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In the months and days leading up to the 2006 NFL Draft, most folks who know about such things figured Texas safety Michael Huff to be a top-10 pick. In looking back through the '06 draft mags, Pro Football Weekly and ESPN had Huff going seventh to the 49ers, and The Sporting News had the Lions taking him with the ninth selection. In the end, the Raiders -- a team with needs, well, at just about every position -- drafted Huff seventh overall. And that, in all likelihood, was the highlight of his professional career. Huff started every game in '06 and '07, but only managed seven starts last season. In three years, he has 191 tackles and 17 passes defended but just one interception.
In their '06 draft issues, The Sporting News compared Huff to Troy Polamalu and ESPN pegged him for an Ed Reed-type player. If nothing else, just more proof that projecting how college stars will fare in the NFL is more art than science. Huff has been so underwhelming, in fact, that there's a good chance he'll be out of work in a few weeks.
The Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones writes: "Though the team gets S Tyvon Branch back, [Rashad] Baker proved valuable. The team is likely to cut S Michael Huff, something he also expects. Branch's return could mean the Raiders would let Justin Miller walk with little resistance."
Looking at the names the Raiders passed over to take Huff is mostly pointless, but it's the offseason -- we've got time. On Draft Day '06, Matt Leinart seemed like a reasonable choice because nobody actually expected Andrew Walter do be anything more than a NFL backup. Turns out, that could also be Leinart's ultimate fate too. But Oakland could've had Jay Cutler, Haloti Ngata, Antonio Cromartie, Santonio Holmes, DeAngelo Williams or Joseph Addai -- all players who would've contributed immediately.
But again, this isn't to point and gawk in the general direction of the Raiders' front office, but to highlight how things might've been different had Oakland passed on Huff. Although, to be fair, these are the Al Davis All-Stars we're talking about -- maybe nothing would've changed.
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