Here are some of my favorites: CNNSI 2000 Draft: "Like Paul Brown and Jim Brown before him, Courtney Brown may be a cornerstone of the Cleveland Browns for years to come." Peter King- 5 Things I think I think post-draft, 2000-. "I think Peter Warrick will be, by far, the NFL's September Rookie of the Month. Even the Bengals can't screw up his skill." Pat Kirwan on Anthony Becht-"Becht is a lot like Bavaro. Those are big shoes to fill but he's got the talent and the temperament to do so." Peter King on Phillip Buchanon- "I've watched an hour of tape on this guy, as a cover guy and returner, and I will make this prediction: He will be as valuable to Oakland in the next three years as the great corner Charles Woodson has been in the last three." Mel Kiper gets his own section...some nuggets I found on some messageboard. In 1999, Kiper said that Oregon quarterback Akili Smith would be a great NFL player and would finally provide the Cincinnati Bengals with the passer they'd lacked since Boomer Esiason. In the 1995 Draft, Kiper proclaimed UCLA wide receiver JJ Stokes a "sure-thing" who was destined to be a future All-Pro. On draft day, Kiper lambasted several teams, including the New York Jets, for passing on Stokes until he was selected 10th overall by the San Francisco 49ers. Stokes spent an undistinguished 8 years in San Francisco in the shadows of Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens, never making a single Pro Bowl or even surpassing 770 yards receiving. After the draft, the Jets signed Hofstra wide receiver Wayne Chrebet as an undrafted free agent. Chrebet became one of the Jets most popular players and surpassed Stokes in every major statistical category. In the same 1995 Draft, Kiper had rated BYU Quarterback John Walsh as a first round pick. Walsh declared for the draft after his Junior season and had an abysmal NFL combine where he ran a 5.3 forty yard dash and displayed a weak arm in workouts. Nonetheless, Kiper still rated Walsh as a late 1st/early 2nd round pick on the day of the draft and said he would be a perfect fit for a "West Coast Offense" team like the San Francisco 49ers because of his accuracy on short passes. Walsh slid all the way to the 7th round where he was finally taken by the Cincinnati Bengals. He never appeared in a single game for the quarterback needy Bengals and was out of football less than a year later. -X-
