Article: Only time will tell how this first round rates; THE FIRST THREE ROUNDS 1997 NFL DRAFT SELECTIONS FIRST ROUND 1. St. Louis (from New York Jets), Orlando Pace, t, Ohio State; 2. Oakland (from New Orleans), Darrell Russell, dt, Southern California; 3. Seattle (from Atlanta), Shawn Springs, cb, Ohio State; 4. Baltimore, Peter Boulware, de, Florida State; 5. Detroit, Bryant Westbrook, db, Texas. 6. Seattle (from New York Jets through St. Louis and Tampa Bay), Walter Jones, t, Florida St; 7. New York Giants, Ike Hilliard, wr, Florida; 8. New York Jets (from Tampa Bay), James Farrior, lb, Virginia; 9. Arizona, Tom Knight, db, Iowa; 10. New Orleans (from Oakland), Chris Naeole, g, Colorado. 11. Atlanta (from Chicago through Seattle), Michael Booker, db, Nebraska; 12. Tampa Bay (from Seattle), Warrick Dunn, rb, Florida State; 13. Kansas City (from Houston), Tony Gonzalez, te, California; 14. Cincinnati, Reinard Wilson, lb, Florida State; 15. Miami, Yatil Green, wr, Miami. 16. Tampa Bay (from San Diego), Reidel Anthony, wr, Florida; 17. Washington, Kenard Lang, de, Miami; 18. Houston (from Kansas City), Kenny Holmes, de, Miami; 19. Indianapolis, Tarik Glenn, t, California; 20. Minnesota, Dwayne Rudd, lb, Alabama. 21. Jacksonville, Renaldo Wynn, dt, Notre Dame; 22. Dallas (from Philadelphia), David LaFleur, te, LSU; 23. Buffalo, Antowain Smith, rb, Houston; 24. Pittsburgh, Chad Scott, db, Maryland; 25. Philadelphia (from Dallas), Jon Harris, de, Virginia. 26. San Francisco, Jim Druckenmiller, qb, Virginia Tech; 27. Carolina, Rae Carruth, wr, Colorado; 28. Denver, Trevor Pryce, dt, Clemson; 29. New England, Chris Canty, db, Kansas State; 30. Green Bay, Ross Verba, g-t, Iowa. SECOND ROUND 31. New York Jets, Rick Terry, dt, North Carolina; 32. Atlanta, Nathan Davis, de, Indiana; 33. New Orleans, Rob Kelly, db, Ohio State; 34. Baltimore, Jamie Sharper, lb, Virginia; 35. Detroit, Juan Roque, g, Arizona State. 36. New York Giants, Tiki Barber, rb, Virginia; 37. Tampa Bay, Jerry Wunsch, t, Wisconsin; 38. Chicago (from St. Louis), John Allred, te, Southern California; 39. New Orleans (from Oakland), Jared Tomich, de, Nebraska; 40. St. Louis (from Chicago), Dexter McCleon, db, Clemson. 41. Atlanta (from Seattle), Bryan Hanspard, rb, Texas Tech; 42. Arizona, Jake Plummer, qb, Arizona State; 43. Cincinnati, Corey Dillon, rb, Washington; 44. Miami, Sam Madison, db, Louisville; 45. San Diego, Freddie Jones, te, North Carolina. 46. Houston, Joey Kent, wr, Tennessee; 47. Kansas City, Kevin Lockett, wr, Kansas State; 48. Indianapolis, Adam Meadows, t, Georgia; 49. Minnesota, Torrian Gray, db, Virginia Tech; 50. Jacksonville, Mike Logan, db, West Virginia. 51. Washington, Greg Jones, lb, Colorado; 52. Buffalo, Marcellus Wiley, de, Columbia; 53. Pittsburgh, Will Blackwell, wr, San Diego State; 54. Detroit (from Dallas), Kevin Abrams, db, Syracuse; 55. San Francisco (from Philadelphia), Marc Edwards, fb, Notre Dame. 56. Carolina, Mike Minter, db, Nebraska; 57. Philadelphia (f

If ever there is a first round that will reveal the evaluation abilities of the National Football League's personnel men, it is the one conducted in the 1997 draft Saturday.

Aside from the round's top six selections all seemingly can't-miss prospects it was a matter of personal opinion that determined the order of selection. With such a dearth of dominating players, teams eschewed the adage of selecting "the best athlete available" and drafted for need.

There were few surprises in the first round, and the only suspense was the order in which the final 24 players were selected. With the exception of Alabama linebacker Dwayne Rudd, Colorado wide receiver Rae Carruth and Virginia ...

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