Burcham lists Arrington best of players
Published 12:00 am Friday, April 14, 2000
For three straight years, Bart Burcham has been predicting the first round of the NFL draft.
Friday, April 14, 2000
For three straight years, Bart Burcham has been predicting the first round of the NFL draft. And during those three years, he’s been more accurate than ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.
Last year, Burcham had 24 correct players taken in the first round including five on the team predicted to choose them.
Two players he labeled as first rounders – Kevin Johnson and Shawn King – weren’t taken but became first year standouts.
Last-minute trades and one surprise pick can cause draft predictions to fall out of place like dominoes, but Burcham has analyzed this year’s draft and made his selections with the idea of all things being equal.
"I think there are some players, but there aren’t any studs except the first three or four players," Burcham said. "I love (Peter) Warrick and (LaVar) Arrington, and Courtney Brown is going to be a player, too, and (Chris) Samuels is tough. After that, anyone can be taken."
Here are the predicted selections:
1. Cleveland: DE Courtney Brown. I would take Arrington or Warrick because they’re more of an impact player. I think they’ll take Brown. He’s a good player, but teams can run away from a defensive end. Penn State played a great schedule. It wasn’t a Marshall schedule.
2. Washington: They’ll take OT Samuels just because of salary cap. Arrington will be easier to sign if they take him third.
3. Washington: LB Arrington. See above explanation.
4. Cincinnati: WR Warrick. Mike Brown can mess up a draft better than anyone, but not even he can mess this one up. One of the four will fall in his lap. I think they’ll trade (Carl) Pickens and (Corey) Dillon. The Jets want Pickens and the Ravens want Dillon.
5. Baltimore: They have the fifth and tenth picks, and I think they’ll trade one of them. If they don’t they’ll take RB Jamal Lewis of Tennessee. They love Thomas Jones, but Lewis is 25 pounds heavier.
6. Philadelphia: DT Corey Simon. If Warrick would fall this far, that would be the pick to give McNabb someone to throw to.
7. Arizona: They could take a linebacker, but if Baltimore doesn’t take Thomas Jones, that’s who they’ll take. If he’s gone, they’ll take LB-TE Brian Urlacher from New Mexico.
8. Pittsburgh: The talk is QB Chad Pennington, but this is a big season for (Bill) Cowher. They need someone who will help right now, so they’ll take Plaxico Burress. They need a big guy to throw to.
9. Chicago: If he’s still there, Urlacher. But they need about everything.
10. Baltimore: They need a wide receiver, so they’ll take Sylvester Morris of Jackson State. He’s a bigger guy with bigger hands. They may take Burress if he’s there.
11. New York Giants: RB Shaun Alexander. They don’t have any running game, so they need a back.
12. New York Jets: They Jets are back-to-back now, so first they take TE Bubba Franks because he’s huge and (Bill) Parcells loves those big tight ends.
13. New York Jets: DE Shawn Ellis. They jumped in front of Green Bay because Franks and Ellis are the two guys they want.
14. Green Bay: LB Keith Bulluck. They’d like to get up in Baltimore’s spot to get Simon.
15. Denver: WR Travis Taylor of Florida. They still need someone to get him the ball.
16. San Francisco: This is where Pennington will go. They don’t know if Young is coming back or if Garcia can do the job.
17. Oakland: OLB Julian Peterson. Linebacker is one of their biggest needs and he’s the best one left, but San Francisco is talking about picking him.
18. New York Jets: OT Stockar McDougle. He’s the best run blocker in the draft. With Johnson gone and Testaverde coming back from an injury, they need as much run blocking as they can get.
19. Seattle: CB Deltha O’Neal. They’re going to let Woody Williams go, and O’Neal ran four interceptions back for touchdowns last year.
20. Detroit: They signed James Stewart, so they’ll take OL Chris McIntosh of Wisconsin. He’s a load.
21. Kansas City: RB Ron Dayne. They like the big back.
22. Seattle: WR Dez White of Georgia Tech. He won’t be their No. 1, but he’ll fill a spot for the loss of Galloway.
23. Carolina: DE-LB John Abraham. They lost Michael Barrow, so they need some depth. He had 24 sacks in college.
24. San Francisco: This is tough because they have so many need, so they’ll take OL Cosey Coleman of Tennessee in the event Young comes back.
25. Minnesota: CB Ahmed Plummer. I think their defense went from pretty good to awful, and you can’t have enough cornerbacks in that division.
26. Buffalo: DE John Engelberger of Virginia Tech. They lost Smith and Mearan, so they need a pass rusher.
27. New York Jets: WR Jerry Porter of West Virginia. They have to replace Keyshawn, so one of their four picks has to be a receiver. He has a 44-inch vertical leap.
28. Indianapolis: LB Rob Morris, BYU. With Cornelius Bennett getting older and a stud offense, they need some depth.
29. Jacksonville: They have no need for starters, but they take WR Ron Dugans of Florida State.
30. Tennessee: They’re the same way as Jacksonville except maybe at quarterback because McNair always seems to get hurt. But they take S Deon Grant of Tennessee.
31. St. Louis: OT Adrian Klemm, Hawaii. They lost two starters from the offensive line, but don’t be surprised if they don’t take the kicker Sebastian Janikowski from Florida State.