CNN/SI - NFL Draft '99 - Peter King: Riding the pre-draft roller coaster

Riding the pre-draft roller coaster

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Posted: Friday April 16, 1999 06:54 PM

ASHBURN, Va. -- Now for the 10 Draft Things I Think I Think, on draft eve:

1. I think the Marshall Faulk deal makes the Rams a very interesting team. I talked to coach Dick Vermeil last night, and though he tried to point me to the defensive side of the ball for St. Louis's sixth overall pick, imagine, for a moment, St. Louis picking North Carolina State wideout Torry Holt. Now, instead of Tony Banks, Greg Hill and a bunch of wideout nobodies as the Rams' skill players, St. Louis could throw Trent Green (okay, so I like him more than most people; I think he's a 20% upgrade on Banks and significantly more efficient), Faulk, Holt and Isaac Bruce (if his hammies cooperate) at defenses this fall. I just hope Faulk's the Faulk of the '98 season's salary drive, not the oft-injured guy of the previous two years.

2. I think the Redskins , the team I'm covering this weekend, are dead-solid set on Champ Bailey or a very rich trade-down.

Check back Saturday at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. for what I think I think at 90-minute intervals on draft day. And don't forget my online chat at 4 p.m. Saturday dissecting the first round. Coming Sunday at noon: my analysis of the draft's first day.

3. I think Indy GM Bill Polian is right. "The whole information-gathering process before the draft has been ruined,'' he says. Case in point: Akili Smith, the Oregon quarterback, took the NFL's intelligence test, the Wonderlic, last fall and scored a 13 out of 50. He got tutored for a night and then, according to Smith, he studied in the school library with the Oregon backup quarterback, Jason Maas, for a different version of the Wonderlic. On the second Wonderlic, Smith got a 37. When the Chicago Tribune asked the Wonderlic company about a rise from 13 to 37, the firm said, basically, that this was impossible, that you can't study for the Wonderlic. So I did a little research on the Wonderlic scores of the 309 players who attended the scouting combine where Smith re-took the test. And guess what? Maas, who scored a 17 last spring, got the highest score of any of the 309 test-takers. He got a 43, which is borderline genius. Only four players scored higher than Smith.

4. I think you can tell I'm a little skeptical that Smith's and Maas's scores are on the level.

5. I think Dennis Green and the Minnesota Vikings are hot on the trail of Daunte Culpepper today.

6. I think this is the order of the top 10 picks as I see it as of noon Friday:

Cleveland: QB Tim Couch.

Philadelphia: QB Donovan McNabb, but why was an Eagles front-office guy talking long and deep with Akili Smith's agent, Leigh Steinberg, within the past 48 hours?

Cincinnati: QB Akili Smith, although the Bengals ought to deal. They ought to trade down right now to 12, take New Orleans' bounty and pick Cade McNown.

Indianapolis: RB Ricky Williams.

Washington: CB Champ Bailey.

St. Louis: WR Torry Holt.

Chicago: CB Chris McAlister, or a trade down to 11 to nab McNown.

Arizona: RB Edgerrin James, or a trade down to New England, which wants James.

Detroit: LB Chris Claiborne.

Baltimore: QB Daunte Culpepper.

7. I think we should all take a moment , as the odd lawyer on Ally McBeal sometimes does (when he's not preparing a fresh bowl), and send Wayne Gretzky our appreciation for a career well done. I spent a couple of days with him as a Newsday fill-in hockey writer in 1987 in Toronto and Edmonton. A greater player I've never seen. A finer superstar I've never met. If this is it, Wayne, thanks for those greased-lightning up-ice rushes with the puck glued to your stick and defenses flailing away at you uselessly.

8. I think unless Gretzky's a draftnik, he'll never read those words.

9. I think I can't say this strongly enough: The one man six or eight GMs will regret passing on from this draft is Cade McNown.

10. I think this draft will be one wild ride.

Related information

Stories

Peter King's 1998 Draft Report Card
Peter King's Top 10 players from the 1998 draft
Dr. Z's Prospect Rankings

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