Six of the top players who will be chosen in today’s NFL Draft stood on the corner of 34th Street and 8th Avenue yesterday morning attempting to toss a football through a tire suspended from the facade of the New Yorker hotel.
This might have been as good a method as any to determine who should be the No. 1 pick in a draft that has no overwhelmingly dominant player.
For the record, Cal’s Aaron Rodgers was the only player to hit rubber but he probably won’t be the first player, no less the first quarterback, chosen. Utah’s Alex Smith, who confirmed he does not possess as powerful an arm as Rodgers, likely will be taken by the 49ers, who hold the No.1 overall pick.
We don’t know what caliber head coach San Francisco first-year coach Mike Nolan will be, but we know this: The guy can keep a secret. He told reporters in San Francisco he’s weighing his options but indicated he’d trade the No. 1 pick for the right deal.
Now that’s tipping your hand. Don’t play poker with this guy.
Will Nolan take Smith, Rodgers or Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards? No one knows because Nolan’s not saying.
“Alex Smith is probably the sixth-best player in this draft but he’ll probably go first,” said ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. “[Michigan wideout] Braylon Edwards probably is the best player in the draft, but he won’t be the first player picked. There’s a lot of uncertainly which can make for a very exciting draft.”
Unless, of course, you’re a Jets’ or Giants’ fan. Neither New York team has a first-round pick. The Giants sent their No. 1 to San Diego last season for Eli Manning. The Jets traded their top pick to Oakland for tight end Doug Jolley.
49ers fans wish they weren’t in this predicament for two reasons. First, owning the No. 1 pick stamps your team as the worst in the league. And, secondly, if ever there was a year when the No. 1 pick didn’t generate the buzz of a Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie sighting, this is it.
In a poll taken by the San Francisco Chronicle, only 12 percent of the respondents want the team to take Smith, the San Diego native who led the Utes to an undefeated season.
Rodgers, who starred at Cal, almost was the favorite among San Francisco fans. Thirty-two percent want the 49ers to take the rocket-armed Golden Bear, but 37 percent want the team to trade down.
The problem the 49ers find is no team sees a player so irresistible to trade up. Edwards is the most polished player, but does a wide receiver guarantee a trip to the Super Bowl? Randy Moss never got the Vikings there.
Auburn’s Reggie Brown and Cedric Benson of Texas are powerful, workhorse backs. West Virginia’s Adam Jones and Miami’s Antrel Rolle offer immediate help at corner. USC wide receiver Mike Williams and Auburn back Cadillac Williams can transform offenses from pedestrian to potent.
There is great depth on the defensive line and intriguing players such as Troy State’s Demarcus Ware, Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones, who could play wide receiver, tight end or even linebacker in the NFL.
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NFL draft
Updated order of today’s NFL draft. Giants and Jets do not have first-round picks. Giants pick 43rd overall, Jets 47th (from Oakland) and 57th.
First Round
1. San Francisco
2. Miami
3. Cleveland
4. Chicago
5. Tampa Bay
6. Tennessee
7. Minnesota (from Oakland)
8. Arizona
9. Washington
10. Detroit
11. Dallas-x
12. San Diego (from Giants)
13. Houston
14. Carolina
15. Kansas City
16. New Orleans
17. Cincinnati
18. Minnesota
19. St. Louis
20. Dallas (from Buffalo)
21. Jacksonville
22. Baltimore
23. Seattle
24. Green Bay
25. Washington (from Denver)
26. Oakland (from Jets)
27. Atlanta
28. San Diego
29. Indianapolis
30. Pittsburgh
31. Philadelphia
32. New England
