NFL Draft: The War Room | HoustonProFootball.com 
August 26, 2002
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Last year, David Carr didn’t make his debut on this page until September 10, nearly two months after our college football coverage began. Seven months later, of course, he was the Texans’ first pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, which just goes to show you that the NFL Draft is anything but an exact science.
And yet, here we are, back again for another year of draft coverage, obvious gluttons for punishment…
Fortunately, forecasting the 2003 Draft should be somewhat easier, if only because the Texans will have a season under their belt this time around. So unlike this year, when Houston’s draft needs read: "Yes," there will be actual holes the team will need to fill and prospects they’ll be targeting in hopes of filling those holes. In theory, anyway, 2003 should prove less of a crapshoot.
And what might the Texans find when looking at the 2003 Draft Class? Ironically enough, considering their selection of Carr, a lot of really good quarterbacks.
Byron Leftwich, Chris Simms, Ken Dorsey and Dave Ragone head an impressive list of intriguing senior prospects while Rex Grossman and Eli Manning are among a handful of underclassmen who, if they declare, could make this the best quarterback class, on paper, since 1983.
And that’s great news, not because the Texans are going to need a quarterback but because other teams will. If we assume the Texans will draft high in next year’s draft, they could conceivably parlay that pick into something really special from a quarterback-starved team desperate to grab one of the nation’s best prospects.
Even more intriguing than the wealth of quarterbacks is the potential quality and depth of available wide receivers, something that will likely make Carr happy. And leading that list is Longhorn Roy Williams, who’s generating a lot of preseason buzz.
At 6’4", 215 pounds, Williams has scouts drooling over his all-around skills and limitless potential; some have even labeled him college football’s best player; meanwhile, teammates have nicknamed him "Legend."
Joining Williams atop many draft boards is Michigan State’s Charles Rogers (6’4", 210), Tennessee’s Kelley Washington (6’3", 220), Miami’s Andre Johnson (6’3", 205) and former David Carr receiver Bernard Berrian (6’1", 185), the only senior among this group. All big, fast wide receivers who can stretch defenses and make tough catches.
The 2003 draft also should be strong up the middle: lots of good guards and centers, defensive tackles, inside linebackers and safeties. Heading that group is Maryland linebacker EJ Henderson (6’1", 250), who last year finished with 150 tackles (28 behind the line of scrimmage), six sacks, one interception, four pass breakups, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and two blocked kicks.
Where the draft is lacking is in the backfield; it’s a decidedly weak year for running backs, especially among the seniors, where the best prospect is probably Virginia Tech’s Lee Suggs (5’11", 201), who’s working his way back from season-ending knee surgery and remains a big question mark (he had 87 yards in Tech’s opener Saturday).
Then again, there’s a full season left to be played, and no doubt a David Carr-like story waiting to catch us all by surprise will emerge. That’s why we’re back for another year.
Back with a different look, actually, Now that there’s actually a team for us to cover, this is gonna be the last The War Room until after the college football regular season. At that time, new staffer Warren DeLuca will take the rheins.
All that needs to be said about Warren DeLuca’s commitment to professional football in Houston is that he was one of the handful of people at the infamous December 1994 "Save Our Oilers" rally at City Hall. He currently follows the Texans and his beloved Aggies from his home in College Station, Texas.
We’ll see you in December.
Roy Williams 
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