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Michael Vick
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NEW YORK — Just call it the year of the underclassman. A record number of
underclassmen were drafted this year, as the 30 chosen surpassed the previous mark of 27.
Thirteen went in the first round, including sophomore Michael Vick to Atlanta with the
first overall pick.
Vick’s demands for a record signing bonus caused San Diego to trade the pick to
Atlanta on Friday, in exchange for first- and third-round picks this year, a
second-rounder next year and WR-RS Tim Dwight. The Chargers parlayed the two picks in this
draft into Texas Christian RB LaDainian Tomlinson and Florida State CB Tay Cody. The
Chargers were so high on Tomlinson that they had considered taking him with the first
overall selection if they didn’t get an attractive offer for the top pick. The
Chargers pulled the trigger on the deal because they didn’t want to take a chance of
repeating the Ryan Leaf fiasco, in which they forked over a huge signing bonus three years
ago for a player who never came close to returning first-round value and who also hurt
their salary-cap position even beyond the date of his release.
Although the advisability of San Diego’s decision not to draft Vick won’t be
known for certain for a few years, Chargers general manager John Butler apparently came
out of the draft smelling like a rose. Besides getting Tomlinson and Cody, he was able to
snag Purdue QB Drew Brees at the top of the second round. Although he possesses
considerably less natural athletic ability than Vick, Brees is much further advanced as a
quarterback, and he will likely be ready to play as soon as 2002, if not this coming
season should Doug Flutie get injured. PFW draft analyst Joel Buchsbaum has compared
Brees’ football skills to those of former QBs Bob Griese and Jim McMahon at similar
stages in their careers.
With the above players and an extra second-rounder in the bank next year, San Diego has
to qualify as one of the winners in this year’s draft. The other big winners, in this
writer’s opinion, are St. Louis and Seattle. Atlanta, Chicago and New England also
helped themselves considerably.
The Rams went all out to shore up their sieve-like defense, using their first five
draft choices on that side of the ball and acquiring CB Aeneas Williams from the
Cardinals. DT Damione Lewis can be an impact player, and S Adam Archuleta, DT Ryan Pickett
and LBs Tommy Polley and Brian Allen also should contribute as rookies, possibly
transforming the Rams’ defense into a respectable unit.
The Seahawks got a potential impact player in WR Koren Robinson if coach Mike Holmgren
can keep him in check. Michigan OG Steve Hutchinson should replace Pete Kendall more than
adequately, and CB Ken Lucas, RB Heath Evans and LB Orlando Huff all could become
significant contributors to the Seahawks.
It is dicey to say immediately after a draft who were the winners and losers, because
two or three years must pass before it’s really fair to judge a team’s draft.
With that caveat, however, the losers in this draft appear to be Dallas, Denver and
Pittsburgh. None of these teams drafted players who would seem to be impact players, at
least in the short term, although several of them could develop into impact players.
Draft tidbits
This draft was what PFW’s Joel Buchsbaum termed "a need-driven draft,"
meaning that teams drafted to fill needs more frequently than they do in most drafts, when
they tend to fall back on the "best-available-athlete" philosophy.
Dan Reeves seems to have a special affinity for drafting tight ends in the early
rounds, probably because the tight end plays a key role in Reeves’ offense. Two years
ago, Reeves drafted Reggie Kelly in the second round when he already had a decent,
young starting tight end on the roster in O.J. Santiago. This year, Reeves drafted
North Carolina TE Alge Crumpler early in Round Two. Crumpler had impressive
pre-draft workouts, and Buchsbaum had him rated as a first-round talent, which means the
Falcons got two first-round-caliber players in top overall pick Michael Vick and
Crumpler.
Chicago helped its offense considerably with two Michigan players, WR David Terrell
and RB Anthony Thomas, plus Notre Dame OG Mike Gandy, whom Buchsbaum
projected to go in the second round. Terrell will give the Bears a pair of big, talented
wideouts (Marcus Robinson is the other), and Thomas will be expected to become the
dependable every-down back that two of their previous high draft choices, Rashaan
Salaam and Curtis Enis, failed to become. That presumes, of course, that the
Bears will elect not to keep James Allen in that every-down role and instead
utilize him as a change-of-pace back.
Michael Vick became the third quarterback in the past four years to be selected
first overall. One other Virginia Tech player was drafted first overall — DE Bruce
Smith in 1985. And one other Virginia Tech quarterback has been drafted in the first
round — Jim Druckenmiller, chosen 26th by San Francisco in 1997. Smith is
almost certain to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, whereas Druckenmiller
failed to make it in the NFL and is now with Memphis of the XFL.
The 13 underclassmen drafted in the first round tied the record for most underclassmen
taken in the first round; that mark was set in 1997.
Fifteen of the 31 first-round choices were offensive players, 16 defensive. Leading all
positions, six wide receivers and six defensive tackles were tabbed in the opening round,
tying records for the most players drafted at those two positions. Last year, six
linebackers, five running backs and five wide receivers were taken in the first round. Two
years ago, in the Year of the Quarterback, five signalcallers, five defensive ends and
four cornerbacks led all positions in the first round. In contrast to the five QBs taken
in 1999, only one went in the first round this year (Vick), although Purdue QB Drew
Brees was the first pick of the second round this year.
Miami (Fla.) had the most players taken in the first round (four), marking the most
first-rounders from the same college since 1997, when Florida State had four. Michigan had
three players drafted in the first round, five in the first two rounds, but it didn’t
have another player taken in the rest of the draft. Overall, Florida State led all schools
with nine players chosen, followed by Wisconsin with eight. The Southeastern and Big Ten
led all conferences in players selected with 40 each.
The expansion draft will be held Feb. 18, 2002, in Houston to stock the new Houston
Texans franchise, which will begin play in the 2002 season.
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