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With the draft coming up, I’m going to post a past draft each day, starting today with 2002. It’ll be broken down into three parts: Overhyped, Underhyped, Steal, and Bust.

To fully understand this, you need to know that overhyped doesn’t necessarily bust; a player could be overhyped — a linebacker billed as the next LT, for example — but might still have a pretty solid career (someone who’s overhyped but completely sucks is labeled a bust). Underhyped is the opposite — a player people figured would be pretty good, but turned out great. “Bust” and “Steal” should be pretty self-explanatory.

On we go.

-Overhyped

  • Quentin Jammer, 1st Round (pick 5): He’s a solid player, but at the time was thought to be the next great cover man. Last year he picked his career up a little, notching 78 tackles and 4 interceptions for one of the best defenses in the league (Chargers). The bad number: Counting last year, he’s only got 10 picks his entire NFL tenure.
  • Ashley Lelie, 1st Round (pick 19): I remember watching him play at Hawaii; he looked like a track star running with slugs. He returned kicks, punts, and caught everything thrown his way, usually for a score. After being drafted by Broncos, he played his last year with the Falcons, where he had rare catches, and even rarer touchdowns. On his career, Lelie’s got just over 3,400 yards receiving with only 13 TD’s, and the longest reception he’s had was for 39 yards.
  • Levi Jones, 1st Round (pick 10): He’s had a pretty solid career, but he got punked by Joey Porter. Anyone who’s 6′5″ and weighs over 300 pounds that gets his ass beat. . . well, that makes them overhyped.
  • TJ Duckett, 1st Round (pick 18): I hate to put him here. I watched him play in Atlanta and always felt he’d be a good back if ever just given the chance. But the numbers don’t lie: Despite his 33 touchdowns, he’s got only 2,300 yards rushing in his five NFL seasons.

-Underhyped

  • Lito Sheppard, 1st Round (pick 26): He was drafted because of an aging secondary at the time in Philadelphia. Since he won the starting job, he hasn’t disappointed. He’s got 15 interceptions in his career, six of which came last year. Three other cornerbacks were drafted before him that year (Mike Rumph, Phillip Buchannon and Quentin Jammer), making him an even nicer pick.
  • Ed Reed, 1st Round (pick 24): My guess is that 24 teams wouldn’t overlook this guy if this draft was done over again. He’s got 27 career picks, multiple defensive touchdowns, and is fun to watch every time he’s on the field. Put that with his four Pro Bowls and you can probably argue he’s the best safety in the league.
  • Dwight Freeney, 1st Round (pick 11): He was a top 15 pick, but people didn’t see this coming. He’s got 57 career sacks, and is the only person Tom Brady fears more than her.
  • Albert Haynesworth, 1st Round (pick 15): He’s lived up to his expectations, pretty much, but Wendall Bryant and Ryan Sims were both taken before him, so I figure it merits the position. He’s a force in the middle and a very good defensive tackle. When he’s not stepping on faces, that is.

-Steals

  • LeCharles Bentley, 2nd Round (pick 44): He’s been a Pro Bowler at both guard and center. Only 26 years-old, his best years might be ahead of him; except that now he’s playing with the Browns, where most people’s careers tend to head South.
  • Clinton Portis, 2nd Round (pick 51): This one’s kind of obvious. He’s been to Pro Bowls and is awesome to play with on Madden. He’s got nearly 6,500 yards rushing with 52 touchdowns. He was injured last year, but when healthy Portis is a guaranteed 1,300 yard-type-o’-back.
  • Antwaan Randle El, 2nd Round (pick 62): He just got a big contract, and though he didn’t put up his normal numbers, some of that may be attributed to Jason Campbell throwing him the ball. Stats aside, he was a very integral part of that Super Bowl team in Pittsburgh.
  • Deion Branch, 2nd Round (pick 65): Just read the above. Maybe not so hot in Seattle, but anybody who wins a Super Bowl MVP is a steal with the last pick in the second round.
  • Brian Westbrook, 3rd Round (pick 91): Hard to imagine this guy falling that far. He’s one of the most explosive players in the NFL, and maybe the main reason the Eagles were able to have the success they did this year without the help of McNabb.
  • Randy McMichael, 4th Round (pick 116): He’s a top 6 or 7 tight end in the NFL. Not a guy that’s really going to break a game open, but also not a guy that was the 116th best player in the draft.
  • Chester Taylor, 6th Round (pick 207): His career numbers won’t jump out at you, but he had over 1,200 yards last season for an otherwise anemic offense. If he can get a quarterback and some receivers to go with his ground game, he might be able to do a little more.

-Busts

  • David Carr, 1st Round, (pick 1): I guess we’ll start with what started this draft, and that’s the Houston Texans taking David Carr. I was never really impressed with him in college; I felt that playing for Fresno St. kinda helped pad his statistics. His pro stats? 59 touchdowns, 65 interceptions, and 249 sacks. Yes, 249 sacks. I know part of this is that terrible offensive line but, my gosh, at some point you’ve gotta just throw the ball away. I would love to talk about all the great quarterbacks taken after him, but such talk would only lead to. . .
  • Joey Harrington, 1st Round (pick 3): I’ve always found myself rooting for Joey because, frankly, I said when he was drafted that he’d be better than David Carr. Past that, I’ve always felt Joey’s been hindered by an idiot running the front office in Detroit. He’s thrown 72 touchdowns and 77 interceptions for a team that generally lacked any offensive line, running backs, receivers (well, good ones), and talent in general. He’s with the Falcons now, so I have to hope he can resemble something of a quarterback that was taken as high as he was, and not the guy that was replaced by Cleo Lemon.
  • Mike Williams, 1st Round (pick 4): He was supposed to be a safe pick, and turned out anything but. He’s with the Jags now, but has never really gotten his career going. Until doing this research, I had forgotten Mike Williams was even in the league (this isn’t Mike Williams from USC — we’ll get to him in a couple of days — but rather the gigantic offensive lineman from Texas)
  • Ryan Sims, 1st Round (pick 6): Since he entered the league: 75 tackles, 5 sacks. The big debate that year was Ryan Sims or Wendell Bryant at DT; the scouts were right: They both proved to be pretty equally talented.
  • Wendell Bryant, 1st Round (pick 11): Nevermind. After looking at the stats, Sims was WAY better than Bryant. 40 tackles, 1.5 sacks. In his career. Yeah. Career.
  • William Green, 1st Round (pick 16): What would a draft be without Cleveland wasting its first round pick?
  • Phillip Buchanon, 1st Round (pick 17): What would a draft be without Oakland wasting its first round pick?

Look out for tomorrow’s post. I’ll have 2003’s draft up fairly early.