Keyshawn to Analyze NFL Draft for ESPN

Keyshawn to Analyze NFL Draft for ESPN
By BARRY WILNER
AP Football Writer

NEW YORK -- Keyshawn Johnson someday would like to be an NFL team's general manager, if not its owner. He's getting a head start on personnel evaluation and a crash course in the draft this spring.

Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick of the 1996 draft by the New York Jets, has won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and been a lead receiver for the Jets, Buccaneers and Cowboys. Currently with the Carolina Panthers and heading into his 12th pro season, Johnson knows the bulk of his playing career is behind him.


So he's preparing for life beyond touchdown catches and first-down receptions. If it's not running team, it just might be commenting on what they're doing on and off the field.

He gets the chance to analyze everyone's drafts this weekend for ESPN.

But with a different approach.

"I have the perspective of being the No. 1 overall pick, knowing the pressures you are under and still playing to your abilities," Johnson said. "And I can talk about the pressures that are going to be put on the No. 1 pick or other No. 1s, or even second-rounders, and the sort of things that come up in the NFL and the expectations of turning a franchise around for a high pick. There's the ups and downs you go through psychologically on and off the field.

"There are a lot of can't-misses who miss. There are guys who will be overanalyzed and underanalyzed. Some turn out to be great pros or they turn out to be bums. What goes into that? I can share with the viewers all of that; what is a good player and what is not a good player."

Johnson not only has been a good player, he has been one of the better overall top choices of the last 20 years. It's too early to judge the last three No. 1 picks (Mario Williams, Alex Smith and Eli Manning), but of the first selections from 1988-2003, Johnson certainly has been more accomplished than Aundray Bruce (1989), Jeff George (1990), Steve Emtman (1992), Dan Wilkinson (1994), Ki-jana Carter (1995), Tim Couch (1999), Courtney Brown (2000) and David Carr (2002). You can make a solid argument he has outdone Michael Vick (2001), Drew Bledsoe (1993) and Russell Maryland (1991) as well.

He unquestionably has been a better talker than all of them, but it's not just bluster.

"If you polled the network guys who cover the NFL, they pretty much all would tell you Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis, Keyshawn are the guys you look forward to meeting with," said Jay Rothman, coordinating producer for ESPN's draft coverage. "Keyshawn has the tell-it-like-it-is factor, he shoots straight. He explains, and tells you the little things about the game that make you go, `Wow.' "

Johnson has been studying this year's crop, with an emphasis on receivers and defensive backs. He's watched film on about two dozen wideouts, nearly as many cornerbacks and safeties, and many other skill position guys.

But he won't be examining every choice; that's Mel Kiper Jr.'s job for ESPN. Instead, Rothman expects Johnson to offer a different perspective.

"He has such a great familiarity of the league and coaching staffs and schemes," Rothman said. "We'll ask him when you put the player in this situation on this team, what will happen? What can he offer? And we'll get that from Keyshawn."

This is not Johnson's first foray into broadcasting. He's worked for both ESPN and Fox on TV, and he's had a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio for three years. He doesn't hold back on that program, "Taking it to the House," either.

"Keyshawn knows the league inside and out and is a true student of the game," said Steve Cohen, Sirius vice president of sports programming. "Each week during his `Taking It To The House' program he's able to offer insight into every game and every player. Few can talk about the NFL with the knowledge and passion that Keyshawn possesses for the game."

The real test, though, will come when a player such as Dwayne Jarrett of Southern Cal is selected. Many draftniks have compared Jarrett to Johnson or another former USC receiver, Mike Williams.

Unlike Johnson, Williams has been a bust with Detroit. Like Johnson and Williams, Jarrett isn't particularly quick. But like them when they were Trojans, Jarrett makes big, sometimes spectacular plays.

So, Key, where and when for Jarrett in the draft?

"When I said Duane Jarrett was not ready for the pros during the Rose Bowl, people wonder what I was thinking," Johnson said. "Now, all of a sudden four months fast forward, and people are saying he's not ready to be a No. 1 pick, and I said that in December. I think he will turn out to do better than what most people think -- he's tall and lanky and has a lot of range. But he's not very fast or quick, will struggle getting off the line of scrimmage, catches the ball too much with his body.

"He might get pegged like a Mike Williams, but these are different receivers. Dwayne projects as a much better pro than Mike Williams, but he going to run into that problem of people saying: `Mike Williams didn't do well, so you won't do well."

Sure sounds like a draft analyst, doesn't it?
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Ok "Key" is a pretty smart guy, maybe he runs his gums at times, but he knows what he's talking about. I'll be interested to see how much space Mighty Mel gives him....
Bill(Draftnik)