Around the NFL: Draft picks who made some noise

Obviously, Tom Brady has been the draft pick of the century. That goes for this century, the 1900s or the one featuring 1492.

Where else do you go for a sixth-round quarterback who wins a Super Bowl in his second season and keeps coming back for more?

But there have been other good picks, too. With a draft a month off, and with the decade running out, we take this opportunity to review the draft picks of the century:

2000

The Man: Brady, Patriots, No. 199 overall.

Here's a great trivia question. Lay 100-to-1 odds your pal won't know: Who were the three luminaries the Pats picked after Brady in that draft. Answer: David Nugent, Casey Tisdale, Patrick Pass. None accompanied Brady to the '08 Super Bowl.

Second Banana: DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Packers, No. 149 overall. With 74 career sacks, this Round 5 pick make this an easy call.

The Big Miss: DE Courtney Brown, Browns, No. 1 overall. Surely "The Quiet Storm" uttered some loud ouches all those times he got hurt.

2001

The Man: WR Steve Smith, Panthers, No. 74 overall. Carolina has reached more Super Bowls with Smith than San Diego has attained with LaDainian Tomlinson.

Second Banana: Tomlinson, No. 5 overall, Chargers. We didn't say LT is a stiff.

The Big Miss: QB Michael Vick, Falcons, No. 1 overall. What good is brief playoff contention when your legacy is wrecking a franchise?

2002

The Man: RB Brian Westbrook, Eagles, No. 91 overall. He hasn't gotten Philly back to a Super Bowl yet, but he did lead the NFL with 2,104 yards from scrimmage in '07.

Second Banana: RB Clinton Portis, Broncos, No. 51 overall. The scouting consensus had William Green, T.J. Duckett and DaShaun Foster as better bets. Portis was second to Westbrook in '07 yards from scrimmage.

The Big Miss: QB David Carr, Texans, No. 1 overall. It was a bad year to be stuck that high in the draft.

2003

The Man: CB Asante Samuel, Patriots, No. 120 overall. Videotaping opponents' signals isn't the only reason these people keep playing in February. Getting an elite corner in Round 4 was a magic stroke.

Second Banana: DB Troy Polamalu, Steelers, No. 16 overall. The Steelers were 26-6 with a Super Bowl win in this guy's second and third seasons.

The Big Miss: WR Charles Rogers, Lions, No. 2 overall. The team that plays every Thanksgiving couldn't have gotten a bigger turkey - 36 catches during the only three seasons he played.

2004

The Man: DB Bob Sanders, Colts, No. 44 overall. Sanders is that sock-it-to-ya safety everybody now wants.

Second Banana: QB Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers, No. 11 overall. Eli Manning, Philip Rivers then Roethisberger. Today, it likely would be Roethlisberger, Manning and Rivers.

The Big Miss: OT Robert Gallery, Raiders, No. 2 overall. How different would the east side of the bay look if Roethlisberger was the pick instead?

2005

The Man: RB Brandon Jacobs, Giants, No. 110 overall. He's like trying to tackle the Statue of Liberty. He set the tone on offense that the Giants front four did on defense in knocking New England off.

Second Banana: LB Lofa Tatupu, Seahawks, No. 45 overall. He was the wrong size to be safely drafted higher, but he was the right man to get Seattle's defense over the hump and into a Super Bowl.

The Big Miss: CB Pacman Jones, Titans, No. 6 overall. This guy's story isn't as revolting as Mike Vick's, but it's a sobering character-counts tale.

2006

The Man: RB Joseph Addai, Colts, No. 30 overall. Teams drafting this low aren't supposed to pluck rookies who make a difference in runs to a Super Bowl win.

Second Banana: Joshua Cribbs, Browns, undrafted. He's the best overall special teams player in the league. As much as anyone, he turned watching the Browns from pulling teeth to grins.

The Big Miss: RB Reggie Bush, Saints, No. 2 overall. One assumes New Orleans aimed for better than 581 rushing yards at 3.7 per carry.

2007

The Man: LB Patrick Willis, 49ers , No. 11 overall. This guy looked better than plenty of former No. 1 overall picks, including some of the ones who panned out.

Second Banana: RB Adrian Peterson, Vikings, No. 7 overall. Was Cleveland wise to take tackle Joe Thomas instead of this sizzling runner at No. 3? Maybe they'll sort out that answer in a Super Bowl if Minnesota comes up with a QB?

The Big Miss: OT Levi Brown, Cardinals, No. 5 overall. The dropoff between Thomas' rookie year and Brown's was longer than Yao Ming.

2008

The Man: A fairly safe guess ... it's not who you think.

Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com