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Bucs

Gimme five

By JOHN ROMANO
Published April 25, 2004

Five topics suitable for inane debate on talk radio:

KEY TO THE DRAFT: Michael Clayton is big, tough, charismatic and a blocker. Don't tell me coach Jon Gruden already misses Keyshawn Johnson.

PATIENCE OF A SAVIOR: The Giants gave up two first-round picks, a third- and a fifth- to acquire Eli Manning. If his career parallels his brother, Peyton, the Giants can expect to get their next playoff victory in 2010.

'CANE DO: At one point last season, the University of Miami stretched its regular-season win streak to 39 under Larry Coker. The question today: How did the Hurricanes not make it to 40? The 'Canes had six players chosen in the first round Saturday. That makes 19 first-rounders in four years. Since the NFL-AFL merger, no school has come close to producing as many first-round picks. Southern Cal (1980-83) is second with 12.

THE CHOSEN (NO.6) ONE: We don't find out about Mr. Irrelevant until later today, but we know all about Mr. Arrogant. It's Kellen Winslow Jr. in a landslide. The Miami tight end was in a snit because the Redskins did not pick him at No.5 and he slipped all the way to Cleveland at No.6. Gee, Kellen, we thought you were a warrior. Deal with it.

NOT GOING DOWN: Based on the trades made by others, the Bucs made the right move by not trading down. The Eagles apparently were interested, but Tampa Bay would have dropped 12 spots in the first round just to get the No.58 pick overall. If Clayton has any type of impact on offense, it was a better move than picking up a late second-round pick.

A LIST OF FIVE

Five draft possibilities discussed by the Bucs:

5: Ways to blame Rich McKay.

4: Best available felon.

3: Getting an exchange with that Kenyatta Walker receipt.

2: Josh Hamilton.

1: Certainly not Jeff Garcia.

THE QB COMPARISONS

When two or more quarterbacks are taken in the first half-dozen picks, recent history suggests a wide gap in performance. So let the Eli Manning and Philip Rivers comparisons begin.

1999 - TIM COUCH (1), DONOVAN McNABB (2), AKILI SMITH (3): McNabb is the star. Smith bombed in Cincinnati and Couch is on his way out of Cleveland.

1998 - PEYTON MANNING (1), RYAN LEAF (2): Manning has thrown for thousands of yards; Leaf has thrown for dozens.

1994 - HEATH SHULER (3), Trent Dilfer (6): Whenever someone suggests Dilfer is a disappointment, Shuler is the guy he points at.

1993 - DREW BLEDSOE (1), RICK MIRER (2): Bledsoe took the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXI. Mirer took a lot of one-way tickets out of towns.

1987 - VINNY TESTAVERDE (1), KELLY STOUFFER (6): Stouffer's rookie season was wiped out by a holdout. The rest of his career was wiped out by lack of talent.

FIVE RECEIVERS TO FORGET

Michael Clayton, at No.15, is the highest receiver drafted by the Bucs. Here are the five highest-drafted receivers in Tampa Bay history:

REIDEL ANTHONY, 1997, NO. 16: First-round pick. Fifth-round talent.

GORDON JONES, 1979, NO. 32: Led the Bucs in receiving in 1980. Was gone two years later.

DANNY PEEBLES, 1989, NO. 33: Peebles was a track guy. Unfortunately, he could never get over the hurdle that was Ray Perkins.

JACQUEZ GREEN, 1998, NO. 34: As a receiver, Green made a pretty good punt returner.

COURTNEY HAWKINS, 1992, NO. 44: Actually ninth on the team's all-time list for receiving yards.

FINAL FIVE WORDS

Hey, Clayton: No flip flops.

[Last modified April 25, 2004, 01:10:38]


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