Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.
Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.
Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.
This is how you know it's the dregs of the NFL offseason. Teams still have glaring needs to fill, and as the demand for talent far outweighs the supply, inevitably people look at the best of what's left and allow themselves to get overly zealous about a mediocre player. "Savior" talk ensues.
Ex-Raider tackle Barry Sims isn't a bad player. And with offensive line depth at a premium, it makes sense that multiple teams would be interested. But good enough to call his own shots? With the choice of going to the 49ers, Rams, Ravens, or Patriots, Sims has agreed to a two-year deal with San Francisco.
The decision came down to playing time, and he concluded that the 49ers' offensive line situation is more unsettled than St. Louis' (a damning statement, to say the least). He's currently be backing up Jonas Jennings at right tackle, but Jennings has missed 27 games in the last three seasons and is recovering from ankle surgery. Besides, Sims has faced challenges before, besting three top prospects (Mo Collins, Matt Stinchcomb, and Robert Gallery) for the starting job at left tackle in Oakland after going undrafted. There's a very real chance he'll start.
Which most likely means the team is giving up on Chico Rachal as a bookend. It also means that Sims, a casualty of a 4-12 team and a member of some of the worst offensive lines in recent history, will bear the brunt of expectation in San Francisco. Gotta love the offseason.
Pro Football Weekly's "The Way We Hear It" column is basically some dude combing the local papers for underreported tidbits, but "The Way We Hear It From Our Intern Who Read It in the Local Paper," isn't quite as pithy (or catchy!).
Sources say Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell may not get many chances to display his rocket arm on deep pass plays this season. The Raiders' lack of depth at offensive tackle was glaring at recent OTAs. Backup OTs Seth Wand and Mario Henderson were getting plenty of work behind OLT Kwame Harris and ORT Cornell Green, who were practicing with the first unit. Russell should face a steady diet of defenders creeping in from the edges in his first full year as the team's starter and will likely have to settle for check-down passes since there may not be time for receivers to get open downfield.
Obviously, the team needs to move Robert Gallery back to tackle. He's thisclose to finally "getting it." Actually, all that would do is prematurely end Russell's NFL career, and the next thing you know Al Davis would be introducing Aaron Brooks as the Raiders' QB of the future.
There were some pre-draft concerns that Michigan left tackle Jake Long might never be a perennial Pro Bowler at the position in the NFL. Many draftniks declared him better suited for the right side. If only somebody had spoken up about Robert Gallery before the Raiders used the second-overall pick on a guy who now plays guard.
The Dolphins seem unfazed by all the blathering, and the left tackle job is Long's to lose. So far, so good. Not only is head coach Tony Sparano happy with Long's progress, but the guy he's replacing fully supports the move.
"Aw, man. Jake Long is a hard worker," Vernon Carey said. "He listens to the coaches. He listens to me. He's always trying to get better.
"He's one of those guys, he can come out here one day and do it bad and then the next day he picks it up right quick. I'm like, 'Wow. I wish I had it like that.' He's a guy who can pick up things real good. That's what you need at this level."
Yes, after a 1-15 showing, that, along with a bunch of other stuff, is what you need. Now all that's left to do is find a quarterback and pray Jason Taylor turns down that movie role.
NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason. 1. Offensive Tackle. The Rams have been lucky to have an incredible franchise left tackle for the last 11 seasons, and his play did as much for The Greatest Show on Turf as anyone else. But Orlando Pace has been ludicrously brittle the last two years and, at 32, can't really be depended on anymore. The drop-off in production without Pace has been glaring. On the other side, Alex Barron has been disappointing as a first-round pick; there's so much yellow cloth at Barron's feet on gameday that you'd think he stuffed his jersey with Terrible Towels. In the last four years, Barron ranks behind just Robert Gallery in penalties. On top of the starters, after all of the injuries the Rams endured on the line last year, depth should be considered critical. The easy and obvious answer is Jake Long, who should be available when the Rams pick second. Long can play both sides, which certainly helps, and he can immediately take over for Pace should something happen. If the team needs further depth, Kwame Harris or Damien Woody could be affordable options, and Woody triples as a possible guard and center.
The Chicago Tribune's Vaughn McClure, with the help of an NFL executive, connects the dots on where soon-to-be Bears free agents, linebacker Lance Briggs and wideout Bernard Berrian, might end up next season. Both have roots in California which has fueled speculation that the Bay Area could be a likely 2008 destination.
Seeing that Patrick Willis was just named Defensive Rookie of the Year, and San Francisco spent gobs of dough for cornerback Nate Clements last off-season, it's clear the team is intent on improving the defense. And for all of head coach Mike Nolan's shortcomings, he's done exactly that. Adding Briggs would obviously improve things.
As for Berrian, who's considered the best available free-agent option at wide receiver (with Patrick Crayton signing his new deal and assuming Randy Moss stays in New England), Oakland seems like a good fit. Al Davis is all about the vertical passing game. Berrian can run like the nobody's business, and JaMarcus Russell can throw it out of the stadium. Seems like a pretty good match. Of course, it's hard to execute a seven-step drop when the offensive line is chock full of holes, but this has to be the year Robert Gallery finally puts it all together.
While the JaMarcus Russell melodrama extends beyond training camp, the Raiders are moving forward. And not just going through the motions, as has been the case the last few seasons, but actually looking like a team that is improving. Novel idea, that.
One of the encouraging story lines to come out of yesterday's 26-21 loss to the 49ers was the play of the offensive line. Usually, that discussion begins and ends with the "Robert Gallery is a bust" diatribe, but the unit was impressive against San Francisco.
My lord, they blocked. And blocked well. They blocked for the pass. They blocked for the run. They not only blocked efficiently, but dare it be said that the Raiders actually looked to be kicking a little butt against the dudes in red.
Normal preseason rules apply -- don't read too much into games that don't count -- but this is a team that won twice last year. And things were so good, Andrew Walter actually looked like a quarterback:
Playing behind first-unit tackles Barry Simms and Cornell Green, guards Robert Gallery and Cooper Carlisle and center Jake Grove, the third-year quarterback actually had a chance to operate ... and did.
Walter finished 9 of 15 for 78 yards and a pick, which are Hall of Fame numbers compared to his previous efforts. More impressive was Daunte Culpepper. He led the Raiders down the field on a nine-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, and threw another touchdown later in the game for good measure.
A competent o-line can go a long way in masking quarterbacking issues (just ask Rex Grossman). If Culpepper is just at 75 percent, but has time in the pocket, that will be more than enough to guarantee the Raiders top last year's win total. Yeah, it's not much, but it's a start.
Last week, the FanHouse's Adam Rank wrote that it's way too early to give up on Robert Gallery. The second-overall pick in the 2004 draft has played for three head coaches in as many seasons and he's been shuttled from one tackle position to the other. Rank suggests putting "Gallery at left tackle and let him develop some consistency this year and the Raiders should finally be reward for their No. 2 pick..."
Bad things happen when the Raiders ignore Rank's advice and, well, just read this:
The biggest news Wednesday at an organized team activity practice was the sight of Robert Gallery playing exclusively at left guard.
Virtually all first-team repetitions had the same alignment _ Barry Sims at left tackle, Gallery at left guard, Jake Grove at center, Cooper Carlisle at right guard and Paul McQuistan at right tackle.
Gallery adds: "They're just trying to find the best five guys and get all those guys at some position... We were told they're gonna try different things. Obviously they're trying to make their minds up. All I'm worried about is being the best pro player I can be."
Maybe it's for the best, but jeebus, that's a lot of money for a guard. Obviously, it's only May, and a lot can change before the regular season, but even the idea of moving Gallery suggests the organization ain't particularly pleased with his career to date. I mean, you don't see Jonathan Ogden, or Walter Jones taking reps at guard; they're left tackles until the day they retire.
New head coach Lane Kiffin said the move "could be permanent," but that the team is "looking at a lot of different options..." If this makes it less likely that JaMarcus Russell (or whoever) gets "Andrew Walter-ed" on a weekly basis, it's the right move. Still, that's a lot of cap space devoted to one of the lowest paid positions, on average, in the league.
The Oakland Raiders have zeroed in on a veteran quarterback they would like to acquire while they ponder the possibility of drafting LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell.
Oakland has entered into trade negotiations with Detroit Lions backup quarterback Josh McCown, who signed last season with the idea of being a starter, but lost the job early to Jon Kitna.
Now, this could be nothing more than looking for a backup quarterback since, you know, the club released Aaron Brooks and Marques Tuiasosopo is now a New York Jet. Unless the Raiders think Andrew Walter is all the depth they need at quarterback -- and he can make it through another 150-sack season -- looking for depth is probably a good idea.
I don't know if this means anything about who the Raiders might take with the first-overall pick -- both Walter and McCown have been uninspiring as starters -- but as the draft approaches, the speculation grows that the team might take wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
Yeah, the team has Randy Moss and Jerry Porter -- and no one to throw them the ball -- but Johnson is the most likely can't-miss top-5 pick. Quarterbacks are notoriously wishy-washy, and I won't mention Wisconsin tackle Joe Thomas as can't-miss since Raiders fans have heard that before.
These are always fun, even if they are sometimes misguided. Anyway, Matt Pitzer of USA Todaylists the 10 worst first-round picks from the 2004 draft. Amazingly, Oakland's Robert Gallery tops the list, even though Rashaun Woods and Ahmad Carroll are already out of the league. Granted, Gallery was the second-overall pick, and he was supposed to be a can't-miss prospect, so I can kinda understand Pitzer's thinking here.
Jags wideout Reggie Williams is second on the list, primarily because he's been an unmitigated bust and was taken ninth overall. I'd suggest blaming Jacksonville's front office on this one; nobody else on the planet thought Williams was a top-10 pick -- including Williams -- and just because the Jaguars goofed doesn't mean Williams should take all the blame. Maybe just half.
It's hard to disagree with picks 3-9, and Pitzer wraps things up with Kellen Winslow. You know, the guy who can't ride a bicycle but insists on doing wheelie's on his crotch rocket. The thing is, Winslow would probably be one of the best tight ends in the league if he was never injured. And to be fair, he got hurt his rookie season actually playing in a real live NFL game, so in addition to making really dumb decisions, he's also been unlucky. I have no idea what Robert Gallery's excuse is.
This is how you know it's the dregs of the NFL offseason. Teams still have glaring needs to fill, and as the demand for talent far outweighs the supply, inevitably people look at the best of what's left and allow themselves to get overly zealous about a mediocre player. "Savior" talk ensues.
Pro Football Weekly's "The Way We Hear It" column is basically some dude combing the local papers for underreported tidbits, but "The Way We Hear It From Our Intern Who Read It in the Local Paper," isn't quite as pithy (or catchy!). 
There were some pre-draft concerns that Michigan left tackle 
NFL Offseason Roadmap
Last week, the FanHouse's Adam Rank wrote that it's 
This, if not interesting, is 
These are always fun, even if they are sometimes misguided. Anyway, Matt Pitzer of USA Today 
