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Rookie Busts from the modern era


DMD
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I think that if injuries played a significant factor in a player failing to live up to his potential, he is not technically a "bust". I think we need to come up with another term for it. :D

 

For example, Ryan Leaf was a BUST. But I don't think Steve Emtman was. He was great his rookie year, until he blew out his knee. I'll never forget him stopping Dan Marino and the Dolphins with an interception he returned all the way for a TD to end a Miami comeback. Then, the next year, he blew out his other knee. IF he could have stayed healthy he would have been a very productive player.

 

Coryatt is questionable in my mind. He got so much pub from one killer hit he had in college. They played it over and over and over. It really made him out to be better than he was. Plus, have you seen that draft? Desmond Howard, David Klingler, Tommy Vardell, Eugene Chung, Derek Brown, Johnnie Mitchell, Vaughn Dunbar, Alonzo Spellman, and Tommy Maddox??? They all went in the first round. What a horrible year to have two top picks. :D Coryatt was a very average linebacker. Then he tore his pectoral muscle off the bone. After having surgery and missing the rest of the season, he had the same thing happen to the other pectoral the next year.

 

Now Trev Alberts, boy was he a bust for sure. I remember Mel Kiper blasting the Colts for not taking Trent Dilfer. I honestly think the Colts made the better pick. :D

Edited by CaptainHook
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I think that if injuries played a significant factor in a player failing to live up to his potential, he is not technically a "bust".  I think we need to come up with another term for it.  :D

 

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I agree completely.

 

Look the Bengals ought to have a bust in the NFL Draft Hall of Shame (sorry for lame joke, it's 7:00 AM, no coffee yet).

 

BUT.....Ki-Jana Carter does not belong in the same class of "bust" as Klingler or Akili. The Bengals took Carter #1 (traded up to get him), and EVERY freakin' other NFL team would've taken him #1 as well. He blew out is knee on the second preseason snap, and got other injuries before he ever got back full speed.

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Uh-oh: Found this tidbit in the Akili Smith page.

 

Not only was he selected by the Bengals - a reliable indicator of future flops - he was coached by QB guru Jeff Tedford in college. Tedford-coached quarterbacks -- Trent Dilfer, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller - haven't had much NFL success. Aaron Rodgers is the next Tedford pupil to hit the draft.

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Uh-oh: Found this tidbit in the Akili Smith page.

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I noticed that too and it did make me go "hmmmm". Tedford is considered perhaps the best QB developer and if all his QBs bust when they leave, it only makes Tedford look better. That all said, Rodgers did post some nice numbers and really did not have nearly the receivers that most PAC 10 teams had.

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For the amount of productivity Leaf lacked on the field, he sure made up for it in pure amusement off of it. What a great story. Ah, to be young and have the world by the balls only to throw it away with temper tantrums.

 

Did Leaf hold out? It seems that QBs that hold out have a higher percentage of becoming flops in the NFL.

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Tony Mandrich instead of Barry Sanders! :D

 

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He probably didn't go high enough to make this list but IMO Jamal Reynolds deserves honorable (or dishonorable?) mention. The Pack traded UP into the top 10 to get this guy who never did squat. And it wasn't like the rest of the league had this guy tabbed as a sure thing. Ugh, what a horrible pick.

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The Colts had the top two picks in the '92 draft and came up empty handed. That's pretty bad luck. Emtman's injury deserves a little slack, but Coryatt? If you've got the top two picks, you've got to get two good players or it will affect your team for years to come... isn't that what happened?

 

Edit: on second look, that is one of the worst drafts in recent years for talent. The 1992 Draft should be a scary sign for GMs.

Edited by Egret
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The Colts had the top two picks in the '92 draft and came up empty handed.  That's pretty bad luck.  Emtman's injury deserves a little slack, but Coryatt?  If you've got the top two picks, you've got to get two good players or it will affect your team for years to come... isn't that what happened?

 

Edit: on second look, that is one of the worst drafts in recent years for talent.  The 1992 Draft should be a scary sign for GMs.

 

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Ughh

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Uh-oh: Found this tidbit in the Akili Smith page.

 

Not only was he selected by the Bengals - a reliable indicator of future flops - he was coached by QB guru Jeff Tedford in college. Tedford-coached quarterbacks -- Trent Dilfer, Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller - haven't had much NFL success. Aaron Rodgers is the next Tedford pupil to hit the draft.

 

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Hold on now. OK, Smith was a complete flop. I'll give you that.

 

But I am not gonna close the book on Harrington. He's shown some nice flashes of the leader he can be.... but he won't be flashy, per se. Sure he doesn't have a cannon for an arm, but he's a heady QB on an improving team. Give him a full year with Rogers, Williams and now a solid TE (and a good RB) and see what he can do.

 

As for Dilfer, has he really been all that bad? Again, not flashy, but a good leader and gets the job done.

 

And no way can you close the book on Boller. Dude has a cannon for an arm, is athletic and heady. He'll have a solid season with Mason and Lewis in the backfield.

 

I wouldn't be leery about drafting Rodgers if I were the Niners brass.

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