Holt or Champ
Dave Betancourt | Sports Section Manager
Doug McKinney | Staff Writer

The 1999 NFL draft produced more than it's share of big name players. Draftees such as Donovan McNabb, Edgerrin James, Daunte Culpepper, Jevon Kearse and Chris McAllister, have made a big impact with their respective teams. But if we here at the Whim sports staff had to pick the two players who have excelled the most at their position(not counting our main man Edgerrin) we’d have to say that two of the drafts biggest stars are St. Louis Rams wide receiver Torry Holt and Washington Redskins cornerback Champ Bailey.

Holt was selected 6th overall by the Rams and Bailey was selected next with the 7th pick. Both have provided their teams with exceptional play at their respective positions, but we at the Whim sports staff wondered….if we were general managers for a football team and had to choose between Holt, one of the premiere young wide outs in the game today, and Bailey, who has established himself as one of the top corners in the league, who would we take. Here's what we thought.

Doug: "Most guys catch the ball," says veteran Rams receiver Ricky Proehl, "Torry attacks it." The man he is talking about, is none other than the St. Louis Rams young but very talented, Torry Holt. "He's just a flat-out playmaker," says Rams coach Mike Martz. Also known as the "Big Game," Holt was selected by the Rams in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He was the sixth pick, and Champ followed being the seventh.

In his third year in playing in the NFL, Holt has already accomplished so much. He led all NFC rookie wide receivers in receptions and receiving yards in 1999. He tallied up 53 Receptions, 788 Total Yards and 6 Touchdowns in his rookie season. He also helped lead the Rams to a Super Bowl Championship Season. In 2000, he earned his first Pro Bowl berth and became the first Ram since teammate Isaac Bruce in 1996 to lead the NFL in receiving yards. "Torry says he wants to be one of the best in the league," says Ken Zampese, the Rams wide receivers coach. "But, shoot, look at the numbers and look at what he does for this team -- he already is." The thing that makes Torry Holt so special is that he doesn't take praise to his head, even though he earned the name "Hot Dog" because he used to show up the opposing teams because he is so good. Ever since he started playing football, he has dedicated his play to his mother, who has lost her life to cancer. "My ultimate goal would be to find a cure for cancer," said Holt. "Until then, I want my foundation to be a positive influence on the lives of those people who are struggling with cancer in all its forms as a tribute to my mother."

Second to his family, Holt has football on his mind 24-7. Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil, the man who made Holt the sixth pick overall in the 1999 draft when he was the coach of the Rams, says about Holt: "Work is his middle name." He attributes his hard work ethics to his early days of picking tobacco in the Carolina fields. That's how he earned extra money to buy football cleats. He than chose North Carolina State because his mother was dying of cancer and wanted to stay close to home. There he led the Wolf Pack by becoming an impact player with great hands and speed and in 1998 was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year. You must give it up to the man, because he's so involved and puts so much effort into everything he does. On his website, torryholt.com, the welcome message details that the site is about him but dedicated to his fans. He also contributes a weekly column throughout the 2001 season for ABC Sports Online. I could go on and on about how great he is, but there is no need to. He only has good things in front of him and I assure you these feats he accomplish will impress you.

When I think of the year 1999, I think of the numbers 6 and 7. The number six standing for Holt being drafted as the number six pick, and the number seven, no not the name of the corner route the Rams have installed into their playbook specifically for Holt (called Deep 7), but for the seventh draft pick, Champ Bailey. The one thing I would ask from the Big Game is to see him match up with Champ Bailey. That's all Big Game. I don't care about the teams, just those two guys, but unfortunately don't expect it to happen this year. (They aren't scheduled to face each other, and come on, the Skins in the playoffs?)

Dave: Here's why I have to take Bailey over Holt. Is Holt one of the biggest playmakers in the NFL? Yes. Is he one of the most dominating receivers in the game? Yes. But there are always receivers available in the draft. Sure it's only every few years that you can nab a superstar receiver in the draft, but as rare is it is to get the next Randy Moss it's even rarer to get a stud shut down cornerback. And that's exactly what Champ Bailey is, a shut down corner. Let's keep in mind that when he came into the league he got to learn from one of the greatest corners ever in Darrell Green. Add that knowledge to athletic ability that is so insane that he can play offense too.

With Champ you get a shut down corner who can play man to man and line up on offense as a receiver or running back. He proved in the Skins last game against the Cardinals last season that he can do both. He scored a touchdown as a running back, caught passes as a receiver and had an interception. With Champ you know what your going to get, a corner who will always have his man coverd, period. Add that to the fact that he’s so talented that he can go in on offense and there you have it. It's a close race, but in my book, no matter what pick I had in the draft, Bailey would be my number one pick.