Busting the NFL Draft

Tis the season to mull over all of the fallacies of NFL teams on draft day. ESPN puts out a monster list of 50 draft busts. And since I hate lists so much, I thought I'd take my own try at it.

My own biases are as follows - draft busts of the 60s and 70s are not my forte. I like the game and all, but I'm not that masterful of an historian to go back that far (Advantage Jerry Tagge, it would seem). Secondly, I think there ought to be an emphasis on higher draft picks. The list below tends to be a bit more forgiving of guys drafted in the second half of the first round at the expense of the guys picked in, say, the top 10. The ESPN list struck me as remarkably thin on #1/#2 picks at the expense of harping on guys drafted much lower. Third, as a UH grad, it pains me deeply to enumerate such an ignoble list that simply must include the hallowed names of Ware & Klingler. Just so's ya know. Oh, and this is probably a more QB-centric list than most others out there.

1. Tony Mandarich (#2-Packers, 1989) ... to me, he'll always be the sin qua non of bad picks. Even if he had performed abley as a professional, the sad fact of the matter is that the three picks after him were Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders.

2. Art Schlister (#4-Colts, 1982) ... Pete Rose wannabe

3. Russell Erxleben (#11-Saints, 1979) ... he may just be the dumbest human being to ever play sports. But there's also something to be said for a team that drafts a kicker in the first round.

4. Ricky Williams (#5-Saints, 1999) ... Not so much for Ricky's failings as a pro, but for the Saints' poor judgment in trading all of their picks for one player. If he played at a Campbell-esque peak for a full decade he wouldn't have been worth that pricetag.

5. Todd Marinovich (#24-Raiders, 1991) ... Ryan Leaf, before there was a Ryan Leaf. This also serves as the outlier for my "top draft picks > lower draft picks" concept.

6. Ryan Leaf (#2-Chargers, 1998) ... He is what he is. And the funny thing is I can still recall every single instance when I was told in no uncertain terms that Leaf was a better QB than Peyton Manning. Cade McNown could well be lumped into this ranking as well. Both are products of high-profile success at an early age having detrimental impacts on otherwise talented player. Certainly, the list could be much longer, but I'm trying to limit the list to top draft picks.

7. Ki-Jana Thomas, Akili Smith, David Klingler, Akili Smith (#1-#3-#6-Bengals) ... Sometimes, you really have to ask yourself if it's totally the players' fault that they're a bust.

8. Lawrence Phillips (#6-Rams, 1996) ... what really need be said of the NBA-ization of the NFL? Debatable whether to include Maurice Clarett and Rae Carruth (and a host of others) in here. For now, one poster child will do.

9. David Carr, Tim Couch (#1-Texans, #1-Browns) ... both were drafted into expansion situations. My own sense is that Couch's record as a pro is more tied to that fact than Carr's ... who was just simply not quite the QB many of us hoped he'd be.

10. Jeff George (#1-Colts, 1990) ... sometimes being a bust isn't as simple as putting up poor stats.

11. Andre Ware, Heath Shuler, Kelly Stouffer, Todd Blackledge (#7-#3-#6-#7) ... and sometimes it just is.

Hon. Mention: Tom Cousineau (#1-Bills, 1979) ... drafted first overall, signed for double to a CFL team instead; eventually got back to the NFL, but not enough of a star to warrant the #1 pick. His NFL rights were traded from the Bills to the Browns in exchange for the 14th overall pick in the 1983 draft. That pick was used to select QB Jim Kelly (who would also go on to sign with another league for a few years). No Super Bowls with Kelly, but the team did as well as you could do otherwise.

ESPN does a bit more thorough job of listing WRs ... I think that position is almost always hit or miss, so I guess I'm much more forgiving of those players who don't measure up. As far as additional RBs I might add to a lengthier list, I think the curse of Penn State warrants some mention. Ki-Jana Carter is already listed above, but Blair Thomas and Curtis Enis are still notable in my mind.