The Draft

It has been a bizarre pre-draft period. We have seen the fortunes of the Big Three, Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Matt Leinart, rise and fall and rise, most often for dumb reasons. We have seen North Carolina State defensive lineman Mario Williams mysteriously become a player in the top choice sweepstakes, and into the top five has emerged a curiously named offensive tackle from Virginia, D'Brickshaw Ferguson. Any of them might be a star. Any might be a bust. We have no idea, and the more certitude someone presents before the draft, the more you know they are selling something. No one knows, and we all only look like geniuses after the fact.

I am still not fully sold on Reggie Bush. I certainly am not sold that he is a lock for Canton, or that he is destined to be a playmaker and superstar. Don't get me wrong -- he may well. We just do not know and won't know for years. But I do know that a guy who is used to 15-20 touches at most a game against the University of California at Berkeley has not, no matter what Sean Salisbury says, proven that he will star against the Patriots and Steelers on Sundays. Every year guys are touted as being can't-miss prosects, only to miss. I could be a fool, but were I Houston, I'd think seriously of trading down or of taking Mario Williams. And don't give me this nonsense about putting asses in the seats -- if you cannot sell out an NFL stadium eight weeks a year, you do not deserve to have an NFL team. Do not give me this nonsense about the Texans having to take Reggie Bush for the sake of the fans, fans who, by the way, want them to draft Vince Young anyway.

I am also a little perplexed when I hear people say things like "Matt Leinart may be as good as he is going to get right now." We have a young, smart, talented quarterback who led his team to a phenomenal record and a national championship, won the Heisman Trophy, and somehow he has peaked? I tend to doubt it. I can see Vince Young's upside. He is a tremendous athlete. But how much will offendsive coordinators and head coaches allow him to run in the NFL? And is the NFL really the league to be learning on the fly how to play under center? Vince Young will probably be a great player, maybe a phenom. But I would maintain that Leinart is going to be a potential star for years to come. Young is going to need the right offense and he is going to need to be in a position where he is not expected to play right away. As for the other quarterback in the draft who has been mentioned in the same breath as these guys, I find Cutler to be intriguing. People talk about his record in college, as he won only 11 games as a starter. But he was a starter at Vanderbilt, meaning he played an SEC schedule (and since Vandy is almost always the worst team in the SEC, he played the toughest possible SEC schedule) for his entire college career and this past season produced a better team than any in Vandy's recent memory. His receivers and running backs were subpar. Yet against SEC defenses he was the conference player of the year, and apparently he is the one guy of the three big quarterbacks who can make every throw on the field.

As for the Patriots, I have always loved Belichick's philosophy -- pick the best player, do not go for need, because if you draft for need and don't get it, you miss out on better players and you are back in the same boat next year. I am always astounded when other factors take precedent over what a guy did on the field in college. Pick the best football player. You'll find a spot for him. That said, if he is still available, I would love to see the Pats pick Ohio State's "other" linebacker, Bobby Carpenter, or else one of two running backs -- D'Angelo Williams or Lendale White, who has been (too) much maligned of late.