With the NFL Draft creeping up to us, we here at PFC will give you the top ten NFL Draft Busts of the 21st century.
10. Cedric Benson (4th overall 2005 draft)
When the Bears drafted Benson with the 4th overall pick in the 2005 draft, there was a glimmer of hope that the days of Walter Payton may come back in some form. Benson, in three seasons has never even had a 700 yard season yet and is now coming off a broken leg and may never amount to the 4th overall pick level that the Bears hoped he was.
9. Peter Warrick (4th overall 2000 draft)
Warrick, a former 4th overall selection in the 2000 NFL Draft by Cincinnati, played four seasons for the Bengals. In 2005, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks and remained with the club throughout their Super Bowl XL run. Warrick played seven years in the NFL and never amounted to a fourth overall kind of pick. Warrick now brings his talents to the Arena Football League with the intention of getting back into the NFL which may be a lost cause.
8. Michael Huff ( 7th overall 2006 draft)
Do we all remember the hard hitting safety that was drafted 7th overall in the 2006 draft by the Oakland Raiders? That was Michael Huff who now seems to be an after thought in many fans minds. In two seasons he only has had one interception with 87 tackles. Huff now appears to be on the trading block in Oakland and the reason I didn’t list him higher in this draft is because I think his career will be saved maybe just not in Oakland.
7. David Carr- (1st overall 2002 draft)
Heading into the 2002 draft, many and I mean many draft scouts all but guaranteed, that Carr would be the next Joe Montana. As a rookie, Carr was sacked 76 times (an average of almost five per game), a single-season NFL record. In Carr’s five seasons in Houston, opponents sacked him 249 times. Houston released Carr after five disappointing seasons. He played for Carolina last season, starting four games after Jake Delhomme sustained a season-ending elbow injury. The Giants are Carr’s third team in seven years.
6. Joey Harrington- (3rd overall 2002 draft)
Joey Harrington had a very good career at Oregon and may people thought he would bring the winning Barry Sanders days back to Detroit and that they would actually make the playoffs. Harrington was surrounded with a pretty bad offensive line and was a pretty huge bust in Detroit. I’m not putting all the blame on the offensive line tho, Harrington just looked lost at times, in that huddle. He was then traded to Miami and again had another bad season and was released. The Falcons signed him in 2007 and again put on some pretty bad numbers. In his six seasons in the league, Harrington has thrown a jaw dropping 85 interceptions and is expected to be the backup in Atlanta this season.
5. PacMan Jones- ( 6th overall 2005 draft)
PacMan entered the 2005 season with extremely high expectations and although he did show some signs of greatness, he has shown that he can not handle playing in the NFL. In 3 seasons, PacMan has played in 30 games with 115 tackles with 4 interceptions. While his play is pretty good, its the off the field behavior that got PacMan into the number 5 spot for 20th century draft bust. To make it in the NFL, you have to handle the pressure on the field and off the field and Jones has not done that just yet.
4. Mike Williams -(10th overall 2005 draft)
The Charles Rogers curse reared its ugly head again in 2005 but it almost became apparent a year earlier when Williams tried to enter the draft in the 2004 draft but was declined. He was drafted by the Lions the following year with the 10th pick and had 29 catches for 350 yards and one touchdown as a rookie. He was fined by coach Steve Mariucci for being late to meetings and his situation got worse the following year after Rod Marinelli took over and brought in Mike Martz as his offensive coordinator.Williams played sparingly in 2006, making eight catches for 99 yards and one touchdown, before being traded to Oakland. In Oakland, Williams played in six games with only seven receptions and was released mid season. He is currently on the Titans with little or no expectations to ever be the star wideout he was projected to be.
3. Mike Williams -(4th overall 2002 draft)
This name is really common when it comes to draft busts of the 20th century but Im going to have to list the former fourth overall pick of the Buffalo Bills in this one. Heading into the 2002 draft the Bills had a choice to make. They could either chose Texas tackle Mike Williams or Miami tackle Bryant McKinnie. The Bills decided to go with Williams, who has been a complete draft bust while McKinnie has had a more successfull NFL career despite legal trouble. Williams currently is on the Jacksonville Jaguars and really hasn’t amounted to a good player but has became a great Halo player.
2. Courtney Brown - ( 1st overall 2000 draft)
Very much injury prone, possibly ended his career when he was released by Denver in 2007. Over the past six seasons, the number of games Brown missed because of injury (51) outnumbered those in which he played (45). The former Penn State star, chosen by the Cleveland Browns to start the 2000 draft with the first overall pick, was often compared by scouts to future Hall of Fame member Bruce Smith when he was in college. Instead, he turned out to be overrated, overpaid and under productive, largely because of a series of injuries.
1. Charles Rogers- ( 2nd overall 2003 draft)
The former Michigan State star signed a six-year contract that could have been worth nearly $55 million and was heading into the 2003 season with huge expectations. He played five games as a rookie, scoring twice in his debut, before a broken collarbone ended his season. In the 2004 opener, he had the same season-ending injury. In 15 games over three seasons, Rogers caught 36 passes for 440 yards and four touchdowns. During the 2005 season, Rogers was suspended 4 games for a third violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. As a result of this violation, the Lions filed a grievance, claiming that his drug suspension violated a clause in his contract, which would mean Rogers would be obligated to return $10 million of the $14.2 million the Lions gave him in bonuses. The grievance is still pending. Upon his return from suspension, despite the fact that Rogers was deemed healthy, he played only nine games, with three starts, and was declared inactive for four games. He caught 14 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown. On September 2, 2006, Rogers was released by the Lions. According to Lion coach Rod Marinelli, “We picked the men that are right for this football team. It’s behind us. I wish him the very best. We just move on.” After his release, Rogers worked out for the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2006, all of whom passed. Reportedly, Rogers worked out for the Kansas City Chiefs in January of 2007 and flopped the workout by running a 40-time of 4.8, which was a steep decline from the 4.28 that he ran at the Indianapolis combines four years prior. According to reports, he is going to attempt to make it in the CFL this year.











































2 responses so far ↓
1 » NFL Draft Busts: Blame the GM, Not the Player Heard in the Cheap Seats: Sports musings and news from the cheap seats // Apr 19, 2008 at 11:56 am
[…] by Chris Iafolla in NFL As the NFL draft rapidly approaches, the onslaught of typical draft columns has picked up steam. From Todd McShay to Mel Kiper, the NFL Draft machine is in full swing. And with that machine […]
2 Chris Iafolla // Apr 19, 2008 at 12:09 pm
As the NFL draft nears, inevitably so the columns such as this one. While I like them as much as the next person, I think they expose a bit of a double standard. Each and every one of these columns focuses on the player as the subject of the draft bust, when in reality, it is the GM that should bear the brunt of the blame. The GMs are the ones responsible for the lofty and unreasonable expectations.
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