[Fwd: [Husker] Pros]

[Jeff Volk]

Brad wrote:

 
>I think Fabian has a better shot than Ralph.  I always thought Mike  Brown 
>was better than Ralph, and Ralph got burned a number of times one on one,  
>especially by Major Applewhite and whatever receiver he was throwing to.   Mike 
>Brown has done much better statistically, until he got hurt this  year.  Fabian 
>isn't as physical though, in order to be successful he will  have to be able to 
>get break-ups and interceptions like Deion Sanders did.   I do think he has 
>the ability to do it, and I thought teams after his freshman  year avoided him 
>a lot more than they ever did Ralph Brown.
 

First, you can't really compare Washington to M Brown...they don't even play the same position. Safety is a whole lot different than corner and requires an entirely different skill set. Brown is a borderline Pro Bowl player who along with Urlacher is the heart and soul of the Bears defense. It will be intersting to see how he bounces back from his leg injury this season. 

Second, with Washington likely to now be a first round pick, comparisons to Ralph Brown aren't even that valid as Brown was a 5th round draft pick, a far cry from a first round selection. 

NFL player personnel directors are obsessed with numbers...40 times, vert, bench reps, etc. and many mistakenly place more emphasis on that than what they can see with their eyes happens on the field. Washington, by the numbers, did very, very well at the combine and as a result you are seeing a pretty big run on him by NFL teams desperate for cornerbacks. If any take some time to watch a little game film from last season, when Washington routinely got torched, especially by bigger, more physical receivers, a little of the bloom might come off the rose. 

I think the most valid comparison between Washington and a former Husker would be him and Michael Booker. Booker was also a camp freak who worked his way up to the first round with a great combine showing (and fast 40 time) and ended up going to Atlanta with the number 11 pick in 1997. Booker found that speed alone in the NFL doesn't cut it and he enjoyed 3 mediocre seasons in Atlanta before finishing his career with 1 or 2 equally mediocre seasons in Tennessee. 

On a seperate note, any Husker drafted in the first round this year would end a string of 5 years without a player being selected in the first round as our last first round selections were Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter in 1998. 

FYI. 

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Volk