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ArmchairQB.com spoke Monday night with Gary Horton, founder of
The War Room, and chief provider of content for The Sporting News
Pro Football Draft Guide. Horton spent 10 years as a scout with
the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and also coached in
college for 10 seasons.
Here are some excerpts from an interview conducted with Mr. Horton
on "Armchair on
the Air," AQB's Internet radio program. Please click
here to hear our complete conversation on the upcoming NFL
Draft.
Horton's top three picks in the 1999 NFL Draft:
1. Tim Couch to Cleveland
2. Akili Smith to Philadelphia
3. Donovan McNabb to Cincinnati
On whether the Saints should trade their whole draft, as has
been rumored, for the chance to draft Ricky Williams:
No, I don't believe that. I think the Saints have a lot of needs.
As good as Ricky Williams is, I don't think that, unless you're
one player away, you can give up your whole draft for just one player.
On growing concerns surrounding Williams, who has hired noted
rap artist Master P as his agent:
I think Ricky Williams is a great person...(but) the NFL, whether
we like it or not is a very conservative group and Ricky is a little
bit of a free spirit. I think a lot of people don't know how to
deal with that...
When you get to Ricky Williams the person, everybody that's been
around him falls in love with this kid, they say he's wonderful.
I think more of the concern in the league is not with his character
but with the fact he's got an agent that's never done a deal this
high...If we draft this guy is he going to be a long holdout? Is
he going to ask for ridiculous money? I think that's what scares
people is an agent that doesn't have experience at the top of the
draft.
On the league's troubling quarterback situation and whether the
1999 Class of Quarterbacks can make a big impact on the game:
There are a lot of quarterbacks in this league on the back end of
35 (years old). Dan Marino, John Elway, Randall Cunningham, even
Steve Young. A lot of guys are getting close to being out of the
league and I think there's a real fear about who's going to take
their place. There's not one guy in this group, including (Tim)
Couch, where I feel comfortable when I go to bed at night that they're
going to the Hall of Fame.
Horton's small-school players to watch:
Troy Edwards, wide receiver, Louisiana Tech
Lamar King, defensive lineman, Saginaw Valley
Lonnie Shelton, offensive tackle, Eastern Michigan
Cecil Collins, running back, McNeese State/Louisiana State
Jimmy Kleinsasser, tight end, North Dakota State
On gathering information about the NFL Draft from various sources:
I read all of Mel Kiper's stuff, I read Ourlad's and people say
'You don't care what they have to say.' But, I tell them 'Sure I
do. Information is information.' They're obviously getting it from
someplace. I think the more information you can garner, the better
off you are.
Hot rumors, not including the Saints supposed attempts to
trade up for Williams.
There is reportedly division within the organization in Baltimore.
Brian Billick, the team's head coach, wants an offensive player,
either Central Florida quarterback Daunte Culpepper or North Carolina
State receiver Torry Holt, and the personnel guys want Chris McAlister,
the cornerback from Arizona.
There's also a rumor that Arizona will trade down (from the eighth
spot) to try to get Brigham Young offensive tackle John Tait or
Ohio State wide receiver David Boston.
On why he started The War Room, a Web site designed to take
fans inside the game of pro football:
I really wanted to go philosophically inside team war rooms and
discuss how does the process work, what does a scout do, what is
the year-round process.
As the NFL has evolved in recent years, it used to be that the Draft
was the only event in the offseason, now with free agency it's a
year-round business. What we try to do is just keep up and almost
make the fan like he's a general manager and why you make moves,
what the moves are that need to be made and constantly upgrading
a roster and personnel. It's really been fun for me because it's
what I love doing and it's really been a labor of love.
Click here to hear AQB's complete interview with Gary Horton.
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