2004 NFL Draft – Syndication Server

27 Days, 27 Picks: WR Michael Clayton

Our next player in the 27 Days, 27 Picks series had a very productive first year with the Bucs, but quickly fizzled after.

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.

Our next player in the series was a dynamic player out of LSU who initially showed some promise in his first year. He was never able to replicate that success, however, and his career in Tampa Bay ultimately fell far short of expectations.

Check out the draft rundown on WR [autotag]Michael Clayton[/autotag] below:

Giants legend Eli Manning finally opens up about 2004 draft day trade

New York Giants legend Eli Manning finally opens up about the 2004 NFL draft and why he didn’t want to play for the then-San Diego Chargers.

A lot of the Eli Manning hatred stems from Draft Day 2004 when the San Diego Chargers selected him first overall even though he had informed them he did not wish to play for them.

You know the rest. Eli was traded to the Giants for Philip Rivers and three draft picks and to this today there are some who believe the Chargers won out on the deal.

17 years later, we know who actually made out and who didn’t in the deal. The Chargers had their chances to win championships and did not take advantage of them. The Giants did. That has added to the ire and vitriol that’s been unfairly directed at Manning over the years.

During the Season 3 premiere of 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt, Eli explains the thought process and timeline of his decision back then and that his dad, Archie, had little influence on his actions.

Why didn't @EliManning want to play for the Chargers? The former NFL QB explains on '#10Questions With @KyleBrandt.' pic.twitter.com/lygIDWxLBt

— The Ringer (@ringer) October 6, 2021

“It was my decision having talked with my agent, coaches, GMs and owners. Going through the draft process, I was just worried about the Chargers organization at the time. I felt it was the right decision and I had a little pull,” Manning said.

“I quietly tried to say ‘hey, please don’t draft me, it can be our secret,’ and they didn’t keep the secret part very well. It wasn’t my Dad. He was trying to take the heat off of me, he knew I was going to get criticized. After that, the Chargers turned it around, they got Shawne Merriman, then Drew Bress started playing great, then Philip (Rivers) started playing great, they went to AFC Championship Games, they’re making playoffs and turned things around.”

2004 named Giants’ best draft class of past 20 years

CBS Sports recently named 2004 the New York Giants’ best draft class of the past 20 years, but we at Giants Wire disagree.

Many critics have been high on the New York Giants’ drafts since Dave Gettleman took over the team as general manager in late 2017. They have been systematically restocking their roster with young talent and have added a few stars in the process.

But how does it stack up against the team’s recent draft performances? What was the Giants best draft class of the past 20 years?

Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports believes the 2004 class, the one which the Giants selected Philip Rivers fourth overall and then shipped him and three draft picks to San Diego in exchange for Eli Manning, was that class.

The Giants spent the No. 1 overall pick on longtime star quarterback Philip Rivers, only to trade him to the Chargers in exchange for Eli Manning, who went on to set just about every Giants passing record while also leading Big Blue to two Super Bowl wins over Bill Belichick’s Patriots.

New York spent their second-round pick on guard Chris Snee, who enjoyed a 10-year career with the Giants that included four Pro Bowl selections and an All-Pro nod in 2008. Defensive back Gibril Wilson played a significant role on the Giants’ 2007 championship team, recording 92 tackles and four interceptions during the regular season. Running back Derrick Ward rushed for a career-high 1,025 yards in 2008 while averaging a league-best 5.6 yards per carry, a banner season for a former seventh-round pick.

The trade for Manning alone makes this draft special. Manning went on to play 16 seasons for the Giants, leading them to two Super Bowl championships, broke and/or set just about every franchise passing record while not missing a game to injury. His 236 games player are the most by player in Big Blue’s 95-year history.

In Round 2, they grabbed Chris Snee, another Ring of Honoree and a staple on the offensive line for a decade. They also snared Reggie Torbor, Gibril Wilson and Derrick Ward in this draft.

My pick would have been the next season, 2005, when they only had four picks. They drafted Corey Webster in Round 2, Justin Tuck in Round 3 and Brandon Jacobs in Round 4. Wow.

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In historic 2004 Bills re-draft, a much different route is picked

The Buffalo Bills in Bleacher Report’s 2004 NFL Draft re-draft.

The 2004 NFL Draft is one that goes does in Buffalo Bills history as a very memorable one. That year saw one of the most highly-touted first-round quarterback classes picked.

Names include Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers.

And then there’s JP Losman.

The No. 22 overall pick falls into Bills lore because he had a very underwhelming career to say the least, let alone mentioning the other quarterbacks selected in that same first round.

Looking back, Bleacher Report re-drafted the entire first round of that year’s draft recently and there’s several Bills things to note in regard to the changes made.

First, Losman wasn’t a first-round pick in the re-draft… which is not surprising. But the Bills did make two first-round picks at that year’s draft and there’s some good news in regard to that.

Wide receiver Lee Evans was picked by the Bills at the No. 13 overall pick. Evans was not re-picked by the Bills in B/R’s look back, but he is still a first rounder, going No. 28 overall to the Eagles instead of Buffalo.

Instead at No. 13, the Bills select linebacker Karlos Dansby, who was a second rounder in that year’s draft.

Here’s why B/R makes that change:

The Buffalo Bills didn’t make the playoffs in any of the next four seasons and had a losing record in three of those campaigns. That’s the window in which (Tommie) Harris and (Bob) Sanders were at their best, and at the time the Bills already had Sam Adams, Lawyer Milloy and Troy Vincent in those spots.

So we’ll again focus on longevity over concentrated dominance by giving the Bills linebacker Karlos Dansby, who intercepted as many passes in 2015 as he did in 2005 (three in each campaign). The Auburn product never peaked to the same degree as Harris or Sanders, but he had 11 90-plus-tackle seasons.

Dansby finished his career with at least 20 picks, sacks and forced fumbles, six defensive touchdowns, more than 1,400 tackles and 193 starts. That’s more valuable to the Bills than short-term success from better players.

Dansby ended up having one of the longest careers of all defenders in the 2004 draft, having played in the league all the way until 2017. Although, he only earned second-team, All-Pro honors once in 2013. Still, with the talent the Bills had in that defense, Dansby could’ve made a big difference. Without Losman, the Bills likely strap their saddle to quarterback Drew Bledsoe for another season or two. From 2002-2004, Bledsoe led the Bills under center, and earned a 23-25 overall record. In his final season with Buffalo in 2004, Bledsoe had a 9-7 record with Buffalo, but the team fell short of the postseason and the QB moved on, playing two more seasons with the Cowboys. The Bills turned things over to Losman in 2005.

On one more Bills-related note in the re-draft, another player Buffalo picked up from that year’s draft is a new first-round pick: offensive lineman Jason Peters. The now longtime Eagles tackle, he started his career with the Bills as an undrafted rookie free agent from Arkansas and the Lions take him No. 6 overall in B/R’s exercise. The Bills helped Peters move from a college tight end to offensive tackle in the pros, a position he excelled at. Peters left the Bills after the 2008 because of a contract dispute, and he has played with the Eagles ever since. He’s currently a free agent and may play another season in 2020.

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Did Chargers ‘rob’ Giants in Eli Manning trade?

Did the Los Angeles Chargers “rob” the New York Giants in a 2004 draft day trade that landed QB Eli Manning in East Rutherford?

With New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning having now retired, the time has come to look back on the infamous 2004 draft day trade that altered the course of two franchises considerably.

Manning, of course, was the No. 1 overall pick of the then-San Diego Chargers, while the Giants snagged quarterback Philip Rivers at No. 4 overall.

Leading up to the draft, Manning made is clear that he had no intention on playing for the Chargers, so it was imperative that they find a way to trade him. Luckily, the two teams were able to hammer out a historical deal.

As a reminder, here were the terms:

Giants get QB Eli Manning
Chargers get QB Philip Rivers
Chargers get Giants’ 2004 third-round pick
Chargers gets Giants’ 2005 first-round pick
Chargers get Giants’ 2005 fifth-round pick

With those three additional picks, the Chargers selected kicker Nate Kaeding and linebacker Shawne Merriman, while trading the 2005 fifth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who then traded it to the Rams).

Kaeding spent nine years with the Chargers, earning two All-Pro nods and two Pro Bowl nods. Merriman lasted five years with the franchise, winning the 2005 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, while also earning three All-Pro nods and three Pro Bowl nods.

Merriman was also found to be a cheater early in his career, being suspended for performance-enhancing drugs in 2006. He had one more solid year in 2007, but then fell off a cliff after that.

Meanwhile, both Manning and Rivers had stellar careers, each finding their place among the top 10 in most passing categories historically, but there was one glaring difference: Manning won two Super Bowls and Rivers won absolutely nothing with substantially better teams around him.

In the mind of Bolt Beat writer Jason Reed, the Chargers are the clear winners of that trade. In fact, he believes the Giants were “robbed.”

It was a highway robbery. At the moment, the Chargers were made out to be the foolish team for drafting the quarterback that refused to play there. However, the trade was absolutely brilliant.

It’s extremely important to remember that the “brilliant” addition of Rivers, who began his career by holding out, also meant the departure of Drew Brees, who signed with New Orleans in 2006 and has gone on to establish himself as one of the greatest in NFL history. He also won a Super Bowl. Needless to say, going from Brees to Rivers was a costly downgrade that is often forgotten about when evaluating the 2004 draft day trade.

Then there are the numbers.

Rivers has a better overall record (123-101) than Manning (117-117), a career completion percentage that is 4.4 percent higher, over 2,000 more yards, 29 more touchdowns, 46 fewer interceptions and a passer rating that is 11 points higher.

Not only did the LA Chargers get a steal for swapping Manning for Rivers, but they got the better overall quarterback in the process as well.

The difference in numbers are minimal in comparison, especially when considering Rivers spent most of his career with a better offensive line, a better defense, one of the best running backs in league history, one of the best tight ends in league history and much better skill position players.

Ultimately however, Rivers did absolutely nothing with that, compiling a playoff record of just 5-6, while putting up substantially worse numbers in big games than Manning — so much so that it’s not even worth breaking them down.

What Reed also leaves out in his trade assessment is that the Chargers were desperate to land defensive end Osi Umenyiora as part of the trade, but Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi was having absolutely none of it. Eventually, Chargers general manager A.J. Smith tucked his tail between his legs and caved on his demands, allowing the Giants to keep Osi, who went on to record 85 career sacks (to Merriman’s 45.5).

And then, as we noted earlier, there’s the only thing that matters… The Lombardi Trophy.

Manning led the Giants to two Super Bowl victories, earning the MVP award in each game. That’s something Reed casually acknowledged — likely hoping most would miss it — as he closed out his assessment.

This trade was a highway robbery, and the sad part is, it still led to two Super Bowls for the New York Giants and zero for the LA Chargers.

Hard to consider a trade like this “highway robbery” when the No. 1 goal in the NFL is to win titles and Manning outdid Rivers and the Chargers 2-0. But hey, whatever helps Chargers fans sleep at night.

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Chargers go different direction in 2004 NFL re-draft

What if the Chargers didn’t take Eli Manning or Philip Rivers in the 2004 NFL Draft?

The Chargers’ 2004 NFL Draft will go down as one of the most memorable moments in sports history.

After selecting Eli Manning with the No. 1 overall selection, it was only to find out that he did not want to play for the franchise. The Bolts ended up swapping quarterbacks with the Giants, ultimately getting Philip Rivers in return.

It’s safe to say Rivers had an accomplished 16-year career with the Chargers, winning 123 career games, owning more than 30 franchise records and ranking inside the top-10 of the NFL’s all-time list in various categories.

But what if former general manager A.J. Smith went in a different direction, yet still addressing the quarterback position? That’s exactly how Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon sees it in his 2004 NFL re-draft.

Instead of taking Manning or Rivers, Gagnon has the Bolts selecting Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger was the other top quarterback in that draft class, ending up being taken by the Steelers with the No. 11 overall selection.

This is complicated and was likely to be controversial no matter how it was sliced.

Former San Diego Chargers general manager A.J. Smith continues to insist he has no regrets over drafting Eli Manning—who didn’t want to play in San Diego—and flipping him to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers. So it’s still easy to see the Bolts doing that or simply taking Rivers, considering all of the success they had with him, but we don’t really have to cross that bridge because Ben Roethlisberger has had a better career than both.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round pick has the playoff and Super Bowl success to match Manning as well as the individual statistics to match Rivers (their career numbers are eerily similar).

He’s the only player from this draft class who has been a Pro Bowler more than five times and won a Super Bowl. He took the Steelers to three Super Bowls in his first seven seasons. And while he’s never been a Super Bowl MVP like Manning, his consistent success trumps Eli’s flashes in the pan.

Roethlisberger has enjoyed an accomplished career with Pittsburgh, being sent to the Pro Bowl six times, winning two Lombardi Trophies and finishing as the NFL’s passing yards leader twice.

The Steelers have put an optimal supporting cast around Roethlisberger throughout the years, giving him premiere pass-catchers and solid offensive linemen to help with his success.

Meanwhile, the Chargers had a mixed bag of talent over the past decade, especially inconsistent offensive line play. So it remains to be seen how the 38-year old would’ve done if he was the pick.

What do you guys think? Do you believe Roethlisberger would have done well and earned the same amount of accolades that’s he received with the Steelers, in a Chargers uniform?

Giants select, don’t trade Philip Rivers in 2004 NFL re-draft

In Bleacher Report’s 2004 NFL re-draft, the New York Giants select — and keep — quarterback Philip Rivers.

In 2004, New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi wanted to select Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning in the NFL Draft. There was one little problem, however. He didn’t have the first overall pick that year and Manning was widely regarded as the top player in the draft.

The San Diego Chargers had the first overall selection in the draft that year and although Manning had said publicly that he would play for the Chargers, general manager A.J. Smith selected him anyway in hopes of making a trade down the road.

Accorsi had the No. 4 pick and as the clock ticked and the Giants’ turn to select came, he still wanted Manning, but who could he take that the Chargers would want?

Accorsi ended up selecting North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers and then turned to Smith to hammer out a deal for Eli.

It was a trade that almost didn’t happen.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Accorsi said earlier this year, via SNY. “I didn’t know AJ Smith very well, we just didn’t know each other. We only spoke three or four times, and he was supposed to call me Friday … and he didn’t call. So, I was resigned to the fact that we weren’t going to make the deal. And we were seven or eight minutes into our 15-minute allotment when he called, and he asked for Osi one more time and I said no one more time.

Then he asked ‘Would you trade next year’s one?’ and we had already discussed that we would, and then we made it. And we made it so late that we didn’t have time to get it in by computer, which makes it official. We had to do it orally over the phone … He could have backed out of the trade …”

Rivers went on to displace Drew Brees in San Diego, while Manning would become one of the greatest players in the history of the Giants. All three players, ironically, will end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday.

But for kicks and giggles, what would have happened if Smith took a different path that year? Let’s say he selects Miami of Ohio quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, another future Hall of Fame, instead of Manning and Eli goes to Oakland at No. 2?

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report mapped that scenario out in recent re-draft of the 2004 class.

Arizona still selects Pitt wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (yet another future Hall of Fame) at No. 3 and the Giants draft Rivers at No. and keep him.

I mean, this is technically the guy the Giants drafted. And under these circumstances, Rivers is clearly the best option. The Giants would just have to hope he’d have been able to replicate Manning’s playoff success in 2007 and/or 2011, or lead them on championship runs in other seasons in which Rivers was a standout quarterback and Manning was not (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013, for example).

There are no other logical options in this spot for the G-Men, who wouldn’t likely be able to flip Rivers for Manning or Roethlisberger this time.

For what it’s worth, they’re trading in the 45th-highest-rated passer in NFL history for a quarterback with a top-10 career passer rating.

Many have pondered this “what-if” scenario in the past. Rivers was probably better suited for the Giants and New York because of his alpha personality and feistiness. He is also a gamer like Eli and has actually passed Manning in consecutive games started (235-222) by a quarterback.

But as Gagnon says, does that equate to any Super Bowls? Rivers had his shots at championships and failed to get the Chargers to a Super Bowl. He might finally get there still as he’s now with the Indianapolis Colts.

Many believe Rivers would have gotten the Giants to as many Super Bowls as Eli did — and maybe more — but Giant fans will take what Eli gave them and run with it. It is an interesting argument, though.

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NFL Films looks back at the drama of the 2004 NFL draft

Just how close were the Steelers to missing out on Ben Roethlisberger?

[jwplayer 6oSqth9F-ThvAeFxT]

We are all missing football. There’s no denying it. Many of you are probably dealing with cabin fever right now thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the recent history of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the most significant drama that we can recall is the drafting of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back in 2004.

This pick was a true turning point for the franchise but some of you might not recall all the drama around the big three first-round quarterbacks and just how close Roethlisberger was to being a New York Giant.

I stumbled upon this video on the NFL Films YouTube channel and had to share. It was a great reminder of just who lucky the Steelers go when the Giants and Los Angeles Chargers had all their nonsense at the top of the round with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, and how Roethlisberger quietly slid to No. 11 and the Steelers.

Steelers fans everywhere should be very grateful things went down like they did or there’s a real possibility had the Giants went ahead and drafted Roethlisberger, it would have been Rivers playing for the Steelers.

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2004 NFL Draft: Who were the 17 quarterbacks chosen that year?

Philip Rivers’ time is over as a Charger. What QBs were taken in the 2004 draft, which included Rivers, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger

Philip Rivers is parting ways with the Chargers. He was one of four quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Seventeen quarterbacks went in the draft, many of them having short and forgettable careers. A look at the QB Class of 2004.

Broncos: Bradlee Van Pelt (7th round, 250th overall)

Bradlee Van Pelt was 2-of-8 passing for seven yards. He also rushed for 48 yards and one touchdown.

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