Tag: 2006 NFL draft

Reggie Bush shared a wild story about how his Heisman Trophy scandal cost him being the No. 1 pick

Reggie Bush’s Heisman mess even cost him in the NFL.

With college football’s new NIL system in place, Reggie Bush’s infamous Heisman Trophy scandal — borne out of “improper gifts” for his family — looks sillier every day. In addition to having his award vacated, it also apparently cost the former USC Trojans star a chance at being the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

In a recent episode of The Dan Patrick Show, Bush told a wild story about why the Houston Texans passed on him and let him fall to the New Orleans Saints at No. 2 overall in that fateful draft. According to Bush, former Texans general manager Charley Casserly told him that a private investigator hired to look into Bush’s background essentially slandered his character enough that it scared the team away.

Again, all of this was over a kid in his early 20s getting “gifts” that no one would blink over in the current college football landscape. For example, Caleb Williams reportedly made $2.7 million in NIL money last year, per On3.com. Yes, $2.7 million! That’s an average NBA player’s salary!

C’mon now.

Needless to say, while it worked out perfectly for him in New Orleans in the form of a Super Bowl 44 title, Bush losing out on a top draft pick status because of this madness is just thoughtless. Thank goodness cooler heads have prevailed to allow major college players to finally profit off all the work they put in for big programs.

27 Days, 27 Picks: OG Davin Joseph

Our next player in the 27 Days, 27 Picks series started 112 of the 116 games he played and earned two Pro Bowl nods with the Bucs after being drafted in 2006:

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 was a stalwart at right guard for Tampa Bay after being drafted in 2006 and earned two Pro Bowl appearances during his tenure with the Bucs.

Check out the draft rundown on [autotag]Davin Joseph[/autotag] below:

Giants select CB Tim Jennings in 2006 NFL re-draft

In a 2006 NFL re-draft courtesy of Bleacher Report, the New York Giants pass on LB Mathias Kiwanuka in favor of CB Tim Jennings.

In the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected edge rusher Mathias Kiwanuka out of Boston College.

Although Kiwi never developed into the next Michael Strahan or Osi Umenyiora, he had a solid and productive career with the Giants highlighted by two Super Bowl titles.

However, in a 2006 re-draft courtesy of Bleacher Report, the Giants pass on Kiwanuka, who falls out of the first round, to select Georgia cornerback Tim Jennings.

The New York Giants might not want to mess with what helped them win the Super Bowl 21 months after this draft took place, but Kiwanuka was generally overshadowed by Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan that season.

By instead taking cornerback Tim Jennings, they likely would still win championships in 2007 and 2011 and would have increased their chances of winning in other seasons.

The former Georgia cornerback was a Pro Bowler with the Bears in 2012 and 2013. In those two seasons alone, he intercepted 13 passes and scored three touchdowns, and he was also a quality starter in the years that directly preceded and followed that hot stretch. He would have upgraded the secondary on a 10-win team in 2010, and he would have been by far the best cover man on another winning team trying to defend a title in 2012.

The argument that the Giants would have been better with Jennings than Kiwanuka is flawed given that Jennings didn’t really reach his potential until 2012, which came after the Giants won their two most recent titles. He also would not have supplanted Corey Webster, who turned his career around beginning during their 2007 championship run.

By the time Jennings turned things on in 2012, earning an All-Pro nod and his first Pro Bowl appearance, the Giants were already on the downward slope and would not again reach the playoffs until 2016 — the year after Jennings retired.

Would Jennings have pushed any of those Giants teams over the top from 2012 through 2015? It’s possible, but highly unlikely. However, eliminating Kiwi from the equation certainly would have damaged their championship chances in 2007 and 2011, so there’s no sense in re-writing this history.

With Kiwi will on the board, that’s exactly who the Giants should have taken in this re-draft.

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