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Most underrated draft busts of all time.


Whodatnation1978

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When I say underrated I mean people rarely talk about these guys as being busts when in fact they were.  This will be long because there’s so many underrated busts. 

 

#1. First guy guy I’ll talk about is a guy that if you grew up in the 80s and your a colts fan you might remember him. Or not lmao.. his name was johnnie cooks. Now cooks was taken 2nd overall in the 1982 draft out of Mississippi.  He was  a 1st team SEC and 1st team Ap All American.  He’s best noted for posting a career high 22 tackles in a game against auburn.  The colts selected cooks over chip banks who was a multiple time pro bowler in Cleveland. And Jim McMahon while McMahon didn’t have a hall of fame career he was still a pretty damn good qb and oh yeah he won a Super Bowl.  Marcus Allen was also in this draft.   But for cooks career he never really did much of anything he was with the colts from 1982-1988. But never made a pro bowl or an impact in anyway. Later in his career he played for the giants and was part of that 1991 Super Bowl team. But that’s about it cooks did absolutely nothing. He retired shortly after due to quote on quote nagging injuries.

 

#2. You ready lions fans? Chuck long. Good grief..  I know lions fans consider him a bust. But I rarely hear his name when it comes to biggest busts ever.  The guy had alot of potential he was one of only 2 qbs in college history to throw for over 10’000 yards. And of course your gonna have people defending him saying oh it was his o line oh it was the lions blah blah blah. Bottom line is the kid was a massive sleeper bust. His best season he threw 11 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. I rest my case.

 

#3. Ron Holmes. Boy oh boy the Bucs were a mess in the 80s? Kind of like they are now eh? Holmes was considered a standout defensive end at the university of Washington. He was said to have quote on quote. Pro bowl talent. What was the problem then? Well the guy couldn’t stay healthy to save his life. But but come on man it’s not all his fault ughh here we go.   Bucs fans you realize someone by the name of al toon was still on the board right?  Oh yeah what’s that kids name you know the guy that’s the greatest receiver of all time is it is it jerry rice? Oh yeah it was jerry rice.  Just a bad decision by the Bucs but at least years later they finally did something right by drafting warren sapp.

 

#4. Rickey Hunley. Now this wasn’t a good draft for the first round Denver fans.  All you had was Irving fryar and Carl banks, honestly and Wilbur Marshall. Oh who am I kidding it was still a decent first round, I mean you had 1 borderline hall of famer, and 2 very good players. Now New England had the first pick and fryar was snatched up. But banks or Marshall would have been better choices over bum Ricky hunley. What a shame broncos fans. 

 

#5. Audray Bruce hope I spelled his name right but who cares!!! Now to be fair the 88 draft wasn’t the best ever.  Atlanta took Audray Bruce and Bruce was getting compared to Lt. aka Lawrence Taylor. To be fair Bruce had a solid rookie season but Bruce never developed after that. He bounced around the nfl for years and was a journeyman.  All the while guys like Neil smith and sherling sharpe where on the board,  see Atlanta then you wonder why you haven't been able to win ****. Your poor drafting.

 

#6 and 7. 2 guys. From the 1990 draft, Andre Ware and Chris Singleton.  Now this wasn’t the greatest draft but the lions were all in on Andre Ware he’s gonna be the future yeahhh baby. And none of that **** ever happened!! The guy was lost in the nfl. All the while a guy like Emmett smith was on the board. But the lions being the lions picked Andre Ware oops.   Same thing with New England remember when the patriots sucked? Ahh good ol days. But the patriots with Emmett smith still on the board said nope we’re gonna pick Ray Agnew and Chris Singleton OH BOY!! Yeah How’d that work out patriots fans? Not too good,  went 1-15 that very next year didn’t you? Yep. 

 

That concludes my underrated draft busts. 

Edited by Whodatnation1978
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The "90s Bengals" edition:

1. Akili Smith for the Bengals in 1999 is one for sure

2. Ki Jana Carter is an unfortunate "what if he never got hurt" case

3. David Klingler was the #6 overall pick from Houston

As far as my more recent memory goes:

*Joey Harrington really carried that torch for Tedford/Oregon after Akili Smith...thankfully Aaron Rodgers put the Tedford QB argument to rest (add Kyle Boller to the mix for Tedford QB fails too)

*Charles Rodgers at WR from MSU was one that I never saw coming...I thought he was a can't miss superstar.

*Justin Blackmon is a more recent example...no one seems to ever talk about him

*Kevin White doesn't get much press either for some reason

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Look up Mike Williams, the offensive tackle. I was doing pest control sales for a summer in the Virginia Beach area in 2013 and he was my first-ever customer. 

This guy was considered a GENERATIONAL left tackle prospect and was considered the top prospect in the 2002 NFL draft. He was a right tackle at Texas, but teams saw him as a left tackle because Chris Simms, his QB, was left-handed. Anyways, this guy was extremely physically-talented, but he took the money. 

In casual conversation he just brought up that he had awful work ethic and thought that because he was so good that he didn't have to try. Then he got in over his head and it was impossible to recover. 

After disastrous play with the Bills and Jaguars, he was out of the league. He said that was his wake-up call. The Redskins said they'd give him a shot a couple years later and so he dropped 70 lbs to get back into shape. He started at guard and actually played really well. Right after he got going, he had a pulmonary embolism and was forced to retire. Talk about bad luck!

He said that you NEVER let an opportunity pass you up, and NEVER rest on your laurels, because the next thing you know, you've squandered away your dreams.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/27/2019 at 1:58 PM, MWil23 said:

The "90s Bengals" edition:

1. Akili Smith for the Bengals in 1999 is one for sure

2. Ki Jana Carter is an unfortunate "what if he never got hurt" case

3. David Klingler was the #6 overall pick from Houston

As far as my more recent memory goes:

*Joey Harrington really carried that torch for Tedford/Oregon after Akili Smith...thankfully Aaron Rodgers put the Tedford QB argument to rest (add Kyle Boller to the mix for Tedford QB fails too)

*Charles Rodgers at WR from MSU was one that I never saw coming...I thought he was a can't miss superstar.

*Justin Blackmon is a more recent example...no one seems to ever talk about him

*Kevin White doesn't get much press either for some reason

Blackmon was a bust because of off the field stuff, kind of hard to label him that. We certainly didnt win with the pick but he couldnt overcome his demons

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Just now, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

Blackmon was a bust because of off the field stuff, kind of hard to label him that. We certainly didnt win with the pick but he couldnt overcome his demons

I'm not discounting that. He could definitely play...but the fact that he only played in 20 career games and was out of the league after being drafted 5th overall can't be discounted. 

It's no different than Ki-Jana Carter having essentially a career ending injury and therefore is a "bust", or Kevin White being a bust due largely to his injury riddled career. 

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Just now, MWil23 said:

I'm not discounting that. He could definitely play...but the fact that he only played in 20 career games and was out of the league after being drafted 5th overall can't be discounted. 

It's no different than Ki-Jana Carter having essentially a career ending injury and therefore is a "bust", or Kevin White being a bust due largely to his injury riddled career. 

Yea i just think the bust label is kind of for guys who had every opportunity and just flat out didnt have the goods. Injuries and stuff happen and they’re things teams cant really predict although drafting a guy with major injury concerns or a drinking problem sets yourself up for a bust too i suppose

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1 minute ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

Yea i just think the bust label is kind of for guys who had every opportunity and just flat out didnt have the goods.

I think that most people would define the BUST label into a couple of basic categories:

1. Terrible...taken high and not even good enough to stay in the league (Akili Smith

2. Failure to play up to expectations for ANY/ALL reasons, including injuries (Carter/White), substance (Blackmon and others), attitude/work ethic/off field law (Ryan Leaf, Lawrence Phillips), or that they were good players but not worth that pick (Big Daddy Wilkinson was taken #1 overall and played in the NFL for over a decade, but he wasn't worth that #1 overall pick, for example)

In some cases, teams couldn't have seen it coming/it may not have been "their fault" ala Blackmon/injuries, but that still doesn't exclude them from BUST status.

1 minute ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

Injuries and stuff happen and they’re things teams cant really predict although drafting a guy with major injury concerns or a drinking problem sets yourself up for a bust too i suppose

Hopefully the above makes sense

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On 9/27/2019 at 1:58 PM, MWil23 said:

The "90s Bengals" edition:

1. Akili Smith for the Bengals in 1999 is one for sure

2. Ki Jana Carter is an unfortunate "what if he never got hurt" case

3. David Klingler was the #6 overall pick from Houston

As far as my more recent memory goes:

*Joey Harrington really carried that torch for Tedford/Oregon after Akili Smith...thankfully Aaron Rodgers put the Tedford QB argument to rest (add Kyle Boller to the mix for Tedford QB fails too)

*Charles Rodgers at WR from MSU was one that I never saw coming...I thought he was a can't miss superstar.

*Justin Blackmon is a more recent example...no one seems to ever talk about him

*Kevin White doesn't get much press either for some reason

blackmons problem i think was he liked weed too much.

RJ Soward is a pretty good lable for Bust as well. he was a real late 1st round pick from USC and was a WR. he lasted 1 year in the nfl cuz of drugs.

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On 9/27/2019 at 5:01 PM, HoboRocket said:

Look up Mike Williams, the offensive tackle. I was doing pest control sales for a summer in the Virginia Beach area in 2013 and he was my first-ever customer. 

This guy was considered a GENERATIONAL left tackle prospect and was considered the top prospect in the 2002 NFL draft. He was a right tackle at Texas, but teams saw him as a left tackle because Chris Simms, his QB, was left-handed. Anyways, this guy was extremely physically-talented, but he took the money. 

In casual conversation he just brought up that he had awful work ethic and thought that because he was so good that he didn't have to try. Then he got in over his head and it was impossible to recover. 

After disastrous play with the Bills and Jaguars, he was out of the league. He said that was his wake-up call. The Redskins said they'd give him a shot a couple years later and so he dropped 70 lbs to get back into shape. He started at guard and actually played really well. Right after he got going, he had a pulmonary embolism and was forced to retire. Talk about bad luck!

He said that you NEVER let an opportunity pass you up, and NEVER rest on your laurels, because the next thing you know, you've squandered away your dreams.

It's too bad Greg Robinson didn't talk to him.

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On 9/26/2019 at 6:40 PM, Whodatnation1978 said:

#3. Ron Holmes. Boy oh boy the Bucs were a mess in the 80s? Kind of like they are now eh? Holmes was considered a standout defensive end at the university of Washington. He was said to have quote on quote. Pro bowl talent. What was the problem then? Well the guy couldn’t stay healthy to save his life. But but come on man it’s not all his fault ughh here we go.   Bucs fans you realize someone by the name of al toon was still on the board right?  Oh yeah what’s that kids name you know the guy that’s the greatest receiver of all time is it is it jerry rice? Oh yeah it was jerry rice.  Just a bad decision by the Bucs but at least years later they finally did something right by drafting warren sapp.

Holmes went to Denver in 1989, and wasn't that bad of a player with them for four years. He started 32 games during that time period, and he had a 9-sack season in 1989. Reggie Rogers (his teammate at U-Dub. DE that was drafted top-10 by the Lions in 1987) was a bigger bust.

Edited by 7DnBrnc53
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15 hours ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

Blackmon was a bust because of off the field stuff, kind of hard to label him that. We certainly didnt win with the pick but he couldnt overcome his demons

Guys can be busts cause they're not good at NFL football, cause they cant stay healthy, or cause they are idiots off the field.  End result is the same.

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