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POSTED 9:30 a.m. EDT, May 1, 2006
PFT TEN-PACK: THE DRAFT
Whenever there's a big event in the NFL, you can count on PFT for one thing.
We'll make something up and pawn it off as news.
Okay, two things. We'll also put together a Ten-Pack of observations regarding whatever it is that just went down.
So here are our ten takes on the 2006 NFL draft.
1. My Name is Leigh.
One of the best shows on television is NBC's My Name is Earl. It's about a redneck who goes around righting all of his past wrongs in the name of karma. On Saturday, a non-redneck saw a couple of wrongs against him get righted via the draft status of two USC players who unceremoniously fired him prior to the draft.
Agent Leigh Steinberg, who in many ways helped get the agent business off of the ground, lost USC offensive tackle Winston Justice and USC quarterback Matt Leinart within a week earlier this month. At the time, both were expected to be taken high in the draft, with Leinart in the top four and Justice in the top ten.
Instead, Leinart plunged to No. 10 -- and Justice fell out of the round.
To his credit, Leigh likely takes no pleasure in the ultimate misfortune of the guys who mistreated him. So we'll take the pleasure on Leigh's behalf.
And, in hindsight, Leinart would have been far better off with Steinberg, since just two years ago Leigh handled the contract of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who slid to No. 11.
Frankly, we don't rule out Leinart making yet another change, especially if it's true that new agent Tom Condon guaranteed that he'd go no lower than three. Heck, we wouldn't be surprised if Steinberg's phone rings again.
If that happens, we hope that Leigh doesn't answer.
2. Why Do I Have A Craving For Fruit Stripe Gum?
We didn't realize that they still made Fruit Stripe Gum, one of our favorite ways to get a legal buzz during our younger days. And we probably wouldn't have thought about Fruit Stripe Gum ever again in our lives if we hadn't been reminded of it.
By Merrill Hoge's shirt.
Who dresses this buffoon? Willie Wonka?
3. Rich Guys Wear White.
For the first time since, well, ever we noticed that the prospects who were present for the draft festivities in New York were given white ceremonial jerseys after getting picked.
Why white? More white equals more green. For the league, that is.
Most fans that buy jerseys opt for the dark versions -- especially fans of the teams in Houston and New Orleans and Tennessee and New York and San Fran and Arizona. So why not grow the revenues by getting folks to supplement their NFL wardrobes with a white version of their favorite teams colors?
It was a subtle point, but we're certain that the overriding goal was to pump more profits into the pockets of the owners.
Since we're never subtle, we'd suggest this approach instead: "Buy your favorite team's road jersey. It now costs less than a tank of gas."
4. What the Mock?
Our final mock draft, which was updated before Mario Williams officially signed with the Texans but after word broke of a potential deal, was decidedly mediocre. Of the 32 first-round picks, we projected 24 of them. We picked seven in the right spot, got eight with the right team, and predicted five with the right team in the right spot.
Would we have liked to have done better? Sure. (Do we really care that we didn't? No.)
But, as it turns out, we did as well as Mel. He projected 26 of the first-rounders (two more than us), with six in the right spot (one less than us), seven with the right team (one less than us), and five with the right team in the right spot (same as us).
Based on those four factors, it was a wash. Sure, Mel knows more about the guys in the other six rounds. But he's now the real Mr. Irrelevant until January. We'll still be pounding out news, rumors, and analysis about all things NFL every single day of the year.
5. Len's Past Practices Make His Opinions Suspect.
It wouldn't be a Ten-Pack if we didn't pick on the guy who can't tell that he has ten toes without a shoe mirror.
Yeah, it's time to take another shot as ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli.
On Friday night, in response to the news that the Texans had reached a contract agreement with N.C. State defensive end Mario Williams, Pasquarelli mercilessly ripped the Texans for passing on Reggie Bush.
We don't necessarily disagree with Len's thoughts. But based on his pattern of greasing agents for information, and of dissing those who won't give it to him, we can't help but wonder whether Pasquarelli's opinion was influenced by both a desire to help out Bush's agent, Joel Segal -- and no reason to give an assist to Williams' agent, Ben Dogra.
Segal, after all, needs all the help he can get, given that he has presided over one of the most stunning failures in draft history. We've surmised that Segal could be fired for his role in the Bush fiasco. Although the P-man's prose will have little relevance to Bush's decision-making, Segal surely won't forget Len's loyalty at a time when the wheels are flying off faster than rims at an overloaded chop shop.
Hell, Segal might even give Len his password to the NFLPA web site.
Dogra, as we understand it, isn't tied in to Pasquarelli. So Len loses nothing by taking an implicit swipe at Dogra's client.
Again, we don't know for sure whether Len's views were influenced his by agent relations. But his extensive past practice of scratching backs now invites scrutiny of every opinion that the guy expresses.
6. So Much For The New Helmets.
The Vikings unveiled with much fanfare on Thursday their new uniform, which we hate. But we like the new helmet, which incorporates a mild changes aimed at making the horn look more like a horn and less like Sven the Aryan sperm cell.
So the Vikings' contingent at the draft would have one of the new helmets on their table at the draft, right?
Wrong.
Not a huge deal, but another example of the Wilf regime's failure to pay attention to detail.
7. Defense Wins Championships. ACC Defense, That Is.
Of the first 37 picks in the draft, 14 of them played defense for teams in the ACC.
That's 37.8 percent of the total picks. Throw in tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and tight end Vernon Davis, and the ACC produced 16 of the top 37 selections, or 43.2 percent of the total pool.
With all that beef on the defensive side of the ball, we can't quite figure out why none of the ACC teams were worth a crap in the grand scheme of things last year.
Oh well. Maybe defense doesn't win championships, after all.
8. ESPN Has Made Its Own Bed.
Speaking of that old cliche' that defense wins championships, we heard Michael Irvin spouting off over and over again on draft weekend his view that, in reality, offense wins championships.
He's right. Just look at the 2005 Steelers. The 2004 Patriots. The 2003 Patriots. The 2002 Buccaneers. The 2001 Patriots. And the 2000 Ravens.
Irvin chimed in with other idiotic remarks, prompting us to wonder why in the hell the Boys in Bristol not only extended this guy's contract, but also dropped him smack dab in the middle of the grown-ups' table for ESPN's draft coverage.
Apparently, someone concluded that the network prefers the inherent sense of conflict and drama that Irvin brings to the table, even if Irvin comes off as ignorant and uninformed.
Then again, anyone who has ever listened to one of the PFT PodCasts knows that we reached the same conclusion when we hired Dante.
9. Commish Gets Upstaged.
In what most likely will be Commissioner Paul Tagliabue's final stint walking to the podium and calling out the picks in round one (unless the owners can't agree on a replacement by next April), there are plenty of readers who complained that ESPN's Chris Berman seemed to know more than he should about each of the picks that were about to be made.
Berman often revealed the selection under the guise of a last-second prediction -- and he usually was right on the money. (In fact, we can't think of any time that he was wrong.)
Enough, Chris. We all like to hear it first from the Commissioner. (Then again, since we've recommended that Berman be the next Commissioner, maybe we'll hear all of the round one picks from Boomer in 2007 and beyond.)
And ESPN wasn't the only network guilty of giving viewers too much information too soon. On at least one occasion while watching the NFL Network, we noticed that the lips of the guy who gets the draft card easily could be read. (Pick No. 24.)
Next year, folks, please don't destroy the sense of suspense that comes from a middle-aged man in a suit walking to a podium. It's about the only time that such action ever creates any real drama, so let's not screw it up.
10. Rating the Coverage.
Most of the reader e-mails we received over the weekend favored the NFL Network's coverage of the draft. For us, it was a narrow win for ESPN.
We split-screened the two networks for both days, and we realized that ESPN was far superior in two ways. First, the graphics package constantly on the screen during ESPN's coverage was much more thorough and informative than the one-line crawl that the NFL Network employed. Down the left side of the screen was the logo of the team with the current pick, and information regarding the round and (on Saturday) the amount of time remaining to make a selection. Farther down the left column was an indication of the next few teams in line. ESPN also did a very good job of flashing every new pick.
Our only beef with the ESPN graphics was that a lot of the information at the bottom of the screen was irrelevant and or grossly superficial. Does anyone really care that Kellen Clemens is the first quarterback the Jets have selected in round two since Browning Nagle in 1991? It reminded us of a little kid who talks incessantly simply because he can.
Second, viewers who receive the NFL Network by satellite dish got the round one picks from the Commish a few seconds faster on ESPN. Because of that, we primarily listened to the audio from ESPN.
As to the talking heads, the NFL Network crew is more solid and steady. There was no one that we loved, but likewise no one that we hated. We were curious about Dan Reeves' presence on the NFL Network set, given that he's still (as far as we know) a consultant to the Texans. Adam Schefter was solid as usual with intriguing news and nuggets. And Rams safety Corey Chavous is every bit as significant as Mel Kiper, who seems to be getting marginalized by ESPN.
Or maybe it's just that ESPN is now using virtually everyone on the payroll to cover the NFL draft. At one time or another, we saw Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Michael Irvin, Chris Mortensen, Mel Kiper, Suzy Kolber, Bob Golic, Sal Paolantonio, Ed Werder, Trey Wingo, Merrill Hoge, Mark Schlereth, Ron Jaworski, Sean Salisbury, and player-guests Trent Green, William Henderson, Mushin Muhammad, and Shawne Merriman.
ESPN also had Rachel Nichols stationed in Houston. She seems to have gotten plenty of plum assignments in her short time with the network, and we suppose she's a nice person when you get to know her. But she has the on-air demeanor of someone who is in serious need of a visit to an exorcist. We don't know whether it's the radiating red hair, with the left side always over the shoulder and the right side always behind it, or whether it's that soul-disintegrating gaze. Or whether it's a perfect storm of multiple factors. Regardless, the girl gives us the creeps.
The oddest aspect of the weekend was that the NFL Network pre-empted the first two hours of the Sunday draft coverage with (snore) an NFL Europe game. Great programming decision, fellas.
And that's the factor that prompts us to give the edge to ESPN.
