The 2005 NFL Draft often wakes me up at night, shaking. Like this year, the Minnesota Vikings traded a supposedly troubled receiver to acquire an additional first round choice. This year the Vikings traded Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks for that first round pick. In 2005, they traded Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders for the 7th overall pick. That gave them the 7th and and 18th selections in the 2005 NFL Draft. The results were terrifying.
1. San Francisco 49ers Alex Smith QB Utah
2. Miami Dolphins Ronnie Brown RB Auburn
3. New York Jets Braylon Edwards WR Michigan
4. Chicago Bears Cedric Benson RB Texas
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cadillac Williams RB Auburn
6. Tennessee Titans Adam "Pac-Man" Jones CB West Virginia
7. Minnesota Vikings Troy Williamson WR South Carolina
8. Arizona Cardinals Antrell Rolle S Miami
9. Washington Redskins Carlos Rogers CB Auburn
10. Detroit Lions Mike Williams WR USC
11. Dallas Cowboys DeMarcus Ware LB Troy
12. San Diego Chargers Shawne Merriman LB Maryland
13. New Orleans Saints Jammal Brown T Oklahoma
14. Carolina Panthers Thomas Davis LB Georgia
15. Kansas City Chiefs Derrick Johnson LB Texas
16. Houston Texans Travis Johnson DT Florida St.
17. Cincinnati Bengals David Pollack LB Georgia
18. Minnesota Vikings Erasmus James DE Wisconsin
19. St. Louis Rams Alex Barron T Florida St.
20. Dallas Cowboys Marcus Spears DE LSU
21. Jacksonville Jaguars Matt Jones WR Arkansas
22. Baltimore Ravens Mark Clayton WR Oklahoma
23. Oakland Raiders Fabian Washington CB Nebraska
24. Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers QB Cal
25. Washington Redskins Jason Campbell QB Auburn
26. Seattle Seahawks Chris Spencer C Mississippi
27. Atlanta Falcons Roddy White WR UAB
28. San Diego Chargers Luis Castillo DT Northwestern
29. Indianapolis Colts Marlin Jackson CB Michigan
30. Pittsburgh Steelers Heath Miller TE Virginia
31. Philadelphia Eagles Mike Patterson DT USC
32. New England Patriots Logan Mankins G Fresno St.
It's always funny, scary might be best, to look back at an NFL Draft. There is a lot of, "what the hell were we thinking?" The Vikings aren't alone. There aren't too many teams that look back on this draft and smile. The Green Bay Packers are still smiling. I've always wondered if the Washington Redskins were so shaken by Aaron Rodgers almost falling to them that they took Campbell simply because they were frozen on the QB page. Other happy teams feeling the glow of this draft are the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New England Patriots. The Panthers are seeing signs of life from Thomas Davis. His career looked over with back-to-back ACL tears. He's a very good football player. That's not many happy teams for a draft not too far distant. Injuries torpedoed the promising careers of Cadillac Williams, Merriman, and Castillo. Pac-Man was simply a mess but he's still kicking.
This draft was a disaster for the Vikings. Something good has to come from two first round picks. They got nothing. They wanted to replace the speed of Moss so they felt forced to draft Troy Williamson. He could outrun the wind be he couldn't catch a thing. He was, without a doubt, one of the worst pass catchers that I've ever seen spend more than a handful of games in the NFL. It was stunning. Terrible. Erasmus James just never seemed to care. He was unblockable at times at Wisconsin. He did nothing in the NFL and it never seemed to bother him one bit. I don't think that any player from the 2005 NFL Draft was on the Vikings roster by 2009. I sure hope that 2013 is nothing like 2005.
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