2006 NFL Draft Revisited
Monday, 8. February 2010
The 2006 NFL Draft was one of the most talked about in years.
The Houston Texans, 2-14 in 2005, held the first pick of the draft.
The New Orleans Saints held the second pick and the Tennessee Titans the third.
Vince Young, off of a National Championship season at Texas, was expected to be a top three pick. Adding to the
drama, Vince went to high school at Houston Madison high school.
Reggie Bush, coming off of a Heisman trophy winning season with USC, was also expect to go within the top three
picks. Bush had been called the greatest college running back ever. He was compared to Gale Sayers.
Mario Williams, defensive end from North Carolina State, was the third choice of possibly top three picks.
Williams was not really as well known as Young or Bush. He was the darkhorse candidate.
The Houston Texans had David Carr at the time, but his time was running short as the franchise quarterback.
New Orleans had signed Drew Brees to a long-term contract just weeks before the draft.
Tennessee needed help in a few different spots at the time.
Let’s break down the players for you, four years into their careers, and see if the correct decision was made.
Pick #1 – Mario Williams, Houston Texans
Mario has been a two time Pro-Bowler(2008 & 2009). Mario also made first team All-NFL two seasons(2007 & 2008). Williams has averaged nearly twelve sacks per season over his last three seasons in the league. He just turned 25 at the end of January. 2010. The sky is the limit for Williams.
Pick #2 – Reggie Bush, New Orleans Saints
Reggie has not made any Pro Bowls up to this point in his career. He finished in the top ten in the league in his rookie season with 88 receptions. In 2008, Bush finished third in the league with 13.5 yards per return on punts. For his career, Reggie has averaged about 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving per season.
Pick #3 – Vince Young, Tennessee Titans
Vince is a two time Pro Bowler. He sneaked in the back door in both of those Pro Bowls. Young is 24-13 as a starter in the NFL. He has led the Titans to one playoff game, losing in the wildcard round. For his career, Young has thrown for 6800 yards, 32 td’s and 39 int’s. He also has ran for 1255 yards and 12 td’s.
It appears that the Texans did in fact make the correct decision in drafting Mario Williams. Some could say that Vince Young would have really brought the fanbase together, and for that reason alone he will always be considered the correct choice. The Texans do have Matt Schaub now, who is a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. The Texans offense is one of the best in the league, so the pick of Mario Williams is probably going to go down as the right choice. The pick of Reggie Bush at number two is probably the one that will go down as a bust. The Saints could have gotten out of that slot and gotten D’Brickashaw Ferguson from Virginia to set themselves up at left tackle for the next 12 years. They did not need another quarterback certainly, so Vince going there was no going to happen. Reggie Bush has turned into the type of layer that teams try to pick up late in the 2nd or 3rd round, not a number 2 overall pick.