Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft

Value cities

Who got the best of the first round?

By Jeff Reynolds, Associate editor of special projects
April 20, 2002

Haynesworth, a mammoth tackle said to have tremendous upside because of his athleticism and quickness, fell to 15th, where the Titans decided he was too good to refuse. Speed-hungry Al Davis positioned the Raiders up to No. 17, sacrificing a later first-round pick and mid-rounder to snag Buchanon, a 5-foot-10 glue-stick corner with top-notch man-cover skills. Those are the kinds of deals and steals that make draft day, well, draft day.

Dallas got the player it wanted in Oklahoma S Roy Williams without giving up anything. In fact, Kansas City gave Dallas a third-round pick along with the No. 8 overall to slide up two spots to No. 6 overall. The Chiefs had eyed DT Ryan Sims, who played for Dick Vermeil’s chum, John Bunting, at North Carolina, and filled a serious need with what many believe is a risk-free play.

Two teams, Oakland and New Orleans, had multiple picks in the first round. Oakland, which had already plucked Buchanon, nabbed the top-rated linebacker, Napoleon Harris of Northwestern, with its second pick. That is impressive, even from Davis. It shores up an aging defense, adds two athletic players and leaves Oakland in position to help out the defensive line and make sweeping changes on that side of the ball. What an upgrade Buchanon could be from DB Eric Allen.

New Orleans grabbed the receiver who many felt was the best in the draft in Tennessee’s Donté Stallworth and later got the defensive lineman they wanted when they plucked Georgia DE Charles Grant off the board at No. 25. This improved the Saints on both sides of the ball and should greatly help their efforts to get back to the playoffs after a down season in 2001.

New England held the final pick of the first round, but moved up to the 21st spot in a trade with Washington where it locked up Colorado TE Daniel Graham. Graham, neck-and-neck with Miami’s Jeremy Shockey (drafted 15th by the Giants), enhances Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis’ offense tremendously. Now the cautious unit has brought WR Donald Hayes, TE Cam Cleeland and Graham on board, in addition to keeping RB Antowain Smith. Tip your hat to personnel man Scott Pioli for, once again, making something out of nothing.

When Miami (Fla.) safety and playmaker supreme Ed Reed was around for the Ravens with the 24th pick in the first round, player personnel man Ozzie Newsome may have kissed Brian Billick. But everyone experiments on college selection day.

Rather than making headlines with a pick like Oregon QB Joey Harrington in a trade upward, the Redskins twice traded down, stockpiling middle-round picks in swaps with Oakland and New England. At No. 32 overall, the Redskins got Patrick Ramsey, the third-best quarterback in the draft. Ramsey is the young signal-caller the Redskins desired to have study at the feet of Steve Spurrier. The fact that they had accumulated additional picks to fill their other holes in the later rounds was a bonus.

Stop the music. Daniel Snyder and Jerry Jones getting kudos on the same day may be too much.

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