Peter King's Draft Report Card
Posted: Wed April 15, 1998
Sports Illustrated's NFL writer grades each team's effort in the 1997 draft.
A
NOBODY Sorry, teams. I'm not grading on a
curve.
A-
TAMPA BAY Warrick Dunn is terrific, Reidel Anthony a good-enough No.
2 NFL receiver, Jerry Wunsch a solid right tackle for
years, guard Frank Middleton a keeper. The Bucs have been
very, very smart on two straight draft
weekends.
B+
MIAMI Jason Taylor and Derrick Rodgers are probably the best
front-seven players on the Dolphins today, and Sam Madison
will be a solid NFL
corner.
ARIZONA The Cards got their quarterback of the future in Jake
Plummer in Round 2, a serviceable guard in fourth-rounder
Chris Dishman, a good-value seventh-rounder in defensive
end Mark
Smith.
WASHINGTON Linebacker Greg Jones, plucked in the second round, will
make three Pro Bowls before he retires, and fellow LB Derek
Smith was a super pick one round
later.
B
DALLAS First-round tight end David LaFleur was disappointing in
his rookie year, but three defensive players—linebacker
Dexter Coakley, tackle Antonio Anderson and safety Omar
Stoutmire—may make this a very good draft in
retrospect.
NEW YORK GIANTS Running back Tiki Barber, safety Sam Garnes and third
quarterback Mike Cherry will all have long and productive
careers with the
Giants.
SEATTLE Shawn Springs and Walter Jones should both play in
multiple Pro Bowls, which you would expect from top-six
picks, and sixth-rounder Itula Mili should start at tight
end this
year.
B-
PITTSBURGH Corner Chad Scott played well in December, and front-seven
contributor Mike Vrabel turned out to be a third-round
steal.
HOUSTON Kenny Holmes should be a double-digit sack guy this year,
and Joey Kent should turn into a solid
receiver.
C+
JACKSONVILLE The Jags rebuilt their interior defensive line with
tackles Renaldo Wynn and Seth Payne. Tight end Damon Jones
will be great if he keeps his nose
clean.
ST. LOUIS Surprise! Orlando Pace will be good for a long time.
Surprise! And if Dick Vermeil is correct, guard Ryan Tucker
will be a better player than any linemen the Rams have but
Pace.
ATLANTA Tight end O.J. Santiago and kick returner Byron Hanspard
had impact rookie years, and Santiago would have been
all-something if he didn't get hurt. But corner Michael
Booker, the first-rounder, was eminently
beatable.
C
INDIANAPOLIS The Colts tried to rebuild line in the first two rounds
with Tarik Glenn and Adam Meadows. They failed.
Surprised?
BUFFALO Running back Antowain Smith is a great acquisition for a
team that will live and die on the ground. The rest of this
draft means very
little.
CAROLINA Wideout Rae Carruth needs to be used more. Safety Mike
Minter should be a solid NFL starter. Other than that,
nada.
NEW ORLEANS Guard Chris Naeole will be good once he's not hurt, and
Danny Wuerffel should be a good NFL backup for years.
There's nobody else worth
mentioning.
DETROIT Bryant Westbrook and Kevin Abrams, picked in the first and
third rounds, respectively, should make for a good NFL
corner tandem. Beyond that, a big fat
zero.
GREEN BAY Considering where the Pack picked, getting left tackle
Ross Verba wasn't such a bad move. Green Bay seems to fancy
Darren Sharper at safety. That love affair will be
short-lived.
BALTIMORE Peter Boulware, who led all rookies in sacks, won't be a
12-sack guy consistently, and there's not another impact
player in the 12-pick
bunch.
NEW YORK JETS James Farrior will be a solid if unspectacular NFL player,
but the best player in this nine-man draft will turn out to
be running back Leon Johnson, who was tabbed in the fourth
round.
KANSAS CITY Tony Gonzales could be a Pro Bowl tight end, and
quarterback Pat Barnes should be on someone's roster for a
few years. That's
it.
C-
DENVER
Guard Dan Neil should start this year, but first-rounder
Trevor Pryce has been
disappointing.
OAKLAND Defensive tackle Darrell Russell was an easy pick. There's
only one other interesting prospect: RB-turned-CB Calvin
Branch, a
sixth-rounder.
SAN DIEGO Another weird draft for Bobby Beathard, since only
second-round tight end Freddie Jones figures to be a top
prospect a year
later.
CINCINNATI Reinard Wilson did his best imitation of a lost sheep in
Dick LeBeau's zone blitz system. Good thing 1,000-yard back
Corey Dillon came in Round
2.
MINNESOTA Defensive end Stalin Colinet was the Vikings' best pickup
here, but even he's not an impact player. Where's the
secondary
help?
D
NEW ENGLAND Lot of picks, all of whom still are on the roster. But not
one will turn out better than
average.
SAN FRANCISCO When you figure out how to grade a draft of only three
picks (QB Jim Druckenmiller, FB Marc Edwards,
TE Greg Clark), none of whom appears to be an impact player,
please contact the 49ers front office for a job. Clark
ought to be a good tight end,
though.
CHICAGO Name one player—and don't say Darnell Autry—who will
ever make an impact from this draft. You
can't.
F
PHILADELPHIA Someday Ray Rhodes might just be right about first-rounded
Jon Harris. But the raw defensive end was an awful reach a
year ago, and he's an awful reach
today.
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