Tyler Morrill

Sports editor

The NFL Draft is over and 252 former college athletes are starting their new jobs as professionals.

The new crop of rookies will soon be working out a contract with their respective  teams and some will be working to convince their teams they were worth the pick.

Many believe it takes up to four years to fully evaluate how a specific team does in the draft. This long period of time gives players a chance to prove their worth. It decides whether they were a great choice or a total bust.

The classic example of how difficult it can be to draft a player is the 1998 NFL Draft.

The Indianapolis Colts had the first pick and were looking to use it on a quarterback.

The top two quarterbacks in the draft were easy to pick out: Tennessee’s Payton Manning and Washington State’s Ryan Leaf.

But of those two, the one projected to have a better NFL career was a major topic of debate for the months leading up to the draft.

The Colts went with Manning, and he has become one of the top quarterbacks of the decade.

Leaf had a brief and troubled NFL career. He was more famous for his off-the-field antics than his poor play on the field.

He constantly argued with his teammates and the media. Now his name has become a common reference when looking at players that may become the biggest busts in the pros.

Over the weekend, teams added players to their roster hoping not to find themselves the next Ryan Leaf.

The team that grades the best is the Kansas City Chiefs, who had one of the worst defenses in the league. Adding defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who was considered the best overall player in the draft, will help the Chiefs bolster the defensive line that struggled with stopping the run.

And in the AFC West, where you have Ladainian Tomlinson and now Darren McFadden, stopping the run will be essential. The Chiefs also needed help on the line. Drafting some quality players in the subsequent rounds helped them quite a bit.

The Steelers added a strong running back to help out Willie Parker and picked up a top receiver in the second round in Limas Sweed.

But the most interesting pick was saved for the fifth round when they nabbed quarterback Dennis Dixon.

Dixon didn’t have the best arm in the draft, but he is a good runner.

The Steelers have a history of turning quarterbacks into solid wide receivers. Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El were both quarterbacks in college and have become reliable receivers.

The Steelers are good at developing trick plays, which Randle El was a part of many times. Dixon could also come in for some similar situations.

I was hesitant to see the Atlanta Falcons draft Matt Ryan with the third pick because of the recent struggles of quarterbacks chosen in the first round, but in this circumstance I liked it.

The Falcons need to move on from the Michael Vick saga and this was in the right direction.

Selecting Ryan proves the Falcons aren’t moping around waiting to see if Vick can come back in a year and play. The move disassociates the franchise from their former pro-bowl quarterback.

The Washington Redskins added two of the top three wide receivers to their roster this past weekend.

After failing to get the Bengals’ Chad Johnson, the Redskins traded out of the first round to get three early second round picks. With those, they nabbed receivers Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly and tight end Fred Davis. Malcolm Kelly could be one of the best steals in the draft and Fred Davis is one of the top tight ends this year.

Seeing this offense stick together will be something to watch for if Jason Campbell returns to form after getting injured last year.

I don’t think Colt Brennan, whom the Redskins drafted in the fifth round, is the team’s answer for that position.

There’s no way to predict how a 21- or 22-year old athlete will do in the professional game, but teams put a lot of expectations on the picks.

The draft will never be an exact science and that just leads to potential picks getting put through more mental and physical examinations.