Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft
Draft rumors
Texas CB Jammer’s stock rising;
could be selected as high as No. 2
By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
April 10, 2002
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| ProFootballWeekly.com personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum reports on some of
the hottest rumors floating around the league with the NFL draft looming on April 20-21.  The hot name in this
year’s draft appears to be Texas CB Quentin Jammer. Carolina is now very
interested in taking him instead of North Carolina DE Julius Peppers, and Detroit
also appears to have Jammer at the top of its draft board.
San Diego at No. 5 and Dallas at No. 6 are other teams that would probably take Jammer.
Buffalo, at No. 4, is very willing to move down if Jammer lasts to its pick and it can
still end up in the top six or seven picks. In that case, Buffalo would still be able to
get one of the three players it appears to have narrowed in on: (1) Mike Williams,
the big Texas tackle, if his knee checks out as OK; (2) Ryan Sims, the relentless
North Carolina defensive tackle; or (3) Roy Williams, the great Oklahoma strong
safety who would be a great fit in head coach Gregg Williams’ defense.
It should be
noted that while Peppers could still very easily be the second pick in the draft, he could
drop to the Nos. 7-10 area. Many of the clubs picking high are not big Peppers fans
because he was an underachiever to a degree as a junior at North Carolina and there are
some questions about his toughness and tenacity.
Oregon QB Joey
Harrington is another player who could go very high, possibly third to Detroit, or
drop to between the Nos. 7-10 positions in the draft, and maybe even a little further than
that.
On the other
hand, Fresno State QB David Carr has secured the No. 1 position and is negotiating
with the Texans for a contract.
San Diego, at
No. 5, will have a dilemma if Jammer isn’t available when it picks. The Chargers
could go for one of the offensive tackles, either Mike Williams or Miami’s Bryant
McKinnie, but don’t be shocked if the Chargers reach a little bit and select
Miami CB Phillip Buchanon. Actually, I shouldn’t use the word
"reach." While most clubs have Buchanon rated down a little bit, I feel
he’s the equal of Jammer and is the best pure cover man in the draft.
In San Diego’s defensive scheme, if it could team Buchanon with Ryan McNeil
and use Tay Cody as a third corner, it could have one of the best defenses in the
league, provided DT Jamal Williams can come back all the way on the defensive line
and provide the type of inside play and run stuffing that he provided before he hurt his
knee in the third game last year. |
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