2005 NFL Draft

[Don Wassall]

As usual, the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft looks to be overwhelmingly black. Mel Kiper's latest top 25 prospects includes the following white players:

4. Alex Smith, QB
5. Dan Cody, DE
7. Aaron Rodgers, QB
9. Heath Miller, TE
19. Matt Roth, DE

And that's it. DE David Pollack was on Kiper's list but isn't now. An average of about five whites have been drafted in the first round in recent years, far below the ratio of whites drafted by the NBA, and this year looks no different at this point.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Let's hope Mel is wrong about Pollack and maybe one other guy. Hopefully someone will have the guts to pick a white guy in the first round.

 

[caste_System87]

When do u guys think the first white CB, SS, FS will be drafted? Im thinking somewhere between late 2nd or 3rd round. Remember guys dont get your hopes up about any white CBs coming out of the draft this year because they will probley be converted into FS or SS before they get a chance to compete for the job.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Since I'm not a draft guru like mel, I'm not really sure, but I hope one is picked quickly and then used, or developed. I'm tired of seeing pathetic excuses for cornerbacks every Sunday. There is no defense in the nFL anymore.

 

[Don Wassall]

For what it's worth, Kiper has moved David Pollack back into his top 25. He's now listed at #20, making six whites in the top 20 (Smith, Rodgers, Cody, Miller, Roth, Pollack). Though that's just 30 percent it's actually one of the highest ratio of white players in recent years.

 

[Don Wassall]

This draft looks like it's going to be azero for white receivers. Chase Lyman was leading the country in yards per catch before getting injured, but I can't find him anywhere among wide receivers. The highest ranked white one is Lance Moore of Toledo, who is less than 5'10" tall. He might get drafted on the second day. The good news is that all the other ones we were following in '04 were all freshmen, sophs and juniors.

 

[kevin]

cole magner of bolwing green is one of my favorites. he as decent speed and had 90 receptions in his junior year. he did well this year but did not get the reconition he deserved. he was also a basketball player. I think lance moore is black.

 

[Don Wassall]

Lance Moore could well be black. I could only find one picture of him on the Internet, which is inconclusive, and I watched Toledo play one game last season, and again couldn't tell for sure. He's predominantly white at the very least, but in this country the "one drop of black blood and you're a Negro" rule prevails.

 

[kevin]

he is a light stin black he has corn rows too.

 

[Don Wassall]

Maurice Clarett played just his freshman year at Ohio State before trying to use the legal route, unsuccessfully, to make himself eligible for the NFL Draft. He has already received more media attention than most white stars get in their entire professional careers. He showed up at the Combine last year fat and surly. This year he claimed to have worked "20 times harder" than a year ago, yet ran the 40 in 4.72 and 4.82 today, times closer to what offensive linemen are supposed to run rather than tailbacks. Clarett is yet another spoiled, criminally-prone, vastly over-rated and vastly over-hyped black football player.


[url]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft05/columns/story?columnis t=pasquarelli_len&id=2000680 [/url]

 

[jaxvid]

A couple of ways to look at that. One, when Clarett played he ran well. So screw what the watch says and predict him on what he has proven he can do. White players are often victimized by the results of the stopwatch. Two, if the league is to be consistent then Clarett should be forgotten and not given a chance.

I doubt that he will be forgotten. Some team will take a chance on him and he will have an opportunity to prove himself, something that is denied to all white running back prospects.

 

[Don Wassall]

Kiper has moved RB Ronnie Brown of Auburn to his number one NFL prospect. Here's what he writes about Brown:


"Had an outstanding workout at the combine, running the 40 in 4.48 while weighing around 230, which only adds to the already impressive profile Brown has. He showed against several opponents in 2004 that he is one of the most complete backs in the nation, running and catching the ball with equal skill. He averaged over six yards per carry this season and had 34 catches. Brown has the size, instincts, power and quickness to put up unbelievable numbers and would have been a Heisman candidate had he been the clear-cut No. 1 on the depth chart. An explosive powerhouse with speed and strength."


What struck me right away is that Luke Staley and Travis Jervey both weighedclose to230 and both ran even faster than 4.48 coming out of college, and Staley was coming off one of the very best years a college running back ever had. Staley was drafted in the final round and never given a chance, and Jervey was always treated like a joke. They weren't deserving of a chance while a black with similar physical attributes "has the size, instincts, power and quickness to put up unbelievable numbers. . ." and may be the first pick in the draft. If you want to see the essence of the caste system in black and white (pun intended), there it is.

 

[Don Wassall]

Here's some more Caste System-ese from Mr. Mel. Mike Williams the wide receiver from Southern Cal who sat out last season after losing his legal challenge to be in the '04 draft, has moved up to overall prospect number three, even though he only ran a 4.56 at the Combine, which Mel claims is performing adequately. Danny Farmer ran a 4.55 at the Combine yet was universally proclaimed as "slow."


Kiper has dropped Iowa DE Matt Roth in his rankings because "his 40 time was not what many expected at the Combine and he will have to make up for that at his individual workout."Roth ran a 4.77! That's outstanding for a defensive end. In the Caste System, when whites are undeniably, objectively fast they're slow, and when blacks are slow they're fast.

 

[StaleyWasScrewd]

I remember reading one of the scouting reports on Luke Staley coming out of college -- it compared him to Alan Ameche, Craig James, and one other old-school white running back (I believe it may have been Tom Matte, but I'm not certain). This made me furious -- Alan Ameche played in the '50s, for crying out loud! Is Ronnie Brown being compared to, say, Ollie Matson (a black running back from the '50s)? Of course not. This is another way that these scouting "services" marginalize white RBs, WRs, etc. By comparing them to players from the '50s and '60s, they're planting the seed in people's minds that they can't compete with the "modern" NFL athlete.

Also, I thought Mike Williams ran a 4.6 at the combine, not a 4.5.

 

[Don Wassall]

You're right Luke, Kiper even gaveWilliams an extra half second of "speed" on top of the rest of his drooling. Williams ran 4.61 and 4.59 at the Combine.

 

[sport historian]

I remember a Sports Illustrated article about Bengal WR Cris Collinsworth during his rookie year in 1981. Collinsworth was mildly miffed about being compared to Lance Alworth, who had been retired for a decade. Collinsworth said, "I want to be compared to guys like James Lofton." Lofton was, of course, a current player. The writers compared Collinsworth to Alworth because Lance Alworth was the only (fast) white WR they could think of.


When a Michigan State WR named Kirk Gibson was up for the NFL Draft in 1979, the same thing happened. The scouting reports called Gibson a "bigger, stronger Lance Alworth." I saw this in Joel Buschbaum's draft publication. They didn't compare him to his black contemporaries. Funny thing is, I knew that Gibson was white when I read that.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

It's doublespeak at it's worst. One way for whites and another for blacks. Why is it that good white athletes don't get compared to good black athletes? I think it's because then the talking heads and writers would have to admit that the whites are just as good athletes as blacks, and everyone in the Caste System knows that blacks are better athletes than whites, even when they are slower, have worse stats, aren't leaders, and make few good decisions on the field.

 

[Guest]

Hey, I'm a big Madden fan on PS2, and was just looking for some 40 times for players on Madden 2005 when I came accross this blog...I'd consider myself a pretty liberal guy (I got no hate for any race and all that...) but I see a lot oftruthin some of the stuff in here. It does seem like there's some weird discriminatory racial stratification taking place inAmerica's most followed (and therefore politically charged) sport...


anywho...here's predictions for the 2005 draft...


Matt Jones will never play a down of pro ball at QB, and will likely remain a project at WR until his early thirties...


Dustin Fox doesn't have a snowball's chancein hell of getting an even remotely fair chance at CB...will probably languish at FS over in Europe, much like Chris Kern (who was way more athletic than Fox)...Todd Franz, Kevin Kaesviharn,Josh Phillips etc, etc...


Jesse Lumsden will play for the CFL's Stampeders and rip the place up, much like Josh Ranek, Mark Nohra, etc...maybe he'll get a legit shot at a training camp in, like, 2007; scouts will drool over him as a "Hoover-esque" FB, blocking for some smurf scat-back. Maybe he'll take home a couple fat NFL paycheques and call it a career...


I hope I'm wrong, but I give 100-to-1 oddsagainst that any of these guys will fair any better than these projections.

 

[Don Wassall]

Welcome to the board, JerveyGotGypped. I hope your predictions are wrong, but you obviously know your players and how the caste system works.


My predictions: If Matt Jones has the motivation he can be a very good receiver, maybe a great one, because he has such a superior combination of size and athleticism. I think the emergence of Drew Bennett last year will help his cause. But there is still a pretty good chance that one of the NFL's most rigidly pro-caste system organizations drafts him and makes him a tight end.


Fox will be a starting safety within two years. (Kaesviharn is another one who really got the shaft -- from excellent starting cornerback when pressed into duty to backup safety).


I agree with you on Lumsden.

 

[Guest]

I could be off on FOX; admittedly I don't know that much about him, but I guess if he had the 'intangibles' to coerse a football coach in a powerhouse college like Ohio to let him start as a CB, he may just translate that into the NFL...somehow I suspect he'll come in at under 6-feet tall officially, which, I have found, is often the sort of thing that'll help legitimize the marginalization of guys like Chris KERN, Josh PHILLIPS, Tony LUKINS, and Justin GALLIMORE...if you never heard of LUKINS, check this kid out...I believe he's making in-roads in the CFL these days.


I can't think of too many non-black DBs given a shot at under 6 feet; realistically they seem to prefer them over 6'2". John HOWELL, at 5'11" (althoughI see that they now list him 6') was just never really given a shot, nor was Cam WORRELL, Shawn MAYER, Steve GLEASON...etc...if you look down the list of first and even and second & third string DBs, almost all are a good deal over 6'...ARCHULETA being the lone acception...BOWEN (6'2")...MCGRAW (6'3")...LYNCH (6'2")...NICKEY (6'3")...COADY (6'1")...SORENSEN (6'3")...CONNOT (6'3")...KAESVIHARN (listed 6'1"...probably more like 6'2" I'd say)...MCCADAM (6'1"+)...MCGARRAHAN (6'1")...PAGEL (6'1")...SCHWEIGERT (6'1")...


I see that some scouts are listing FOX at 5'10 and 7/8th inch...scouts can really help a prospect out with some favourable measurements in this regard...Bob SANDERS comes to mind as does Mike DOSS...these guys got their heights bumped up some 2+ inches in official releases. The only time I recall a non-black player enjoying similar favour was ARCHULETA who is most definitely not his listed 6 feet in height...


I always really liked "The Human Missile" Tim HAUCK, who, at 5'10" and 185 pounds was a real menace to opposing WRs well into the new millenium...I remember him nailingWAS journeymanIrving FRYARinto retirement, who wasblocking on a runagainstHAUCK's PHI EAGLES back in 2000 (near the end of his over-achieving career.)


Unfortunately, the days of these menacing smurf-sized Safeties seem numbered...

 

[sunshine]

I remember Hauck knocking the heck out of guys. Dustin Fox should be a starter in NFL. At CB we will have to wait and see? Odds of course are poor. Another Fox plays at Xaverian( Christopher)in Boston,class of 2006 and has good wheels. Speaking of missile seeking safeties one of the best was Cowboys Cliff Harris. Terrific all around athlete.

 

[Don Wassall]

Remember Chuck Cecil? He made All Pro at safety with Green Bay in 1992. Somehow he ended up on Arizona the next season. That season theleague fined him several times for very large amounts for "illegal hits." The media then jumped all over Cecil and he was portrayed as the very face of evil in the league, much the way Bill Romanowski has been.


Except in Cecil's case he went from being an All Pro in '92 to being with a different team in '93, to being completely out of the league after that season except for a brief stay with Houston in '95. No one would touch him even though he had proven All Pro ability. He was successfully blackballed out of the NFL at the peak of his career because of his aggressive style of play.

 

[white lightning]

Chuck Cecil was the hardest pound for pound hitter I
have ever seen!He could hit like a battering ram and
could run like a gazelle.I loved watching him and still
have the S.I. that he graced the cover of.I watched him
play at the University of Arizona Wildcats in college.
He had the most amazing interception in the history of
the U of A vs ASU Rivarly Game ever to seal and win the
game.It was probably the greatest int. return in the
history of college football.Go back and watch it guys.
ASU was driving with about a minute to go and was at
around the 10 yard line with a 1st & Goal to go.Cecil
intercepted a pass 4 or 5 yards deep in the end zone
& instead of kneeling down,they could have run out the
clock,he brought it out and ziz zagged all over the
field and ran it back 104 yards for the added insult
touchdown.He was so fast that no one could catch him.
He did it pretty much all on his own and it was so
amazing I will remember the play when I'm 80!What a
great football player!

 

[Guest]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but did Green Bay not often field both safeties Chuck CECIL and Mark MURPHY at the same time back in, like, '90 or '91?


I always liked Kurt SCHULZ at the FS position during his BUF days...maybe somebody here can coroborate this anecdote...I remember one mind-bending hit he put on, I believe it was Eddie GEORGE, during a wild-card game back in 2000. Stopped him dead during a critical point in the game when BUF was behind but trying to mount a comeback...SCHULZ was a guy that never got no respect, from what I could tell...he got dumped the next year, got picked up by the LIONS andmanaged 7interceptions to go with his all-round rough-neck style andgot the snub for ProBowl consideration.

 

[Don Wassall]

You're right about the Packersfielding two white safeties as regulars. Actually I believe they had one before Cecil as well who was paired with Murphy. They were the last team to have two white starting safeties for any length of time.


Don't remember the Schulz anecdote, but I do remember Eddie George being knocked unconscious in a playoff game. That may have been Schulz who nailed him.


The Bills had a tradition of a starting white safety for quite a while -- first Mark Kelso, then Schulz followed by Stevens. Schulz got some respect but not nearly as much as he should have gotten for his overall play. They used to air his big hits on "Prime Time" with Chris Berman doing his Sgt. Schulz imitation from Hogans Heroes.


But Stevensnever got anyrespect whatsoever. A college cornerback with 4.4 speed and excellent athleticism, he bounced around and the teams hewas onwere always mocked for playing him.Edited by: Don Wassall