Chunky Monkey Rebuilds

Palo Alto (May 6, 2001)
Another draft, another run at a the league championship.

The Chunky Monkey management emerged from the 2001 draft smiling as they came out with 11 solid picks to form the new look of the 2001 Chunky Monkey team.

With their first pick, the Chunky Monkeys grabbed one of the top young quarterbacks in the country, Peyton Manning. Then proceeded to solidy its ground games by selecting Fred Taylor, Terrell Davis and young star LaDainian Tomlinson. Its receiving core will be anchored by Joe Horn, Germane Crowell, Wayne Chrebet and Derrick Mason.

Chunky Monkey GM Evan Shiue had announced earlier that he had intended to build the franchise around running. Using 3 of the first 5 picks for RBs, management kept its word by selecting Fred Taylor, Terrell Davis and new TCU rookie LaDainian Tomlinson. The organization are reportedly ecstatic with their running back core. Newly hired Director of Player Development, Barry Sanders, former star running back of the Detroit Lions and close friend of Chunky Monkey GM Evan Shiue, said earlier "Fred Taylor is easily one of the steals of the draft. We had Fred projected as one of the top backs of the draft. Freddy is our franchise back and will lead this team for years to come. We project LT to be a Fred Taylor clone. LT is durable and with moves to match. He will no doubt be a cornerstone for our franchise in the future.

As for Terrell Davis, his statistics speak for themselves. Terrell was easily the best back two years ago and after recent workouts, the Chunky Monkey organization are convinced that he willcomeback from his recent injuries to be a domninant running back this season. Even with the previous selections of Mr. Taylor and Mr. Tomlinson, it was impossible to pass up Terrell at the fifth round. With Freddy, LT and TD, we feel that our running back core will easily be one of the dominant groups in the league."

There is still a lot of time before the start of the season, but the Chunky Monkeys are definitely a team to start watching. Earlier tonight, ESPN's Mel Kiper told reporters that "The Chunky Monkey had a terrific draft. Co-captains Peyton Manning and Fred Taylor provide the team with great leadership. Fred Taylor and Terrell Davis were tremendous steals. Taylor is a top 3 back while Davis could be the steal of the draft. The more I look at the receiving core, the more I am impressed. With Joe Horn leading the way, young talent such as Germane Crowell, Derrick Mason and Wayne Chrebet (The Green Lantern) will be a capable group. Grade: A"

Minicamp will start in a few weeks.