I Hate Mondays: Know Your ABCs

In the coming days, you may see more As, Bs, Cs, Ds, and Fs than you did during your whole period of schooling.

Everyone is a judge when it comes to the NFL draft and everyone loves to grade each team's outcome.

But at the end of the day, all of those opinions amount to less than Tony Mandarich's professional football career.

Right now the biggest scapegoat seems to be the Detroit Lions. Everyone is scoffing at their first-round selection of yet another wide receiver, Mike Williams. For a third consecutive year, Lions General Manager Matt Millen has selected a new target for Joey Harrington with the team's top pick, but this choice seems to be more of a luxury than a need.

It's not the first time we've seen a lavish move like this.

In the 2003 NFL draft, many people gave the Buffalo Bills the same cut-eye when they spent a first-round draft pick on Willis McGahee, even though they had a 1,400-yard running back in Travis Henry on the roster.

In 2001, the New Orleans Saints drafted Deuce McAllister, the same season their franchise running back, Ricky Williams, finally broke through with his first 1,000-yard season.

And last year, the St. Louis Rams picked up Steven Jackson even though Marshall Faulk was still present.

You always have to have a plan B. Injuries, age, and contingents force you to do so.

Some pundits aren't too crazy about the New York Jets and the Denver Broncos passing on marquee players and trading out of the first round, but the Dallas Cowboys were too criticized when they did the same thing last year. With Steven Jackson and Kevin Jones on the board, and the Cowboys in desperate need of a running back, Dallas elected to trade down and still plucked Julius Jones in the second round. He finished with 819 yards in only seven starts, so that seems to have worked out fairly well.

You never know how a draft will turn out, no matter what the critics are chirping right now. Just because a team drafts every player to a position of need doesn't mean those roster fill-ins will actually be dependable.

In 2004, the Indianapolis Colts burned three of their first four selections on defensive players. Have you seen any improvements? The Seattle Seahawks did the same and they still finished with the 26th-ranked defense.

We all want to know tomorrow's information today, but don't write your team off just because some expert says your draft was a bust.

I'm sure you've encountered some Cs or Ds at some point in your scholastic career and you still turned out fine, right?

Analysts and accuracy mix like Mondays and me.

"Education is the process of driving a set of prejudices down your throat." — Martin H. Fischer