, Saginaw,
Mich.
Obviously they're not as high on Kevin Abrams as the rest
of us are. I thought they solved their corner problems for
the next few seasons by selecting Abrams and Westbrook in
the draft last year. I agree. I'm not a big Terry Fair guy
at that pick,
though he will also return
kicks.
In the April 20 issue of Sports Illustrated you listed John
Avery as one of your "sleepers". Some in Miami
are questioning Jimmy Johnson's move to take Avery in the
first round. What's your read? Do you think JJ made a
mistake passing on Randy Moss? Finally, how do you rate the
rest of the Dolphins draft - particularly Kenny Mixon and
Patrick
Surtain?
—Jeff Miller, Washington,
D.C.
Watching highlights of John Avery brings me to my feet. The
guy is a rare talent—think Warrick Dunn without the
resume—and whatever role he has he'll be one of the impact
rookies in the NFL this year. Jimmy Johnson told me after
the draft he's never
been so excited after his first picks, either in Miami or
Dallas. I think Surtain starts by Oct. 1, and Mixon,
Johnson said, "is in the rotation at defensive end.''
I must agree with Johnson that picks No. 25 through 75 in
this draft were exceedingly
strong, so Miami should have gotten itself some real help here.
And they also have Lawrence Phillips and Rashaan Salaam to
challenge Karim Abdul-Jabbar as the first- and second-down
back. I like where the Dolphins are
going.
Has Jacksonville passed the Steelers in talent? Are the
Jagus the team to beat in 1998 in the AFC
Central?
—Joseph C. Coleman, Pittsburgh,
Pa.
They're close. Very close. I think the Steelers had one of
the best drafts in the league. They got a guard, LSU's Alan
Faneca, who could start opening day, and a defensive
tackle, Arizona State's Jeremy Staat, who should
immediately enter the rotation
on the D-line. And Hines Ward? He's a football player, though
I don't know at precisely what position. I think
Jacksonville should have sacrificed the 25th overall pick
to the Bears to take Curtis Enis. Fred Taylor fumbled 24
times at Florida, almost once
a game on the average, and unless he cures that bad habit,
he's in danger of being a liability, not a savior, for the
Jaguars.
Based on offseason moves—including the draft—how do you
see the NFC West shaping up? Have the Saints improved
themselves?
—B. P. Becker, New Orleans,
La.
I didn't like it when New Orleans turned down the Raiders'
draft-day offer of two second-round picks this year and a
first-rounder next year-which will likely be a top-12 pick,
which could give the quarterback-desperate Saints TWO
first-round picks in
the top 12 in a quarterback-heavy draft-but I will say that
Kyle Turley and William Roaf should give New Orleans an
excellent set of bookend tackles for the forseeable future.
Lamar Smith has to be a 1,200-yard back for this team to
hope for a .500
season.
How do you rate the N.Y. Giants' draft? Does it help or
hurt their chances in the NFC
East?
—Wayne Osten, Clifton Park,
NY
Purdue receiver Brian Alford will have tremendous pressure
on him to produce, because the Giants so badly need a
game-breaker—and he's the only one they picked. Joe
Jurevicius will prove to be a very good selection, a bigger
Ed McCaffery with H-back
potential. Shaun Williams reminds me of the pick of Carl Banks
in 1983. The secondary is probably the strongest position
group on the Giants already, and the team picked from the
meat of a secondary-heavy area of the draft. This team
better win a lot of
13-10 games this year. And Ike Hilliard better be ready to
play.
Peter, Detroit must have felt as strong as you do about
Charlie Batch to give up those other picks. What are his
strengths and what message does this send to Scott
Mitchell?
—Wade Quesnelle, Sudbury,
Ontario
When the Lions scouted quarterbacks in February and March,
they saw three guys behind the Big Two whom they
liked-Eastern Michigan's Batch, Michigan's Brian Griese and
Middle Tennessee's Jonathan Quinn. Batch rose to the top
after a workout with Lions
quarterback coach Jim Zorn. Zorn watched Batch make every
throw with accuracy and mustard, better than either Griese
or Quinn. Once the organization saw what Zorn saw, the pick
was a no-brainer, even though it cost them third-, fifth-
and sixth-round
picks. The message to Mitchell is obvious: Stop whining and
making excuses for bad playoff games and perform. If he's
the Mitchell of a couple of years ago, he'll keep his job.
If he's the bad big-game Mitchell of last year, he's
gone.
Why is it that when analyzing the Baltimore Ravens' draft,
the experts don't figure quarterback Jim Harbaugh or
running back Errict Rhett into the equation? If the Ravens
would have waited until draft day, then traded a
third-round pick to Indy for Harbaugh and fifth- and
sixth-round picks, then traded a fourth-rounder for Rhett,
everyone would say they were steals. That said, what do you
think of the Ravens' draft this
year?
—Tim Mount, Cincinnati,
Ohio
I really like Duane Starks to fill the gap left by the
49ers' signing of Antonio Langham. I think Harbaugh is a
slight upgrade compared to Vinny Testaverde. Rhett's not as
good as Bam Morris, but he probably is better than anything
Baltimore had.
Overall, the Ravens might be a little better this year, but
they're still a 7-9-caliber team, no better than third or
fourth in the
division.
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