There were 13 defensive tackles selected in the final 2˝ rounds of the 2006 NFL draft. How well any of the members of that baker's dozen fare the next few seasons ultimately could determine the manner in which the Miami Dolphins' dubious decision to use a fifth-round pick on Manuel Wright in last summer's supplemental draft is viewed.
In choosing Wright last summer, Miami forfeited its fifth-round selection this past April, a pick that would have been the 149th overall, right in the middle of the round. Could the Dolphins -- who chose a defensive tackle with the same surname, Rodrique Wright of Texas, who likely will miss his entire 2006 rookie season because of a shoulder injury, in the seventh round -- have landed a better prospect than Manuel Wright with that fifth-round pick? Or is the former Southern California defensive tackle, with a full NFL season on his league résumé, a better option?
Time will tell.
"We still feel good about [Manuel Wright]," Dolphins coach Nick Saban said between minicamp practices last month. "We still feel like taking him, because we wanted to get younger at the position, was the right call."
But when it comes to supplemental draft choices, time has rendered some telling evidence that, at least in the last few years, suggests that the gambles made on summer picks usually turn up snake eyes. With the league's summertime lottery scheduled for Thursday, it's pertinent to note that, of the 34 players chosen since the supplemental draft was introduced in 1977, there have been more than twice as many prospects who didn't log a single snap in a regular-season game (nine) as there have been Pro Bowl players (four).
LInk
Nine supplemental picks never saw NFL action
Nine supplemental picks never saw NFL action
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