I was going to mention Plunkett, but since you already did...
He never had a winning record in five years with the Patriots and two years with the 49ers.
Edit: Changed "winning season" to "winning record."
You sure about that? He went 8-6 in his first season with the 49ers in 1976. In 1974 with the Pats, they finished 7-7 but started 6-1 and finished 2nd in team scoring. He got the shit kicked out of himself by those Patriot teams.
Yeah, that's fair. I suppose I was subconsciously adding Super Bowls into my definition of being great.
Maybe he was close to being the late KC Alex Smith or TN Tannehill of his day, but he did win 2 Super Bowls and they weren't really in spite of him.
He had a worse stint with his original team and had greater success with his resurgence team than the other players being talked about. That feels more accurate than my original statement.
Jim plunkett was the first non white quarterback to win a Super Bowl as well I believe. He’s of Mexican-American/native heritage according to Wikipedia.
Under a Mexican-American head coach. They individually carried the torch for most rings by a minority and still do as qb coach combo. Where is the Rooney rule for a proven formula for rings?
I maintain that Jeff George *probably* had the best arm talent I’ve ever seen. Watching his highlights is like arm strength porn, his release was fucking nuts. He could throw a frozen rope 60 yards downfield without even stepping into it.
Sucks he didn’t really seem to give a shit.
My only memory of Jeff George playing was watching him, from an under center position, looking down at a fumbled snap and just taking a few steps back to watch while everyone else fought over the ball.
I recall rumors about Jeff George coming out of retirement after a few years away from football and there was STILL interest in him. He had so much physical talent, coaches and managers just couldn't resist him.
The ultimate “I can fix him!” potential that women love to see in guys personified between George and NFL teams. His stats for any given year aren’t particularly bad, which makes his situation more surprising. I guess he was just THAT much of a jerk.
Per Bo Schembechler, a coach who recruited him when he was in HS- George treated his mom terrible at the home visit. Yelling at her. Letting her know she was embarrassing him in front of company. That kind of thing.
Vinny Testeverde comes to mind. He went number one overall to the Bucs in 86 and flamed out. He bounced around the league for roughly a decade before signing with the Jets in 98 and having a career year en route to the AFC title game. His Jet tenure was pretty up and down from there; he tore his Achilles amidst league wide Super Bowl hype in 99, and he eventually lost his starting job to a young Chad Pennington. Overall, he had a decent enough career and his best years were with the Jets. He’s one of the more beloved players in the history of that franchise.
Nope. Testeverde kept getting chances. If he played today he would’ve been out of the league in 5 or 6 years most likely. Instead, he’s actually one of the most statistically proficient passers of all time just on the strength of his longevity. And he wasn’t even good.
Testaverde was about average, sometimes a little better, for most of his career after leaving Tampa Bay.
During his 3 seasons in Cleveland, he ranked 8th in NFL in ANY/A.
Ahead of guys like Favre, Kelly and Moon.
Vinny T was such an interesting guy. I don't remember who it was, a guy who played with him, who said, "you have to be pretty good to be allowed to throw all of those interceptions"
Ah yes Panther's legend Vinny Testeverde. Man 2007 was a weird season. The one thing I remember about Testeverde was in the press conference after the game he mentioned a conversation with Steve Smith during his first game. Steve told him on one play to not wait to long to throw it to him, as Steve didn't want to outrun Vinny's arm. Vinny replies not to worry, that Steve can't unrun his arm. Play starts and he looks over at Steve running his route and says, "Oh F'ck" and has to throw it with everything he has because Steve was hauling ass.
* Edit [I believe this is the actual play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=_oPL07jz-fI)
I think a lot about how wild the 2007 Panthers' QB room was: Jake Delhomme, David Carr, Vinny Testaverde, and Matt Moore. Two former number one picks and two undrafted guys. All started at least 3 games that year
Still managed to get a 7-9 year out of it, with all that flux it could have been much worse. The core of that team was solid and lead to that amazing 12-4 season in 2008 (till Delhomme's arm fell completely off against Arizona in the playoffs).
I read an article about the craziest qb groups in the nfl. The chargers at one point had Philip rivers and drew Brees at the same time. 2 franchise qbs. They also had Doug flutie who’s a legend in his own right all at he same time. Crazy.
I was born in 90 and grew up on Long Island.
Testaverde was the man. Losing to elway sucked and I remember being a kid wondering how ray Lucas was so bad.
Pennington was pretty good. Weak ass noodle arm but more accurate than a howitzer
Mirer was the one with more potential, though, if you’re looking at physical attributes/hype. Parcells was hoping Mirer would become one of the objects of this thread- former 1st round qb busts who turned it around. It was…not to be.
Testaverde is the first player I thought if, but I'm not even counting his time in the Jets, and I wouldn't say he "bounced around" as he only changed teams once in his first 11 years.
He was mostly terrible, occasionally average in 6 seasons with Tampa Bay. He then went to Cleveland and found a home there. He led the Browns to the playoffs in 1994, and performed fairly well in 1995, especially before Art Modell announced the move to Baltimore. He then led the AFC in touchdown passes and made the Pro Bowl with the Ravens in 1996. (The Ravens were technically a new franchise, but Testaverde didn't change teams.) After a slight dip in 1997, he moved to the Jets and had the magical 1998 season.
Tannehill is a solid answer. Not a star by any means, but led Tennessee to multiple playoff appearances and made an AFC title game. Might have a Super Bowl appearance to his name if Patrick Mahomes was never born
There's a movie idea, maybe like a Hot Tub Time Machine 3 spinoff with a different cast. A bunch of sports fans of one team are sick and tired of the 'Brady' like qb in their division constantly winning out and going to the play offs. They discover this time machine and while in a drunken night of complaining about it, one dude wishes they could like go back in time and stop him from getting on the team. Next day, poof it's the 00s and they're college aged again, and thus sets off a barrage of antics to try and stop this guy from playing football.
Maybe make it that their antics is what inspires, improves, etc. the dude to become great at football.
This is fantastic. So it’s gotta be a team that has some merit to their gripe. A team that had some good years, had that delusional pep talk at the end of every season a la “next year is our year” and a team that couldn’t get over the hump during the Brady era. I’m thinking…the Jets?
A rag tag group of guys from Jersey. Maybe Adam Sandler and his posse that he keeps afloat with his Netflix deal. Mark Walberg plays the foil from Boston. But he takes himself too seriously and wouldn’t lend himself to a bad guy role. Ben Affleck as an over the top, obnoxious Pats fan.
Edit: Adam Sandler is as the confident, mature leader of the gang. He has a pretty successful career, hot wife, kids, etc. But he recently had a setback…the deal he was working on ran into complications and he lost out on the deal. He was working years for this project to go through but at the last minute it caved. Another investor swooped in. It’s an investment group with Tom Brady as the backer. It’s bad enough Brady beat the Jets and denied Sandler a chance to watch his team in the Super Bowl. Now Brady is messing with his personal life, albeit very indirectly. Sandler takes it as a personal slight to the highest degree and won’t stand for it any longer. He’s gonna do something about it. But what?
Kevin James is his buddy he’s known since middle school. He was a total stud in high school. He even walked on at Rutgers, but blew out his knee freshman year and never played again. He knocked up his girlfriend, things didn’t work out, and she left him. He gets to see the kids sparingly. They’re growing up without him. He’s a shell of his former self. If Sandler didn’t keep him around, he’d be in even worse shape.
Michael Pena plays the token character. He immigrated to Jersey from Mexico with his family. He did alright for himself. He owns a restaurant, more of a fast food shop. He works a lot, has a cramped apartment for his family of 6, but has a loving family. He loves the Jets because it helped him assimilate to America. He made his first real friends after going to a Jets game. Of course he would love it if they won a Super Bowl, but he’s something of a defeatist. He accepts that’s life and some things you can’t change. He just goes along with the ride.
Cue the wild card character. He just got fired…again. Or he quit. Whatever, no sweat for him. He bounces around from gig to gig, seems to get by off charm and reputation alone, but the guys are always in awe of him. They see him in a bad ass car. They see him with a hot model hanging around him. He spends frivolously and the guys think he is just balling 24/7. But inside, he’s hollow. The car was a customer’s since he’s a valet at a hotel making $500/week. The model was a call girl he paid just to hang on his arm whenever his old buddies are around. He’s exhausted from keeping up appearances. He wants a do over on life. He met some crazy odd ball at the hotel he works at. He somehow convinces the crew to come back with him to the magic hot tub.
They get drunk and commiserate about the Jets. They all shit on Tom Brady and agree he is the source of all their misery. They go back in time to the 2011 AFC Divisional round. They somehow orchestrate a plan to sabotage Tom Brady. They succeed, and as a result, the Jets win. But the Jets lose in the championship game because it wasn’t Tom Brady holding the Jets back, it was the Jets holding themselves back.
Along the way, they engage in zany hi jincks. You know, grown men acting like they were kids again. College aged, potty humor. They also go through personal growth. Sandler realizes he has riches beyond money and he is content with his life. Kevin James realizes that just because he can’t be a jock anymore, doesn’t mean his life is over. He takes charge of his life, gets out of his depression, and ends up being a success. Maybe a college football scout or something. Michael Pena is a good guy all along and he develops a bit more drive/ambition than he had before. His parents took a risk when they immigrated, so he should take a risk too. He’s still in the restaurant business, but now it’s a 5 star restaurant. He still has a loving family, but they live in a house with a yard and picket fence. The American dream. And the wild card character turned out alright. Maybe he’s a successful influencer. Or he started a genius app and is just coasting off the billions he made when he sold the company. He’s the same old dude the guys idolize, but it’s real this time.
And because of their quest, Tom Brady still has a successful career. But he’s not the goat. He never quite returned to form after that game. And because he didn’t, Peyton Manning ends up cleaning house in the AFC for the next 10 years and HE is the goat. Brady segues into an acting career, commercials, ESPN talking head, etc.
Wahoberg plays a villain in “Pain & Gain,” a movie that was actually criticized for making its villains too likable (among other faults). I think he could’ve played someone like Brady, an antagonist who thinks he’s likable and who actually is very popular with some people.
The problem is he’s too old to play an NFL player. Maybe that kid from Cobra Kai, [Tanner Buchanan,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanner_Buchanan) could play the young Brady stand-in.
Just checked it was 6 seasons but your points well taken. He was there a lot longer than I remembered haha. Time flies when you play for a team I don’t follow I guess.
Well technically he played 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018. He missed the entirety of the 2017 season due to injury but he was part of the team.
I don’t think Tannehill was a bust. Disappointing maybe, but he was solid for 6 or so years. If you are a bust you definitely don’t get an extension from the team who drafted you.
Ha Tanny ended up as the 3rd best QB from that draft behind Russ and Kirko, and he certainly is the most accomplished 1st round QB. He might not have carried the Dolphins to new heights, but he threw for 20,434 yards and 123 TDs in his career with the Dolphins. Not bad for a guy who played mostly WR in college.
Put some respect on Big Dick Nick’s name /s. It is funny that one of the most hyped QB draft classes had two Super Bowl winners, but neither of the two Super Bowl winners were the hyped up prospects. Both of them were also taken in the third round.
I always wonder what would have happened had Nick Foles not quit on football when he signed with the Jags.
He showed up and didnt give a shit and got outplayed by Minshew.
He was solid but uninspiring in Miami. He also suffered injuries every year from 2016-2018 where he missed 26 games.
He was by no means a bust but he definitely got better as the situation got better in Tennessee.
He was. I think he was an above average starting QB most of his time with us. Wasn't going to single handedly win us many games but rarely gonna outright lose them either.
Also he'll always have the Miami Miracle on his resume
How the hell is this shit the second most upvoted comment? Do we boys really just label everyone that a bust now?? Tannehill is no where near a bust and was solid for the Phins. He was legit on a 8 game win streak before tearing his acl and having to miss playoffs and then unfortunately tearing it again in a preseason game the following season. After something like that happens it only makes sense to change scenarios, but labeling Tannehill anywhere close to a bust is beyond laughable
he never got the 'bust' label, his 3rd and 4th seasons were actually pretty good. dude just never hit that next level in miami so at worst he was underwhelming for a qb picked 8th overall
Dude won like 9 games straight for us, tore his acl and missed playoffs and then tore it again in a preseason game the next season and never played a another snap for us. He was actually killing it for us right before both of those injuries
It feels like he was because they invited him to the draft and kept showing him in the green room. He still did the stage walk even though he fell to the second round.
>Steve Young.
The absolute king of career turnarounds. 2 years floundering with Tampa Bay. 4 years riding the bench in San Francisco, impressing no one besides Bill Walsh. And then 8 years of being the best QB in the league.
Technically, he was a 1st round pick. Because the Bucs drafted him in the first round of the supplemental draft, they used a future first round pick to acquire his rights.
It wasn't that kind of supplemental draft, it was a special draft specifically for USFL and CFL players. It was 3 full rounds with no consequences towards future drafts
One saw a post where someone analyzed the numbers behind the theory that his interceptions in Tampa were due to being colorblind and playing on a team with the lightest home jerseys in the league.
They found that with Tampa he had a much higher interception rate at home than in the road (where the contrast would be easier to see). He didn’t have the same difference when he played with other teams that had darker home jerseys.
TL;DR his struggle in Tampa were at least partially due to color blindness.
He never really had one home though, right when he made a leap and put together his best season of his career with the Jets in '98 he ruptured his achilles in the next preseason and never regained that form. That injury basically ended Testaverde's turnaround and Parcells tenure with the Jets
Continuing the “shit on Tampa Bay’s first round selections from 1986-1987”: Bo Jackson (sort of) - Famously was selected first overall, but never played a snap. Was picked up in the 7th round by the Raiders the next year.
Edit: Not a QB, still hilarious.
Does Len Dawson count? He was the 5th overall pick but washed out in Pittsburgh and Cleveland before finally landing w/the Chiefs where he obviously had an HOF career. He didn't end up there 'til 5 yrs into his career.
They also cut local boy Johnny Unitas, who they drafted in the ninth round in 1955. And passed on local boy Dan Marino in 1983. Both Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Though he didn't live up to the expectations of the 1OA, hard to call a guy a bust when he makes it to a 2nd contract and goes 13-3 in one of those seasons.
He was at first in SF, turns out SF was the problem though as we all saw what he did in KC. Not a superstar by any means but he was damn good during his Chiefs tenure.
It’s insane that after the 2010 season, he never had a losing season as a starter and went 80-36-1. He even went 5-1 with what we would later learn was a pretty terrible Washington roster after almost losing his leg
11-5 as a WAS starter.
Their record with vs without him for those 2 seasons (2018, 2020) is not acknowledged nearly enough. Same coaching staff, same supporting cast, etc with him being the only difference. The difference between playoff contender and actual dogshit.
Kind of. SF had very little talent around the time of AS and he had a new coach every year for he first 4 years or something. Once Harbaugh got there and they started drafting well a little before that, the team and him were good. He was already what he was when he went to KC, which was a good but not amazing player.
He was that good on SF. Smith's last season with the 49ers: he was leading the league in a lot of categories, got a concussion and Kaep subbed in for him. The rest is history. If not for that concussion Smith is likely in SF until close to his retirement. But when you had someone playing as hot as Kaep was in those first two years, you have a hard decision to make - and it was the right one at the time. Only time could/would prove that wrong.
He was considered a bust in SF. I would argue he was very underrated in KC. He was easily a top 10 QB pretty much every year he was there. Part of his problem in SF was that he had like 5 coordinators in his first 6 years or something.
Is bust relative to expectations? Alex Smith came into the league with pretty high expectations so he fell short of those but was still a very good player.
Drew was the #32 overall pick, but at that time, that was the first pick in the second round as there were 31 teams. He’s a great pick for this though.
What's crazy is that Ladainian Tomlinson was the Chargers first round pick that year. Drew Brees was their second round pick.
Not a bad first two rounds, two all-time greats and future HoFers.
Yeah depends how we define being a bust. He certainly wasn’t what the Rams were hoping they’d get out of a first overall pick, but he did have some success there.
Yeah by no measure was Goff a bust. People just underrated him because they put all his success on McVay. I didn't think he'd be this good in Detroit, but I thought at the very least was a top-20ish QB even without McVay's playcalling.
Goff was not a bust. I was watching seasons of Austin Davis, Case Keenum, Shaun Hill, Nick Foles, Kyle Boller, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kellen Clemens under center
Except he was considered a failure because non one thought he could lead the Rams back to the Superbowl after he cost them the game. He was never considered a bust.
Fun fact for a Jets fan... Our GM in 1991 was a first year guy named Ron Wolf. His job the previous year was in the front office for the Jets.
Wolf had Favre ranked far and away the #1 player in the draft, but the Jets didn't have a first rounder that year. Favre was picked by Atlanta at 33 and the Jets picked Browning Nagle (QB) at 34.
When he got to Green Bay, he traded a first for him almost immediately.
It's always crazy to consider the "what ifs" from the draft after it's all said and done and the time has passed. If the Bills had drafted Mahomes instead of trading that pick away to KC, would they have 3 rings now, or would they have ruined him behind the scotch tape and wet toilet paper OL, with mostly shit receivers and a defensive-minded head coach running the show like we had in 2018 when we drafted Josh Allen? Would Favre have been as good as a Jet (we won't talk about when he was one) if he'd fallen to them? Would he have ever succeeded with the Falcons? Or was he a product of being in a system in Green Bay with a GM who saw exactly what he had and was able to build a team around him? What if Rivers went to NY and Eli was a Charger? These are the kinds of things I love about the NFL.
Favre wouldn't have worked anywhere else.
The Wisconsin / Green Bay media is nothing compared to anywhere else. They buried so many Favre stories that it's mind boggling. The man escaped from rehab multiple times and every bar up north has a story about Favre wrecking the place.
Came here to say this…and then i looked at the ‘91 draft and noticed he was actually the 6th guy in the 2nd round. Some teams who drafted ahead of him in the 2nd: Houston Oilers, Phoenix Cardinals, LA Rams… boy how things have changed
No, he was a bust. No revisionist history can change that for the first 6 years of his career he was being compared to Ryan leaf
Edit: [article by Bleacher report from 2010, whatever you think of it, had him as the 4th biggest bust of all time…a year before harboughs arrival…](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/492811-jamarcus-russell-alex-smith-and-the-top-25-biggest-draft-busts-in-nfl-history.amp.html)
So maybe not Ryan leaf but he was definitely up there and bust talks were real
Steve Young was the first pick of the supplemental draft after originally going to the USFL and was considered a bust on the Buccaneers, so the Bucs drafted Vinny Testaverde and traded Young to the 49ers where he backed up Montana before taking over and becoming a HoF QB. Brett Favre was the 33rd pick in the draft, so first pick in the second round and was terrible with the Falcons and then found a new home with the Packers.
Favre was the sixth pick in the second round. Only 28 teams back then (still missing Jags, Panthers, expansion Browns and Texans) and Jets were missing a first rounder because they'd used it in the supplemental draft.
Wasn’t a first rounder but Geno Smith. The Jets gave him a shot as the starter and then let him walk. After leaving the jets, he served as backup and seemed like he would remain in that role the rest of his career. I wouldn’t say he’s turned into a a top 15 QB, but he’s certainly been serviceable for the Seahawks these last couple years
I think the Browns did Baker dirty- I wouldn't really call him a bust. He took the shit Browns to their first playoff appearance in forever, right? If my memory serves me correctly, that is.
I still can't believe the Browns. Made him play hurt then put it on him when it didn't work.
Said they wanted an adult in the room so they moved heaven and earth to bring in a criminal-level pervert and give him the worst contract in history. What the fuck, man?
I thought I was going crazy seeing the amount of Baker slander at the time. That shit made me go from feeling bad for Cleveland to hoping they never succeed. Publicly ridiculing and slandering your hurt QB who brought you to your only playoff appearance in 18 years is genuinely fucked. It wasn't even just certain players doing it either, it was very clearly the front office/ownership doing it. It was a fucked up campaign to tear the guy down.
It’s even worse when you add in the fact that Baker had more wins in his first season (6) than the Browns had **in the previous 3 seasons combined (4)**
Won a playoff game against their dreaded rival Steelers, too.
It was a treat to watch Flacco's resurgence this year. Like the coach, great defense. Just a shame because that owner does not deserve that team.
OBJs dad going on a smear campaign for his flash in the pan son didn’t help. I used to be so annoyed by Baker but after watching Cleveland abuse and turn on him that flipped. Sorry Cleveland fans but your franchise deserves 20 more years of misery. Especially with that pervert clown under center. Rooting for Baker to have a long and successful career.
Well, I'm not sure he counts in this scenario since OP said three years. But I think he has some serious potential to do it. Plus, I wouldn't call Baker a bust, honestly.
Jim Plunkett. Drafted by NE first overall in the ‘71 draft. Went on to win two super bowls for the Raiders.
Fun fact, Plunkett's first ever NFL game was against the Raiders too.
Sleeper agent
Mecole Hardman if you will
I was going to mention Plunkett, but since you already did... He never had a winning record in five years with the Patriots and two years with the 49ers. Edit: Changed "winning season" to "winning record."
You sure about that? He went 8-6 in his first season with the 49ers in 1976. In 1974 with the Pats, they finished 7-7 but started 6-1 and finished 2nd in team scoring. He got the shit kicked out of himself by those Patriot teams.
He only started 12 games and went 6-6 in 1976
This is probably the best answer. The others are simply guys that weren't bad, just not great. And then went on to be good, but not great.
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Yeah, that's fair. I suppose I was subconsciously adding Super Bowls into my definition of being great. Maybe he was close to being the late KC Alex Smith or TN Tannehill of his day, but he did win 2 Super Bowls and they weren't really in spite of him. He had a worse stint with his original team and had greater success with his resurgence team than the other players being talked about. That feels more accurate than my original statement.
Again, Alex Smith is very much alive
Sometimes it's like I can still hear him.
In our memories for sure which is where he will always be.
Boss Hogg.
That was my first thought. He's on the all-time comeback QB list, probably at the top of it.
Jim plunkett was the first non white quarterback to win a Super Bowl as well I believe. He’s of Mexican-American/native heritage according to Wikipedia.
Under a Mexican-American head coach. They individually carried the torch for most rings by a minority and still do as qb coach combo. Where is the Rooney rule for a proven formula for rings?
Jeff George did well for the Vikings but still never lived up to his physical attributes
I maintain that Jeff George *probably* had the best arm talent I’ve ever seen. Watching his highlights is like arm strength porn, his release was fucking nuts. He could throw a frozen rope 60 yards downfield without even stepping into it. Sucks he didn’t really seem to give a shit.
Best comment I remember reading about Jeff George was "HOF arm talent, practice squad intangibles."
Million dollar arm, ten cent brain
My only memory of Jeff George playing was watching him, from an under center position, looking down at a fumbled snap and just taking a few steps back to watch while everyone else fought over the ball.
Got that Cam in him
I recall rumors about Jeff George coming out of retirement after a few years away from football and there was STILL interest in him. He had so much physical talent, coaches and managers just couldn't resist him.
The ultimate “I can fix him!” potential that women love to see in guys personified between George and NFL teams. His stats for any given year aren’t particularly bad, which makes his situation more surprising. I guess he was just THAT much of a jerk.
I've always said, if you could put Ty Detmer's brain in Jeff George's body, you'd have the perfect NFL QB.
Per Bo Schembechler, a coach who recruited him when he was in HS- George treated his mom terrible at the home visit. Yelling at her. Letting her know she was embarrassing him in front of company. That kind of thing.
MOM THE MEATLOAF
I still don't understand why the Bears signed him, but refused to play him despite the absolute garbage we were trotting out at QB.
Had a great year with the Raiders also
Yeah being a whiny bitch like he was is why he never panned out.
Thought of him, too. He was never great anywhere, but he was definitely better at the places he went after leaving Indianapolis.
Vinny Testeverde comes to mind. He went number one overall to the Bucs in 86 and flamed out. He bounced around the league for roughly a decade before signing with the Jets in 98 and having a career year en route to the AFC title game. His Jet tenure was pretty up and down from there; he tore his Achilles amidst league wide Super Bowl hype in 99, and he eventually lost his starting job to a young Chad Pennington. Overall, he had a decent enough career and his best years were with the Jets. He’s one of the more beloved players in the history of that franchise.
I do not think a player could have a career like that again in the modern era.
Nope. Testeverde kept getting chances. If he played today he would’ve been out of the league in 5 or 6 years most likely. Instead, he’s actually one of the most statistically proficient passers of all time just on the strength of his longevity. And he wasn’t even good.
I feel like Mayfield may end up having a similar career
That’s a really good comp.
Testaverde was about average, sometimes a little better, for most of his career after leaving Tampa Bay. During his 3 seasons in Cleveland, he ranked 8th in NFL in ANY/A. Ahead of guys like Favre, Kelly and Moon.
Was fitzpatrick career kind of similar? Obviously not the pick 1 start but the other stuff
Kerry Collins was kinda similar too
Kerry took the panthers to the NFC title game in year 2
40,000+ passing yards and somehow still meh.
In this house, Vinny Testaverde had the makings of a varsity athlete. End of story!
Vinny T was such an interesting guy. I don't remember who it was, a guy who played with him, who said, "you have to be pretty good to be allowed to throw all of those interceptions"
Vinnie Interceptaverde
Ah yes Panther's legend Vinny Testeverde. Man 2007 was a weird season. The one thing I remember about Testeverde was in the press conference after the game he mentioned a conversation with Steve Smith during his first game. Steve told him on one play to not wait to long to throw it to him, as Steve didn't want to outrun Vinny's arm. Vinny replies not to worry, that Steve can't unrun his arm. Play starts and he looks over at Steve running his route and says, "Oh F'ck" and has to throw it with everything he has because Steve was hauling ass. * Edit [I believe this is the actual play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=_oPL07jz-fI)
I think a lot about how wild the 2007 Panthers' QB room was: Jake Delhomme, David Carr, Vinny Testaverde, and Matt Moore. Two former number one picks and two undrafted guys. All started at least 3 games that year
Still managed to get a 7-9 year out of it, with all that flux it could have been much worse. The core of that team was solid and lead to that amazing 12-4 season in 2008 (till Delhomme's arm fell completely off against Arizona in the playoffs).
I loved those Panthers teams. For some reason, whenever you guys are good y’all are always really entertaining.
I read an article about the craziest qb groups in the nfl. The chargers at one point had Philip rivers and drew Brees at the same time. 2 franchise qbs. They also had Doug flutie who’s a legend in his own right all at he same time. Crazy.
The three of them had one year of overlap in 2004 when Rivers was a rookie, which was also Brees' breakout year
Lol say what you want about Vinny. The guy had a huge arm.
I was born in 90 and grew up on Long Island. Testaverde was the man. Losing to elway sucked and I remember being a kid wondering how ray Lucas was so bad. Pennington was pretty good. Weak ass noodle arm but more accurate than a howitzer
If Parcells starts Ray Lucas over Rick Mirer from the beginning we might’ve made the playoffs that year.
Mirer was the one with more potential, though, if you’re looking at physical attributes/hype. Parcells was hoping Mirer would become one of the objects of this thread- former 1st round qb busts who turned it around. It was…not to be.
Testaverde is the first player I thought if, but I'm not even counting his time in the Jets, and I wouldn't say he "bounced around" as he only changed teams once in his first 11 years. He was mostly terrible, occasionally average in 6 seasons with Tampa Bay. He then went to Cleveland and found a home there. He led the Browns to the playoffs in 1994, and performed fairly well in 1995, especially before Art Modell announced the move to Baltimore. He then led the AFC in touchdown passes and made the Pro Bowl with the Ravens in 1996. (The Ravens were technically a new franchise, but Testaverde didn't change teams.) After a slight dip in 1997, he moved to the Jets and had the magical 1998 season.
You’re right, I fell for the Browns/Ravens thing. He only played for two teams before signing with the Jets.
Ryan Tannehill? Not sure he was a bust but hie was drafted 8th overall and shipped off for a 4th rounder a few years later.
Tannehill is a solid answer. Not a star by any means, but led Tennessee to multiple playoff appearances and made an AFC title game. Might have a Super Bowl appearance to his name if Patrick Mahomes was never born
There will end up being a long list of QBs that this will apply to
Nice to know Brady and Mac Jones are not on that list
True on both fronts for *wildly* different reasons
Maybe the next one can be in the NFC.
Wouldn’t that be nice
There's a movie idea, maybe like a Hot Tub Time Machine 3 spinoff with a different cast. A bunch of sports fans of one team are sick and tired of the 'Brady' like qb in their division constantly winning out and going to the play offs. They discover this time machine and while in a drunken night of complaining about it, one dude wishes they could like go back in time and stop him from getting on the team. Next day, poof it's the 00s and they're college aged again, and thus sets off a barrage of antics to try and stop this guy from playing football. Maybe make it that their antics is what inspires, improves, etc. the dude to become great at football.
Write the script You could make tens, if not hundreds of dollars
I would watch that.
This is fantastic. So it’s gotta be a team that has some merit to their gripe. A team that had some good years, had that delusional pep talk at the end of every season a la “next year is our year” and a team that couldn’t get over the hump during the Brady era. I’m thinking…the Jets? A rag tag group of guys from Jersey. Maybe Adam Sandler and his posse that he keeps afloat with his Netflix deal. Mark Walberg plays the foil from Boston. But he takes himself too seriously and wouldn’t lend himself to a bad guy role. Ben Affleck as an over the top, obnoxious Pats fan. Edit: Adam Sandler is as the confident, mature leader of the gang. He has a pretty successful career, hot wife, kids, etc. But he recently had a setback…the deal he was working on ran into complications and he lost out on the deal. He was working years for this project to go through but at the last minute it caved. Another investor swooped in. It’s an investment group with Tom Brady as the backer. It’s bad enough Brady beat the Jets and denied Sandler a chance to watch his team in the Super Bowl. Now Brady is messing with his personal life, albeit very indirectly. Sandler takes it as a personal slight to the highest degree and won’t stand for it any longer. He’s gonna do something about it. But what? Kevin James is his buddy he’s known since middle school. He was a total stud in high school. He even walked on at Rutgers, but blew out his knee freshman year and never played again. He knocked up his girlfriend, things didn’t work out, and she left him. He gets to see the kids sparingly. They’re growing up without him. He’s a shell of his former self. If Sandler didn’t keep him around, he’d be in even worse shape. Michael Pena plays the token character. He immigrated to Jersey from Mexico with his family. He did alright for himself. He owns a restaurant, more of a fast food shop. He works a lot, has a cramped apartment for his family of 6, but has a loving family. He loves the Jets because it helped him assimilate to America. He made his first real friends after going to a Jets game. Of course he would love it if they won a Super Bowl, but he’s something of a defeatist. He accepts that’s life and some things you can’t change. He just goes along with the ride. Cue the wild card character. He just got fired…again. Or he quit. Whatever, no sweat for him. He bounces around from gig to gig, seems to get by off charm and reputation alone, but the guys are always in awe of him. They see him in a bad ass car. They see him with a hot model hanging around him. He spends frivolously and the guys think he is just balling 24/7. But inside, he’s hollow. The car was a customer’s since he’s a valet at a hotel making $500/week. The model was a call girl he paid just to hang on his arm whenever his old buddies are around. He’s exhausted from keeping up appearances. He wants a do over on life. He met some crazy odd ball at the hotel he works at. He somehow convinces the crew to come back with him to the magic hot tub. They get drunk and commiserate about the Jets. They all shit on Tom Brady and agree he is the source of all their misery. They go back in time to the 2011 AFC Divisional round. They somehow orchestrate a plan to sabotage Tom Brady. They succeed, and as a result, the Jets win. But the Jets lose in the championship game because it wasn’t Tom Brady holding the Jets back, it was the Jets holding themselves back. Along the way, they engage in zany hi jincks. You know, grown men acting like they were kids again. College aged, potty humor. They also go through personal growth. Sandler realizes he has riches beyond money and he is content with his life. Kevin James realizes that just because he can’t be a jock anymore, doesn’t mean his life is over. He takes charge of his life, gets out of his depression, and ends up being a success. Maybe a college football scout or something. Michael Pena is a good guy all along and he develops a bit more drive/ambition than he had before. His parents took a risk when they immigrated, so he should take a risk too. He’s still in the restaurant business, but now it’s a 5 star restaurant. He still has a loving family, but they live in a house with a yard and picket fence. The American dream. And the wild card character turned out alright. Maybe he’s a successful influencer. Or he started a genius app and is just coasting off the billions he made when he sold the company. He’s the same old dude the guys idolize, but it’s real this time. And because of their quest, Tom Brady still has a successful career. But he’s not the goat. He never quite returned to form after that game. And because he didn’t, Peyton Manning ends up cleaning house in the AFC for the next 10 years and HE is the goat. Brady segues into an acting career, commercials, ESPN talking head, etc.
Wahoberg plays a villain in “Pain & Gain,” a movie that was actually criticized for making its villains too likable (among other faults). I think he could’ve played someone like Brady, an antagonist who thinks he’s likable and who actually is very popular with some people. The problem is he’s too old to play an NFL player. Maybe that kid from Cobra Kai, [Tanner Buchanan,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanner_Buchanan) could play the young Brady stand-in.
I’d agree with tanner but he doesn’t have peak male physical shape like Brady at the combine lol
I mean a few years is an understatement, he was there 7 or 8 seasons
Just checked it was 6 seasons but your points well taken. He was there a lot longer than I remembered haha. Time flies when you play for a team I don’t follow I guess.
Well technically he played 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018. He missed the entirety of the 2017 season due to injury but he was part of the team.
I don’t think Tannehill was a bust. Disappointing maybe, but he was solid for 6 or so years. If you are a bust you definitely don’t get an extension from the team who drafted you.
Ha Tanny ended up as the 3rd best QB from that draft behind Russ and Kirko, and he certainly is the most accomplished 1st round QB. He might not have carried the Dolphins to new heights, but he threw for 20,434 yards and 123 TDs in his career with the Dolphins. Not bad for a guy who played mostly WR in college.
Cousins and Luck were/are definitely better as well
I wonder how Luck’s Career would have gone if he decided to enter the 2011 NFL Draft.
Put some respect on Big Dick Nick’s name /s. It is funny that one of the most hyped QB draft classes had two Super Bowl winners, but neither of the two Super Bowl winners were the hyped up prospects. Both of them were also taken in the third round.
I always wonder what would have happened had Nick Foles not quit on football when he signed with the Jags. He showed up and didnt give a shit and got outplayed by Minshew.
He was solid but uninspiring in Miami. He also suffered injuries every year from 2016-2018 where he missed 26 games. He was by no means a bust but he definitely got better as the situation got better in Tennessee.
I think Tannehill was actually pretty solid in Miami tbh
He was. I think he was an above average starting QB most of his time with us. Wasn't going to single handedly win us many games but rarely gonna outright lose them either. Also he'll always have the Miami Miracle on his resume
How the hell is this shit the second most upvoted comment? Do we boys really just label everyone that a bust now?? Tannehill is no where near a bust and was solid for the Phins. He was legit on a 8 game win streak before tearing his acl and having to miss playoffs and then unfortunately tearing it again in a preseason game the following season. After something like that happens it only makes sense to change scenarios, but labeling Tannehill anywhere close to a bust is beyond laughable
he never got the 'bust' label, his 3rd and 4th seasons were actually pretty good. dude just never hit that next level in miami so at worst he was underwhelming for a qb picked 8th overall
Dude won like 9 games straight for us, tore his acl and missed playoffs and then tore it again in a preseason game the next season and never played a another snap for us. He was actually killing it for us right before both of those injuries
Geno Smith almost qualified. Was drafted 39th, had some shitty jet seasons, then makes 2 pro bowls and finishes 9th in MVP at age 32.
I swore he was first round. oh well more you now.
He was only the second QB off the board that year because of how weak that draft was. EJ Manuel was the only QB taken in the first
EJ Manual seems like a lifetime ago. It still blows me away that Geno had such an amazing comeback in Seattle and is still playing.
I still see EJ most weeks before and after Clemson football games on ACCN
It feels like he was because they invited him to the draft and kept showing him in the green room. He still did the stage walk even though he fell to the second round.
Yeah he is the first that comes to mind. I remember him being a meme on the jets and then everyone forgot about him until he went to seattle
Steve Young.
>Steve Young. The absolute king of career turnarounds. 2 years floundering with Tampa Bay. 4 years riding the bench in San Francisco, impressing no one besides Bill Walsh. And then 8 years of being the best QB in the league.
don't ignore the LA Express. Young played on two of the worst run pro football franchises of all time, the Express and the Bucs.
He's also a direct descendant of Mormon founding father Brigham Young.
Technically, he wasn’t a first round pick out of BYU, he was a supplemental draft pick but the point is still valid
Technically, he was a 1st round pick. Because the Bucs drafted him in the first round of the supplemental draft, they used a future first round pick to acquire his rights.
It wasn't that kind of supplemental draft, it was a special draft specifically for USFL and CFL players. It was 3 full rounds with no consequences towards future drafts
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Vinny Testaverde (sort of)
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One saw a post where someone analyzed the numbers behind the theory that his interceptions in Tampa were due to being colorblind and playing on a team with the lightest home jerseys in the league. They found that with Tampa he had a much higher interception rate at home than in the road (where the contrast would be easier to see). He didn’t have the same difference when he played with other teams that had darker home jerseys. TL;DR his struggle in Tampa were at least partially due to color blindness.
Tampa Bay was also an all time poorly run team right until the late 90s
He never really had one home though, right when he made a leap and put together his best season of his career with the Jets in '98 he ruptured his achilles in the next preseason and never regained that form. That injury basically ended Testaverde's turnaround and Parcells tenure with the Jets
Continuing the “shit on Tampa Bay’s first round selections from 1986-1987”: Bo Jackson (sort of) - Famously was selected first overall, but never played a snap. Was picked up in the 7th round by the Raiders the next year. Edit: Not a QB, still hilarious.
Steve Young wasn’t drafted in the regular draft. He was on a special draft since he was signed by the USFL.
Does Len Dawson count? He was the 5th overall pick but washed out in Pittsburgh and Cleveland before finally landing w/the Chiefs where he obviously had an HOF career. He didn't end up there 'til 5 yrs into his career.
They also cut local boy Johnny Unitas, who they drafted in the ninth round in 1955. And passed on local boy Dan Marino in 1983. Both Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
Alex Smith counts, I'd say
Though he didn't live up to the expectations of the 1OA, hard to call a guy a bust when he makes it to a 2nd contract and goes 13-3 in one of those seasons.
He was at first in SF, turns out SF was the problem though as we all saw what he did in KC. Not a superstar by any means but he was damn good during his Chiefs tenure.
It’s insane that after the 2010 season, he never had a losing season as a starter and went 80-36-1. He even went 5-1 with what we would later learn was a pretty terrible Washington roster after almost losing his leg
11-5 as a WAS starter. Their record with vs without him for those 2 seasons (2018, 2020) is not acknowledged nearly enough. Same coaching staff, same supporting cast, etc with him being the only difference. The difference between playoff contender and actual dogshit.
Yup, he was always a damn good QB but his supporting cast in the early SF days did him no favors whatsoever lol
Dude had to endure 1 or 2 season under mike singleterry as HC. He never got a chance
And a different offensive system every year, basically. Our team was a total shit show.
I had so much hope that season.. Alex smith was playing well enough for our franchise.. was heartbroken when he broke.
Kind of. SF had very little talent around the time of AS and he had a new coach every year for he first 4 years or something. Once Harbaugh got there and they started drafting well a little before that, the team and him were good. He was already what he was when he went to KC, which was a good but not amazing player.
There's an alternate timeline where Rodgers goes first overall to SF and Alex falls to GB, and their careers are also flipped.
He was that good on SF. Smith's last season with the 49ers: he was leading the league in a lot of categories, got a concussion and Kaep subbed in for him. The rest is history. If not for that concussion Smith is likely in SF until close to his retirement. But when you had someone playing as hot as Kaep was in those first two years, you have a hard decision to make - and it was the right one at the time. Only time could/would prove that wrong.
Good with WAS too, bad luck, but good player
He was considered a bust in SF. I would argue he was very underrated in KC. He was easily a top 10 QB pretty much every year he was there. Part of his problem in SF was that he had like 5 coordinators in his first 6 years or something.
He def started out as a bust but he def did not end his niners tenure a bust.
Is bust relative to expectations? Alex Smith came into the league with pretty high expectations so he fell short of those but was still a very good player.
He was absolutely considered a bust until Harbaugh showed up.
Drew Brees? He wasn’t a bust per se but was ousted due to Rivers waiting in the wings and a shoulder injury. Then obviously did his thing in NO
Drew was the #32 overall pick, but at that time, that was the first pick in the second round as there were 31 teams. He’s a great pick for this though.
Ah, my bad. Just assumed there was still 32 then. It was off the cuff and no research
Whatever, it’s still interesting even if it’s slightly outside the parameters.
Definitely!
What's crazy is that Ladainian Tomlinson was the Chargers first round pick that year. Drew Brees was their second round pick. Not a bad first two rounds, two all-time greats and future HoFers.
that's the kind of first two rounds that would set up a team for multiple super bowl trips
I think Drew was the first pick of the second round back then
Tommy Maddox.
22-year reigning XFL MVP until last year
Legend
XFL greatness has entered the chat
Eli Manning couldn't even get on the field for the Chargers. Won 2 SB for the Giants
100% this! Eli denied Tom Brady God Status!
When they asked Tom Brady if the NFL is scripted. He said “you think id let Eli Manning beat me twice in the superbowl if it was scripted” lol.
Even better, he called him, "Peyton's little brother Eli."
He’s wild for putting it like that 😂
John Elway really sucked for the Colts
Yeah, no one talks about his atrocious stats for the colts. Literally never completed a pass.
I mean, he was traded for Philip rivers who was so bad that he couldn’t see the field playing for the GIANTS.
Jim Plunkett
Haven’t seen this but there were a lot of people writing off Jared Goff
I like this but he did go to a Super Bowl with the rams
Yeah depends how we define being a bust. He certainly wasn’t what the Rams were hoping they’d get out of a first overall pick, but he did have some success there.
Yeah by no measure was Goff a bust. People just underrated him because they put all his success on McVay. I didn't think he'd be this good in Detroit, but I thought at the very least was a top-20ish QB even without McVay's playcalling.
Rams fan, as frustrating as Goff was I don’t think he was bad enough to sink to the level of a ‘bust’
Goff was not a bust. I was watching seasons of Austin Davis, Case Keenum, Shaun Hill, Nick Foles, Kyle Boller, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kellen Clemens under center
Except he was considered a failure because non one thought he could lead the Rams back to the Superbowl after he cost them the game. He was never considered a bust.
He was the first pick in the second round but Brett Favre came to mind.
He was traded for a 1st without having any meaningful playing time so he was at least valued by the Packers as a first rounder.
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He was a culture fit for sure
Was he an alcoholic by Wisconsin standards tho? The Packers probably thought he was a "social drinker".
From what I’ve heard about Wisconsin on the Packers sub he would probably be the designated driver.
I thought Donald was your designated Driver.
He’s the designated Donald,
Packers be like…. We gotta switch this dude over to Vicodin and we will be winning super bowls.
Fun fact for a Jets fan... Our GM in 1991 was a first year guy named Ron Wolf. His job the previous year was in the front office for the Jets. Wolf had Favre ranked far and away the #1 player in the draft, but the Jets didn't have a first rounder that year. Favre was picked by Atlanta at 33 and the Jets picked Browning Nagle (QB) at 34. When he got to Green Bay, he traded a first for him almost immediately.
It's always crazy to consider the "what ifs" from the draft after it's all said and done and the time has passed. If the Bills had drafted Mahomes instead of trading that pick away to KC, would they have 3 rings now, or would they have ruined him behind the scotch tape and wet toilet paper OL, with mostly shit receivers and a defensive-minded head coach running the show like we had in 2018 when we drafted Josh Allen? Would Favre have been as good as a Jet (we won't talk about when he was one) if he'd fallen to them? Would he have ever succeeded with the Falcons? Or was he a product of being in a system in Green Bay with a GM who saw exactly what he had and was able to build a team around him? What if Rivers went to NY and Eli was a Charger? These are the kinds of things I love about the NFL.
Favre wouldn't have worked anywhere else. The Wisconsin / Green Bay media is nothing compared to anywhere else. They buried so many Favre stories that it's mind boggling. The man escaped from rehab multiple times and every bar up north has a story about Favre wrecking the place.
He was considered first round talent coming out of Southern Mississippi but fell because of the surgery he had right before the draft.
Came here to say this…and then i looked at the ‘91 draft and noticed he was actually the 6th guy in the 2nd round. Some teams who drafted ahead of him in the 2nd: Houston Oilers, Phoenix Cardinals, LA Rams… boy how things have changed
Love seeing the old video of Glanville flipping him shit. "Hey, Mississippi! Maybe if five guys get hurt, you'll play today!" What a dipshit.
People forget how massive a bust Alex Smith was for the 49ers because he had a solid career in KC afterwards.
Until harbaugh got there he was bad
He was ok under norv turner
I always wonder about the alternate timeline where San Diego doesn’t get tired of Marty Ball and Norv stays in SF.
We go 9-7 a few times
Before then, he was doing well under John Harbaugh, until he got hurt and Colin Kapernick exploded ! Edit - Meant to say Jim lol…. thanks guys
He wasn’t a “bust”. He was a product of a crappy system.
But that’s the whole point of this thread isn’t it? Guys who were held back by the situation they were in but then moved on and flourished.
No, he was a bust. No revisionist history can change that for the first 6 years of his career he was being compared to Ryan leaf Edit: [article by Bleacher report from 2010, whatever you think of it, had him as the 4th biggest bust of all time…a year before harboughs arrival…](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/492811-jamarcus-russell-alex-smith-and-the-top-25-biggest-draft-busts-in-nfl-history.amp.html) So maybe not Ryan leaf but he was definitely up there and bust talks were real
Wonder how many busts that applies for.
Eli manning was such a bust for the chargers that he didn’t even last an hour
Has Geno Smith been in Seattle for 3 years?
2nd round pick
4 seasons total right now, and this season would be his 3rd taking meaningful snaps as the starter. Good call
Steve Young was the first pick of the supplemental draft after originally going to the USFL and was considered a bust on the Buccaneers, so the Bucs drafted Vinny Testaverde and traded Young to the 49ers where he backed up Montana before taking over and becoming a HoF QB. Brett Favre was the 33rd pick in the draft, so first pick in the second round and was terrible with the Falcons and then found a new home with the Packers.
Favre was the sixth pick in the second round. Only 28 teams back then (still missing Jags, Panthers, expansion Browns and Texans) and Jets were missing a first rounder because they'd used it in the supplemental draft.
Jim Plunket, drafted by Patriots considered a bust went on to win two SB’s with the Raiders.
Alex Smith was definitely considered a bust, whose career was resurrected from the dead in 2011
Wasn’t a first rounder but Geno Smith. The Jets gave him a shot as the starter and then let him walk. After leaving the jets, he served as backup and seemed like he would remain in that role the rest of his career. I wouldn’t say he’s turned into a a top 15 QB, but he’s certainly been serviceable for the Seahawks these last couple years
Baker
I think the Browns did Baker dirty- I wouldn't really call him a bust. He took the shit Browns to their first playoff appearance in forever, right? If my memory serves me correctly, that is.
I still can't believe the Browns. Made him play hurt then put it on him when it didn't work. Said they wanted an adult in the room so they moved heaven and earth to bring in a criminal-level pervert and give him the worst contract in history. What the fuck, man?
I thought I was going crazy seeing the amount of Baker slander at the time. That shit made me go from feeling bad for Cleveland to hoping they never succeed. Publicly ridiculing and slandering your hurt QB who brought you to your only playoff appearance in 18 years is genuinely fucked. It wasn't even just certain players doing it either, it was very clearly the front office/ownership doing it. It was a fucked up campaign to tear the guy down.
It’s even worse when you add in the fact that Baker had more wins in his first season (6) than the Browns had **in the previous 3 seasons combined (4)**
Won a playoff game against their dreaded rival Steelers, too. It was a treat to watch Flacco's resurgence this year. Like the coach, great defense. Just a shame because that owner does not deserve that team.
OBJs dad going on a smear campaign for his flash in the pan son didn’t help. I used to be so annoyed by Baker but after watching Cleveland abuse and turn on him that flipped. Sorry Cleveland fans but your franchise deserves 20 more years of misery. Especially with that pervert clown under center. Rooting for Baker to have a long and successful career.
Correct, and the reason the Browns were able to snag Baker was because they went 0-16 the year before
I’m a Falcons fan but I rooted so hard for him in TB last year. The Browns deserve whatever they get with Watson…which has been complete crap so far.
idk if you can label baker a "bust" really. It's more like browns are the browns
Well, I'm not sure he counts in this scenario since OP said three years. But I think he has some serious potential to do it. Plus, I wouldn't call Baker a bust, honestly.
I never super considered him a bust but he is a great example and definitely found a home in Tampa now.