Jaguars.com Senior Editor Vic Ketchman blogged day one of the 2006 NFL Draft. Here's what he had to say.
11:50am -- I'm sitting at my laptop and ready for the action to begin. Or did it already begin? I'm stunned that the Texans turned up their nose at Reggie Bush. What if he turns out to be a star? It's the kind of decision that could haunt the Texans for the next 10 years. Surely, New Orleans won't pass on Bush and leave him for the Titans.
12:29pm -- The Saints pick Reggie Bush. Will he be the player who saves the franchise in New Orleans, or the guy who helps the Saints move to Los Angeles? I can't help but remember that another USC star running back, Marcus Allen, was the first pick of the Raiders the year they moved from Oakland to Los Angeles.
12:38pm -- Whoa! The Titans did it. They actually picked Vince Young. This is shocking. They have picked a quarterback who represents staggering risk. What will it mean to the AFC South that Houston didn't pick Reggie Bush and Tennessee turned up their nose at Matt Leinart?
12:58pm -- The Jets stayed true to their board. Matt Leinart would've been a sexy pick but D'Brickashaw Ferguson was the Jets' top-rated guy. Leinart will probably fall to either The Raiders or Cardinals.
1:02pm -- Vince Lombardi would be proud of this pick. A.J. Hawk will make the Packers a tougher team. Hawk is the can't-miss player of this draft.
1:14pm -- I think we're experiencing one of the most dramatic drafts in draft history because we are going to look back on this day and the decisions that were made for a long time. I am intrigued by the early picks. I think Houston and Tennessee made major mistakes, but one day I may have to say I was wrong. We'll see.
1:17pm -- Oakland passed on Leinart and he is now officially in free-fall. Who gets lucky? Arizona? Remember, Arizona passed on quarterbacks in the last two years. Maybe they'll get lucky and Leinart will fall right to them.
1:29pm -- That's too high for a safety in this draft. Donte Whitner is an outstanding player but there are too many rare specimens available at premium positions to draft a guy at a non-premium position. Bills fans should be disappointed by this pick.
1:37 pm -- Good for the Cardinals. This is a great pick. Tennessee will regret not having made it. The Cardinals now have the quarterback the franchise hasn't had since Jim Hart.
1:48 pm -- I'm not trying to dump on the Titans, but I'm lookin' at the politics of their pick and the prospects are frightening. In picking Vince Young, the Titans passed on Norm Chow's guy (Matt Leinart) and the hometown guy (Jay Cutler).
2:01 pm -- Great pick by the Ravens. Ngata is exactly what you need at defensive tackle to compete in the AFC North. In trading this pick to the Ravens, the Browns got an extra pick and only moved down one place, where they'll get the guy they want anyhow. There must've been another suitor for the Ravens to make this deal.
2:15 pm -- The Browns had a very difficult choice between Wimbley and Bunkley. They went with the pass-rusher, Wimbley, which is a little bit of a risk because Wimbley is a tweener. Bunkley is a no-risk guy; Wimbley is a swing for the fence.
2:28 pm -- The good franchises know how to draft and Philly is one of the good franchises. Wide receiver would've been the sexy pick; they made the good pick, DT Brodrick Bunkley. They lost Corey Simon and got a guy with more upside. It's a game of replacement.
2:45 pm -- Jason Allen is a top player who suffered a major hip injury early last season. The Dolphins are obviously satisfied that Allen's healed and ready to go. This is a quality pick.
3:08 pm -- This is one of the first critical picks, as it pertains to the Jaguars. Will the Chargers pick Antonio Cromartie at pick 19? The Jaguars would love to see Cromartie fall.
3:19 pm -- The Chargers pick Cromartie. That means two players -- Greenway and Cromartie -- from the Jaguars' wish list are gone.
3:30 pm -- Tamba Hali is Herman Edwards' kind of player; a super hard-working guy. Hali is a player of the highest character. He'll play on every special teams the Chiefs have.
3:33 pm -- New England is on the clock. The Patriots are a 3-4 team that might have interest in Manny Lawson, another Jaguars wish list guy.
3:40 pm -- The Patriots take Laurence Maroney, a player in whom the Jaguars had interest. I'm interested in Lawson now. He's a tweener and there aren't a lot of good fits for Lawson between the 22nd and 27th picks. There's a chance he could fall to the Jags. They'd like to have the chance to consider him.
3:45 pm -- The 49ers pick Lawson, obviously to replace Julian Peterson. Lawson might've made it to the Jaguars had he gotten past this pick. This hurts the Jaguars.
3:48 pm -- There's a guy available who's not supposed to be there, Winston Justice. Why has he fallen? He's a big, talented tackle. He may still be battling that off-the-field thing. Will he still be there when the Jags pick? It would be a surprise if he is and would change the landscape of everything.
3:58 pm -- The Bucs take a guard. Justice remains available and could make it to the Jags. They'd have a critical decision to make. They would have to overlook his off-the-field issues. That's always tough to do but Justice is a very special player. The Bengals could take Marcedes Lewis here and that could compound matters for the Jags.
4:10 pm -- I have to step into the radio studio now to prepare for the Jaguars pick. I'll be back with you after the Jaguars pick and I do my story. Keep your eye on Winston Justice, Marcedes Lewis, DeAngelo Williams, LenDale White, etc. The drama is building.
5:30 pm -- I'm back. I just finished my story on Marcedes Lewis and it should be posted within 10 minutes or so. Lewis was their guy. There was no discussion on any other player. I'm going to catch up on what I missed and then I'll be back at you. Thanks for waiting.
6:03 pm -- I'm trying to put together a list of candidates for the Jaguars'second-round pick. Here's what I got: Maurice Drew of UCLA, Charles Spencer of Pitt, Abdul Hodge of Iowa, A.J. Nicholson of Florida State, Cedric Griffin of Texas and Ko Simpson of South Carolina. Of course, a lot of those names will be off the board when the Jags pick, but keep your eye on those names, especially Hodge's.
6:35 pm -- The Jaguars are 12 picks away from their second-round pick and I wish they had a couple compensatory picks they could package in a trade to move up. If they're going to satisfy their need at linebacker, they probably have to do it in this round.
7:43 pm -- The Jaguars are just a pick away from their second-round choice and they have an outstanding crop of prospects available to them. One way or another, they are going to be able to address need in this round and not stray from their value board rankings.
7:55 pm -- I wonder if it got bloody in the Jags' war room. Maurice Drew addresses the need for a punt-returner and don't let his size fool you; he can be a big-time running back. Abdul Hodge would've addressed a major need at linebacker, but I'm guessing Drew was too much value to pass up.
9:55 pm -- That's it for today. The Jaguars were able to address three needs areas of the team by selecting players they had targeted. All indications are these are the three players the Jaguars expected to draft when the day began. These were very predictable picks for a team that began the day with only six picks and all of them were low.
