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How far will Williams fall?

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Posted: Thursday March 25, 1999 12:34 PM

There's something very odd about the last NFL Draft of the century. It's like someone slipped the Y2K bug into the top of the draft. Because who would have guessed that Heisman winner Ricky Williams might not be among the top five picks?

At No. 1, Cleveland is jousting between quarterbacks Tim Couch and Akili Smith, with Georgia corner Champ Bailey as their top fallback guy. The Browns never seriously considered Williams.

At 2, the Eagles say they're still interested in Williams, but they're almost certain to take a quarterback. I hear the Philly favorite is Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb.

At 3, Cincinnati is a near-lock to take a quarterback. It will be Akili Smith if he's still available, unless owner Mike Brown gets an offer he can't refuse to trade down.

At 4, Indianapolis is almost certain to shore up a rebuilding defense with Bailey, USC linebacker Chris Claiborne or Florida pass rusher Jevon Kearse, who catapulted himself into the top 5 of this draft with a superior workout, running a 4.43 40 on campus Wednesday. The one X factor here is that GM Bill Polian will attend two players' workouts -- Bailey's and Williams'. Could that mean the Colts might take Williams and not re-sign running back Marshall Faulk? Unlikely, but don't underestimate Polian.

At 5, Washington will either trade the pick or take an offensive or defensive lineman. At 6, St. Louis would then be poised to take Williams or a Dick Vermeil favorite, Miami's Edgerrin James, to fill their gaping hole at running back.

At 7, Chicago will almost certainly take a quarterback, which could drop Williams to the eighth slot, owned by Arizona.

Now there are lots of rumors out there about Williams. He did turn some people off at the February scouting combine by being 22 pounds over his playing weight, and he did fire his agent and hire rapper Master P to represent him. One GM in the top five told me he doesn't think the agent switcheroo will scare anyone off. This GM told me: Even if the agent's a nightmare, you know you're going to sign the player and he'll play for you.

Redskins still on hold

Onto the proposed Washington sale now. There's still some skepticism around the NFL about Howard Milstein, whose $800 million bid for the Redskins will go to a vote April 7. Right now Milstein is far short of the 24 votes he needs to be approved. He did help himself, though, by vowing that he wouldn't sue the league regardless of whether or not he lands the team. But owners were left scratching their heads this week because the New York Islanders, co-owned by Milstein, had a massive salary dump just before the NHL trading deadline, ridding the club of $6 million in salaries. That's not the way to gain admission to the richest men's club in America, Howard.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's NFL Preview.

 

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