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Five things I think I think New Orleans' Jim Haslett is playing with fire
Sports Illustrated's Peter King checks in with a recap of the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft: SEATTLE -- There is only one major surprise of the first round: The New Orleans Saints slapped Ricky Williams in the face by taking Deuce McAllister with their top pick. I know what the Saints will say. The value was too good to pass up. They will say they had McAllister rated -- pick one -- sixth, eighth, ninth or whatever on their board (actually, head coach Jim Haslett said he was the fifth-rated player) and he was by far the best player they had left. I don’t doubt that. But I can’t help but feel this pick was made because Williams is not Haslett’s type of guy. Williams is a strange one, a loner type with few friends who alienated Haslett and cost himself quite a bit of money last year in fines by missing things like run-of-the-mill doctor’s appointments. And the Saints clearly can’t rely on this guy to be healthy for 16 weeks. But was that really the Saints’ biggest need, a co-starting running back and punt-returner? More than a great receiving tight end, Todd Heap of Arizona State, or a Joe Horn alternative at wide receiver like Freddie Mitchell, or one of the very good corners left for a weak secondary? Well, I’ll make this prediction right now: All of us who cover football for a living will be covering an interesting chemistry experiment in Louisiana this year. Now, for the post-first-round Five Things I Think I Think: 1. I think these were the best values in the first round: a. Kenyatta Walker to Tampa Bay at No. 14. Incredible. He’s a more versatile player than Leonard Davis and will cost $1.5 million less per year. b. Nate Clements to Buffalo at 21. Great cover guy and physical enough to be the type of run supporter head coach Gregg Williams demands out of his corners. c. Heap to Baltimore at 31. He’s the best receiving tight end to come out in five years. And he’s got an Ed McCaffery -esque bag of moves too. Now, he’ll need to learn to block. 2. I think the Giants got their man, Will Allen, at cornerback. I just wonder if they had to move up eight spots in trading with Indianapolis. They paid third- and sixth-rounders to move up; last year, they picked Ron Dixon, who returned two kicks for touchdowns in the playoffs this year, and linebacker Dhani Jones, who would have made the team were he not hurt last year. That’s a pretty good pricetag. Allen had better be a starter, and fast. 3. I think the Seahawks mourned the loss of Richard Seymour for a few seconds Saturday. And there’s no question that part of general manager/head coach Mike Holmgren feels bad that he didn’t get a defensive player with one of those two picks. 4. I think Tony Dungy is the happiest man in the NFL right now. He started the day with the 21st pick in the first round. He ended the day with a Pro Bowl left tackle. Those are rare, you know. 5. I think, inching into round two, that the Chargers are very, very lucky. The Drew Brees availability and pick get them off the hook for ditching Michael Vick. Brees, coached right, will be the second coming of Brian Griese. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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