[Rain Man]

This is a tough one. There are lots of good prospects, but no one is a slam dunk. I went with:

#1 - Derrick Johnson. He underachieved for a while, but if you're looking for someone to knife into a pile and upend a ball carrier, he's your guy. He makes a lot of fun plays for a guy at a position that doesn't get a lot of high-visibility big plays. I like DJ.

#2 - Willie Lanier. On the field, he's Willie Lanier. Hall of Fame middle linebacker. That's enough right there. Off the field, I've heard that he's not exactly warm and friendly (mostly from phobia). So while he's certainly a favorite on the field, I knocked off a few points for that.

#3 - Tracy Simien. I had to go with a big run thumper here. I always liked Tracy. He was a big presence in the middle of the field who stood up blockers and allowed DT to concentrate on rushing. He was fun to watch mostly because he stopped anything exciting from happening, but that's still a win.

Lots of honorable mentions:

Jim Lynch - childhood hero. The truth, though, is that he was overshadowed by Bell and Lanier. Seems like a really nice and smart guy, though, from the interviews I've seen.

Tamba Hali - You have to like a guy who goes all out on every play and grew up in a war-torn country and then got rich and nabbed a 4'-8" girlfriend.

Scott Fujita - Seems like a guy you'd want to go to dinner with. I really wanted him to succeed here, and was happy that he ended up with a long career, even if he did get caught up in Bountygate.

Mike Maslowski - We were 9-0 until he got hurt. 9-0.

Cory Greenwood - Great special teams guy. I always wonder with those guys how they don't end up with a starting defense job.

Ken McAlister - He had potential as a pass rusher until he blew out a knee or some such thing. I think he was a basketball player who became an NFL player with no training.