Grading the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft has grown from an afterthought to one of the can't miss events on the sports calender. The draft was such a non-factor that when ESPN asked then commissioner Pete Rozelle for permission to air the draft on their network he replied "Sure but why would you want to do that?". Since then the NFL Draft has become almost as big as the Super Bowl. The fans are very interested to get a first look at the future stars of the league. With that popularity the pundits of the league like to judge and grade the drafts of each team. Of course this is based solely on speculation and potential of each player. It is impossible to know how good or bad a player coming out of college will be as a pro. They have not yet played a single snap and there are "experts' who want to say whether or not the teams have made a good pick.

The best way to grade a draft is to look at it 3 years down the road. This is more than enough time for a player to either blossom into a superstar or fade away into Bolivia (Thanks to Mike Tyson for that line.classic!). We will look at the top 10 picks of the first round and give a letter grade for each pick. It will be based on where the player is now and how they have fared so far in the league. Without further adieu.....let's begin

#1 Eli Manning - New York Giants via trade with San Diego Grade C+
Peyton's little brother has been a little better than average in his first 3 years in the league. He has shown flashes of brilliance but his career has so far been very inconsistent.

#2 Robert Gallery - Oakland Raiders Grade D-
Gallery has been considered a bust considering coming out of college he scored a perfect grade at the NFL Scouting Combine. He has been compared infamously to Tony Mandarich, widely considered to be one of the biggest first round busts of all-time.

#3 Larry Fitzgerald - Arizona Cardinals Grade A
Larry has proven to be a franchise receiver in his first 3 years in the league. He has teamed with Anquan Boldin to become the most dangerous wide receiver tandem in the league.

#4 Phillip Rivers - San Diego Chargers via trade with the New York Giants Grade B+
Unlike Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers was not thrown to the wolves right away. He had the advantage of sitting for 2 years behind a solid pro QB in Drew Brees. He learned well as he looked like a seasoned vet in his first full year of starting.

#5 Sean Taylor - Washington Redskins Grade C
Taylor has had a solid career on the field but is more famous for making headlines off the field. He has been involved in a DUI, arrested for armed assault, and has refused to attend mandatory training camps. He was also accused of spitting at another player during a game.

#6 Kellen Winslow - Cleveland Browns Grade Incomplete
Another player from "The U", which is the war cry of players from the University of Miami, that has made more news off the field than on it. Do we see a pattern here? He was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he was trying to do tricks he had no training to do. This and a broken leg his rookie season have kept him in injured reserve for most of his short career.

#7 Roy Williams - Detroit Lions Grade A
Has become the franchise WR for the Lions. He has his best year in 2006 and is looking to improve on his already impressive resume as one of the top receivers in the league.

#8 - DeAngelo Hall - Atlanta Falcons Grade A
Hall has developed into one of the elite shut down corners in the NFL. He also won the NFL's fastest man competition at the 2005 Pro Bowl.

#9 - Reggie Williams - Jacksonville Jaguars Grade C-
This former Washington Husky has been considered a bust for his 3 years. He did start to develop some chemistry with Byron Leftwich at the beginning of last year. His production fell off after Leftwich was injured. He has never lived up to the hype that followed him out of college.

#10 - Dunta Robinson - Houston Texans Grade A
Robinson was nominated for Rookie of the Year in 2004 when he had 6 interceptions. In 2006 he was third on the team in tackles and is considered the Texans best DB.

There you have it folks. You have a mixed bag of some total busts, average, and star players. The one thing they all have in common is that coming out of college they were all rated as can't miss prospects. What can we determine from this small sampling of draft history. It is that it doesn't matter how much research, scouting, and workout time you give a player. The draft is one big roll of the dice. As they say there is no such thing as a sure thing.