Apr 26 2009
Ryan Leaf’s MLK day
We all love MLK, but lets face it – we only think about him on one day of the year, MLK day. And although we may not have the same warm and fuzzies for Ryan Leaf, he too will live on in infamy on at least one day of the year – NFL draft day.
Leaf was probably the biggest bust in NFL draft history. That means on NFL draft day you can’t watch a sports program without hearing about the infamous #2 pick for the Chargers in 1998.
On Saturday there was a bit of draft day excitement, with two QBs going in the top 5 spots. Now historically, it’s not a great move to pick a QB so high. Of the top 10 QBs last year (by QB rating) only one was a #1 pick – Peyton Manning. There were three others that were first rounders (Rivers, Pennington and Rodgers), but more interestingly 3 QBs in the top 10 that weren’t even drafted at all (Warner, Romo and Garcia).
So picking a QB in the early rounds is a risky move, but a necessary one if the pick turns out to be the next Manning. More likely though, you’ll get an Alex Smith, Matt Leinart, Vince Young, JaMarcus Russel or David Carr.
The Lions went with Stafford with the #1 pick, and really this is one pick that makes a bit of sense. They needed a QB, unless they want to stick with Culpepper for a long term solution – and history is already going to be pretty harsh on their first round picks, so what’s the worst that can happen. The Jets traded up for Mark Sanchez – an interesting move for a team that signed Brett Favre in last year’s offseason.
The Raiders, in a surprise move went with Darrius Heyward-Bey. I don’t know much about this guy except that he’s fast and tall. Maybe this will be a great target for Russell, but the Raiders will still need to give their QBs a bit more time in the pocket – regardless of who’s running the routes.
The Niners also went with a WR – Michael Crabtree from Texas Tech. The Raiders were expected to take Crabtree, but instead he went across the bay. This seems to be a steal for the Niners, since Crabtree was projected to be drafted a bit higher. I’m not really sure if another WR will solve the Niner’s problems, but at least it will give whoever is playing QB on Sunday a reliable target.
1st round WRs seem to have a higher success rate than QBs. 3 years ago Pittsburgh drafted 2009 Superbowl MVP Santonio Holmes in the 1st round. The next year Calvin Johnson and Dwayne Bowe were drafted in the 1st round – both good pickups.
I’d also like to point out that a chinese guy, Patrick Chung, was drafted in the 2nd round – probably the highest a chinese guy has ever been drafted in NFL history. Sure, when you seem him he appears to be more Tiger Woods than Jackie Chan (he’s chinese/jamaican, so jamacanese?) but that’s an important piece of history that I think was overlooked today.

I think Crabtree was a good pick for the 49ers. Singletary has done a pretty good job dealing with and putting cocky football players in their place in the past (see, e.g., Vernon Davis). Now, as you previously pointed out, Crabtree will just need a competent enough QB to throw him the ball. They could have used a young, franchise QB with a strong arm like, say, Cutler.