| There must have been something weird in the air on the
weekend of the draft, as three men made monumentally bad decisions. One of the decisions I
can almost understand, because it was made by a man whose judgment has long been flawed.
But the other two decisions were made by usually rational men, one of whom has won
Executive of the Year awards. Baffling. It was all set in motion when Saint head coach
Mike Ditka traded his entire draft for this year, along with his first- and third-round
picks next year, to the Redskins, moving up seven places in the first round to pick
Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams.
This was wrong on many levels, but it’s best to start with this reality: NFL
championships are not won by great running backs. Barry Sanders, for instance, hasn’t
been close to a title since he’s been with the Lions. NFL championships are most
often won by teams with great quarterbacks. The Saints have Billy Joe Hobert, Billy Joe
Tolliver and Danny Wuerffel. If Ditka had traded up to get a quarterback, it might have
been understandable. But a running back?
This assumes that Williams will be a great running back in the NFL. There have been
some conspicuous failures in recent years among running backs drafted in the first round.
Remember Lawrence Phillips? Ki-Jana Carter? Tim Biakabutuka?
There were doubts about Williams going into this draft. He didn’t catch the ball
well in workouts, and his running style depends more on running over tacklers than eluding
them. The punishment these kinds of runners take often shortens their careers.
But, even if Williams has a great pro career, as he probably will, Ditka’s
decision was a bad one. The Saints are not one player away from a championship. Williams
won’t be enough to resurrect an offense that lacks an effective quarterback, and the
Saint defense ranked 26th in the league last year. They need help everywhere, and they now
have no way to get it.
It was a mistake to hire Ditka in the first place, and the Saints are paying for that
mistake. Ditka was hired because he could draw attention to the team and, presumably, help
fill seats. But, short term or long term, what fills seats is a good team.
Ditka won in Chicago because he had great defensive players; a great defensive
coordinator, Buddy Ryan; and an innovative quarterback, Jim McMahon. (It should also be
noted that neither Ryan nor McMahon paid any attention to Ditka’s histrionics.)
Without great players, Ditka has been exposed as just another out-of-touch coach in New
Orleans, and now he’s been given added responsibility, which has allowed him to add
another area of incompetence.
Good luck, Ricky Williams. As for Saint fans, I hope they haven’t thrown away
those paper sacks they once used to cover their heads at games. They’ll be needed
again.
It was much more puzzling to see what happened to general manager Bill Polian and the
Colts, who were in perfect position to take advantage of Ditka’s brain lock.
The teams with the first three picks in the draft — Cleveland, Philadelphia and
Cincinnati — were determined to draft quarterbacks, because there were some very good
ones available. The Colts, though, had their quarterback, Peyton Manning, who should have
a long career, so they were the first team expected to consider Williams.
Had they accepted Ditka’s offer, the Colts could have used those extra picks and
next year’s first-round pick (certain to be a high one, because the Saints will
finish low in the standings) to rebuild, and a 3-13 team could have been turned around
very quickly.
But Polian was concerned about working out contract problems with RB Marshall Faulk,
who was a very productive runner-receiver for the Colts last season, making the Pro Bowl.
Polian decided to dump Faulk, trading him to the Rams for second- and fifth-round picks.
That meant the Colts needed a running back, so Polian couldn’t trade his pick. Then,
he surprised everybody by taking Edgerrin James instead of Williams.
In essence, Polian switched running backs and got two extra picks instead of sticking
with Faulk and getting six extra picks this year and two more, including a first-rounder,
next year. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Meanwhile, the Rams made the deal for Faulk without trying to work out the contract
problems first, and Faulk announced immediately that he would be a holdout until the
contract matter was settled.
That can probably be worked out. The Rams’ future will be more affected by the
boneheaded pick head coach Dick Vermeil then made with his first-round selection, taking
WR Torry Holt when CB-WR Champ Bailey was still available.
Holt is an excellent receiver, but Bailey was widely considered the best athlete in the
draft, with many comparing him to Deion Sanders. Bailey is the shut-down cover man every
team covets these days. As such, he will have a much larger impact in the NFL than Holt
ever will.
Like Ditka, Vermeil was a bad hire. Unlike Ditka, Vermeil had once been a very good
coach, though he, too, was out of touch with the modern game. The Rams gave him a
lucrative five-year contract, and they’ve been unwilling to eat what remains of it.
But, with this decision, Vermeil has doomed the Rams to mediocrity beyond the duration for
which he will coach them. That’s true of the other teams, too. These draft decisions
will cast a very long shadow for the Saints, Colts and Rams.
Glenn Dickey has been covering pro football for the San Francisco Chronicle since
1967. He can be reached via e-mail at dickey@sfgate.com
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Robert Neely|Jerry
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