Now that bowl week is over and my team is out of the NFL playoffs, most of life's little joys have been sucked out. So, it's time to move on to upcoming sports delirium. One such day for which I wait diligently is the NFL draft. I know it's a long way off, but if coaching staffs can put in three months of effort, so can I. This year, however, with the experience I had with this year's Rose Bowl, I'm going to change my approach to the 2006 NFL draft.
I will not watch one second of draft coverage on ESPN.
I was so tired of Reggie vs. Vince in the middle of December that I almost decided to boycott the Rose Bowl altogether. The insane amount of USC coverage and asking how they would fare against the NCAA's all-time teams was utterly numbing. Like a politician airing negative ads, it had a complete backlash effect for me. Hell, I had been so drowned with USC-Texas talk before the Heisman that I, given the chance, would have voted for Ken DeBauche rather than those two.
I persevered, however, and dug in for one of the greatest games ever played.
Regardless, I'm not going to listen to ESPN for draft advice, lest they suck the life out of that debate like they left me with only the thorns of the Rose Bowl.
My take on the draft is this: Matt Leinart will be the only success of the 'Big Three.'
Bush relies on his speed to make every other aspect of his game work. He can't run between the tackles until he softens up the defense by running a few student-body-left formation sweep plays and makes them respect the outside threat. We saw in the Rose Bowl what a defense with speed can do.
Texas' defense was, by far, the best the Trojans faced. Sure, Bush ran for almost 100 yards and caught for about the same, but what matters was this: one touchdown.
Don't get me wrong, Bush is as close to lightning in a bottle as you can get. But defensive speed can contain its counterpart and NFL defenses are nothing if not fast.
Vince, on the other hand, has a load of problems. No coach in the NFL has designed an offense for a quarterback like him. Like Michael Vick, Young has tremendous talent but will not find an NFL offensive coordinator capable of making him the weapon he could be. Couple this with his awkward release of the football, and you have a draft bust.
Leinart has the most tools that are easily compatible with the NFL. They know accurate pocket passing can succeed and, baring a Leaf-like breakdown, Leinart will earn some mean green.
