NFL draft winners and losers

By Brad Oremland Sports Central Columnist

Everyone's talking about Eli Manning this week, and most of us do not have kind words for him. For those who somehow missed it, the Manning family communicated to San Diego GM A.J. Smith that Eli would not play for the Chargers if they drafted him, sitting out the whole year if necessary.

Everyone I've talked to agrees that Archie Manning's involvement makes his son look like a brat. Even without getting his dad involved, though, there's the arrogance and heavy-handedness of trying to play a system that's already slanted in your favor. Peyton's success in the NFL has made his last name golden, and Eli probably wouldn't have been the first pick in the draft if he were a Smith or Jones.

Apparently, being taken first overall wasn't good enough, though. He also had to go to a team of his choice. Because, you know, sunny San Diego is such a bore. And playing with LaDainian Tomlinson is a real downer. You can't expect a team drafting first overall to be coming off a Super Bowl run. Come on, Eli.

On Saturday, the Chargers chose Manning anyway. They traded him to the Giants -- where little Eli is very happy -- for Philip Rivers (New York's first-round choice at No. 4 overall), New York's third-round pick (No. 65), and the Giants' first- and fifth-round picks in next year's draft. Manning was widely booed both when San Diego picked him and when he returned to the stage as a Giant. Pardon me if I don't feel sympathy for the kid.

Draft Winners

* The Lions: For the second year in a row, Detroit had a good draft. Trading down from sixth to seventh in the first-round earned them a high second-round pick, and for the price of a fourth-rounder, they moved up from 36th to 30th and got Kevin Jones. Any team with three picks in the first 37 is off to a good start, but getting Jones and Roy Williams to bolster their league-worst 32nd-ranked offense is huge.

* The Chargers: Archie and Eli Manning gave San Diego lemons, and A.J. Smith made lemonade, getting the quarterback he wanted all along, plus the Giants' first-round pick in 2005.

* The University of Miami (FL): The Hurricanes had six players drafted in the first-round. The first 21 picks, actually. And you thought I was joking about them playing the Arizona Cardinals.

* Philip Rivers: Long seen as the third-best QB prospect in this draft, his stock soared in the last month. Rivers went from a middle-of-the-first-round pick to fourth overall, and his signing bonus will reflect that leap. With Drew Brees and Doug Flutie in place -- at least for now -- Rivers shouldn't be rushed into action until he's ready. When he does play, Tomlinson should help keep the heat off.

* J.P. Losman: The Tulane QB was projected to go late in the first-round, maybe even early in the second. The Bills jumped into the picture at 22nd overall, giving up a small fortune to select the player they believe will succeed Drew Bledsoe.

Draft Losers

* The Bills: This is their second very questionable first-round in a row. Last year, they chose Willis McGahee, despite having a proven top RB in Travis Henry. This year, they reached for Lee Evans at 13th, but more importantly, squandered valuable picks in their trade to move up and take Losman. Manning, Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger might be worth a first-round pick, a second-round pick, and a fifth-round choice, but Losman will have to be a Pro Bowler for Buffalo to justify that kind of price.

* Ben Roethlisberger: Long considered the No. 2 quarterback in the draft, Big Ben saw his stock fall as Rivers' rose. When mock drafts first started coming out, most had the Miami of Ohio standout no lower than seventh, and many had him in the top five. The upside of his fall to 11th is that the pressure's off a little bit, he can spend a year behind Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch, and he'll get to play with Hines Ward, who can make anyone -- including Maddox -- look good.

* The Giants: The Giants gave up way too much to get Manning, and the Jets had a blah draft. According to Peter King, Giants GM Ernie Accorsi had the opportunity to pick up Cleveland's second-round choice (37th overall) by trading down from fourth to seventh. The Giants would take Roethlisberger and use the extra second-round pick to address their offensive line or defense.

You'll have a hard time convincing me that the difference between Manning and Roethlisberger is first-round, second-round, third-round, and fifth-round draft choices. That's the first-rounder in 2005 that the Giants traded to San Diego, the early second-round choice that Cleveland reportedly offered, the third-round pick in this year's draft that the Chargers used to select Iowa placekicker Nate Kaeding, and the fifth-round pick Accorsi gave to San Diego.

The burden is on Manning and the Giants now. If Eli isn't significantly better than both Rivers and Roethlisberger, the Giants have made a colossal mistake in this draft.

Other Notes

* There was speculation that the Packers might take Losman to be the eventual replacement for aging legend Brett Favre, but he was off the board when Green Bay chose. They didn't take another quarterback anywhere in the draft. Some time soon -- probably this year or next -- Favre will either retire or suffer an injury that causes him to miss games. The NFC North should be competitive in 2004 and 2005, and Doug Pederson isn't the guy to lead you to a division title. The Pack might want to consider someone like Tim Couch this offseason.

* Stephen Jackson is a nice choice for the Rams at the bottom of the first-round, but St. Louis now has an embarrassment of riches at running back: Marshall Faulk, Lamar Gordon, Arlen Harris, and Jackson. Harris is a third-stringer who contributes on special teams, but Gordon was supposed to be the heir to Faulk. It doesn't seem like there's much room for him on the team any more. Maybe he and Kurt Warner will become buddies.

* The Indianapolis offense ranked second in the NFL last season in total yardage and third in scoring. Defense was the team's Achilles heel in 2003. They traded away two early picks before taking Iowa safety Robert Sanders in the middle of the second-round, then used their next pick, early in the third, on Ohio State tight end Ben Hartsock. With Dallas Clark -- a first-round choice last year -- and Marcus Pollard already on the team, I don't see where Hartsock fits in. Surprising choice.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.