"[Deion Branch] is a known commodity," Ruskell said. "The first round can be a crap shoot, from top to bottom."

Ruskell said that when he was a personnel guru under former Tampa Bay general manager Rich McKay a few years ago, the Buccaneers did a study of first-round draft choices. Ruskell said that over 15-20 years, 50 percent became NFL players.

"Fifty percent were busts," Ruskell said. September, 2006

Seattle may select Michael Crabtree with the fourth overall pick, but the odds are stacked against it. This isn't smoke. Ruskell made a still controversial decision to trade Seattle's first round pick to acquire Branch. Since that time he has spent very little to acquire further receiver talent. Rather, he's spent quite a bit, but very little of value. Ruskell's words and decisions make it clear he sees wide receiver as a very difficult position to evaluate.