{"id":4842,"date":"2009-01-31T08:18:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-31T08:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/couch-commentary-the-top-40-of-04-part-one\/"},"modified":"2009-01-31T08:18:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-31T08:18:00","slug":"couch-commentary-the-top-40-of-04-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/couch-commentary-the-top-40-of-04-part-one","title":{"rendered":"Couch Commentary: The Top 40 Of ’04 (Part One)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The 1983 NFL draft class is generally considered the gold-standard by which all future drafts should be measured–and with good reason, since ’83 had 40 guys that made a Pro Bowl.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>In fact the Class of ’83 went on to have 6 Hall of Famers, including three of the All-Time Great QBs–Elway, Kelly, and Marino (although let’s be honest, a combined record of 2-8 in Super Bowls is pretty embarrassing.)<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>These three QBs, along with a Hall of Fame RB (Eric Dickerson), a HoF OL (Bruce Matthews), and a HoF DB (Darrell Green), have prompted the classic debate: if you could have just one player to build your franchise around, who do you choose?<\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Well, the ’83 Class is no longer the best ever–there’s a new sheriff in town and it arrived on the scene in April of 2004.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>After just 5 seasons, the Class of ’04 has produced 27 Pro Bowlers, multiple Super Bowl winners, and even some postseason records.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>So now the question must be asked again: if there was a re-do of the 2004 NFL draft, how would the Class of 2004 be ranked? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Non-Pro Bowlers<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

40. JP Losman, Buf <\/span>(22<\/span>nd<\/span><\/sup> overall): probably will spend his career as a backup QB–-if only because it’s hard to respect a guy named “JP.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

39. Tank Johnson, Dal (47<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall by Chi): he will be a great D-lineman for a Texas penitentiary team in the next 5 years.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

38. Igor Olshansky, SD (35<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): not a traditional pass-rushing DE, but he can be good in a 3-4; bonus points because it’s fun to yell “Igor” every time he makes a play.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

37. Shaun Phillips, SD (98<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): has almost 40 sacks in his career; will be ranked higher if he and Shawne Merriman do a reality show like the Two Coreys.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

36. Patrick Crayton, Dal (216<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): he’ll never be better than a 3<\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup> WR; but most 7<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> round picks don’t even make the team, so a small victory for Dallas’ front-office.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

35. Julius Jones, Sea (43<\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup> overall by Dal): he’d be very good if he could just stay healthy, which is kinda like saying Dennis Kucinich would be President if he could just win the election.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

34. Dunta Robinson, Hou (10<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): had a great rookie year (87 tackles, 6 ints) but has struggled since; Texans, you should be thankful for the Lions, otherwise people would start noticing how many terrible draft picks you’ve made.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

33. Vernon Carey, Mia (19<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): Jake Long gets the hype, but with 64 career starts (including 59 in a row,) Carey might be more important.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

32. Robert Gallery, Oak (2<\/span>nd<\/span><\/sup> overall): has started 73 career games, including 34 in a row–although in typical Raider fashion he’s the only pick in the Top 8 that hasn’t made a Pro Bowl.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

31. Lee Evans, Buf (13<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): Webster’s defines “solid but not spectacular” as:<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>two 1000+ yard seasons, no missed game in his NFL career, 300+ career touches (and only 3 career fumbles lost), and 32 career TDs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

30. Chris Gamble, Car (28<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): the biggest Pro Bowl snub of the class, he has 355 tackles, 46 passes defended, 4 forced fumbles, and 20 interceptions (two of which he returned for TDs).<\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

29. Jerricho Cotchery, NYJ (108<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): in the last 3 years he has 2949 yards, each of the last 2 years he’s led the Jets in catches, and last year he became the most famous Jerricho ever.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

28. Matt Schaub, Hou (90<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): currently battling David-Carr-syndrome, a rare and debilitating disease caused by having to play behind Houston’s O-line; but in his final 8 starts this year he went 6-2, and despite playing in only 11 games he threw for over 3000 yards with a QB rating over 90.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Pro-Bowlers<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

27. Andy Lee, SF (188<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): obviously I’m putting someone that made a Pro Bowl over someone that didn’t, otherwise a punter would never be this high.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

26. Nate Kaeding, SD (65<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): if a team takes a kicker with the 2<\/span>nd<\/span><\/sup> pick of the 3<\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup> round he’d better be damn good; fortunately for the Chargers, Kaeding is. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

25. Stephen Jackson, StL (24<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): he probably should be higher than this, but he killed my fantasy team for the last two years and that’s not the kind of thing you just forgive a guy for.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

24. Shawn Andrews, Phi (16<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): started 47 straight from ‘05 to ’07 and became one of the Eagles’ top O-linemen before being diagnosed with depression (insert “that’s what playing in Philadelphia does to you” joke here).<\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

23. Darnell Docket, Ari (64<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): he’s 6’4”, 290, he’s never missed a game in his NFL career, he had 9 sacks in 2007, he was orphaned at age 13, and this Sunday he will play in the Super Bowl…I don’t think I’m going to make a snide comment about him, now or ever.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

22. Nathan Vasher, Chi (110<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): in his first two seasons, he got 13 ints and 2 TDs.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>But one of them was off of Ken Dorsey, so it doesn’t really count.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

21. Jason Peters, Buf (undrafted): probably a little higher than he deserves, but he gets a bump for being one of three undrafted players from ’04 to make a Pro Bowl, and Peters has 55 career starts at tackle…plus two touchdown as an O-lineman!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

20. Will Smith, NO (18<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): got at least 7 sacks each of his first four years (including 10.5 in 14 games in ’06) but it seems <\/span>Hancock<\/span><\/i><\/span> and <\/span>Seven Pounds<\/span><\/i><\/span> really took a toll on his career-–this past year he had only 3 sacks.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

19. Tommie Harris, Chi (14<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): very nearly the Defensive Rookie of the Year in ’04, he’s a multi-time Pro Bowler and the anchor for the Bears’ D-line.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>I have no joke here, he’s just really good.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

18. Nick Hardwick, SD (66<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): San Diego’s starting center since day 1, and he just seems like an O-linemen-–somehow you just know that if you were in a dog-pile he would poke you in the eye or yank your balls until you gave up the football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

17. Roy Williams, Det (7<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): without a doubt he was the best Lion player for quite a few years (which of course isn’t saying much).<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>Now that he’s out of Detroit, we’ll start to see what he can really do.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

16. DeAngelo Hall, Was (8<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall by Atl): when even the Raiders think that you aren’t playing hard and you commit too many penalties, you know you’ve crossed a line.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

15. Jonathan Vilma, NO (12<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall by NYJ): I probably overrate him because he was a Jet, but in 4 out of his first 5 seasons he did not miss a game and recorded at least 100 tackles (including a career high 169 tackles in ’05 with New York).<\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

14. Chris Cooley, Was (81<\/span>st<\/span><\/sup> overall): Cooley is the 2<\/span>nd<\/span><\/sup> best pass-catching TE from this draft class, and his was the 2<\/span>nd<\/span><\/sup> most famous incident of a TE “accidentally” showing his junk this year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

13. Vince Wilfork, NE (21<\/span>st<\/span><\/sup> overall): nose-tackles and O-linemen definitely the hardest skills in sports to statistically quantify–-but when someone is a Pro Bowler and has played every game in two seasons resulting in Super Bowls, they get ranked pretty high in my book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

12. Wes Welker, NE (undrafted): there are two lessons to be learned from him: 1) the Pats can turn anyone into a Pro Bowler and 2) scrappy white receivers will always be popular with NFL fans. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

11. Kellen Winslow, Cle (6<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): there are two Class of 2004ers that were sons of famous NFL players, and two ’04ers that were involved in prominent motorcycle crashes.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>Thank you, Kellen Winslow, for being the middle sliver of that particular Venn diagram.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

10. Sean Taylor, Was (5<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): obviously this is the elephant in the room of the 2004 Draft.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>Just how successful could he have been?<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>We’ll never know, but hopefully his legacy will be that the <\/span>Cribs<\/span><\/i><\/span> generation of NFLers now realize how serious their security risks are.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>Carrying a gun to a club is not the appropriate reaction, but NFL players have bull’s-eyes on them and Sean Taylor’s death is a sad reminder of that.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

9. Chris Snee, NYG (34<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): the class of ’04 was so good that it has guys like this: an O-lineman I’ve never even heard of<\/span> <\/span><\/span>who’s a Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion, and hasn’t missed a start in more than 4 years.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

8. Jared Allen, KC (126<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): he once claimed on MNF that he was home-schooled, which would explain a lot about his personality…and his mullet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7. Philip Rivers, SD (4<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> overall): I do wonder what the NFL would look like if the Chargers had kept Drew Brees. <\/span> <\/span><\/span>But, then again, what would the NFL look like if Rivers didn’t have a contract dispute that kept him out long enough to give Brees’ career a second chance? <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Eli Manning, NYG (1<\/span>st<\/span><\/sup> overall): while the Rivers\/Manning trade debate is definitely worth having, right now, despite inferior stats, Elisha gets the nod for having won a championship.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I hope that seeing Rivers and Manning not even crack the Top-5 in their draft class will give you some indication of just how good that draft was.<\/span>  <\/span><\/span>But to find out exactly who the Top-5 are you’ll have to come back Monday (here’s a hint: #1 will just have led his team to a Super Bowl win).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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