Do you view Alex Smith to be a bust?

[Kiwibrown]

I'd say an fran was a bust more than alex smith.

[Forge]

Is Matthew Stafford a bust? 

Smith looks worse in hindsight just because the other player that reasonably could have been taken at #1, Aaron Rodgers, ended up being a hall of famer. But what Smith has produced as a player isn't bad, by any stretch. Matthew Stafford isn't "great" in my opinion, also a number one overall pick. I don't think that at this point in time his career has been demonstrably superior to that of Smiths, though there's no doubt that he's the superior physical talent and has racked up some better single seasons. The perception of Smith has never been overly kind. 

[Steelersfan43]

12 minutes ago, Forge said:

Is Matthew Stafford a bust? 

Smith looks worse in hindsight just because the other player that reasonably could have been taken at #1, Aaron Rodgers, ended up being a hall of famer. But what Smith has produced as a player isn't bad, by any stretch. Matthew Stafford isn't "great" in my opinion, also a number one overall pick. I don't think that at this point in time his career has been demonstrably superior to that of Smiths, though there's no doubt that he's the superior physical talent and has racked up some better single seasons. The perception of Smith has never been overly kind. 

We can say the same thing with Carson Palmer....Outside a few years with the Cardinals and a big season in 2005 with the Bengals, Palmer has never been very impressive.

[Nightime]

Relative to where he was drafted, yes. 

[Fl0nkerton]

43 minutes ago, Nightime said:

Relative to where he was drafted, yes. 

Was Michael Vick a bust then?

[thebestever6]

3 hours ago, Forge said:

Is Matthew Stafford a bust? 

Smith looks worse in hindsight just because the other player that reasonably could have been taken at #1, Aaron Rodgers, ended up being a hall of famer. But what Smith has produced as a player isn't bad, by any stretch. Matthew Stafford isn't "great" in my opinion, also a number one overall pick. I don't think that at this point in time his career has been demonstrably superior to that of Smiths, though there's no doubt that he's the superior physical talent and has racked up some better single seasons. The perception of Smith has never been overly kind. 

I think there's more to it than that. Smith plays boring football compared to an Aaron Rodgers. So he just seems bla. So it's not just about stats or team accomplishments. 

Mike Vick isn't talked about as a bust even though Brees is a future Hall Of Famer because Mike did things on the football field no one has seen before. He was "box office."  This equals ticket sales and franchise qb status.  

 

 

 

[Forge]

Just now, thebestever6 said:

I think there's more to it than that. Smith plays boring football compared to an Aaron Rodgers. So he just seems bla. So it's not just about stats or team accomplishments. 

Mike Vick isn't talked about as a bust even though Brees is a future Hall Of Famer because Mike did things on the football field no one has seen before. He was "box office."  This equals ticket sales and franchise qb status.  

 

 

 

Not exactly comparable because I don't believe that Brees was ever a real possibility to be drafted at #1 over Vick. That 2005 draft was all about Rodgers / Smith at the top. 

That being said, I do agree that the optics of Smith's play style plays a role. LIS, Stafford isn't viewed as a bust, and I think a lot of that has to do with the amount of actual physical talent he possesses and what he is actually capable of in that regard, which is superior to what Smith could do, even though the results have largely been a mixed bag. 

[ET80]

Not really, no. He had a bunch of tough situations to overcome, and he did (with varying levels of success). 

Overdrafted, maybe. But not a bust.

[CP3MVP]

16 hours ago, Steelersfan43 said:

And that did not help Alex Smith that he had Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary as Head Coach in his first 6 years.Not surprising he was much better by the time he had Jim Harbaugh and Andy Reid as HC afterwards.

Again, not a great QB, but far from being a bust, especially when he was in a much better situation.

When you are the first pick in the draft unless there’s a trade up you’re goimg to a crappy team. He’s not unique in that regard

Edited August 5, 2019 by CP3MVP

[CP3MVP]

16 hours ago, PFM18 said:

Not every first overall pick has been a star but shouldn't be considered busts either. 

Is Jadeveon Clowney a star? Eric Fisher? Was Jake Long a star? No, but they play(ed) regularly in the league and contribute(d) to their respective teams. 

There is no official number of games someone can start to not be a bust, but Alex Smith has started enough games in this league and played in it long enough to suggest he does have a clue what he's doing.

Caoches do get it wrong, but Jim Harbaugh started him and made progress. Andy Reid, one of the most respected coaches in the league, started him and made progress. Don't think their front offices thought it was a wrong decision to start him. 

Blake Bortles has also achieved something in this league. He did make it to an AFCCG which the Jags were arguably unlucky to lose. Is it fair to label Bortles a bust? 

 

Clowney is one of the best defensive players in the league. Eric Fischer is average LT and Long was a good player before he got hurt. Lol at bortles he’s literally been one of the worst QBs in football his whole career. He absolutely is a bust. He was a top 5 pick that sucked 

Again, in your eyes all a number one overall QB has to do is simply be a starter for a long period of time and he’s not considered a bust. We’re not talking about a 3rd round pick here.

 

I just disagree 

Edited August 5, 2019 by CP3MVP

[tom cody]

For a #1 pick then maybe but overall he's a good player who had a good career. 

[PFM18]

50 minutes ago, CP3MVP said:

Clowney is one of the best defensive players in the league. Eric Fischer is average LT and Long was a good player before he got hurt. Lol at bortles he’s literally been one of the worst QBs in football his whole career. He absolutely is a bust. He was a top 5 pick that sucked 

Again, in your eyes all a number one overall QB has to do is simply be a starter for a long period of time and he’s not considered a bust. We’re not talking about a 3rd round pick here.

 

I just disagree 

And that's fine. My basic point is that I don't feel any player regardless of where they were drafted should be considered a bust if they have contributed to the league.

I partly agree on Bortles, as he had only one really good season but at least he can say he's done something in this league.

But I can see where you're coming from, your expectations of a number 1 pick and why he could be considered a bust.

Good discussion. 

[DirtyDez]

15 hours ago, thebestever6 said:

I think guys like Alex Smith, Carson Palmer,Jay Cutler all underperformed compared to what they could of been. But, none of them are busts. And Alex Smith Is viewed in such a much better light to me because he literally handled everything in his career so classy.

And Alex Smith Netted 2nd round picks, a 3rd, and Kendall Fuller throughout his career.

Palmer is getting underrated if he’s being put into the class of Alex Smith and Jay Cutler.  He was all-pro/top-3 in mvp voting for two different franchises and blew out his knee when the Bengals were at their peak.  I get ppl being ticked about quitting on a team but that’s a normal occurrence in the NBA now.

[Forge]

1 hour ago, ET80 said:

Not really, no. He had a bunch of tough situations to overcome, and he did (with varying levels of success). 

Overdrafted, maybe. But not a bust.

And that's the thing....all things considered, he was overdrafted if only because of what Rodgers became. But if you look at that specific draft class, discounting Rodgers, he really wasn't. The first player you find that had a better career than Smith was Demarcus Ware at #11, and I don't know that he was really ever going to be in the conversation at the top of the draft that year. I certainly don't remember that type of conversation, and I'm not sure how many times a potential top overall pick ends up sliding to #11 (though obviously Rodgers was a potential number 1 overall pick who ended up in the 20's, so clearly it does happen). I went back and did some research on mock drafts from 2005 - Walter had him going at #12, 247 sports had him at #32, Kiper had him #25 a couple of weeks leading up to the draft, so I'm going to assume that he was never a real target for the very top of the draft.

Thomas Davis and Derrick Johnson at 14 and 15 were certainly never going to be number 1, especially given that position. I think that draft was just really weak in hindsight. 3 of the top 5 were running backs with the other being Braylon Edwards, who was a consensus top guy and a possibility at #1 overall if the 49ers hadn't needed a quarterback so bad. So things could have been much worse (the same could also be said for Matthew Stafford, who has had some mixed results in his career, but was clearly the best pick in the top 10 of his draft class as well, another fairly week class). 

[Elky]

2 minutes ago, DirtyDez said:

Palmer is getting underrated if he’s being put into the class of Alex Smith and Jay Cutler.  He was all-pro/top-3 in mvp voting for two different franchises and blew out his knee when the Bengals were at their peak.  I get ppl being ticked about quitting on a team but that’s a normal occurrence in the NBA now.

Palmer was average for the vast majority of his career, long after his ACL tear.