2000 NFL Draft do-over = Plaxico over Warrick?

[|BlackJesus|]

2000 NFL Draft do-over: Cleveland Browns take Tom Brady

By Bryan Fischer

College Football 24/7 writer

Published: April 16, 2015 

 

For many, April 16 is a day like any other outside of the cold realization that they just had to pay their taxes the day before. The date is special for the New England Patriots, however, because it's head coach Bill Belichick's birthday -- he's 63 this year -- and the anniversary of the day they drafted quarterback Tom Brady back in 2000.

 

In honor of the 15th anniversary of the day the Pats drafted Brady, let's take a trip back to the 2000 NFL Draft and see how some franchises would do things over with the benefit of hindsight.

 

1. Cleveland Browns

Pick: Courtney Brown
Do-over: Tom Brady
The skinny: Two decades of frustration at the quarterback position could have been wiped off the board with the selection of a then-skinny signal-caller from Michigan who wound up being one of the greatest players in NFL history.

 

2. Washington Redskins

Pick: LaVar Arrington
Do-over: Same
The skinny: The Redskins selected a Pro Bowl linebacker who policed the NFC East for several good seasons and was a team leader. Injuries cut short Arrington's career, but he was rock solid for the team's defense while wearing burgundy.

 

3. Washington Redskins

Pick: Chris Samuels
Do-over: Same
The skinny: Samuels was one of the premier left tackles coming out of Alabama and made six Pro Bowls as the anchor of the Washington offensive line.

 

 

4. Cincinnati Bengals

Pick: Peter Warrick
Do-over: Plaxico Burress
The skinny: The Bengals' offense was atrocious at times and needed weapons to help out previous No. 1 overall pick Akili Smith. Warrick wasn't the answer, but a big target like Burress might have been. Taking Burress would also have taken a key contributor away from division rival Pittsburgh.

 

 

5. Baltimore Ravens

Pick: Jamal Lewis
Do-over: Brian Urlacher
The skinny: Lewis was a key member of the team's run to a Super Bowl title as a rookie and formed a good tandem with Priest Holmes. Still, given the offseason trouble that Ray Lewis had that year, it would have made sense for the Ravens to draft Urlacher and add him to one of the best defenses in NFL history alongside Lewis.

 

6. Philadelphia Eagles

Pick: Corey Simon
Do-over: Jamal Lewis
The skinny: Simon had a solid run in Philadelphia, but Lewis would have put up big numbers for the Eagles while taking the pressure off the offensive line and quarterback.

 

7. Arizona Cardinals

Pick: Thomas Jones
Do-over: John Abraham
The skinny: Abraham could have wound up in Arizona a little earlier than he actually did in his career, and would have provided a boost to one of the worst defenses in the league.

 

8. Pittsburgh Steelers

Pick: Plaxico Buress
Do-over: Julian Peterson
The skinny: Peterson and Joey Porter would have been a tough linebacker tandem for years to come.

 

9. Chicago Bears

Pick: Brian Urlacher
Do-over: Keith Bulluck
The skinny: With their franchise player off the board, the Bears turn to another player who manned the linebacker spot for years in Bulluck.

 

10. Baltimore Ravens

Pick: Travis Taylor
Do-over: Shaun Alexander
The skinny: Ozzie Newsome loves his Alabama players, and Alexander would have filled the void left by not taking Jamal Lewis with an earlier pick.

 

11. New York Giants

Pick: Ron Dayne
Do-over: Bubba Franks
The skinny: Dayne had a solid start to his career in New York as a complement to Tiki Barber, but Franks would have given Kerry Collins another reliable target in the passing game.

 

12. New York Jets

Pick: Shaun Ellis
Do-over: Same
The skinny: The long-time Jets pass rusher stays in green.

 

13. New York Jets

Pick: John Abraham
Do-over: Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila
The skinny: The Jets trade one defensive end for another and have KGB form a fearsome defensive line duo with Ellis.

 

14. Green Bay Packers

Pick: Bubba Franks
Do-over: Chad Clifton
The skinny: With Franks off the board, Ron Wolf has to use the team's first-round pick to grab Clifton (whom they took in the second round in the actual draft) before another team does.

 

15. Denver Broncos

Pick: Deltha O'Neal
Do-over: Same
The skinny: O'Neal had a solid career and found early success for the Broncos on special teams.

 

16. San Francisco 49ers

Pick: Julian Peterson
Do-over: Adalius Thomas
The skinny: With Peterson in Pittsburgh, the 49ers grab the versatile Thomas to secure their linebacking corps.

 

17. Oakland Raiders

Pick: Sebastian Janikowski
Do-over: Same
The skinny: It probably speaks to the lack of depth in the 2000 draft that Janikowski remains here, but let's face it -- Al Davis would have still made this pick in a do-over.

 

18. New York Jets

Pick: Chad Pennington
Do-over: Same
The skinny: Pennington had a solid time in New York, and it's not like there are more appealing options at quarterback in this draft unless they traded all those first-rounders in order to snag Brady at No. 1.

 

19. Seattle Seahawks

Pick: Shaun Alexander
Do-over: Thomas Jones
The skinny: Jones had an underrated NFL career and would be a nice substitute for the Seahawks in place of Alexander.

 

20. Detroit Lions

Pick: Stockar McDougle
Do-over: Marvel Smith
The skinny: Smith was a key part of the Steelers' offensive line that helped win the team another Super Bowl and would have been a decent upgrade over McDougle.

 

21. Kansas City

Pick: Sylvester Morris
Do-over: Laveranues Coles
The skinny: Swap out one wideout for another who was far more productive in the NFL.

 

22. Seattle Seahawks

Pick: Chris McIntosh
Do-over: Shaun O'Hara
The skinny: O'Hara's addition would have solidified the interior of an already strong Seahawks offensive line.

 

23. Carolina Panthers

Pick: Rashard Anderson
Do-over: Mike Brown
The skinny: Brown maybe should have gone higher based on his stellar career but winds up patrolling the Panthers secondary.

 

24. San Francisco 49ers

Pick: Ahmed Plummer
Do-over: Same
The skinny: Plummer had his moments in the Bay Area before injuries caught up to him.

 

25. Minnesota Vikings

Pick: Chris Hovan
Do-over: Same
The skinny: Hovan was a big man in the middle of the Vikings defense for five seasons before moving on to Tampa Bay.

 

26. Buffalo Bills

Pick: Erik Flowers
Do-over: Marc Bulger
The skinny: It took a while before Bulger found success with the Rams, but he would have been a nice, solid long-term option for the Bills, given their issues at quarterback starting in 2000.

 

27. New York Jets

Pick: Anthony Becht
Do-over: Same
The skinny: Becht was a reliable target in New York for years.

 

28. Indianapolis Colts

Pick: Rob Morris
Do-over: Adewale Ogunleye
The skinny: Amazing to think that Ogunleye went undrafted back in 2000. In our do-over, he goes to the Colts and provides a big pass-rushing boost.

 

29. Jacksonville Jaguars

Pick: R. Jay Soward
Do-over: Dante Hall
The skinny: The Jaguars don't have a stellar record of picking receivers in the first round, but at least in Hall they would get somebody who was productive on offense and a game-changer in the return game.

 

30. Tennessee Titans

Pick: Keith Bulluck
Do-over: Ian Gold
The skinny: The Titans land a nice replacement for Bulluck in the underrated Gold and fill a hole at linebacker.

 

31. St. Louis Rams

Pick: Trung Candidate
Do-over: Courtney Brown
The skinny: The No. 1 pick that year had plenty of talent, so maybe the injury bug doesn't derail him in St. Louis like it did in Cleveland.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000485857/article/2000-nfl-draft-doover-cleveland-browns-take-tom-brady

[|BlackJesus|]

I DISAGREE, I'd defend the pick which I thought was the right one for the Bengals at the time (this wasn't taking Akili over Ditka's whole draft) ... Warrick was an AMAZING college football player, the most electrifying one ever perhaps, and my favorite collegiate player of all time actually. I was elated when the Bengals got him at 4, as many thought he could go #1.

 

It's a shame he was on some bad teams and had the injury. I wonder what could have been?

(The year before his injury In 2003 he had 819 yds and 7 TD's.)

 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1KfXUen5G4[/media]

[|BlackJesus|]

Announcer: "He's going to be the number one draft pick, he's going to get a ring!"

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTWgjNI1WFY[/media]

[|BlackJesus|]

1. Cleveland Browns

Pick: Courtney Brown
Do-over: Tom Brady
The skinny: Two decades of frustration at the quarterback position could have been wiped off the board

 

That's FITTING ...

 

 

[Big Alice]

Peter Warrick wasn't big enough or fast enough to be a star in the NFL.  I was sure of it before the draft, but prayed the Bengals would get lucky and Warrick would be something really special.  Hell, I still own a couple really cool pieces of PW memorabilia.  

 

2000 is a perfect example of what the NFL Draft really is.  I vividly remember that the consensus was 2000 would be one of the great wide receiver drafts of all-time.  With Warrick, Burress, Travis Taylor, and Jerry Porter at the top...  Then were small school guys like Todd Pinkston and Sylvester Morris that were going to light it up...  R.J. Soward, Darrell Jackson, Dez White...  Yeah, right.  The draft is as much crapshoot as it is science.  And he hype machine never stops.

[scharm]

Not all draft classes are created equal no matter how excited people get on draft day. First impression of that list seems to be very thin even using hindsight to find successful players like Brady.