THE NFL / BILL PLASCHKE : The Rookies: Some Are the Best, Some Are a Bust

Add Willie McGinest to the long list of players who will support the theory of evolution as it applies to NFL rookies.

In other words, he no longer wonders how somebody can be 23 and feel like an old man.

It begins when you arrive at training camp bearing a big contract and bigger fears. In the next six months, a familiar pattern develops:

--You get yelled at.

--You get benched.

--You get yelled at.

--You get injured.

--You get yelled at, now by people you don’t know, in words you don’t even understand.

--You get tired.

--You get yelled at so much, you worry that the person yelling will suffer apoplexy.

--Then . . . you get a clue.

McGinest, a first-round pick from USC, fourth overall, has arrived at the final phase just in time for the New England Patriots’ most important game in many years.

When the Patriots visit Chicago today in hopes of clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 1986, McGinest will be playing the left outside linebacker position in the league’s hottest young defense.

The Raiders hope he and fellow outside linebacker Chris Slade are stopped. A victory by the Bears would allow the Raiders entry into the playoffs without even showing up against the Kansas City Chiefs.

But it may be too late for that.

“We’re feeling a lot better about things,” said McGinest, whose defense leads the league with 39 take-aways.

Easy for him to say. He couldn’t feel much worse, not after enduring a season under Coach Bill Parcells.

“Yes, well, Coach has been in my face a little bit,” McGinest said. “If you do something wrong, he yells at you. . . . He has yelled at me a lot.”

It started when McGinest had trouble learning the Patriots’ complicated pass coverage. It continued when he injured his knee in the second game of the season, a loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The stresses began piling up along with his bench time. Soon he was wondering if he would ever see January.

Spending his first winter away from Southern California, he already had resigned himself to never again seeing the sun.

“I was really tired,” he said. “I’ve never played this much football. And so much to learn. At times I still feel lost. It has been a lot of stress.”

But he listened to his coaches, picked up their dogma.

“I’m not complaining about my situation because this is what they pay me for,” he said.

And he constantly studied.

“I have a tape in my hand right now,” he said during a recent telephone interview. “It’s like homework. You have to do it, or Coach is in your face again.”

Next thing he knew, he was leading a defense that held the New York Jets to 219 total yards and three second-half points in a 24-13 Patriot victory three weeks ago.

The Patriot defense has held opponents to fewer than 300 yards in four of the last five games and McGinest has been one of the team’s stoppers.

“They say I’m playing better, but I still have a lot to learn,” he said. “They are trying to bring me along slow. I am taught something every day.”

In case you think he is no longer acting like a rookie, though, just listen to what he says about his coach. He still loves him.

“Parcells is the type of coach everybody should want to play for,” McGinest said. “He’s a for-real coach. He doesn’t hide anything from you. He treats you like a man.”

Or at least like a steady outside linebacker, which is what McGinest has become in being named to our all-rookie team.

The list, from bests to busts:

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QUARTERBACK

BEST: Heath Shuler, Washington Redskins. Not much to choose from here. Hey, he has completed more than half of his passes in the last three weeks. That’s more than Trent What’s-his-name.

BUST: Charlie Ward, New York Knicks. The best quarterback in New York still can’t get any playing time.

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RUNNING BACK

BEST: Marshall Faulk, Indianapolis Colts, and Errict Rhett, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The strongest in a strong field that also includes Mario Bates of the New Orleans Saints, William Floyd of the San Francisco 49ers, and Greg Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs.

BUST: Calvin Jones, Raiders. An ordinary third-round pick. And the Raiders passed on Rhett, Bates and Hill for him.

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WIDE RECEIVER

BEST: Darnay Scott, Cincinnati Bengals, and Derrick Alexander, Cleveland Browns. Will somebody please tell us again why San Diego State did not win more games with Faulk and Scott on the same team?

BUST: Johnnie Morton, Detroit Lions. Great touchdown catch last weekend does not erase a season on the sideline.

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OFFENSIVE GUARD

BEST: Larry Allen, Dallas Cowboys, and Isaac Davis, San Diego Chargers. Allen has done well as Erik Williams’ replacement at right tackle. Davis emerged from a slow start and finished with a solid month, including a huge game last weekend while replacing injured starter Joe Cocozzo in New York.

BUST: Eric Mahlum, Colts. A 32nd overall pick needs to do more than back up the likes of Randy Dixon and Joe Staysniak.

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OFFENSIVE TACKLE

BEST: Bernard Williams, Philadelphia Eagles, and Todd Steussie, Minnesota Vikings. Large, smart, potential steals even at the 14th and 19th picks, respectively. Of course, maybe they just look good sandwiched around that tackle taken with the 15th pick by the Rams.

BUST: Wayne Gandy, Rams. We’ve made enough jokes about him for one year, don’t you think?

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CENTER

BEST: Kevin Mawae, Seattle Seahawks. Moved to guard because of injuries, but strong enough to open holes for the AFC’s leading rusher, Chris Warren.

BUST: Joe Burch, Patriots. Rare are the third-round picks who are nowhere to be found six months later. Just as rare are Parcells’ mistakes, such as this guy, who showed up fat and never recovered.

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KICKER

BEST: Chris Boniol, Cowboys. One hundred and 10 points later, we suspect Barry Switzer can now pronounce his name.

BUST: Tony Meola, Buffalo Blizzards of the National Professional Soccer League. This indoor league is where the former World Cup goalkeeper is playing after flunking a tryout with the New York Jets.

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DEFENSIVE TACKLES

BEST: Tim Bowens, Miami Dolphins, and Bryant Young, San Francisco 49ers. Bowens impressed scouts who visited him in tiny Okolona, Miss., by sprinting through uncut grass in blue denim cutoffs. Today, with the sort of size and strength that has made opposing guards wish he was back on the farm, he is everybody’s defensive rookie of the year.

BUST: Sam Adams, Seahawks. The trendy selection here is No. 1 overall pick Dan (Big Daddy) Wilkinson of the Bengals. But Wilkinson only played poorly for a No. 1 pick. Adams, whose lack of progress helped ruin the Seahawks’ chances, played poorly for any pick.

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DEFENSIVE END

BEST: Joe Johnson, New Orleans Saints, and Brentson Buckner, Pittsburgh Steelers. Playing in the forgotten Saints’ defense, Johnson is the best rookie nobody knows. Buckner doesn’t start, but look for his big hands on some quarterback during passing downs in the playoffs.

BUST: Henry Ford, Houston Oilers. Have we said yet that this 26th overall pick is an Edsel? Thought so.

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LINEBACKER

BEST: Lee Woodall, 49ers; Rob Fredrickson, Raiders, and McGinest. Woodall has been the best of this bunch, a sixth-round steal from West Chester, Pa., who at times has outplayed his surrounding Pro Bowl veterans.

BUST: Jamir Miller, Arizona Cardinals. Repeat after us: You do not report late to a Buddy Ryan camp. You do not report late . . .

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CORNERBACK

BEST: DeWayne Washington, Vikings, and Antonio Langham, Browns. The league’s two most exciting defensive rookies. When Washington wasn’t returning interceptions 54 and 81 yards for touchdowns, Langham was saving games by knocking down passes in the end zone.

BUST: Anthony Phillips, Atlanta Falcons. We don’t know much about this guy, other than that he is a third-stringer behind Darnell Walker and Eric Jack. And we don’t know anything about those guys.

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SAFETY

BEST: Toby Wright, Rams, and Brent Alexander, Cardinals. Wright will end the season having started only two games, but that is about the norm for rookie safeties. He and Alexander, a late-season starter and rookie free agent of the year, are here because of their hits.

BUST: Jason Sehorn, New York Giants. If USC fans are disappointed, think how Dan Reeves feels. Sehorn, taken in the second round, has turned out to be a man without a position. Tried at both safety and cornerback. Consistent only on special teams.

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PUNTER

BEST: Pat O’Neill, Patriots. One of only two punters selected in the draft. Tied for fifth in the AFC with 22 punts inside the 20-yard line, our favorite statistic for this position.

BUST: Mitch Berger, Eagles. Yes, the other punter taken in the draft, in the sixth round. Long since replaced by Bryan Barker. He and second-round pick Bruce Walker were only two of the Eagles’ draft goofs.

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KICK RETURNER

BEST: Andre Coleman, Chargers. Leave it to Bobby Beathard to use a second-round pick on a little-known receiver and turn him into the league’s fourth-ranked returner.

BUST: David Palmer, Vikings. We’re still wondering why Dennis Green used a second-round pick on him. Just what is this running back-receiver-returner supposed to do, anyway?