NFL Draft - Second Round

I kind of figured that Andre Woodson would drop in the draft. I didn't think he would drop to the sixth round where he was the 11th quarterback taken. That's not good. I'm not saying he can't make a career out of it, but it will be tough. Sure, the poster child for sixth round picks making it good at QB is Tom Brady, but there are others. Marc Bulger and Matt Hasselbeck were also sixth rounders. Kurt Warner wasn't even drafted. However, you've got to have a lot of luck on your side to do it. A first round pick will be given every opportunity to be successful. A late pick needs an opportunity to open for him. For all the accolades for Brady, there's a good chance that if Drew Bledsoe doesn't get his guts ruptured by Mo Lewis, Brady doesn't become Brady. Bulger and Warner also move into starting position due to injury. If these guys don't get that opportunity, they don't get a long term chance to show what they can do. They could end up being a long term backup. Even Hasselbeck had a lot of luck. He spent two years as a backup to Brett Favre before coach Mike Holmgren moved to Seattle. Holmgren didn't have a quarterback he liked there so he trades for a former player who knows his system. Woodson could be in trouble because Eli Manning has a lock on the job with the Giants. Woodson will have to pass Anthony Wright (has longevity but shrinking talent), David Carr (absolutely sucks) and another former UK quarterback in Jared Lorenzen (popular fellow). He might have to spend a year on the practice squad, but the Giants are a top team. Maybe an assistant there gets a head job (no, not that kind) in a couple of years and decides to bring a player he's familiar with.

So, why did Woodson drop? He was a top rated quarterback going into the season. After UK beat LSU, his stock was huge. He was considered a first round prospect. Then this happened. A lot of people point to his very poor play at the Senior Bowl. Apparently, he also had problems in practices leading up to it. Some have even blamed Mike Martz for trying to fix the hitch in Woodson's throwing motion while coaching him at the Senior Bowl which led to his poor play. It makes his release very slow which he could get away with in college, but not the NFL (contrary to popular belief, the NFL is still well above the SEC in talent). Actually, those have a place in the argument, but I think it's more than that. The Martz situation certainly could have hurt, but for a different reason. Any team Woodson was going to was going to try to fix that hitch. They may think it can't be done if Martz couldn't get him to get rid of it. However, I think the big problem was that his performance began to slip later in the year (go back and watch the loss to Miss St). Poor decision making, taking sacks, etc. The knocks from early in his career began showing up again.

I understand if you have a lot of money and a sexy job that you want hot babes hanging around you, but is it smart to let someone take a picture of you holding a beer bong for an underage girl? Fine, I won't be a hypocrite. I would probably do it too.

I have nothing against Andre Woodson, and as I said about the day one drafting, NFL scouts can't evaluate college quarterbacks well. So, I'm not predicting professional failure nor do I want to see it. However, it was pretty funny to watch the meltdown on UK football messageboards when he was slipping. Even better was the reactions after the Giants took him in the sixth round. Some were complaining that Woodson was screwed by going to the Giants because he wouldn't get a chance to compete for the starting job with Eli Douchebag there. Let me explain this really quickly. If you're a sixth round pick at quarterback, you won't really be competing for the starting job no matter who takes you. Just be happy that someone did. My personal favorite was the poster who said Woodson and his agent should demand a one year contract or hold out. Yeah, because NFL teams love arrogance from low round picks. My other favorite was the number of posters who were sure Woodson was drafted as trade bait. Who is going to trade for him? He was a sixth round pick. Anyone could have taken him if they wanted him that bad.

Some other locals went on day two. Louisville had offensive tackle Breno Giacomini join Brian Brohm with the Packers. Add former Cardinal player Jason Spitz who is already there and Green Bay is shaping up to be Louisville North. Unless it's Atlanta becoming Louisville South. Chris Redman is already there, and they added receiver Harry Douglas. I think Atlanta fans will be really happy with Douglas (you hear that Spitzer?). He doesn't have the physical attributes to be a Randy Moss or Terrell Owens (nor does he have the mental problems they bring to the table), but he has the ability to be another Wes Welker or Bobby Engram who have long careers doing nothing but helping their teams win. I was a little surprised Atlanta took him (or re-signed Redman) due to their grudge against Bobby Petrino. Some teams seem to gravitate towards players from one college. Atlanta and Green Bay from this year. Tight end (no, not that kind) Gary Barnidge went to Carolina who once drafted Stefan LeFors and Eric Shelton from UL in back to back years. Then there was Mario Urrutia who got lucky when he was drafted seventh from the end by Cincinnati. Well, maybe not so lucky since he's the property of Cincinnati when he could have picked a team if he wasn't drafted at all.

Speaking of Owens, he may have been involved in a porn shoot.

Still, Mario may have wanted to go to Cincinnati. They cut serial criminal Chris Henry who I would slur by calling a West Virginia alum, but I'm pretty sure he didn't actually graduate. Chad Johnson is threatening to not play if he doesn't get traded. And he won't. If the Bungles won't take a first rounder and a third-to-possible-first rounder from Washington, they are holding steady. Truthfully, I think Chad plays. If he doesn't, he doesn't get paid. Still, it's nice to see that he cares more about everything except winning. I don't know how I ever got the impression that Chad Johnson was one of the most selfish players in the league.

Oh, and there were some non-Louisville local players taken. Actually, Keenan Burton is a Louisville player, but not a University of Louisville player. He went to St. Louis which is a good spot for him. Isaac Bruce is gone, so he can work his way in. Fellow UK player Jacob Tamme also got drafted as a good fit. He's a tight end who can't block and is really a slow wide receiver, but Indianapolis likes that kind of tight end. UK had four players taken, and Andre Woodson is the only one going to a bad spot. Steve Johnson went to Buffalo which isn't chock full of receiver. Just losers. Just kidding.

I won't give draft grades because it's pretty silly to rate players in the draft when so many come out of nowhere while high picks fail pretty regularly. Still, I can't get over Baltimore giving up so much for Kyle Boller number 2 when they still have Kyle Boller number 1. I also still can't get over Jacksonville giving up so much for a defensive end who lacks hustle. I compared it to what Minnesota willingly gave up for Jared Allen (an actual accomplished NFL player). I want to point out something. I made this argument fairly early Sunday morning. Semi-respected football website, Profootballtalk.com, made the same argument after lunch. The difference is that I don't consider the first round draft pick lost. You trade a pick for a player then you should consider that pick for them. The Vikes didn't lose a pick. They used it for Allen. Jacksonville was just dumb. They gave up a bunch for an unproven rookie. Even worse is that Jason Taylor of the Dolphins (another very good defensive end/rush linebacker who has proven himself at the NFL level) is apparently available for a second round pick. Why not trade for him?

Off the subject, why do I like Cher's song If I Could Turn Back Time?

Other things stood out to me. Rex Grossman is on a one year contract. He is universally hated by Bears' fans. No one considers him the quarterback of the future for Chicago. Why didn't Chicago take a quarterback?

How did Mike Hart fall to the sixth round? He was projected first or second round if he comes out as a junior last year. He drops this far? Michigan was an embarrassment to the start the season (losing to Appalachian State will do that to you). More than any other player, Hart stepped up, showed leadership and led that team to a strong finish. Now, I think the Big 10 is overrated every year, but how does this guy slip so far? They blamed it on his slow time in the 40 yard dash. Sorry. Look at game tape. The guy can play. He actually does something that highly rated running backs like Reggie Bush don't seem to be able to master. He follows his blockers. What a concept. An offensive lineman takes out a potential tackler. Who would have thought you could gain yards behind him?

Actually, I think it's a damned shame that measurables become more important than ability. This is why first round quarterbacks and receivers flop about 50 percent of the time. They are the positions measured most when they aren't actually playing. Run a route in shorts. Make every throw to receivers who aren't covered. That doesn't tell you what they can do when there is a defense on the field. Take the 6 foot 6 inch quarterback with a cannon. Who cares if he constantly throws it over his receiver's head or to the other team. Take that big, physical receiver who can't catch. Good strategy there.

This is a good one. Cincinnati has a lot of issues regarding the character of its players. So, why not take a defensive tackle in the fifth round who was kicked off his college team for a couple of DUIs? I personally like the fact that his hit and run was against an apartment building. How do you not notice there's a building in front of you? I think the worst part is most draft boards (that threw out his criminal/anti-social behavior) didn't think he was worth a fifth round pick anyway. Do the Bengals even have a scouting department?

One quarterback who went ahead of Andre Woodson was Colt Brennan from Hawaii. Why? This guy wasn't even as good as Timmy Chang who played at Hawaii and didn't do squat professionally. It's a gimmick offense that any quarterback can put up big numbers in. Plus, Hawaii played a WAC conference (nickname the No Defense Conference) schedule with a couple of BCS bottom feeders thrown in. They struggled to go undefeated with that. When they faced Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, they clearly showed they had no business being there. Yet, someone takes Brennan? Well, why not? Division I-AA is lower than the WAC and Baltimore took Joe Flacco.