It’s late April, so that means my phone must be ringing.
My phone always rings in late April. Why? Because the NFL draft is only days away. If I’m not getting a phone call, I’m making one.
Which brings me to a recent conversation with Cecil Lammey of . If you’re not familiar with the name, here’s all you need to know: My man Cecil knows as much about the draft as Mel Kiper, Jr., and he has better hair.
So what’s the word on this year’s draft? Depth, Lammey tells me. There may not have been a clear-cut No. 1 pick, but there’s a ton of depth.
“Lots of Super Bowls could be won from the third round on,” Lammey said.
Or not. The more drafts I cover, the more I’m convinced that what a player does in college doesn’t necessarily translate into what he’ll do on Sundays.
For proof, let’s go back five years to the 2003 draft. That’s the year the Broncos selected Georgia tackle George Foster with the 20th overall selection. We all know what happened there. Foster was shuffled off to Detroit after failing to establish himself as an impact player.
The New York Jets, in that same 2003 draft, selected Kentucky defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson with the fourth overall selection. The same Dewayne Robertson the Broncos may trade for any minute now.
The St. Louis Rams, meanwhile, selected Penn State defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy with the 12th pick. You remember Kennedy. He was dealt to the Broncos last year for a late-rounder, only to be cut before the season.
There are more where those names came from. Check out the quarterbacks selected in the first round in 2003. Carson Palmer, the No. 1 pick, has become a star in Cincinnati, but the others — Byron Leftwich, Kyle Boller and Rex Grossman — have come up well short of expectations.
For every star the 2003 draft produced — Larry Johnson, Andre Johnson and Troy Polamalu, to name three — there was a bust in the 2003 draft. And no, that draft wasn’t an exception to the rule.
Every draft is like that. Where there’s a boom, there’s bound to be a bust. Remember that the next time your favorite team introduces its No. 1 pick.
Do you know who the Broncos will pick? Post your conjectures at Get them in now, while you can.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily sports commentaries on The Jimmy Page midday during the week. And read his columns on Sundays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
