the nfl draft of 2006

The NFL Draft of 2006 was supposed to be the best draft class that we have seen in years. Do you remember who the marquee people were in that draft? Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Vince Young. This Sunday in Tennessee could be the first time in NFL history that Matt Leinart and Vince Young get to play against each other. The only problem is that Kurt Warner is probably going to make the start despite being injured disrupting this battle. What an odyssey these guys have been on. First of all, Mario Williams being the first pick in the draft shocked everybody. Most of us feel that Reggie Bush is one of the greatest players any of us has ever seen on a college football field. So when he wasn't chosen it was shocking. He has not been as great a pro as we have expected but he has been a contributing member to a team that has been to the NFC championship once and right now is on an undefeated team. He is still diving into the end zone like his college days. Matt Leinart and Vince Young have had tumultuous careers so far just in 3 seasons. Vince Young has won over 66% of his games that he has played in. Last season unfortunately the pressure got to him and many feared for his life. He had David Chappelle moment where the actualization of realizing a dream scared him and put him in a panic state. Compounding his situation was that his replacement Kerry Collins was leading the team to the best record in football. Unfortunately they did not do well in the playoffs. This season the lost their first six games and the coach seemed reluctant to give Young a chance to prove himself until the owner said he had to allow him to do so. Now they have won 4 games in a row and we will see what happens as the season progresses.
Matt Leinart has been an enigma. He has been in the news for the wrong reasons and stories about him make people think that he still thinks he is at USC. He had a child out of wedlock, he has photos posted of him partying with college coeds, now he is MMA fighter. No press about how he has improved as a football player. He was supposed to be the one that was supposed to be the star of this class. Today he is the backup for a hall of fame quarterback. If he starts Sunday it would be his first start this season. Who would have thought that this would be true? Kurt Warner is a star so I am not surprised that he has beaten out Leinart, It is just that I thought by now Leinart would be ready to take a team to the big game.
The funny thing about this draft class is that there are players in this draft that have been better than the "big Three". Joseph Addai has a ring with the Colts. Devin Hester has already begun re-writing the record books for returns. What he did in the Super Bowl against Addai's team is legendary. Jay Cutler despite what we see of him today has had a better start to his career than both young and Leinart. He has earned a huge contract with the Bears and when they get a receiver they will be contenders. Santonio Holmes beat Leinarts team in the Super Bowl last year and he was the M.V.P. His touchdown catch that won the game has put him in the conversation of great moments in Super Bowl History. There are Maurice Jones Drew, Marques Colston, Laurence Mulroney and Deangelo Williams. Who have had insane impact on the league. Elvis Dumervil may be the defensive player of the year this year. So do the "Big Three" have time to earn the status that we believe they should have already? Is three years not enough years to judge them? The answer to both is yes. I cannot wait to see what the next 10 years has to offer from these guys. I just expected that we would be talking about the "Big Three" with higher esteem. Who knows, maybe Tennessee will not lose again this year and meet the Saints in the Super bowl and we will hear the real story of what happened in the Texas and USC game...