Tag: 2001 NFL draft

27 Days, 27 Picks: OT Kenyatta Walker

The Bucs gave up two first-rounders for head coach Jon Gruden in 2002, so we go back to 2001 for the next player in our series — one who heard his number called by NFL referees far too often.

In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.

The Bucs would give up their first-round picks in 2002 and 2003 for coach Jon Gruden, so we go back to 2001 for the next player in our series. That player was OT [autotag]Kenyatta Walker[/autotag], who failed to live up to high expectations after the team traded up to select him.

Check out the draft rundown on Walker below:

CBS Sports names Bills’ best draft class of last 20 years

CBS Sports names the Buffalo Bills’ best draft class over the past two decades.

The Bills have drafted a lot of players over the past two decades. Some have worked out, while others… well, not so much.

CBS Sports went back and looked at all those players the Bills picked the past two decades in an exercise to peg each NFL team’s best individual draft class since 2000. For the Bills, it didn’t take long to get to their pick: the 2001 draftees.

Here’s why CBS Sports liked the Bills’ picks that year the best:

A Pro Bowler in 2004, Nate Clements (Round 1) started in 168 regular season games during his career. Aaron Schobel (Round 2) carved out a nine-year career that saw him earn two Pro Bowl nods while tallying 78 sacks. Travis Henry (Round 2), a Pro Bowler in 2004, rushed for 2,794 yards and 23 touchdowns over a two-year span. Ron Edwards (Round 3) made 98 career starts over a 12-year career, while Jonas Jennings (Round 3) started in each of his 75 career games before injuries forced him to retire following the 2008 season. Marques Sullivan (Round 5) and Jimmy Williams (Round 6)  also made quality contributions as Day 3 picks, though the latter’s came with other teams after he failed to make the Bills’ opening roster as a rookie.

A big “what if” from the Bills’ ’01 draft class is linebacker Brandon Spoon (Round 4), a fourth-round pick who recorded 65 tackles, seven tackles for loss and two interception returns for touchdowns as a rookie. Spoon’s career essentially ended the following summer, when he tore his biceps before the start of the 2002 season. Spoon spent that season on injured reserve before being cut by the Bills before the start of the 2003 season. He signed with the Rams the following offseason but suffered a torn hamstring during training camp.

The most impressive thing about Buffalo’s 2001 draft is their top-three picks in Clements, Schobel and Henry. It’s rare that a team hits on all three. Even two of three is a pretty acceptable outcome. Sprinkle in the prior mentioned depth of the Bills’ 2001 draft class, Buffalo certainly had a nice haul here.

In a rebuttal exercise, now let’s look at some contenders for the second-best draft class the Bills have had in this ranking. In 2003, the Bills landed DE Chris Kelsey (Round 2), LB Angelo Crowell (Round 3), and CB Terrence McGee (Round 4), but their top-pick, RB Willis McGahee (Round 1), left something to be desired in his career, mostly due to his injury history.

In the same type of light, the Bills ended up with WR Robert Woods (Round 2), LB Kiko Alonso (Round 2) and WR Marquise Goodwin (Round 3) in 2013, but QB EJ Manuel (Round 1) and his lackluster career highlights that draft class, but that’s some solid depth.

Aside from those two, the next-best classes are the more recent ones. And having said that, we still have to see things play out. However, Buffalo’s current front office led by Brandon Beane has certainly hit on their fair share of draft picks since 2017.

Those to consider are CB Tre’Davious White (2017, Round 1), OL Dion Dawkins (2017, Round 2), LB Matt Milano (2017, Round 5), LB Tremaine Edmunds (2018, Round 1), CB Taron Johnson (Round 4, 2018), DT Ed Oliver (2019, Round 1), and RB Devin Singletary (2019, Round 3). Of course the crown jewel of recent Buffalo draft picks, QB Josh Allen (2018, Round 1), will be the defining selection for the Bills in this time frame.

 

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Giants stick with CB Will Allen in Bleacher Report’s 2001 re-draft

The New York Giants stick with CB Will Allen in Bleacher Report’s 2001 NFL re-draft, but there’s a catch…

With the sports world dark like much of the rest of the country right now, it’s time to delve into what normally would be non-sensical exercises such as revisiting and re-drafting the 2001 NFL Draft.

Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport did just that this week and, in reading it, I found going back in time can be fun. This particular draft was the last year of the league’s old alignment of three divisions in each conference.

In 2002, the NFL would add a 32nd team (Houston) and realign into two conferences consisting of four four-team divisions that were more palatable geographically.

There is only one player remaining in the league from that draft. Have you guessed it? That’s right, Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, who was selected with the first pick in Round 2 (No. 32 overall) by the San Diego Chargers.

Naturally, in Davenport’s re-draft he has Brees going No. 1 overall to the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons, if you remember, selected Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick with that pick.

The New York Giants were the defending NFC Champions in 2001 having lost the Super Bowl earlier that year, 34-7, to the Baltimore Ravens.

The Giants held the 30th overall selection in the 2001 draft but traded three selections to Indianapolis to move up to No. 22 where they selected Syracuse defensive back Will Allen.

They gave the Colts their 2001 first round pick (No. 30, which Indianapolis selected Pro Football Hall of Fame Candidate WR Reggie Wayne), 2001 third round pick (No. 91, Cory Bird) and 2001 sixth round pick (No. 193, Jason Doering).

To fill in the blanks left by that trade, general manager George Young sent the Giants’ second round pick (No. 61 overall) to the Lions for Detroit’s third and fourth rounders. The Lions selected defensive tackle Shaun Rogers of Texas. Rogers would go on to have a stellar NFL career with three Pro Bowl berths. He ended up finishing that NFL career with the Giants by playing two seasons for them in 2012-13.

With the picks from Detroit (Nos. 78 and 114), the Giants selected Western Illinois’ William Peterson (James) and Southern Mississippi defensive end Cedric Scott.

Davenport’s re-draft has the Giants staying put at No. 30 and still landing Allen.

Heading into the 2001 season, the Giants were coming off the high of a Super Bowl run and the low of how that run ended: a 34-7 beatdown at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. The Giants were aggressive during the draft, offering up three picks to move up eight spots to No. 22 and fill a major need with Syracuse corner Will Allen. Here they get him at No. 30.

The problem for the Giants is that this draft class wasn’t strong at cornerback. Every corner in the class of 2001 combined to make one Pro Bowl.

That’s um…not great.

Still, while Allen never made a Pro Bowl and suffered a pair of major knee injuries over his decade-plus in the NFL (not to mention the fraud conviction and prison sentence after his retirement), for quite a few years the 5’10”, 195-pounder was a capable cover man who started 130 games over his career.

He was never great. But he was good for quite a while.

The draft was basically a disaster for the Giants. As Davenport says, Allen was good but not first-round good and certainly not worth trading up for. The Giants found that out over time and allowed him to walk in free agency in 2005.

Peterson (James) played five seasons for the Giants but was plagued by injuries. Scott played nine games as a rookie but did not make the roster the next season and was waived.

Other players selected basically had little or no impact. Fourth rounder Jesse Palmer, a quarterback out of Florida, was out of football after two seasons and headed for a career in television. Fifth round selection K John Markham of Vanderbilt never played in the NFL. Troy WR Jonathan Carter, taken in Round 6, played two seasons with the Giants then two with the Jets. Seventh rounder Ross Kolodziej, DT from Wisconsin, played just two seasons for the Giants.

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