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MEL'S MARKET
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| Pick and team |
Player |
The skinny |
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1. Cleveland |
LaVar Arrington, LB, Penn State |
The first pick gets the best player. Arrington, Brown both fit that profile. |
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2. Washington (from N.O) |
Courtney Brown, DE, Penn State |
Stellar senior season + great workouts = a really nice DE rotation in D.C.
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3. Washington (from S.F.) |
Chris Samuels, LT, Alabama |
Brad Johnson needs someone to watch his back. Not the next Boselli, but he'll do.
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4. Cincinnati |
Peter Warrick, WR, Florida State |
1) Gives Akili a go-to guy; 2) gives Bengals an excuse to dump Carl Pickens.
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5. Baltimore |
Jamal Lewis, RB, Tennessee |
From No. 26 to No. 5 on draft boards in two weeks! If he's healthy, has superstar's size and speed.
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6. Philadelphia |
Corey Simon, DT, Florida State |
Sapp wannabe. At least the Eagles want him to be.
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7. Arizona |
Thomas Jones, RB, Virginia |
Remember when the Cards had a topflight back? Neither do they.
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8. Pittsburgh
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Plaxico Burress, WR, Michigan St.
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Steelers need a big wideout with a motor. How's 6'5" 1/4, 229 for you?
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9. Chicago |
Brian Urlacher, LB, New Mexico
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Bears need every kind of LB. Urlacher is, well, every kind of LB.
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10. Denver |
Travis Taylor, WR, Florida
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Terrell goes left, Terrell goes right, Terrell goes up the middle. Unless this burner goes 10th.
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11. NY Giants
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Shaun Alexander, RB, Alabama
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and Kerry Collins falls to his knees and thanks his lucky stars.
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12. San Francisco (from. Wash)
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Chad Pennington, QB, Marshall
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Young's old (and married). Garcia's young (and lousy). Chad's young (and the best QB in the draft).
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13. Tampa Bay
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Stockar McDougle, OT, Oklahoma
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Name kinda says "top run blocker." Game definitely does.
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14. Green Bay
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Keith Bulluck, LB, Syracuse
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The Pack has a lot of holes at LB. This bull is big enough to fill any of these.
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15. Baltimore
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Sylvester Morris, WR, Jackson St.
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They call him Sylvester "Cat" Morris. Billick likes his paws.
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16. N.Y. Jets
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Bubba Franks, TE, Miami
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Can catch and block. Parcells is high on Bubba.
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17. Oakland
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Julian Peterson, OLB, Michigan St.
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Lucky Al. The best player on the board just happens to fill their biggest need.
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18. N.Y. Jets
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John Engelberger, DE, Virginia Tech
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Parcells-type player, may be the last one he ever drafts.
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19. Seattle
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Deltha ONeal, CB, California
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In college, he turned INTS onto TDs (4). Next season, he'll do the same with KRs.
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20. Detroit
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Cosey Coleman, OL, Tennessee
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Can play G or T. If he could only play them both at the same time.
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21. Kansas City
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Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin
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Draft rule no.1: When you have RB issues, take a Heisman winner- unless he's Rashaan Salaam.
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22. Seattle
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Dez White, WR, Georgia Tech
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Four words: Take the best player. Seven more: Try to make him a big wideout.
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23. Carolina (from Miami)
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John Abraham, DE/LB, South Carolina
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Panthers need a spark, any spark. How's 23.5 career sacks?
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24. San Francisco (from Washington)
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Chris McIntosh, OT, Wisconsin
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So many holes to fill, so few cap dollars. But this guy has skills.
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25. Minnesota
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Ahmed Plummer, CB, Ohio State
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Good news: Plummer (5'11", 191) can handle big WRs. Bad news: Randy won't enjoy practice.
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26. Buffalo
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Shaun Ellis, DE, Tennessee
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Moran and Smith are gone and Bills need a strong pass rusher badly. Very badly.
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27. Tampa Bay
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Jerry Porter, WR, West Virginia
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Yes, another wideout. His 44" vertical almost matches is upside.
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28. Indianapolis
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Rob Morris, LB, BYU
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"Wouldn't it be cool if there were a hard-nosed defensive leader left this late? Oh!"
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29. Jacksonville
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Ron Dugans, WR, Florida State
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With so many WRs going early, pickings have to get slim. But not quite yet.
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30. Tennessee
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Todd Pinkston, WR, Southern Miss
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Titans have quantity at WR. Now they've got a bit more quality.
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31. St. Louis
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Sebastian Janikowski, Florida State
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Perfect inside the 45; 57 touchbacks on 83 kickoffs. Don't think they need much else. (Do they?)
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