Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, April 28, 2006, Washington Post

Time to Get Choosy

Tomorrow and Sunday are big days for the National Football League, even though the pro season doesn't start for four months. It's NFL draft time -- when the league's 32 teams pick from among the best college football players.

It's important that teams make good choices. Eight years ago the Indianapolis Colts had their choice of two hotshot college quarterbacks. The Colts picked Peyton Manning. Now Manning is a big star, and the Colts are a winning team. The quarterback the Colts didn't pick was Ryan Leaf. He flopped and is out of football.

Let's look at some of the picks this weekend.

First Pick: The Houston Texans have the first pick because they had the worst record last season (2 wins, 14 losses). Many folks think the Texans should select University of Southern California running back Reggie Bush. I'm not so sure. Bush is a super-exciting player, but running backs don't last very long in the NFL. Maybe the Texans should pick a defensive lineman such as Mario Williams of North Carolina State, who might play longer than Bush.

Quarterbacks: Good quarterbacks are always hard to find. There are three good ones in this draft. Matt Leinart of Southern California looks perfect. He's tall and has a strong, accurate arm, and he won 37 games in college. Scouts say that Vince Young of Texas will have to change the way he throws. I don't see why. He completed more than 65 percent of his passes last year. Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt played well for a team that was the underdog almost every week. So, if your team needs a QB, whom do you take? I would take Young. He looks like a special player to me.

Redskins: The Redskins aren't scheduled to pick until the second round, after 52 players are gone. Then they won't pick again until the fifth round. So, don't expect them to get any big names. But remember: Some terrific players have been picked in later rounds, including Tom Brady, the New England Patriots' Super Bowl quarterback, a sixth-round pick in 2000.

The Redskins added some established players in the offseason, including wide receivers Antwaan Randle-El and Brandon Lloyd and defensive end/linebacker Andre Carter. Veterans are not as risky as rookies because they have shown they can play in the NFL. The Redskins should be better this season.

Jai Lewis -- Remember him? He was the big guy on the surprising George Mason University Final Four basketball team. Now Lewis (6 feet 5, 290 pounds) is trying football. He hasn't played since his senior year at Aberdeen High School in Maryland, but athletes as big and fast as he is are hard to find. Maybe the Skins should take him.

Name Game -- The best name in this year's draft is D'Brickashaw Ferguson. He was named after a character in "The Thorn Birds," a popular book and TV miniseries in the 1980s. Ferguson can play. He was a terrific offensive tackle at the University of Virginia.

Another great name is A.J. Hawk. Doesn't that just sound like a linebacker? The team that drafts Ohio State's Hawk will be making a great pick.