He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only eight sportswriters to have covered all 34 Super Bowls. Normally, one doesn't get a true reading on a draft for two years. You know, players grow into the job.
Boys grow into men.
They learn the routine, the rigors, the demands. Then, and possibly only then, can you decide whether a team had a good draft or a poor one, whether a player was the right one to pick or another mistake. Generally, it's two years. This time, maybe not. He was the third running back drafted, behind Jamal Lewis and Thomas Jones.