[sportscurmudgeon]

Gentlemen:

Ryan Leaf was not the #1 pick in the draft; he was #2.

Rick Mirer was not the #1 pick in the draft; he was #2.

Akili Smith was not the #1 pick in the draft; he was #3.

Tony Mandarich was not the #1 pick in the draft; he was #2.

Jake Plummer was not the #1 pick in the draft; he was waay down the list. I think he was #5.

McNabb did not "drop" on draft day because he went #2 overall and the reason that Cleveland took Couch #1 is that they wanted to have a deal negotiated with Couch and his agent prior to the draft so that there would be no hold-out since Cleveland was an expansion franchise that year. (they did the same with Courtney Brown the next year.) Since Couch was willing to take their deal and McNabb's and Akili Smith's agents were not, the Browns took Couch.

Just goes to show that if you take some extraneous standard and apply it to the draft - or to free agency - and it does not deal directly with "who is the best football player?", you get in trouble.

Here's an overall #1 pick that was a real gem for his career. Jeff George!

Give me a choice between Couch and George and I'll take Couch any day of the week that ends in the letter "Y".