Among the extraordinary draft class of big, fast wide receivers, Larry Fitzgerald was the first to go and the Arizona Cardinals gave him the biggest signing bonus, $20 million.
But the first one the Bears will see is Detroit’s Roy Williams in Week 1. He was the second receiver selected, but is first in the minds of not only the Lions but several Bears and ex-Bears.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo thinks Williams was the best of the bunch and will quickly establish himself as one of the two or three best in the league.
New Bears wide receivers coach Darryl Drake coached Williams at Texas and obviously believes he’s the best.
Former Bears player Dennis Gentry now scouts the Texas area for the Lions and also loves Williams.
Williams reported Monday weighing 220, which is 5 to 10 pounds over his college weight. He’s 6 feet 3 inches, has outstanding speed, and was immediately thrust into the starting lineup opposite last year’s top Lions draft choice, Charles Rogers. At 6-3, 202, Rogers looks small beside Williams.
“It gives me a big frame and I know I’m going to have to go across the middle with those Green Bay [defensive backs],” Williams said.
“There should be a smile on everybody’s face in Detroit,” Rogers said. But Rogers also recalls his own difficult rookie year when injuries limited him to five games and warns: “Give him some time. Don’t put too much pressure on him.”
Nevertheless, the pressure arrived right along with Williams, who was two days late in signing for a reported bonus of more than $13 million.
“He made great plays immediately,” quarterback Joey Harrington said. “Caught a couple touchdowns in 7 on 7. He looks smooth. I’ve had plenty of visions about this receiving corps. This is the receiving corps I’ve dreamt about.”
The Lions are still quietly celebrating their trade down only one spot from six to seven in Round 1 with the Browns. It enabled them to package an extra second-rounder from the Browns to move up and land Virginia Tech running back Kevin Jones in the first round. Instead of Williams, the Browns wanted tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., who has missed the start of camp with a predictable holdout.
“He’s got world-class speed. Hard to pass up,” coach Steve Mariucci said of Williams. “Rare hands and rare speed. He can be an impact player. They’re playmakers, point-scorers, touchdown makers. Receivers can start and play well sooner than positions closer to the ball, like a tackle or quarterback or center.”
More than exhibitions
To quiet the perception that exhibition games mean nothing, the NFL points out that only one Super Bowl champion since the advent of free agency in 1993 has survived a losing exhibition record.
Dallas in 1995 posted a 2-3 exhibition record. Last season, both Super Bowl teams, New England and Carolina, were unbeaten in exhibition games.
The theory is that exhibition games have become more important in developing cohesion when rosters change because of free agency.
But Super Bowl success usually has been preceded by preseason success. Of the 38 Super Bowl champions, 30 (78.9%) posted a winning percentage of .500 or higher in the exhibition season. Overall, the 38 Super Bowl winners have a combined 115-65-2 (.637) exhibition record.
This doesn’t mean much to Bears fans who remember 1985. That great team was 1-3 in the exhibition season.
Beating the heat
To monitor the effects of heat, the Jacksonville Jaguars are giving vulnerable players a “thermometer pill.” It stays in the system for 30-35 hours and during practice a trainer can check internal body temperature by pointing a hand-held device at them.
“It’s really a neat device because it allows us to have earlier intervention and that’s very important,” said Jaguars trainer Mike Ryan, who said the “CorTemp” system was originally devised by Johns Hopkins University in the late 1980s for NASA.
Three Jaguars experienced minor heat problems during training camp last year.
Action everywhere
After the league added a specific 15-yard penalty for an excessive or prolonged touchdown celebration, a Canadian casino has listed odds on the players most likely to be flagged first. According to BoDog.com Sportsbook and Casino in Vancouver, Philadelphia’s Terrell Owens is listed at 15-2, New Orleans’ Joe Horn is 8-1, Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson is 10-1, and Dallas’ Keyshawn Johnson and Minnesota’s Randy Moss are 12-1.
A believer
Running back Duce Staley, who went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, said the Eagles would have won their last three NFC title games had they run the ball more.
“I strongly believe that if we had been committed to the run in those three games, we would’ve won all three. I can’t give you the Super Bowl outcome, but we would’ve been there,” Staley said.
The Eagles averaged just 23 rushing attempts per game in NFC title game losses to the Rams (29-24), Bucs (27-10) and Panthers (14-3), compared to 38.3 pass attempts.
“I’m glad to be somewhere where I’ll get a chance to start and have the ball,” Staley said. “There’s a possibility here I might touch the ball 25 times a game. With the Eagles, you can only dream of that. With the Eagles, to touch the ball 25 times, we’ve gotta be up 50-0. Even then, we might throw it on third-and-one.”
The left side
All the speculation about whether new Bears tackle John Tait is going to move from the right side to the left ignores this trend: A lot of the best pass rushers in the NFC line up on the left side, requiring an agile right tackle to block them.
Traditionally, the best pass rushers come from the right side. It’s usually the quarterback’s blind side, and since most teams run to the right, defenses like to put their run-stopping ends rather than their pass-rush specialists on the left side of their formation.
But in the NFC, New York’s Michael Strahan, Carolina’s Julius Peppers, St. Louis’ Leonard Little, Detroit’s Robert Porcher, New Orleans’ Charles Grant, Dallas’ Greg Ellis and now Philadelphia’s Jevon Kearse all are left ends. Ellis may end up on the Cowboys’ right side after leading the team in sacks last year. Tampa Bay’s Simeon Rice led the NFC in sacks and rushed from the right side.
Kearse played mostly on the right side for the Titans the last couple of years but started his NFL career on the left side when he had 14 1/2 sacks in 1999.
Kearse will be more comfortable on the left side because of the fractured left toe that sidelined him two years ago. His left foot won’t be forced to deal with as much stress, since he’ll be pushing off with his right foot.
“I’m more comfortable being in a right-handed stance (left end),” Kearse said. I feel better with my right hand inside, because I feel stronger in case I do an inside move or have to protect myself.”
That’s why Bears pro personnel director Bobby DePaul said at the beginning of the off-season: “We need two left tackles.”
