There's a kind of legend out there that Parcells likes big huge receivers, guys who dwarf cornerbacks and cast long shadows deep into the end zone. It was something I thought I could rely on to predict who Parcells might take in the 2008 draft. But when I went back and looked at his draft history, I found something a little unusual--under Bill Parcells, the average height of a wide receiver drafted in Dallas and New York was six foot even. Furthermore, that number was greatly skewed by late round picks who barely made the roster. Factor in that Parcells is notoriously hands-off with the draft during the second day, and the prototypical Parcells receiver turns out to be under six feet tall.
Cowboys:
2006 Skyler Green. Skyler Green was all of 5'9. A return specialist, he was taken in the third round, so it wasn't like a second day throwaway pick.
2004 Patrick Crayton. A seventh round pick, Patrick Crayton was 6 foot even. Short by NFL receiver standards.
2003 Zuriel Smith. 5-11 in the sixth round.
2002 Antonio Bryant. 6-2. 6-2 is decent size, but it's hardly a giant receiver.
2002 Deveren Johnson. 6-6. Finally, a "prototypical Parcells receiver." Chosen six years ago in the seventh round, where Parcells generally lets the scouts make the decisions.
With the Jets
2000: Lavurneus Coles: 5-11. It wasn't height that drew Parcells to Coles, it was raw speed.
2000: Windrell Hayes: 5-11. Incidentally, Hayes is currently enlisted with the US Army. I was a little surprised to see that. Hoo-ah, Windrell Hayes.
1998: Chris Brazzel. 6-3, according to Winnipeg. He was picked in the sixth round.
1997: Dedric Ward. 5-9. This was a guy I considered synonymous with Bill Parcells back in the 90's. I thought he was around 6 foot or so.
(Are my dates off? I thought Parcells was head coach during the 2002 draft. Oh well, if he wasn't it just makes the point more salient.)
So where did the legend of the giant receiver come from? Maybe it was earlier in his career with the Giants. I didn't go back quite that far. Maybe he kept inheriting guys like Keyshaun Johnson and Terrell Owens. What I suspect is that people extrapolated this receiver theory from the stone cold fact that Parcells has a definite size requirement for his front seven defensive players and quarterbacks. And Parcells isn't exactly chummy with the media, even when he was the media, so he didn't have any reason to correct them. In fact, it probably helped him that it was "well-known" that he preferred large wide receivers.
So when running those mock drafts, don't count out guys like Eddie Royal or Desean Jackson. If anything, size isn't the measure by which Parcells chooses receivers at all--it's speed.
Cowboys:
2006 Skyler Green. Skyler Green was all of 5'9. A return specialist, he was taken in the third round, so it wasn't like a second day throwaway pick.
2004 Patrick Crayton. A seventh round pick, Patrick Crayton was 6 foot even. Short by NFL receiver standards.
2003 Zuriel Smith. 5-11 in the sixth round.
2002 Antonio Bryant. 6-2. 6-2 is decent size, but it's hardly a giant receiver.
2002 Deveren Johnson. 6-6. Finally, a "prototypical Parcells receiver." Chosen six years ago in the seventh round, where Parcells generally lets the scouts make the decisions.
With the Jets
2000: Lavurneus Coles: 5-11. It wasn't height that drew Parcells to Coles, it was raw speed.
2000: Windrell Hayes: 5-11. Incidentally, Hayes is currently enlisted with the US Army. I was a little surprised to see that. Hoo-ah, Windrell Hayes.
1998: Chris Brazzel. 6-3, according to Winnipeg. He was picked in the sixth round.
1997: Dedric Ward. 5-9. This was a guy I considered synonymous with Bill Parcells back in the 90's. I thought he was around 6 foot or so.
(Are my dates off? I thought Parcells was head coach during the 2002 draft. Oh well, if he wasn't it just makes the point more salient.)
So where did the legend of the giant receiver come from? Maybe it was earlier in his career with the Giants. I didn't go back quite that far. Maybe he kept inheriting guys like Keyshaun Johnson and Terrell Owens. What I suspect is that people extrapolated this receiver theory from the stone cold fact that Parcells has a definite size requirement for his front seven defensive players and quarterbacks. And Parcells isn't exactly chummy with the media, even when he was the media, so he didn't have any reason to correct them. In fact, it probably helped him that it was "well-known" that he preferred large wide receivers.
So when running those mock drafts, don't count out guys like Eddie Royal or Desean Jackson. If anything, size isn't the measure by which Parcells chooses receivers at all--it's speed.
