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The 1999 NFL draft proves yet again how right ex-Redskins' coach Joe Gibbs was when he stated there were no rocket scientists in the National Football League.First of all,Gibbs's ex- team,the Redskins,is being credited with having an "A" draft.On the surface,getting all those picks from madman Mike Ditka and still coming away with Champ Bailey-perhaps the best player in the draft-looks good.However,when you consider that it was known well before the draft that Ditka was offering at least 10 draft picks and a player or two,and that he could only have been even more desperate to get Ricky Williams once the Colts shocked everyone by not taking him,then it is incompetence of the highest order for the Redskins to have taken 8 draft picks (and no players) for him.They then compounded their error by giving too much back to the Bears to trade up for Bailey.So here is my politically incorrect scoring for this year's draft: ARIZONA- B. Nice overall job,making it all that more likely this improving young squad will walk away with the pathetic NFC East. ATLANTA- F. Took a giant step backwards from last season's surprising success.Trading next year's number 1 for a blocking tight end who won't even start was sheer lunacy. BATIMORE- F. Didn't address major needs at all the offensive skill positions.Eric Zeier is a better quarterback than Tony Banks, who looked horrible in three seasons with the Rams. An offensive arsenal featuring Scott Mitchell,Priest Holmes,Patrick Johnson and Brian Kinchen isn't going to scare anyone. BUFFALO- C. Okay job.As long as they have the most lovable QB in the league,I can't say anything bad about them. CAROLINA- D. George Siefert wasn't left much to work with,after all the idiotic moves made before he was hired,but still the refusal to upgrade truly horrendous QBs and RBs is mind- boggling. CHICAGO- B. Nice job of ripping Redskins off and still coming away with Cade McNown,who could be a combination of Steve Young and Jake Plummer. CINCINNATI- D. You can't give an organization run by Mike Brown a higher grade than this,ever.Mark my words-at least one of the heralded QB class of '99 is going to be a complete flop, and my money is on one-year college wonder Akili Smith. CLEVELAND- D. Don't understand what they're doing.Are they really satisfied with Terry Kirby at RB,Leslie Shepherd as the go- to receiver, and Irv Smith at TE? DALLAS- D. It is impossible to give the Cowboys a higher grade than this as long as Jerry Jones makes the picks.Apparently attempting to run an all-DE defense. DENVER- B. Cannot give them a lower grade than this as long as Mike Shanahan is there.Will once again do better than the Bengals and Colts of the league ,despite picking twenty some picks lower than them every round. DETROIT- A. Had one of the best drafts.Considering that total moron Bobby Ross is running the show there,this really proves just how stupid the rest of the teams are. GREEN BAY- C-. Curious draft strategy may result in constant eight DB defensive formations.. If Ray Rhodes,perhaps the worst evaluator of talent the NFL has ever seen,had any input at all in draft selection, Packer fans will not be happy with the results. INDIANAPOLIS- F. First they allow lamebrain Dick Vermeil to steal Marshall Faulk from them,then they refuse a ton of draft picks from the Saints,shock everyone by skipping over Ricky Williams and draft the second-best RB in the draft with the fourth overall pick.I used to respect Bill Polian as one of the few bright minds in the league,but I will do so no longer. JACKSONVILLE- C. Time will tell if all the defensive selections pan out. At least they recognized their areas of need and tried to address them. KANSAS CITY- B-. Did a pretty decent job. The absence of Marty Schottenheimer undoubtedly helped. MIAMI- F. Jimmy Johnson picks three RBs,including Lawrence Phillips II. Because he is a "genious,"he will still grade out well with the jock-sniffing journalists. But then he graded out well last year,when he also took a RB in the first round. Doesn't the fact he drafted three RBs this year indicate he blew last year's pick? I have some advice for "JJ:" cease your insistence upon "establishing the run" and allow Dan Marino to run your offense while he still can. But first get him some real receivers, preferably some who actually haven't committed serious crimes. MINNESOTA- A. Second first round pick was a reach,but otherwise another solid draft. Like Denver,shows that teams drafting at the end of each round can,with a little common sense,come out better than those drafting at the top. NEW ENGLAND- A. Sure,they didn't have to trade up in the first round,but they had the best draft of anyone. Still need to address the wide receiver corps,where sooner or later someone is going to state the obvious;that Terry Glenn is the most overrated receiver in the NFL. NEW ORLEANS- F. Mike Ditka has proven to be a horrible evaluator of talent. Ricky Williams may indeed be a future superstar,but no one unproven player is worth what Ditka gave up. The funny part is that "Da Coach" actually seems to believe his woeful team is a RB away from greatness. Yeah, an offense featuring one Billy Joe or another at QB, throwing to Eddie Kennison and various slow white WRs is going to keep defenses honest. NEW YORK GIANTS- D. Bypassed several OTs rated higher than the one they selected in the first round,then took a RB in the second round who often didn't start in college. However,NFC East is so weak that if even one of the picks pans out,and marvelous CB Jason Sehorn returns at full strength,they will still probably be better than everyone else in the division except Arizona. NEW YORK JETS- C. Didn't have much to work with. At least they targeted need area of offensive line.Even the great Curtis Martin needs more than a few inches of space to run through. OAKLAND- D. Actually,picks weren't that bad,but can't give this organization a higher grade as long as greasy Al Davis is the owner. Hopefully, Jon Gruden will actually do something to justify his offensive "guru" title this season. He was terrible in his first year with the Raiders. PHILADELPHIA- C. Any draft is bound to look good in comparison to those conducted during the Ray Rhodes era. PITTSBURGH- A-. The Steelers have drafted better than almost anybody for the past decade. This-and not coach Bill Cowher's overrated skills-is the main reason they are consistently able to maintain their competitiveness despite losing top players to free agency year after year. SAN DIEGO- F. Bobby Beatherd is not old enough to be senile, so it is hard to understand how a once rather shrewd general manager has sunk to the levels he has. The Chargers got absolutely nothing from this draft and will compete with the Saints for most inept offense in the league. ST.LOUIS- B. I just can't bring myself to give Dick Vermeil an A, but give him credit;he had a good draft and made a couple of really nice trades. He is still one of the biggest idiots in the league,however,and is bound to sign an axe murderer as a free agent or something and ruin everything. SAN FRANCISCO- F. I don't want to hear Bill Walsh called a genious again. This team has had the worst offensive line in the league for three years now,and refuses to upgrade it. Steve Young is a lawyer-and still the best QB in the NFL. It almost seems as if the team wants Young to get hurt. He should sue the organization for criminal negligence.And what about a backup QB? They will certainly need one with that ridiculous line. Yet they didn't get McNown or Shawn King,traded Ty Detmer and have made it clear they don't want the guy they wasted a first round pick on a few years back-Jim Druckenmiller. But I guess it's hard to comprehend the thinking of truly great minds. SEATTLE- A-. Mike Holmgren had a nice first draft. Watch Brock Hoard-he could easily outperform the more heralded members of the QB class of '99. TAMPA BAY- B. Tony Dungy and company always do a good job. TENNESSEE- C. Their drafts are average and they always have an average, 8-8 season. WASHINGTON- C-. As I mentioned previously,this draft looks fantastic on the surface,but a little digging will reveal just how stupid they were in not getting more from the Saints. Did not address a weak RB group and even weaker WR corps. Along with giving up way too much for fragile,college backup Brad Johnson, the team will look to next season when,with their own pick, along with Carolina's and New Orleans's, they might very well have three of the top five choices in the 2000 draft. There you have it. I guarantee you won't read some of those comments anywhere else. |
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