Western Oregon Journal

The 2005 NFL Draft was one of the more memorable and interesting drafts that I have seen.  With many surprises and controversies, sports analysts should be kept busy arguing for at least a couple of weeks. 

Of course, with all drafts come winners and losers.  However, we cannot see into the future, and a team that is said to have had a losing draft day in ’05 may have picked seven future Hall-of-Famers. 

The best example of this is the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady, a sixth round draft pick in 2000 and a three-time Super Bowl champion over the next five years.  Taking that into account, I will not just tell my draft day loser and winner, but also my sleepers, steals and a preview of what to expect next year.

My winner of this year’s draft is none other than the Arizona Cardinals.  Cards’ head coach Dennis Green picked up Antrel Rolle (DB/Miami) with the first pick of the draft, followed by J.J. Arrington (RB/California), Eric Green (DB/Virginia Tech), Darryl Blackstock (LB/Virginia), Elton Brown (G/Virginia), Lance Mitchell (LB/Oklahoma) and LeRon McCoy (WR/Indiana).  If you know anything about NCAA football, you know that this is an all-star lineup.  Not only did the Cards address their needs, but they got two of my steals of the draft in Brown (fourth round) and Mitchell (fifth round).  Basically, they got a collegiate superstar in every round, so look for a couple of these players to make an immediate impact.  My prediction is the Cards will finish next year with a 9-6 record and contend for the NFC West title.

My big loser of the draft is definitely the New York Jets.  I don’t care how bad the kicking game is, under no circumstance do you waste your first pick of the draft on a kicker (Mike Nugent, Ohio State).  The Jets also failed to get any other players of note or any of my sleepers or steals picks.  Poor draft for the Jets, and it will reflect on their record next year, which will probably be about 8-7.

I am not saying that these picks, or steals, as I call them, are good; they may very well be poor picks for that particular team.  However, a steal is a steal.  As said above, Brown and Mitchell were big steals, but the biggest steal of the draft had to be California quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was originally projected at number one, but slid to the 24th spot to the Green Bay Packers.  This was not a very good pick, however, as Green Bay needed to address many defensive needs before they even thought about their future at the QB spot.  Bill Swancutt of Oregon State (DE) was my last steal, going to my beloved Detroit Lions in the sixth round, who look to have a good season this year after drafting a wide receiver in the top 10 each of the last three years.

Other local men to go in the draft were Adam Snyder (OT/Oregon, round 3 to San Fransisco) and Marcus Maxwell (WR/Oregon, round 7 to San Francisco).  Derek Anderson (QB/OSU) went to the Baltimore Ravens in round 6, possibly to replace Kyle Boller if he continues to struggle.  Lastly and almost last overall in the draft, Doug Nienhuis (OT/Oregon State) went to the Seattle Seahawks with the 254^th of 255 picks in the draft.

In every draft, there are a few guys that no one really cares about that end up doing great in the NFL.  I call them sleepers.  Adrian McPherson (QB/Florida State), and Chase Lyman (WR/California) were both drafted by the New Orleans Saints.  Antonio Perkins (DB/KR/PR/Oklahoma), drafted by the Cleveland Browns, will excel because of his explosive ability on special teams, though he is an average DB. Coaches should consider turning him into a possession receiver.  Chad Owens (WR/Hawaii) was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and should be a solid receiver in a year or two.

As for next year, the first five picks of the draft will probably look something like this: 1) Matt Leinart (QB/USC), 2) D’Brickshaw Ferguson (T/Virginia), 3) Reggie Bush (RB/USC), 4) A.J. Hawk (LB/Ohio State), 5) Mathias Kiwanuka (DE/Boston College).

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