Posted on Tue, Apr. 29, 2008

Former NFL GM: Woodson wronged

Fall to sixth round 'incomprehensible'

By Chip Cosby

CCOSBY@HERALD-LEADER.COM

UK Athletics Department

Andre Woodson, once viewed as a first-round pick, slid all the way to the sixth round in the NFL Draft. Photo Courtesy of UK Athletics Department

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On paper, this weekend's NFL Draft will go down as the most successful draft for the University of Kentucky in almost 20 years.

But it will also go down as perhaps the most puzzling.

Four Wildcats were selected on Sunday, marking the highest number of UK players drafted since 1989.

But the biggest news-maker was the perplexing slide of quarterback Andre Woodson. Woodson, who was once viewed as a first-round pick, slid all the way to the sixth round where he was selected by the New York Giants.

Woodson hasn't returned phone calls seeking comment, but UK Coach Rich Brooks said he talked with Woodson shortly after the draft.

"He's down and he's disappointed," Brooks said. "But there's a lot of other people that didn't get drafted and won't have a chance. At least he's got a chance."

UK assistant head coach Steve Ortmayer is no stranger to NFL war rooms, having spent six seasons in the league as a general manager with the San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams.

Ortmayer labeled Woodson's draft experience as "incomprehensible."

"It's an indictment of the NFL," Ortmayer said. "It's horrible. It's a horrible miss by the NFL, who's supposed to be on top of these things."

Woodson went into the season thought of as a first-round pick, and that status seemed firm after he guided UK to a 6-1 start and a win over eventual national champion LSU.

His stock fell slightly after Kentucky lost four of its final five regular-season games, but Woodson was still considered at worst a second-round pick after the Music City Bowl.

Things started to go sour at the Senior Bowl. Woodson struggled to pick up San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator Mike Martz's complex, timing-based offense, a move that Ortmayer took exception with.

"That experiment didn't work out very well," Ortmayer said. "The thing that was perplexing to Andre is that the coaches were supposed to be evaluating him and what he could do, and instead they put him in an offense that doesn't relate well to his game and that he's not even going to be running at the next level."

Woodson struggled in Senior Bowl practices and threw an interception and was sacked for a safety in the game. Scouts pointed out a hitch in Woodson's delivery and also questioned his decision-making, and those labels were attached to most analyses on Woodson leading up to the draft.

Ortmayer said Woodson's Senior Bowl experience became an albatross.

"When something like that happens, it becomes a feeding frenzy among those exchanging information leading up to the draft," He said. "Then it snowballs in the wrong direction for Andre. Everybody is trying to discover what's wrong with him instead of what's right."

Ortmayer said the mentality of current NFL scouts makes it difficult for prospects like Woodson to shake off a bad experience like the Senior Bowl.

"I've hired some of these guys who run these drafts," Ortmayer said. "NFL scouts never want to be wrong. They care a lot less about being right than not being wrong. It's easier to not take a stand and just go with the flow."

Ortmayer said he didn't think scouts spent enough time with UK head coach Rich Brooks, offensive coordinator Joker Phillips or quarterbacks coach Randy Sanders while they were evaluating Woodson.

"There were things they didn't get into enough that they would have known if they had spent enough time with Rich and Randy," Ortmayer said. "Andre is a prototype quarterback who looks the part. He makes all the throws. His game management is off the charts. Randy Sanders coached Peyton Manning, and he said Andre's game-management is the best he's seen since Peyton. And nobody evaluated this, but he was the best bad-weather quarterback in college football this year. He can handle the ball and make all the throws in any conditions."

"Why you would make an evaluation on a guy from about 30 minutes at the Senior Bowl as opposed to Randy, who coached Peyton, and Rich, who's been involved with quarterbacks who played in the league for 25 years. It's crazy, absurd and negligent."

Woodson wasn't the only Wildcat to have a disappointing draft day. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard, who had been projected as a later-round pick, went undrafted.

Monday he eventually was picked up as a free agent by the Denver Broncos.

Ortmayer said that Woodyard was probably hurt by his status as a "tweener": an undersized linebacker without much safety experience. But Ortmayer still thought somebody should have taken a late-round flier on Woodyard.

"I understand the dilemma with Wesley a little bit, but they have no idea what kind of leader he is," Ortmayer said. "He'll make every play on special teams for you. There were 100-plus guys drafted in the last three rounds that can't carry Wesley Woodyard's jock."

Snubs aside, Brooks hopes UK will be a factor on every draft day from here on out.

"I'm upset, and a few of our players aren't totally pleased," Brooks said. "But it's still the most players taken in the first seven rounds of the draft that we've had in a long time. It's a step in the right direction."

Little, Titans agree to terms

The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms with undrafted free agent Rafael Little on Monday. The team selected another tailback, East Carolina's Chris Johnson, with its top pick overall. Another free-agent running back, Delaware's Omar Cuff, signed Monday, too.

One of Little's UK teammates, center Eric Scott, signed with the Titans on Sunday night.

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