NFL DRAFT : Surprises Start at 5th Pick : NFL draft: Form follows until Colts bypass Dilfer for Alberts, a defensive player from Nebraska.

L.A. Times Archives

April 25, 1994 12 AM PT

From The Washington Post

NEW YORK — With Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson very much the widely ballyhooed “Big Daddy” of the first round, the opening four picks of the NFL’s 59th draft went precisely the way most insiders and outsiders had predicted Sunday.

It only took 30 seconds of the allotted 15 minutes for the Cincinnati Bengals to make the 6-foot-3, 315-pound Wilkinson their first choice, even if negotiations to sign him between Bengals owner Mike Brown and agent Leigh Steinberg have not gone especially well over the past few days.

“If a player is drafted No. 1, he should be compensated as No. 1,” Wilkinson said in a conference call from Newport Beach, near Steinberg’s office. “There shouldn’t be any kind of prejudice just because I’m a defensive lineman and the pretty boys are drafted later.”

Wilkinson’s selection was followed by the pick of two widely regarded pretty boys--San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk by the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler by the Washington Redskins.

Shuler’s selection over Fresno State quarterback Trent Dilfer was followed by the Patriots choosing USC linebacker Willie McGinest. At that point, the first-round trend definitely turned, with nine of the next 10 selections defensive players.

But after McGinest, it began to get very interesting.

For most of the past few weeks, the Rams had indicated that if Dilfer, a strong-armed pocket passer, was available, they’d take him. That’s known as blowing smoke, because the Rams--apparently satisfied that recently-acquired quarterback Chris Miller’s knee is sound--traded their fifth pick to the Colts for Indianapolis’ No. 7 pick in the round and the Colts’ third-round choice.

The Colts also had talked seriously about Dilfer, rated by most scouts along with Shuler as the No. 1 or 1A quarterback in the draft. Indianapolis also was thought to be in dire need at the position, what with journeyman Jim Harbaugh their main man--acquired through free agency--after trading Jeff George to Atlanta.

But heavens to Mel Kiper Jr., the Colts instead went for defense with the choice, taking Nebraska’s 245-pound Trev Alberts, projected either as a defensive end or linebacker.

News of that move was treated with some derision among the 400 draft fans packed into the New York Marriott Marquis ballroom, and also set up an ugly nationally televised exchange between Kiper, ESPN’s so-called draft expert, and Colt General Manager Bill Tobin.

“Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?” Tobin asked ESPN viewers. “In my knowledge of him, he’s never put on a jockstrap in his life. All of a sudden he’s an expert. We don’t have to take anyone Mel Kiper says we have to take.”

Back at draft headquarters here, Kiper fired right back.

“I have a right to my opinion, and he has a right to his,” Kiper said on the air. “To me (taking Alberts over Dilfer), it’s a mistake. When you have Jim Harbaugh as your quarterback, you take Trent Dilfer. That’s why the Colts are the laughingstock of the league year in and year out.”

Dilfer, for one, insisted he was delighted with the outcome, resulting in his selection with the sixth pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had played golf a month ago with Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche. He said his wife--a triathlete--would love moving to Florida to train and “work on her tan. And he said the Bucs’ dismal history of losing many, many games made no difference to him.

“Just because they haven’t won in the past doesn’t mean they can’t win in the future,” Dilfer told reporters here. “And drafting Trent Dilfer, they’ve taken a big step in that direction.”

Dilfer also said that neither he nor Shuler, who he described as a good friend, had any idea who the Redskins were going to take up until the moment the call was placed from Redskin Park to draft headquarters halfway through the team’s 15-minute time limit.

“It was tough up until No. 3,” Dilfer said. “I knew I would be close behind. I have great peace of mind wherever God chooses me to go. I’m fired up. . . . I thought the Colts were interested, up until today. . . . A lot of teams told me they wanted me.”

Asked if he still thought he was the best quarterback in the draft, Dilfer said, “There was no doubt about it in my mind. I believed that from Day One. I truly thought I was the best. . . . Tampa Bay is very fortunate to get me, and I’m fortunate to be in Tampa Bay.

“I think Heath was a great pick for the Redskins, but I can’t worry about being No. 3 or about being No. 6. . . . We’re friends. We’ve been together five times, and we just hit it off. We put our egos aside. He and his girlfriend and me and my wife are going on vacation together in a month. . . . I hope Heath wins all his games, except when they play Tampa Bay.”

In a ceremony late in the first round, a coin was flipped to determine the first pick in the 1995 draft between expansion franchises in Charlotte where the Carolina Panthers will play and the Jacksonville Jaguars. . . . Charlotte got the call.