Re: SI's pivotal Draft Picks Thougt this was pretty coolBALTIMORE RAVENS <u>Ed Reed, S, Miami</u>, first round, 2002 We're sorry to break it to Ray Lewis, but it's Reed who has been the team's preeminent playmaker on defense in recent years. Lewis still has his pregame dance ritual, but he can't take over and dominate once the whistle blows the way he did circa 2000-2001. And let's face it: Until further notice -- or until '03 No. 1 pick Kyle Boller develops into a consistent NFL quarterback -- the Ravens remain a team led by Reed and the rest of its defense.BUFFALO BILLS <u>Mike Williams, OT, Texas, first round, 2002</u> Looking for reasons the Bills are tied with Detroit for the second-longest playoff drought in the NFL, trailing only Arizona? Since Buffalo last made the postseason, in 1999, it has had far too many failures on the draft front, and Williams epitomizes that record. Selected fourth overall in 2002, the former Longhorn was never a player the Bills could count on, and his release this offseason proved once again that there are no sure things in the draft, even in the top five picks.CINCINNATI BENGALS <u>Carson Palmer, QB, Southern Cal, first round, 2003</u> The Bengals' long national nightmare finally ended in 2005, when they snapped their NFL-high 15-year streak of nonplayoff seasons and won a division title. The biggest step in their renaissance was coach Marvin Lewis' making Palmer his first draft pick in Cincinnati. It sounds silly now, but Palmer wasn't a slam dunk at the time. As late as a few weeks before the draft, Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman was still a candidate for the No. 1 overall pick. Score one for the former Bungles.CLEVELAND BROWNS <u>Tim Couch, QB, Kentucky, first round, 1999</u> We're going to bestow the distinction of tone-setter on Couch, but Cleveland's almost unfathomable record of first-round draft misses and misfortune since re-entering the league in 1999 is truly a team award that should be shared by the underachieving likes of Courtney Brown (2000), Gerard Warren (2001), William Green (2002) and, yes, we didn't forget you, Kellen Winslow Jr. (2004). New coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage may turn this thing around, but the Browns squandered a bunch of draft picks in their formative years.DENVER BRONCOS <u>Tatum Bell, RB, Oklahoma State, second round, 2004</u> The train just keeps on rolling in Denver, and it's usually led by the Broncos' numbingly consistent rushing game, which produces star running backs as though Denver owns the patent. Bell is just the latest name atop the depth chart, and he, too -- like Mike Anderson, Quentin Griffin, Clinton Portis, Reuben Droughns, Olandis Gary and Terrell Davis before him -- didn't come with a first-round price tag. Though the name of the ballcarrier changes, the Broncos keep running and keep winning. And no, that's not a coincidence.HOUSTON TEXANS <u>David Carr, QB, Fresno State, first round, 2002</u> We're of the belief that Carr can win in the NFL if given enough protection by his line, something the Texans haven't managed to do in the four years he's been on the job. And until Houston does, the franchise's first-ever pick will be its most critiqued. After the Texans climbed to seven wins in 2004, their bottom fell out last season. But if that 2-14 debacle brings them Reggie Bush and generates a brighter future, perhaps the pounding that Carr and the Texans absorbed won't have been for naught.INDIANAPOLIS COLTS <u>Peyton Manning, QB, Tennessee, first round, 1998</u> A no-brainer, you say? Sure, it looks that way now, given that Manning has led the Colts to 80 wins and six playoff berths since arriving on the scene in 1998. But don't forget, at the time Indy drafted Manning, a lot of folks were saying that a Washington State quarterback by the name of Ryan Leaf had the bigger upside. You could also point to Dwight Freeney's selection in the first round of 2002 (Tony Dungy's first pick as Colts coach) as the first step toward what Indy hopes will be a championship-caliber defense.JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS <u>Marcus Stroud, DT, Georgia, first round, 2001</u> The Jaguars built the foundation for the sturdy, run-stuffing defensive team they are today under coach Jack Del Rio when they drafted Stroud in 2001 and fellow defensive tackle John Henderson in '02. The bulky and dominating duo gives Jacksonville's defense strength in the middle, and with that in place, the Jaguars have added the missing pieces around them, giving the franchise the nucleus of talent it needed to return to the playoffs last season after a six-year absence.KANSAS CITY CHIEFS <u>Larry Johnson, RB, Penn State, first round, 2003</u> Plenty of us wondered what the Chiefs were thinking when they drafted Johnson 27th in 2003, seemingly as nothing more than an insurance policy should Priest Holmes need a game or two off due to injury. But Johnson proved he's more than Holmes' caddy, scoring 21 touchdowns and rushing for an AFC-best 1,750 yards last season, despite starting just nine games. His emergence means the Chiefs will continue to field the NFL's most explosive attack, Priest or no Priest.MIAMI DOLPHINS <u>Channing Crowder, LB, Florida, third round, 2005 </u>New coach Nick Saban's first objective last season in South Florida was to establish a tough and tenacious identity for his defense, making resiliency its mantra. In Crowder, the sixth pick of the third round, Saban found an athletic, rangy linebacker who should be a willing and productive foot soldier in Saban's army for years to come. Crowder started 14 games last season, and although he came up short in individual statistics, he helped set the tone for a defense that resolved to fight opponents all day long.NEW ENGLAND <u>Tom Brady, QB, Michigan, sixth round, 2000</u> Duh. It's not even approaching hyperbole to call Brady the greatest second-day (or latter-round, take your pick) draft choice in NFL history, given his three Super Bowl wins in the first four years of his starting tenure. Before Brady took over for the injured Drew Bledsoe in late September 2001, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was 5-13 (.278) in Foxboro. Since then, he's 68-21 (.764) with three rings. Any questions?NEW YORK JETS <u>Chad Pennington, QB, Marshall, first round, 2000 </u>Pennington should wear a question mark on his jersey these days, because coming off two consecutive seasons interrupted by injuries to his throwing shoulder, that's what he is. And for now it's his status that looms over the Jets' 2006 season, and how New York stands at the game's most pivotal position. Pennington was the first passer taken in 2000, going 18th overall. After him came Giovanni Carmazzi (third round), Chris Redman (third round) and Tee Martin (fifth round). But the key that year was taking a quarterback in the sixth round. That's when both Marc Bulger (168th overall) and Tom Brady (199th) were selected.OAKLAND RAIDERS <u>Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Cal, first round, 2003</u> In their three-year slide since making the Super Bowl in January 2003, the Raiders have made four first-round picks, with nary an impact player among them. Entering his fourth NFL season, Asomugha is still waiting for his first interception. Defensive end Tyler Brayton (first round, 2003) has just six sacks in three years. Offensive tackle Robert Gallery (first round, 2004) has not been the cornerstone he was projected to be, and cornerback Fabian Washington endured a disappointing rookie season last year. That's a recipe for a team on the skids.PITTSBURGH STEELERS <u>Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Miami (Ohio), first round, 2004 </u>Ten teams passed on Roethlisberger before the Steelers nabbed him, and 10 teams were forced to admit their mistake almost immediately -- or at least by the time the rookie quarterback won his first 15 starts, losing for the first time in the AFC title game. When Roethlisberger won a Super Bowl ring in his second season, leading the Steelers to that elusive one for the thumb, it only cemented his status as one of the best first-round bargains in NFL draft history.SAN DIEGO CHARGERS <u>Shane Olivia, OT, Ohio State, seventh round, 2004</u> With Drew Brees gone, the outcome of the Eli Manning-Philip Rivers draft-day trade in 2004 figures to dictate the immediate future of the franchise. But we don't have a clue yet as to how that's going to turn out. And despite LaDainian Tomlinson's brilliance, he was still known as the game's best player on a losing team until Brees elevated his game the past two years. So for the honor of most pivotal recent draft pick we nominate Olivia, who, despite coming to the Chargers in the seventh round in 2004, has started 31 games his first two seasons. A starting tackle in the seventh round for a team with a superb running game is quite a feat.TENNESSEE TITANS <u>Pacman Jones, CB, West Virginia, first round, 2005 </u>The Titans have slumped to 9-23 in the past two seasons, and nobody has personified their troubles more than Jones, the former West Virginia cornerback who seems to have trouble for a middle name. Jones, the sixth overall pick in 2005, has accumulated more entries on his rap sheet than on the stat sheet since hitting Nashville last spring. On the field, Jones is a long way from a finished product. The hope is that a Tennessee turnaround this season might begin with him.ATLANTA FALCONS<u> Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech, first round, 2001 </u>Fair or unfair, when you take a quarterback No. 1 overall in the NFL draft -- even trading for the right to do so -- you're bargaining for sky-high expectations that, shy of a Super Bowl ring, will never be met. That's Vick's lot in Atlanta. As spectacular a talent as he is, his critics will persist until he wins it all. Until then, how much he runs and how well he throws will be dissected and debated in a weekly Sunday-afternoon referendum on his unique style of quarterbacking.ARIZONA CARDINALS <u>Antrel Rolle, CB, Miami, first round, 2005</u> The Cardinals aren't going to end their NFC-high streak of seven consecutive nonplayoff seasons if they keep stepping in it like they did with last year's first-rounder, Rolle, who only got on the field for five games. While Arizona has landed star receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in recent drafts, the misses have been far too many in the early rounds. Running back J.J. Arrington (2005, second round), receiver Bryant Johnson (2004, first round), defensive end Calvin Pace (2003, first round), defensive tackle Wendell Bryant (2002, first round) and offensive tackle Leonard Davis (2001, first round) all have disappointed.CAROLINA PANTHERS <u>Steve Smith, WR, Utah, third round, 2001 </u>Was there a player who meant more to his team's success than Smith in 2005? Not in our book. And that's a mouthful given that five years ago the guy was an unheard of 5-foot-9, 185-pound receiver out of Utah. Consider this: When Smith had his breakthrough season in '03, the Panthers went to the Super Bowl for the first time. When Smith missed almost the whole '04 season due to injury, Carolina slumped to 7-9. And with Smith's re-emergence in '05, John Fox's team was again a Super Bowl contender. As Smith goes, so go the Panthers. How many teams can say that about a third-round pick? CHICAGO BEARS <u>Nathan Vasher, CB, Texas, fourth round, 2004</u> The former Longhorns defensive back blossomed into a big time playmaker in 2005, but he's really just part of the equation that has elevated Chicago's defense back to the elite level. The Bears have had a knack for drafting impact performers on that side of the ball this decade, with linebacker Brian Urlacher and safety Mike Brown being acquired in 2000, defensive end Alex Brown in '02, cornerback Charles Tillman and linebacker Lance Briggs in '03 and Vasher and defensive tackle Tommie Harris in '04.DALLAS COWBOYS <u>Demarcus Ware, DE, Troy, first round, 2005</u> If the Cowboys do build on their hopeful 9-7 record of last season and rip off a decent string of playoff appearances in the years ahead, we might be harkening back to their 2005 draft, when in the first four rounds they took three defenders -- Ware, LSU's Marcus Spears and Virginia's Chris Canty -- who fit nicely into their new 3-4 formation. Ware and Canty have a chance to be premier playmakers, ranging from sideline to sideline in pursuit of the ballcarrier and creating havoc for opposing passers.DETROIT LIONS <u>Joey Harrington, QB, Oregon, first round, 2002</u> The Lions are starting over with their third head coach of the Matt Millen era, but Rod Marinelli will be the first one not saddled with the task of trying to make an effective quarterback out of Harrington, the No. 3 overall pick in 2002. But to be fair, let's save some blame for Detroit's non-Harrington blunders, like the trio of underachieving or oft-injured receivers it has chosen in the first round the past three years: Charles Rogers in '03 (No. 2 overall), Roy Williams in '04 (No. 7) and Mike Williams in '05 (No. 10).GREEN BAY PACKERS <u>Javon Walker, WR, Florida State, first round, 2002</u> The Packers' recent misfortunes seem to dovetail with Walker's story. Green Bay waited patiently for its 2002 first-round pick to have a breakthrough season, and he finally delivered in '04, catching 89 passes for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns as the Packers claimed their third consecutive NFC North title. But then in '05 came his contract demands, a feud with Brett Favre and a season-ending injury in September. Now he wants out of Titletown at all costs, and it's getting ugly. Kind of sums up Green Bay's current state of affairs.MINNESOTA VIKINGS <u>Onterrio Smith, RB, Oregon, fourth round, 2003 </u>It's tough to generalize the wide-ranging chaos of the Mike Tice coaching era, which even included missed assignments when it came to turning in a first-round selection on draft day. But for many, the saga of Smith getting arrested last offseason in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport with "the Original Whizzinator'' in his possession (complete with a fake penis) will be the lingering memory. It's now up to new coach Brad Childress to clean up the mess that Tice, Smith and the Whizzinator left behind.NEW ORLEANS SAINTS <u>Johnathan Sullivan, DT, Georgia, first round, 2003</u> Since their last playoff season in 2000, the Saints have had more problems than we can boil down into one paragraph. But their most striking hit or miss on the draft front has been Sullivan, the sixth overall selection in 2003, who definitely belongs in the bust category. Sullivan appears to be trying to eat his way out of the league, and he's doing a pretty fair job of it. His 1? sacks in three seasons -- including none in 15 games of spot duty in '05 -- tell you everything you need to know about how much the Saints have received in return on their investment.NEW YORK GIANTS <u>Osi Umenyiora, DE, Troy, second round, 2003 </u>The Philip Rivers-Eli Manning trade in 2004 can't be assessed for a winner or loser until Rivers takes over in San Diego and becomes what he will become as an NFL quarterback. But it's apparent already that the Giants' return as NFC East champs in 2005 had a lot to do with the emergence of Umenyiora as the league's latest pass-rushing threat. The second-round pick and third-year veteran had an NFC-best 14? sacks, teaming with Michael Strahan (11? sacks) to give New York the most productive one-two punch in the NFL.PHILADELPHIA EAGLES<u> Freddie Mitchell, WR, UCLA, first round, 2001 </u>OK, hang with us on this one, because we're about to explain to you why the Eagles' whiffing on Mitchell in the first round of 2001 begat the whole sorry Terrell Owens episode in the City of Brotherly Love. If the Birds don't take the underachieving but always talkative Mitchell with the 25th pick that year, they could have had Reggie Wayne, who went 30th to Indianapolis. If the Eagles had scooped up the talented Wayne, they would have had their No. 1 receiver, with no need to deal with the devil and trade for the rights to Owens in 2004.ST. LOUIS RAMS <u>Jimmy Kennedy, DT, Penn State, first round, 2003 </u>It's hard to imagine the Rams' defense showing any sustained improvement until they stop taking underproductive defensive linemen in the first round. Kennedy, who went 12th in 2003, has followed in the tradition of defensive tackle Damione Lewis (12th in 2001) and Ryan Pickett (29th in 2001). Second-round defensive end Tony Hargrove (2004) has been a nice find, but the Rams once again need draft help at the front of their defense, and that can't be an every-year occurrence.SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS <u>Rashaun Woods, WR, Oklahoma State, first round, 2004</u> The 49ers have won a league-low six games the past two seasons, so clearly they've made more than one poor decision in recent years. But it's tough to make a case that any of them was worse than selecting Woods with the 31st pick. He caught only seven passes in his two seasons in San Francisco -- all of those as a rookie -- and this offseason was traded to San Diego for cornerback Sammy Davis, himself a first-round disappointment. Oh, and one more tidbit to chew on for 49ers fans: San Francisco drafted offensive tackle Kwame Harris 26th in 2003, and he is the 49ers' starting right tackle. But Kansas City nabbed running back Larry Johnson at No. 27 that year.SEATTLE SEAHAWKS <u>Shaun Alexander, RB, Alabama, first round, 2000</u> Let Alexander's critics say what they will about him, but 18 players were drafted ahead of him in 2000, and none of them have won an NFL MVP award. He, of course, has. Alexander lasted longer than lesser lights Courtney Brown (No. 1), Peter Warrick (4), Travis Taylor (10), Ron Dayne (11), Bubba Franks (14) and Sebastian Janikowski (17). And while I like a lot of what Seattle has done on defense in recent drafts, adding the likes of Lofa Tatupu, Michael Boulware, Marcus Trufant, Ken Hamlin and Rocky Bernard, Alexander has been as productive as any other rusher in the NFL during Seattle's rise to Super Bowl contender.TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS <u>Cadillac Williams, RB, Auburn, first round, 2005</u> The Bucs have a fairly abysmal record when it comes to spending early-round draft picks on offensive talent (see Jacquez Green, Kenyatta Walker, Marquise Walker and Travis Stephens in recent years). But you have to give Jon Gruden some credit, because in his last three drafts have come quarterback Chris Simms, receiver Michael Clayton and Williams, the fifth overall pick last year. That's a pretty good nucleus to build around on offense, and the Bucs' return to the playoffs last year was largely on Williams' back. That's a Cadillac ride we can expect them to take repeatedly.WASHINGTON REDSKINS <u>Patrick Ramsey, QB, Tulane, first round, 2002</u> The Redskins' decision to make the Ramsey back era a short one will be a risky call until Washington knows what it has in 2005 first-round pick Jason Campbell. Veteran quarterback Mark Brunell led the Redskins back into the playoffs last season for the first time since 1999, and that's all well and good for living-in-the-present coach Joe Gibbs, who won't be around more than another two or three years. But Brunell is not the future, and we don't yet know if Campbell will be. Ramsey, traded to the Jets this offseason, is definitely in the past. Will his play in New York make the Redskins regret their hasty judgment?
Re: SI's pivotal Draft Picks NEW YORK JETS Chad Pennington, QB, Marshall, first round, 2000 Pennington should wear a question mark on his jersey these days, because coming off two consecutive seasons interrupted by injuries to his throwing shoulder, that's what he is. And for now it's his status that looms over the Jets' 2006 season, and how New York stands at the game's most pivotal position. Pennington was the first passer taken in 2000, going 18th overall. After him came Giovanni Carmazzi (third round), Chris Redman (third round) and Tee Martin (fifth round). But the key that year was taking a quarterback in the sixth round. That's when both Marc Bulger (168th overall) and Tom Brady (199th) were selected.100% agreed about the Question Mark comments.
Re: SI's pivotal Draft Picks there are some worthless people on this list. and I love it. I remember when all the papers in Indy were all manning is horrible, leaf should be the pick. god i laughed my ass off.
Re: SI's pivotal Draft Picks You know when they Picked Manning you were like "Awww, cmon hes gonna bust. Now that Leaf kid is gonna be a star"
Re: SI's pivotal Draft Picks Pivotal meaning to change the team for better or worse...Ed Reed is the man, nuff said.
