Grading the Draft

By: Eli Kaberon

The list of rules and rituals I don’t like in pro sports is very brief. In baseball, I don’t like that there’s a foul poll and a foul line when we all know that if a ball lands on either of those barriers, the ball is fair. I find it annoying that NBA refs tend to call a block or a charge whenever there is contact, but seem to always ignore traveling and palming violations. And in football, it makes no sense to me why a quarterback isn’t allowed to be hit after they throw a pass, yet if a QB wants to, he can throw a block on a defensive player with no consequence.

But there is nothing in sports that I dislike more than the NFL’s Annual Selection Meeting. It’s not that I dislike the event more commonly known as the draft; in fact as I wrote in my last column, I tend to enjoy and look forward to it. No, it’s the days following the draft that really gets me riled up.

When I woke up on Monday morning, I followed my normal routine. First I read the newspaper, specifically the sports section. After looking at the Cubs box score and getting an update on the Bulls coaching search, I dove into reading about the players the Bears had selected at the draft over the weekend. It was going well until I reached the bottom of the page, at which point several members of the newspaper’s staff gave a letter grade on the Bears class of 2008. Next to that was a box telling readers to log on to the paper’s website, so they could voice their opinions and give these 12 new players a grade.

Now I have no objection to free speech, and I love reading and hearing various fans opinions. But grading a draft class before the players have even moved to Chicago, much less stepped on Soldier Field, doesn’t make any sense. First graders don’t receive marks by how well nice their sharpened pencils look on the first day, Drivers Ed participants aren’t given a license by their abilities to buckle a seatbelt and students in sex education… well, you get the point.

After reading the newspaper, I went online to see what other people were writing about the draft. And what did I find? More grades. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King had the Bears in his list of “Three Teams I Didn’t Like”, saying, ” There’s a slight chance — maybe 20 or 25 percent, I’d say — that the Bears have their quarterback of the future on the roster in either Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton. Maybe. But whether you believe it or not, you have to admit it’s silly not to backstop the most important position in sports. What is it about the undying love of Grossman that makes Chicago unable or unwilling to turn the page?”

If I can translate correctly, what King is saying that even if the 12 players the Bears took all become quality contributors to a winning team, they still messed up because they failed to draft a QB who will be third on the depth chart.

Yahoo columnist Chris Robinson was equally harsh, giving the Bears a C because, “There are lots of bodies to look at with 12 total picks, but five of them were seventh-rounders.” Wait, so now the team gets punished because they had a lot of picks in the draft’s final round? Wasn’t Saints receiver Marques Colston, who in two NFL seasons has over 2,200 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns, a seventh round pick? Downgrading the team because of where some of the players were chose pretty much contradicts the entire draft grading process, which is to evaluate a players value based on where they were selected.

Instead of grading the current draft class, which includes offensive tackle Chris Williams, running back Matt Forte and wide receiver Earl Bennett, I believe it makes a lot more sense to hand out grades to draft classes who have actually played and made a real impact. I think it takes at least four years for a player to prove if they belong on the NFL level, so that would mean it’s the time for the Bears class of 2004 to be evaluated.

Like they did last Saturday, the Bears had the 14th selection in the 2004 NFL Draft. The draft was deep with talent - Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were taken in ‘04, as well as Pro Bowl players Larry Fitzgerald, Philip Rivers and Sean Taylor (RIP) - but one elite player ended up sliding on draft day. Projected to be one of the top ten selections, Oklahoma defensive tackle Tommie Harris was still on the board at number 14 when the Bears were on the clock. And even though D-tackle was not a number one need for the team, Harris was too good of a player to pass up.

In round two, the Bears found another defensive tackle whose talents exceeded the position of the draft he was still available in. Terry ‘Tank’ Johnson was a beast at the University of Washington, registering 29 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in his three seasons in Seattle, but because of some off the filed problems, he was undrafted at pick number 47 when the Bears chose him. With Harris and Johnson brought on, the Bears finally had interior lineman to not only get to the quarterback, but also keep blockers off of linebacker Brian Urlacher.

The next two rounds, the Bears acquired a couple of players to help them outside the hash-marks. Fresno State wide receiver Bernard Berrian was the third round pick - number 78 overall - and the speedster made an immediate impact as the teams deep threat. Even though he was taken after such illustrious receivers such as Reggie Williams (ninth overall), RaShaun Woods (31st overall) and Derrick Hamilton (one pick before Berrian, 77th overall), Berrian has proved to have the game-breaking abilities that many teams strive for. Following that pick, the team took a chance Texas cornerback Nathan Vasher with the 110th selection. Vasher, who stands only 5′10″ and weights nearly 180 lbs., was labeled too small to make an impact at the pro level, even after dominating at UT. Currently, he is one of only two players from the fourth round of the ‘04 draft to make the Pro Bowl.

With their final picks, the Bears selected linebacker Leon Joe, defensive end Claude Harriott, quarterback Craig Krenzel and cornerback Alfonso Marshall. None of them ever have really made an impact, except for Krenzel, who wound up starting a couple of games in the ‘04 season due to injury and all-around bad play from the quarterbacks.

So how would this draft class be graded? Well Harris is one of the very best at his position in the entire league, but has had injury problems throughout his career. Johnson has dominated at times - remember his sack in overtime versus Seattle in the 2006 Divisional Playoff game - but due to multiple run-ins with the law, he is no longer on the Bears. Berrian was the deep threat the Bears envisioned, but never really became a true number one receiver. That didn’t stop the Minnesota Vikings from paying him like he was, a reason that B.B. now suits up for a division rival. And Vasher is half of one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL and will always be in the league’s record books for having the second longest play in the history of the sport. The last four players taken made little or no contribution, so that affects the grade a bit. But drafting four consecutive players who all made a serious impact in a Super Bowl run is pretty good. So for 2004, I’d give the Bears an A-.

Four years ago, that grade was a B. Sports Illustrated’s Dr. Z, who has been evaluating prospects ever since Adam and Eve played two-hand touch, said the Bears, “will get a spiffy new look from Tommie Harris, the draft’s best interior lineman, and an intriguing second-round tackle named Tank Johnson, who runs a 4.69. That’s right, it’s not a misprint. Beats me how you can carry 304 pounds around that fast without getting a speeding ticket, but I’m sure that Lovie Smith will figure out something creative for this pair of youngbloods.”

The team that got the highest grade at the time of the 2004 draft: the Detroit Lions. Due to picks like wide receiver Roy Williams, running back Kevin Jones and linebacker Teddy Lehman, Dr. Z felt that the Lions were stockpiling talent on their way to a successful season. Since that time though, the Lions have a combined record of 20-43. Jones was a huge bust and is currently unemployed, and because of injury, Lehman never materialized to anything either. Four years later, the Lions A has turned into a D. Which is still a better grade than what I give people who decide to evaluate drafts the day after they’re done.

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Eli Kaberon is a 2005 graduate of Evanston Township High School and currently is attending Columbia College in the loop, majoring in print journalism. A life-long fan of the Cubs, Bears and Bulls, Eli also works as a seat vendor at Wrigley Field and has sold hot dogs to everyone ranging from Bears tight end Greg Olsen to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Eli can be reached at ekaberon@yahoo.com.

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