You’ll never see draftniks mocked in this space.
The NFL and NBA drafts entertain me more than the games of those professional sports leagues.
Why?
We’re all smart enough to know we can’t execute the windmill jams and long passes we watch on television. Most of us at least think we’re smart enough to outperform the men responsible for making the draft-day decisions.
For example, most of us would have made better use of the first overall selection of Saturday’s first day of the NFL Draft than did Charlie Casserly.
Casserly, by the way, was general manager of the Washington Redskins when they made a colossal first-round blunder 10 years ago by selecting Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler.
It required neither trips to the NFL scouting combine nor exhaustive research to see that Shuler had no touch, had nervous feet, and was far choppier than he was smooth. All it took was turning on the TV one Saturday afternoon with a pot of coffee and a bag of doughnuts to watch a half of a Tennessee game.
Casserly struck again, announcing Friday his Houston Texans had used the first pick on Mario Williams, the defensive end out of North Carolina State. It’s not about who Casserly picked this time. It’s about who he didn’t. A combine monster with so much speed to go with his 6-foot-7, 295-pound frame, Williams is more than a combine wonder. He’s nearly as impressive on the field. Add it all up and he’s not an easy guy to bypass in a draft, which distinguishes him from Reggie Bush, an impossible guy to bypass.
No Kansas University player was tapped on the first day of the NFL Draft. Nick Reid, Charles Gordon and Charlton Keith are the KU products hoping to be selected in today’s rounds.
Research does help GMs make choices, until it gets to the point where it hurts: paralysis by analysis. Sometimes the obvious choice is the best choice.
Casserly shouldn’t feel too terrible, though. It only took until the third pick for another GM to make him look like King Solomon by comparison. Floyd Reese of the Tennessee Titans ignored Vince Young’s inability to read defenses and his low release. Oh well, maybe Reese could learn how to cut hair when he gets fired in a few years. The world could use another Floyd the Barber.
Enough on the first day. Three Kansas University defensive players make today’s final four rounds of the draft no less intriguing than the first three.
Ask three different KU football enthusiasts to rank Charlton Keith, Nick Reid and Charles Gordon in order of where they deserve to be drafted, and you’re liable to get three different answers.
It won’t make any sense if Keith doesn’t get drafted. He’s a slightly slower, slightly lighter version of Florida State’s Kamerion Wimbley, who went to the Cleveland Browns with the 13th selection of the first round.
Reid, never faster than when chasing the guy with the football, will be the next-best value. A hunch: Mr. Incredible could be Mr. Irrelevant.
Gordon, too slow and small to play cornerback effectively in the NFL, should consider himself fortunate if anyone drafts him.
Route-runner deluxe Mark Simmons, not quite fast enough for a receiver his size to project as a drafted player, is a long shot.
The KU players will make the draft worth watching until the end. Besides, the grass is too wet to fire up the lawnmower. Fire up the coffee pot and load up at the bakery.
