NFL Draft Breakdown

Five Quick Hits

* The Eagles have a better front office than Minnesota does. Two years ago, the Dolphins traded a second-round draft pick to get A.J. Feeley. This year, the Dolphins traded a second-round draft pick to get Daunte Culpepper.

* Was it just me, or was this year's first round more exciting than last year's?

* If you answered "yes," here's one possible explanation. Last season, it took six hours. This time, it was over in a little more than five. That still doesn't count as quick.

* The Saints entertained trade offers for the second pick and the right to draft Reggie Bush, but after the debacle of the trade Mike Ditka made to obtain Ricky Williams, no team was going to blow them away with a deal.

* Some teams are more active on draft day than others, but Denver makes headlines every year.

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With the first day of the NFL's annual college draft in the books by this writing, winners and losers have already emerged. The first three rounds are where teams make their most significant draft picks, and every year, some teams do better than others.

First-Day Winners

* New Orleans Saints — The number of Google hits for "Sam Bowie" has probably doubled in the last 48 hours. Just as Bowie will always be remembered as the player selected before Michael Jordan, Mario Williams may go down in history as the man chosen before Reggie Bush.

I'm not trying to anoint Bush, but if half the things coaches and scouts have been saying about Bush — the comparisons to Gale Sayers and Marshall Faulk, the "once-in-a-generation talent" lines — are true, then Houston made a huge mistake by passing on Bush, and New Orleans cashed in big-time by getting him.

Deuce McAllister has had injury problems the last couple of seasons, and he hasn't been the same even when he was healthy. Barring something extraordinary, the Saints picked up a major contributor Saturday.

* Arizona Cardinals — Offensive line was a bigger need than quarterback, but if you have any respect for the idea of "best player available," the Cardinals had a great first round. And don't forget, Kurt Warner is only about a year and a half younger than Brett Favre. He hasn't played a full season in four years, and he's not going to be around forever.

* Vince Young — That could have been him sliding down to the 10th spot in the draft. The Titans showed tremendous respect for Young's leadership and athleticism by selecting him ahead of Matt Leinart. Offensive coordinator Norm Chow's relationship with Leinart is well-documented, and even though Chow was just one of several major decision-makers involved in the process, Tennessee's selection of Young has to qualify as at least a minor upset.

* Denver Broncos — If Javon Walker makes a full recovery from the injury that kept him off the field in 2005, he'll be worth much more than a second-round pick. Jay Cutler, the QB Denver traded up to take 11th overall, was evaluated as the best quarterback in the draft by both Ron Jaworski and Steve Young.

* Green Bay Packers — Everybody likes the A.J. Hawk pick, and in the second round they got an offensive lineman to help protect Brett Favre (and whoever plays RB after Ahman Green gets hurt), plus a wide receiver to fill the gap left by Walker.

* The Ohio State University — Five Buckeyes were chosen in the first round alone, and a total of six OSU defenders went on the first day. That's gonna look real nice to recruits.

* New York Jets — Their offensive line got a lot better yesterday. Besides adding D'Brickashaw Ferguson, the consensus top offensive lineman in the draft, the Jets replaced Kevin Mawae with Ohio State's Nick Mangold, a highly-regarded center. They also picked up an extra first-day pick in next year's draft.

* Philadelphia Eagles — The Eagles' coaches and front office would have done handstands in the hallways if you had told them, before the draft, that they would get Brodrick Bunkley and Winston Justice.

Actually, I bet Andy Reid can't even do a handstand. He's a pretty big guy. But he would have been happy.

First-Day Losers

* The University of Southern California — Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, LenDale White, and Winston Justice all went lower than expected.

* Good Role Models — Matt Leinart showed loyalty and restraint — and if you count ballroom dancing, commitment to academics — by coming back to USC in 2005, and as a reward, he lost millions of dollars in draft position. It could have been worse, though (see Rodgers, Aaron).

* LenDale White — After the Rose Bowl, he was projected as a top-10 pick. Then he showed up to workouts out of shape and raised character concerns, so he fell to Tennessee 45th overall. That makes Leinart's slide look like nothing.

* Buffalo Bills — Donte Whitner may turn out to be a great player, and I'm not criticizing the Bills for taking him. I am criticizing them for taking him eighth overall. Unless Buffalo's front office knew something no one else did, they could have traded down several spots — probably at least five — and picked up another first-day pick without losing Whitner.

* Washington — No team mortgages the future so consistently. The team obviously likes Rocky McIntosh, and probably hopes he'll replace LaVar Arrington. But to get him, they gave up two second-round picks and a sixth-rounder.

* Marcus Vick — No one really expected him to go on the first day, but I wanted to include his name here anyway.

Tweeners

* New England Patriots — A running back, a wide receiver, and a tight end? That doesn't sound like the Patriots I know. Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson were both nice pickups, though, and Jackson, especially, was a good value with the pick (36th overall).

* Philadelphia Eagles — Okay, so I know I already called them winners, since they got two top prospects who were good values for the picks. But the Eagles also did nothing to address deficiencies at wide receiver and a complement for Brian Westbrook. I guess they're counting on Bruce Perry at running back, but if they don't trade for Ashley Lelie, I don't know what the plan is at receiver.

* Pittsburgh Steelers — They got Santonio Holmes and Anthony Smith to replace Antwaan Randle El and Chris Hope. Holmes is a wonderful talent, and I think the Steelers are thrilled to have gotten him, but they gave up a lot to move up and take him (third- and fourth-round picks). And don't forget that Randle El was a quality returner and a perfect fit for Pittsburgh's multi-dimensional offensive sets. Hope left bigger shoes than Smith is likely to fill.

* Joseph Addai — The good news is that he went higher than projected and he'll be with a good team. The bad news is that he'll have the pressure of replacing Edgerrin James.

* Houston Texans — Some serious benefit of the doubt is the only reason they're here instead of with Marcus Vick and Daniel Snyder. In order for their selection of Williams not to be mocked for years, several things have to pan out. First, Williams has to be great. Like, all-pro great. Healthy-Julius-Peppers great. Second, Bush must be revealed as a drastically overhyped failure, or suffer a career-ending injury during mini-camp. Third, Young has to be out of the league in five years, or David Carr has to start making Pro Bowls.

Charley Casserley and the rest of the team's front office made a very bold, very unusual move by taking Williams. It was a huge risk from a football standpoint — passing on players with the potential of Bush and Young — and it was terrible, terrible P.R.

The main justification for listing Houston as a tweener is that they addressed a need. The team remains committed to Carr, and in Domanick Davis they have a talented, top-10 running back who plays the same sort of role Bush would have. Williams should be an immediate contributor to a team that last season had the worst scoring defense in the NFL.