FanHouse Rashaun Woods

Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Both sides had good intentions, but for one reason (too many dropped passes) or another (refusing to pay a player who attends his grandmother's funeral), it probably makes sense to part ways and start over.

And that sounds like what the Vikings plan to do with their seventh-overall pick from the 2005 draft, Troy Williamson, the guy who was supposed to replace Randy Moss.

After three weeks on the inactive list, Williamson returned to action Sunday night and caught five passes for 39 yards in Minnesota's 32-21 loss to Washington, but this has been another disappointing season for the former No. 1 draft choice.

With just 18 receptions and one touchdown this season, Williamson has been a non-factor in the passing game, where Robert Ferguson and rookie Sidney Rice have passed him by.

And then there was the whole funeral fiasco, where Williamson was docked a game check before the organization thought better of fining a guy for grieving a lost family member.

I've long been of the opinion that tall wide receivers were overrated. Sure, Randy Moss is 6-4 and if you block out the two years he spent in Oakland, he's arguably one of the best wideouts to ever run a route. But that's exactly my point: Moss's jaw-dropping ability skews the perception. For every Moss, there are countless counterexamples.

Take the 2004 draft, for example. Larry Fitgerald and Roy Williams were the first two wide receivers off the board, both are 6-2 or taller, and by any sensible measure, both are really good at their jobs. But four of the next wideouts taken in the first round have been duds, and all are at least 6-2: Reggie Williams, Michael Clayton, Michael Jenkins, and Rashaun Woods.

Like any position, drafting a receiver is a crap shoot. But just because a pass catcher is tall, doesn't automatically give an advantage over his shorter counterpart. There's a little more to being a complete wideout than the perception that some 6-5 guy would make a good red-zone target.

So with that as a backdrop, how has this year's first-round crop of wideouts fared? Surprisingly well, especially for the above-six-feet crowd (Player, height, receptions, yards, average, touchdowns):

Calvin Johnson (6-5, 10, 189, 18.9, 2)
Ted Ginn (5-11, 1, 15, 15.0, 0)
Dwayne Bowe (6-2, 18, 299, 16.6, 3)
Robert Meachem (6-2, 0, 0, 0.0, 0)
Craig Davis (6-1, 7, 54, 7.7, 1)

Not too shabby. Ted Ginn has gotten off to a rocky start (though nowhere near as rocky as Robert Meachem), but that's not all on him. For the other guys, pretty impressive ... historically speaking, anyway.

Oklahoma State's Donovan Woods will line up in his fourth position in as many years this fall. The 6-2, 225-pound Woods has previously been a quarterback, free safety and strong safety for the Cowboys. In 2007, he will line up at the modestly-named "star" position. According to OSU coaches becoming a Star means being utilized as a linebacker/safety hybrid.

"We did it a lot at Ohio State," said new defensive coordinator Tim Beckman following the Cowboys' 94-play situational scrimmage on Friday. "It's just one position where we can utilize him."

Donovan is keeping a positive mindset, which is refreshing in a time of rampant "me first, gimme, gimme" attitudes in college sports.

"Plans change," Woods said. "Only one person has the true plan for us, so I kind of look at it that way." "I knew I had the potential to play a lot of positions," Woods said. "I can look at it and say, 'Wow, I really have played four positions in four years,' but I'm continuing to get an opportunity. I'm thankful for that."

And you can't blame the Cowboys for attempting to utilize Donovan anyway they can. He is after all, the last of the long line of Woods brothers to come through Stillwater. Donovan was preceded at Oklahoma State by siblings Rashaun and D'Juan, who are both in the top five in receptions and receiving yards for the Cowboys.

We all know that Nolan is the Monty Hall of the NFL, and that if he had the opportunity to trade his grandmother, he would. I wanted to take a look around the league and see how the crop of players Nolan traded away have fared through the first week of the season. We'll continue to check periodically throughout the season to see who ended up with the better end of the deals, so far the advantage goes to the 49ers.

Kevan Barlow: Barlow was perhaps the only player to actually contribute anything worthwhile to his team. He finished the day against the Titans with a whopping 35 yards and one touchdown. It was nice to see he kept his rushing average right around three yards per carry.

Ken Dorsey: Sunday against the Saints, Dorsey was 3 for 3 in origami swans, and managed to stay within the lines while coloring.

Brandon Lloyd: Lloyd opened the season on primetime, his chance to shine. He finished the evening with zero catches, but he did manage to write some new verses for his next rap album.

Cody Pickett: Well considering he didn't make the Texans squad, the 49ers didn't receive anything, so in a sense he was released. Pickett is currently working as a rodeo clown, and bussing tables at the local Bob's Big Boy.

Tim Rattay: Sunday against the Ravens, Rattay was inactive. Rumors are he gave Gruden's Hummer a nice detailing.

Mike Rumph: Rumph also opened the season on primetime, he managed to record three tackles and not get hurt.

Jamie Winborn: Winborn did see some action against the Ravens, but he produced nothing, however he did help out Rattay and rotated Gruden's tires.

Rashaun Woods: Woods is currently out of football, he was seen over the weekend participating in Turtle Wax's Bass Fishing 3000. He finished fourth by the way.

After watching the 49ers performance on Sunday, the early consensus is that the 49ers haven't lost out on trading away any of these players. Now if they could somehow manage to trade Kwame Harris...