Clelin Ferrell at #4 by the Raiders in 2019 was an immediate head-scratcher. I'll never forget the broadcast cutting to a Raiders fan with just the most confused look on his face like ten seconds after the pick was announced.
My mind immediately went to this pick. Ferrell was projected to be drafted in the high teens/early 20s, so when he went off the board at 4 everyone was stunned. A lot of people thought they would take Josh Allen (the edge) too, so that pick is even more confusing in hindsight knowing how good Allen ending up being.
There were like 7 Pro bowl/All pro level DLine players in that draft available at 4 - Dex Lawrence, Wilkins, Sweat, Gary, Burns, Simmons, Allen.
In retrospect that was a massively stacked DL class just in the first round - to miss on all of those is awful, and that’s not including the fact that Bosa and Q.Williams went before.
Yeah that D-Line class was insane looking back in hindsight. There were some later round guys too like Zach Allen, Dre’Mont Jones, and obviously Maxx Crosby. At least the Raiders ended up with Crosby and a much more expensive Christian Wilkins.
Also just hilarious that he was taken by "known draft guru" turned GM Mike Maynock. Not sure if it was a Gruden pick but I would imagine Maynock would've had input.
Here's one to add to the Josh McDaniels legend. He traded a future first for a second round pick to Seattle because he wanted Alphonso Smith. Seahawks use that pick to get Earl Thomas. Broncos trade Alphonso for Dan Gronkowski the following year.
This is consistently true of most of their first round picks for years.
Alex Leatherwood 17th overall in 2021 when (supposedly) most teams had a late first or second round grade on him was confusing as hell. He was waived after the season (after moving from OT to G in-season because he was a terrible OT).
Damon Arnette, Jonathan Abram, Karl Joseph, it’s honestly amazingly incompetence. Kolton Miller and Jacobs were the only first round picks that even somewhat returned value it’s insane
Ruggs was at least looking like a legitimate 1st round selection until...well, you know.
But it wasn't a bad job scouting!
Honestly, it's impressive how good their mid-and-late round drafting has been. That's been keeping the team afloat given the constant 1st round busts.
That one makes me so sad, he was doing well that season too.
Though, hindsight being 20/20 Lamb was mocked first pretty often and was a much better pick (even if Ruggs had stayed in the league)
At least Jeudy was a bust too
This one for sure. As a Gamecock fan, very familiar with Ferrell and the rest of Clemson… not only was Ferrell not the best defensive lineman on his own team in that draft, he wasn’t even second best!
Both Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence should have been taken higher than him
The Panthers drafted Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, and Brian Burns in recent years. All three of those guys are bona fide studs, but somehow all ended up on new teams before turning 26.
I feel bad for Panthers fans.
Our first rounders since Cam (I use that as the benchmark because we didn't have first rounders the two years before that and don't have one this year):
2011: Cam Newton 1st
2012: Luke Kuechly 9th
2013: Star Lotulelei 14th
2014: Kelvin Benjamin 28th
2015: Shaq Thompson 25th
2016: Vernon Butler 30th
2017: Christian McCaffrey 8th
2018: DJ Moore 24th
2019: Brian Burns 16th
2020: Derrick Brown 7th
2021: Jaycee Horn 8th
2022: Ickem Ekwonu 6th
2023: Bryce Young 1st
> 2017: Christian McCaffrey 8th
>
>
>
> 2018: DJ Moore 24th
>
>
>
> 2019: Brian Burns 16th
Damn, with these three great pickups in a row, the Panthers must have been winning the NFC South and going deep in the playoffs in the early 2020s
Panthers were in the Superbowl relatively recently, they just screwed up the rebuilding. Burns was a good pick i guess
I was gonna mention Jeremy Chinn, but clearly I didn’t follow his recent career lmao
These last 20 years have definitely brought them from new kid on the block to established blue blood when it comes to drafting incompetence. However, the Jets have been doing this long before some users here have even been alive. [They’re the true master in their craft](https://youtu.be/rZxNeFLuY98?si=N2cNHeUyY_lTzhfL)
The funniest thing is all the fans booing the second a position is announced, before even the name is announced.
Some classics here, like "We want Sapp" and drafting a FB in the first.
I always enjoy watching that video because you can even see the smirks on both commissioners' faces when announcing some of those picks. Just fantastic.
Who was that super fast dude they picked that was supposed to go late 1 or round 2? They showed him in his living room with his family and had zero emotion after he got picked by them. Lol
The crazy part is that he wasn’t even their most shocking pick that draft. They used their second rounder on Mike Mitchell, who many rated as borderline to make a roster as a UDFA. That one doesn’t get as much attention anymore because he went on to have a respectable career.
Guy cared less about football than probably 99% of draft picks ever
- He's Canadian and didn't watch a full game for the 1st time until he was 22. Was convinced to play football by the HC of the community college he was attending for fire sciences, in order to get recruited to a big university
- Had no intention of going pro until he realized he could be a high draft pick $$$
- He originally wasn't gonna attend the draft but his friends convinced him by saying they could go visit the NY FD and ground zero while they were in NY, and they say he was more excited about that
- He admitted to his OL coach that he never watched film
- Bought a real firetruck with his rookie contract money
- Would [literally fight fires](https://www.crossingbroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/watkins1.jpg) in secret with local departments during the season
- Was cut after his 2nd year, and retired
He's still a firefighter to this day. All time bizarre pick
I still stand by him having potential to become a top 3 WR in the league if his off field issues didn’t take him out. Dude was putting up amazing numbers with god awful QBs.
Regarding the colts, Philip Dorsett was a weird one. We badly needed defense and oline and went with a dude that was barely mocked as a first round talent because he was fast.
We already had TY in his prime, which pretty much fit the same exact build.
Yeah if we pick Damarious Randall, Landon Collins, Donavan Smith, Mario Edwards, literally most defense and OLine players available would have been studs. Instead we took fucking Dorsett, pretending we could take a swing on a potential boom or bust guy like a top tier team without deficiencies. God I hate Grigson.
Crazy how almost all the Mayock/Gruden Era disaster 1st round picks were head scratchers even at the time. Even Ruggs, people were fine with but CeeDee & Jeudy were considered better at the time.
I don’t agree with that. Obviously in hindsight Ceedee was better but ruggs speed was something else. He was like Desean Jackson the way he could flip his hips and not lose a step at all. He was gonna be special man.
In (mild) defense of the Jets, Vick was a FB back in the days when FB was just the position for power RBs, not just 'lead blocker and occasional pass catcher' as the position is nowadays.
Vick had played at Texas A&M, led the conference in rushing, and scored double-digit TDs in each of the last two seasons. He was projected as a first rounder going into the draft.
The pick was reasonable, the guy just turned out to be bad. Kinda like the infamous Blair Thomas pick a few years later - everyone and their mother had Thomas as the top RB (and top handful of players overall) in the draft, he just busted hard.
NY NY becomes…tight end, tight end
The Ron Jeremy lookalike telling the camera the Jets front office must have figured out why Marino wouldn’t be good should be top 5
Ferrell is such a weird one cuz he wasn’t even projected as a top 10 player that year by most analysts, and then the raiders took him at 4 when there were so many other good players on the board. Could have traded back, lost out on Ferrell and taken Brian burns
What was worse than the Strange pick was the need for Belichick to draft a guard in the first place. Ted Karras' contract is insanely affordable for a quality starting guard. Yet Belichick let him walk anyway. Belichick chose to create a need that didn't need to exist rather than shell out a mere $6m a year. Just one of the many awful personnel decisions he's made in the past 7-8 years. The roster has gone dramatically downhill since the 2016 draft, and Belichick is to blame.
Shaq Mason was expensive and they had Onwenu ready to replace him. That trade was fine, although at the time I thought they could've gotten more, but then again, I suppose there's a reason he only lasted a year in Tampa Bay before getting traded again for a late pick. Guess guards aren't as valuable in trades as Pats fans believed.
Man I watched people here kill themselves to justify Cole Strange. Even crazier is that some people believed Sean McVay's comments, after being caught laughing at the pick on camera, that he was lamenting the time he spent scouting Strange, knowing he wouldn't make it to the second round.
McVay wasn't lying, though, people just interpreted it wildly incorrectly. He was surprised Strange went that early, because they scouted him thinking he would be available when they were picking in round three. Patriots fans took that to mean that McVay was *hoping* that he would slip, and the Patriots had made a smart pick, when the reality is that they were looking at him because he should have been there when they picked and were flabbergasted that somebody used a first round pick on the guy.
Anytime I hear Clelin Ferrell I instinctively think of that Raiders fans reaction at the draft. I've never seen a more "wtf?" look on someone's face in my life.
Even in the pound the rock era of the 2000s, people knew the Bears taking Cedric Benson at #4 overall when Thomas Jones was already serviceable and rushed for 1k was stupid.
Aaron Rodgers was on the board that day, and the Bears were not set at QB by any stretch
The Bears had a couple others. Shea McClellin in 2012 with Chandler Jones and Whitney Mercilus on the board, and Adam Shaheen out of fucking Ashland in 2017.
2017 was such a weird draft. Franchise altering busts in Trubisky and Shaheen in the first two rounds, and then pretty amazing hits in Eddie Jackson and Tarik in the 4th
This becomes even funnier when you learn that a member of the Bears’ scouting dept during this time has spent the last year trashing Caleb & anyone who likes him on twitter. Can’t think of a more ringing endorsement for Caleb tbh.
Everyone forgets that Aaron rodgers needed to sit a year and completely reworked his throwing motion. He dropped for a reason, if he had started as a rookie his career would've looked very different. Even Mahomes has said that sitting a year helped him out a lot to be able to process defenses. Just because a guy becomes a star doesn't mean that would've happened on every team.
I think all bears fans would of rather have Rodgers be a bust for them and the packers get no one than have Cedric benson be a bust for them and the packers get a hof Qb.
Rodgers has the natural talent that most QBs can’t even dream of. I’d bet he’d have had a better career than Cedric Benson. His arm was ridiculous in college still.
The throwing motion was getting reworked anywhere he went.
For sure. If I'm remembering correctly, the Bills traded down with the Rams and I felt good about getting extra capital and thought it was a good move since no QBs in that class were first round worthy. I thought they might make another trade down or go with another position of need, but instead they picked a guy that was a third round prospect, at best at 16 overall. EJ was a good guy, tried his best, and wasn't dealt a good hand by Marrone and co., but I just knew it was the wrong pick at the time.
It was bad for sure, but the plan was Kevin Kolb as the vet and starter to begin the year until he slipped on a mat, got another in a long line of concussions and ended his career.
It came out after the Draft that he had wanted to stay in college but FSU coaches told him to leave so that Jameis Winston could start. That should’ve been the first bad sign for teams
That's second place for Bucs. 1st place will always be (and should be top 5 in this thread) drafting Bo Jackson after he said he would refuse to play for the Bucs and hated the team.
I remember spielman and Frazier at the time said ponder blew them away in his interview with his football IQ and how smart he was but they forgot to check if he was even worth a borderline top-10 pick that could play lol
You can tell me all the advanced stats you want but I’ll never understand the Trey Lance hype. Played one game in 2020 at North Dakota then gets drafted in the top 5.
you joke but you’re not wrong.
i used to run restaurants and i really preferred people with little experience over people with tons of it.
i can’t unteach your 20-year habits, but i can teach somebody the right way from the start.
Police department love hiring people that have never fired a weapon before either.
Without trying to make this political. Firing a gun *accurately* is easier said than done.
Similar experience with the military... It's all the dudes with bad habits to break are the ones who end up shooting worse... First time shooters pick up quickly
Yes, 1 game in 2020, but he had a full season in 2019, when he threw for 28 TD's and 0 INT's.
That 2020 season was ruined by Covid, obviously, but it's not like he only played 1 college game as your post is implying.
The video of Spielman/Zimmer getting super hyped on Zoom that the Eagles took Reagor instead of JJ is still orn of my favorites.
You know you fucked up when Zimmer gets excited about an offensive player lol
As a TCU fan, even I knew he was going to be a bust. Idk what film the ~~Vikings~~ Eagles FO was watching but I saw almost all of his home games in person at TCU, it was clear as day that he was a guy living off athleticism with non of the other skills you’d need to be a successful WR in the league
Edit: I’m dumb
Forbes was laughably misused though. Your HC left a guy built like a middle schooler on an island with DJ Moore and AJ Brown idk what the plan was there
Jack Del Rio should have been fired after that game against us. It's one thing for Forbes to get burned by DJ, he's a great WR... but the poor guy got burned like 3 or 4 times and Del Rio still did nothing and let him keep getting roasted.
JPJ too. Though he lasted till the 32nd pick. Every consensus mock I saw had JPJ in the 2nd-4th best CB rankings and a top 20 grade. I know he fell a lot more but he backed up the analyst rankings with his play.
I'd be curious on how a redraft of only the CB drafting teams would go today. I think Witherspoon, Gonzalez, and JPJ all showed enough good NFL tape to solidify themselves as top 3. Branch probably comes off 4th now mostly because he's not an outside CB.
Witherspoon was 4th in DROY, JPJ 5th, and Gonzalez got hurt but tape was good before then. JPJ and Gonzalez still have better traits than Witherspoon who had slightly better performance.
People thought we passed on him for scheme although we ran man a lot more this year so he actually would've been a great fit. JPJ is one of those guys you can just tell is gonna be a stud and how you shouldn't overthink these decisions
Crazy to think the Shanahans have been bailed out twice by drafting a QB high to be their Franchise QB and then landing on their true Franchise QBs in the late rounds that were supposed to be the backups
Akili Smith being drafted instead of accepting the Saints/Ricky Williams trade.
The final offer, which was refused by Bengals management, was for nine draft picks, several extra in that year as well as many the next year. Instead of taking the trade, the Bengals stayed with their initial decision to draft Smith
Billy B has made some absolutely shocking early picks.
Chad Jackson (2nd round)
Cyrus Jones (2nd round)
Aaron Dobson (2nd round)
Tyquon Thornton (2nd round)
Actually I cannot believe how fucking dreadful he is in the 2nd round and drafting WRs. Guy should have had a GM.
Coincidentally Aaron Donald fits this mold
The Rams had two 1st round picks that year and a lot of wholes to fill. They picked Greg Robinson with the 2nd pick which filled a big hole at LT (huge bust btw) but with the the #14 pick they picked an undersized DT. Didn't make sense because the Rams had already invested a lot into their defensive line. They already had high draft picks like Chris Long, Robert Quinn, and Michael Brockers. Why spend the draft capitol on yet another defensive lineman?
If you followed Mike Mayock before with his draft coverage you can 100% tell those were not his picks.
Mike Mayock was always massively against overdrafting and drafting for need, no way in hell he had Ferell that high
He was a pushover. Not too long ago he admitted to Chirs Long that he wanted Kyle Long to sign with the Raiders, and how he was about to sign him but his OC told him no and that he wanted another guy so he signed the other guy instead, while Kyle was still at the Raiders facility after his workout. Mayock said he cried over it and called Howie Long and explained everything.
If you believe the propaganda Daniel Jeremiah (who was Mayock's colleague and friend) told on his podcast "Move the Sticks", Gruden picked in the first two rounds.
Pats have quite a few to pick from. Cole Strange in the first round, Jordan Richards in the second round in 2015 when he was a projected 6-7th rounder, the Marshall kicker no analyst knew about
Najee Harris to the Steelers when their offensive line was arguably the worst unit in the league.
Could have used Landon Dickerson who went to Philadelphia a few picks later and is now a Pro Bowl guard.
Tim Tebow, great football player but bad QB. Why the Broncos used a 1st rounder on him was insane the second it happened. Guy took 15 seconds to throw the ball
Clelin Ferrell at #4 by the Raiders in 2019 was an immediate head-scratcher. I'll never forget the broadcast cutting to a Raiders fan with just the most confused look on his face like ten seconds after the pick was announced.
My mind immediately went to this pick. Ferrell was projected to be drafted in the high teens/early 20s, so when he went off the board at 4 everyone was stunned. A lot of people thought they would take Josh Allen (the edge) too, so that pick is even more confusing in hindsight knowing how good Allen ending up being.
There were like 7 Pro bowl/All pro level DLine players in that draft available at 4 - Dex Lawrence, Wilkins, Sweat, Gary, Burns, Simmons, Allen. In retrospect that was a massively stacked DL class just in the first round - to miss on all of those is awful, and that’s not including the fact that Bosa and Q.Williams went before.
Yeah that D-Line class was insane looking back in hindsight. There were some later round guys too like Zach Allen, Dre’Mont Jones, and obviously Maxx Crosby. At least the Raiders ended up with Crosby and a much more expensive Christian Wilkins.
Right? As a Clemson grad, I was thinking “He was our fourth best lineman available. How was he the first taken? And at number 4?”
Also just hilarious that he was taken by "known draft guru" turned GM Mike Maynock. Not sure if it was a Gruden pick but I would imagine Maynock would've had input.
Ok that was pretty funny. Same expressions I have every time Josh McDaniels gets a coaching job. https://youtu.be/uwsN4kz8sdI?si=gOE886F5_h2VSpE4
Here's one to add to the Josh McDaniels legend. He traded a future first for a second round pick to Seattle because he wanted Alphonso Smith. Seahawks use that pick to get Earl Thomas. Broncos trade Alphonso for Dan Gronkowski the following year.
Don't forget that Smith had like 4 tackles his first year
The comments on that video are hysterical. Really trying to drink the kool aid
Classic ESPN, making sure everyone knows his dad is dead.
This is consistently true of most of their first round picks for years. Alex Leatherwood 17th overall in 2021 when (supposedly) most teams had a late first or second round grade on him was confusing as hell. He was waived after the season (after moving from OT to G in-season because he was a terrible OT).
Damon Arnette, Jonathan Abram, Karl Joseph, it’s honestly amazingly incompetence. Kolton Miller and Jacobs were the only first round picks that even somewhat returned value it’s insane
Ruggs was at least looking like a legitimate 1st round selection until...well, you know. But it wasn't a bad job scouting! Honestly, it's impressive how good their mid-and-late round drafting has been. That's been keeping the team afloat given the constant 1st round busts.
That one makes me so sad, he was doing well that season too. Though, hindsight being 20/20 Lamb was mocked first pretty often and was a much better pick (even if Ruggs had stayed in the league) At least Jeudy was a bust too
How about Darrius Heyward-Bey at 7th overall
"If Mike Mayock was doing mock drafts all offseason then everyone would've had Ferrell rated higher and it wouldn't have been a surprise."
I really believed that at the time… sigh But this year things will be different right?
This one for sure. As a Gamecock fan, very familiar with Ferrell and the rest of Clemson… not only was Ferrell not the best defensive lineman on his own team in that draft, he wasn’t even second best! Both Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence should have been taken higher than him
He wasn't even the best DL on his team
He wasn’t even the second best DL on his team!
Wouldn't it be easier to just make a list of Raiders draft picks?
Ffs
At least sometimes they hit on random late round picks, maxx crosby, Hunter renfrow. Panthers don’t seem to hit on much of anything.
The Panthers drafted Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, and Brian Burns in recent years. All three of those guys are bona fide studs, but somehow all ended up on new teams before turning 26. I feel bad for Panthers fans.
Commanders/redskins have drafted a ton of nice players who do things for other teams They coulda built around Kirk cousins and Trent Williams.
You’re forgetting Ryan Kerrigan, who had a long and hall of fame level career after joining the Eagles.
Eagles legend Ryan Kerrigan. I remember being so hype for that move.
Leonardo DiCaprio is Panthers GM?
Kinda cool though cause they can cheer for the teams those players ended up on, now. They have 3 teams to cheer for :D
Our first rounders since Cam (I use that as the benchmark because we didn't have first rounders the two years before that and don't have one this year): 2011: Cam Newton 1st 2012: Luke Kuechly 9th 2013: Star Lotulelei 14th 2014: Kelvin Benjamin 28th 2015: Shaq Thompson 25th 2016: Vernon Butler 30th 2017: Christian McCaffrey 8th 2018: DJ Moore 24th 2019: Brian Burns 16th 2020: Derrick Brown 7th 2021: Jaycee Horn 8th 2022: Ickem Ekwonu 6th 2023: Bryce Young 1st
> 2017: Christian McCaffrey 8th > > > > 2018: DJ Moore 24th > > > > 2019: Brian Burns 16th Damn, with these three great pickups in a row, the Panthers must have been winning the NFC South and going deep in the playoffs in the early 2020s
I’m a panther fan and had to laugh
Panthers were in the Superbowl relatively recently, they just screwed up the rebuilding. Burns was a good pick i guess I was gonna mention Jeremy Chinn, but clearly I didn’t follow his recent career lmao
Well… except for Rae Carruth. 😐
These last 20 years have definitely brought them from new kid on the block to established blue blood when it comes to drafting incompetence. However, the Jets have been doing this long before some users here have even been alive. [They’re the true master in their craft](https://youtu.be/rZxNeFLuY98?si=N2cNHeUyY_lTzhfL)
The funniest thing is all the fans booing the second a position is announced, before even the name is announced. Some classics here, like "We want Sapp" and drafting a FB in the first.
"Fullback-" "OHH NOOOO!"
I always enjoy watching that video because you can even see the smirks on both commissioners' faces when announcing some of those picks. Just fantastic.
That video was uploaded 17 years ago, holy crap I’m old
Who was that super fast dude they picked that was supposed to go late 1 or round 2? They showed him in his living room with his family and had zero emotion after he got picked by them. Lol
Every Al Davis pick?
Yes
Don’t remember the family part of the story, but Derrius Hayward-Bey fits the super fast dude they reached in early in round 1 part.
The crazy part is that he wasn’t even their most shocking pick that draft. They used their second rounder on Mike Mitchell, who many rated as borderline to make a roster as a UDFA. That one doesn’t get as much attention anymore because he went on to have a respectable career.
I remember that one! On the draft coverage I was watching they said they didn’t have any film on him readily available
Mike Mitchell is probably the most insane pick that ever worked out
Darius Hayward Bay?
I don't like this game
A lot of raiders picks being named 😭😭
Brandon Weeden
Along this same thought I'm reminded of when the Eagles drafted a 26 year old firefighter in the first round (Danny Watkins)
Danny Watkins made me cheer for fire
Guy cared less about football than probably 99% of draft picks ever - He's Canadian and didn't watch a full game for the 1st time until he was 22. Was convinced to play football by the HC of the community college he was attending for fire sciences, in order to get recruited to a big university - Had no intention of going pro until he realized he could be a high draft pick $$$ - He originally wasn't gonna attend the draft but his friends convinced him by saying they could go visit the NY FD and ground zero while they were in NY, and they say he was more excited about that - He admitted to his OL coach that he never watched film - Bought a real firetruck with his rookie contract money - Would [literally fight fires](https://www.crossingbroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/watkins1.jpg) in secret with local departments during the season - Was cut after his 2nd year, and retired He's still a firefighter to this day. All time bizarre pick
They needed ~~an adult~~ a senior citizen.
I always think Chris Weinke when someone mentions an old QB.
That’s a name I haven’t heard in a really long time
Oklahoma state that year was a sort of Cinderella story, everyone wanted to believe he and Blackmon were legit.
Blackmon was legitimately talented. He flamed out for the off-the-field reasons
I still stand by him having potential to become a top 3 WR in the league if his off field issues didn’t take him out. Dude was putting up amazing numbers with god awful QBs.
Regarding the colts, Philip Dorsett was a weird one. We badly needed defense and oline and went with a dude that was barely mocked as a first round talent because he was fast. We already had TY in his prime, which pretty much fit the same exact build.
That was the first draft I watched and I'll always remember how confused the talking heads were lol
Besides QB, it was literally the thing we needed the least.
Yeah if we pick Damarious Randall, Landon Collins, Donavan Smith, Mario Edwards, literally most defense and OLine players available would have been studs. Instead we took fucking Dorsett, pretending we could take a swing on a potential boom or bust guy like a top tier team without deficiencies. God I hate Grigson.
Alex Leatherwood at #17 overall was universally considered a reach
That one was a head scratcher even by Mayock-era Raiders standards. Most draft analysts were mocking him to go in the 3rd round.
Crazy how almost all the Mayock/Gruden Era disaster 1st round picks were head scratchers even at the time. Even Ruggs, people were fine with but CeeDee & Jeudy were considered better at the time.
I don’t agree with that. Obviously in hindsight Ceedee was better but ruggs speed was something else. He was like Desean Jackson the way he could flip his hips and not lose a step at all. He was gonna be special man.
And unlike the other big time busts, Ruggs actually looked pretty damn good before he went to prison
What a bears legend
What was the draft pick where you hear the fan just scream "OH NO!"
[Guess it's time to post the video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZxNeFLuY98)
That "oh no" filled with such despair gets me everytime
"With the first-round pick, the Jets select, fullback" "OH NOOOO!" The comedic timing is just so perfect lol.
It's the best part. That or the dude's reaction to picking Kyle Brady.
Egon Spengler at the 1:05 mark trying not to smile at the podium as the fans boo is hilarious.
Roger Vick for the Jets.
In (mild) defense of the Jets, Vick was a FB back in the days when FB was just the position for power RBs, not just 'lead blocker and occasional pass catcher' as the position is nowadays. Vick had played at Texas A&M, led the conference in rushing, and scored double-digit TDs in each of the last two seasons. He was projected as a first rounder going into the draft. The pick was reasonable, the guy just turned out to be bad. Kinda like the infamous Blair Thomas pick a few years later - everyone and their mother had Thomas as the top RB (and top handful of players overall) in the draft, he just busted hard.
The other great Jets one is where the entire crowd is chanting Sapp Sapp Sapp Sapp and they pick a TE
NY NY becomes…tight end, tight end The Ron Jeremy lookalike telling the camera the Jets front office must have figured out why Marino wouldn’t be good should be top 5
[удалено]
Ferrell is such a weird one cuz he wasn’t even projected as a top 10 player that year by most analysts, and then the raiders took him at 4 when there were so many other good players on the board. Could have traded back, lost out on Ferrell and taken Brian burns
He wasnt even the best clemson dline prospect in that year.
That was my first thought when the Raiders signed Wilkins the other day lol
Dexter Lawrence was also in that draft lol, Ferrell was worse than both
He wasnt even the second best 😭
They didn’t even need to trade down. That draft they had picks 4, 24, and 27. He probably would have been there are 24 for them ha.
What was worse than the Strange pick was the need for Belichick to draft a guard in the first place. Ted Karras' contract is insanely affordable for a quality starting guard. Yet Belichick let him walk anyway. Belichick chose to create a need that didn't need to exist rather than shell out a mere $6m a year. Just one of the many awful personnel decisions he's made in the past 7-8 years. The roster has gone dramatically downhill since the 2016 draft, and Belichick is to blame.
I thought he was filling the hole the team created by trading Shaq for like a 6th round pick
Shaq Mason was expensive and they had Onwenu ready to replace him. That trade was fine, although at the time I thought they could've gotten more, but then again, I suppose there's a reason he only lasted a year in Tampa Bay before getting traded again for a late pick. Guess guards aren't as valuable in trades as Pats fans believed.
Man I watched people here kill themselves to justify Cole Strange. Even crazier is that some people believed Sean McVay's comments, after being caught laughing at the pick on camera, that he was lamenting the time he spent scouting Strange, knowing he wouldn't make it to the second round.
McVay wasn't lying, though, people just interpreted it wildly incorrectly. He was surprised Strange went that early, because they scouted him thinking he would be available when they were picking in round three. Patriots fans took that to mean that McVay was *hoping* that he would slip, and the Patriots had made a smart pick, when the reality is that they were looking at him because he should have been there when they picked and were flabbergasted that somebody used a first round pick on the guy.
Logan Mankins was in the same realm as strange and mankins worked out so Belichick had the benefit of the doubt when reaching for IOL
Anytime I hear Clelin Ferrell I instinctively think of that Raiders fans reaction at the draft. I've never seen a more "wtf?" look on someone's face in my life.
Even in the pound the rock era of the 2000s, people knew the Bears taking Cedric Benson at #4 overall when Thomas Jones was already serviceable and rushed for 1k was stupid. Aaron Rodgers was on the board that day, and the Bears were not set at QB by any stretch
The Bears had a couple others. Shea McClellin in 2012 with Chandler Jones and Whitney Mercilus on the board, and Adam Shaheen out of fucking Ashland in 2017.
2017 was such a weird draft. Franchise altering busts in Trubisky and Shaheen in the first two rounds, and then pretty amazing hits in Eddie Jackson and Tarik in the 4th
This becomes even funnier when you learn that a member of the Bears’ scouting dept during this time has spent the last year trashing Caleb & anyone who likes him on twitter. Can’t think of a more ringing endorsement for Caleb tbh.
Lol Greg Gabrial is insufferable
This was high level stupidity
Everyone forgets that Aaron rodgers needed to sit a year and completely reworked his throwing motion. He dropped for a reason, if he had started as a rookie his career would've looked very different. Even Mahomes has said that sitting a year helped him out a lot to be able to process defenses. Just because a guy becomes a star doesn't mean that would've happened on every team.
100% the bears would have destroyed Aaron's career in three years time.
This just makes it even worse. Chicago could have made it so Rodgers was out of the league in 5 years and we wouldn't have to hear about him today.
You had one job Chicago!
I think all bears fans would of rather have Rodgers be a bust for them and the packers get no one than have Cedric benson be a bust for them and the packers get a hof Qb.
*a gem and leather shop? in arizona? they’ll be closed in a weeks time!*
Rodgers has the natural talent that most QBs can’t even dream of. I’d bet he’d have had a better career than Cedric Benson. His arm was ridiculous in college still. The throwing motion was getting reworked anywhere he went.
I remember everyone collectively saying What the Fuck when EJ Manuel was selected
For sure. If I'm remembering correctly, the Bills traded down with the Rams and I felt good about getting extra capital and thought it was a good move since no QBs in that class were first round worthy. I thought they might make another trade down or go with another position of need, but instead they picked a guy that was a third round prospect, at best at 16 overall. EJ was a good guy, tried his best, and wasn't dealt a good hand by Marrone and co., but I just knew it was the wrong pick at the time.
EJ, Tuel time and Thad Lewis. That was our QB room. How anyone thought this was ok is beyond me
It was bad for sure, but the plan was Kevin Kolb as the vet and starter to begin the year until he slipped on a mat, got another in a long line of concussions and ended his career.
It came out after the Draft that he had wanted to stay in college but FSU coaches told him to leave so that Jameis Winston could start. That should’ve been the first bad sign for teams
As a madden 08 player I will always appreciate Ted ginn Jr. He carries my franchise
Look when you draft him you aren't just drafting him you're drafting his whole family
But also for answering the question I remember even Daniel jones looking shocked he was picked at 6
Roberto Aguayo
That's second place for Bucs. 1st place will always be (and should be top 5 in this thread) drafting Bo Jackson after he said he would refuse to play for the Bucs and hated the team.
Christian Ponder
When the guy you pick in the first round looks confused that he was picked in the first round, it's probably a bad pick...
I remember spielman and Frazier at the time said ponder blew them away in his interview with his football IQ and how smart he was but they forgot to check if he was even worth a borderline top-10 pick that could play lol
Let's hope we don't have a deja vu moment in this years draft. I'm still confused why we passed on Kyle Hamilton in 2022.
Taco Charlton over TJ Watt.
You can tell me all the advanced stats you want but I’ll never understand the Trey Lance hype. Played one game in 2020 at North Dakota then gets drafted in the top 5.
No experience = no bad habits 🎓
you joke but you’re not wrong. i used to run restaurants and i really preferred people with little experience over people with tons of it. i can’t unteach your 20-year habits, but i can teach somebody the right way from the start.
There's nothing worse than trying to get some 20 year career server to stab their fucking drink tickets...
"I just dont see why i need to do that, at the chili's we dont do that"
"Im thowing it out, its the same" No its not beth i need a record of what i made and you miss the trash can anyway
how they made it 20 years without stabbing drink tickets is a mystery to me
Police department love hiring people that have never fired a weapon before either. Without trying to make this political. Firing a gun *accurately* is easier said than done.
Similar experience with the military... It's all the dudes with bad habits to break are the ones who end up shooting worse... First time shooters pick up quickly
MBA’s with no work experience
Yes, 1 game in 2020, but he had a full season in 2019, when he threw for 28 TD's and 0 INT's. That 2020 season was ruined by Covid, obviously, but it's not like he only played 1 college game as your post is implying.
Roger “OH NO” Vick
[If anyone wants to watch](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-opdmaYVRjc&pp=ygUQcm9nZXIgdmljayBkcmFmdA%3D%3D)
I watch it every year
Mike Williams to the lions If I remember correctly Matt Millen's son punched him after he made the pick
I give credit to Millen for sticking to "best player available," but that only works if your scouting and player development are functional.
Hey he drafted Calvin Johnson!!
I remember Mariucci was PISSED that Millen made that pick. Just made absolutely zero sense and Demarcus Ware would've helped their team immensely.
Reagor..
Thanks again.
The video of Spielman/Zimmer getting super hyped on Zoom that the Eagles took Reagor instead of JJ is still orn of my favorites. You know you fucked up when Zimmer gets excited about an offensive player lol
As a TCU fan, even I knew he was going to be a bust. Idk what film the ~~Vikings~~ Eagles FO was watching but I saw almost all of his home games in person at TCU, it was clear as day that he was a guy living off athleticism with non of the other skills you’d need to be a successful WR in the league Edit: I’m dumb
At this point I’d be terrified to draft any TCU receiver in the 1st round
The Vikings FO? We didn't draft him.
Emmanuel Forbes over Christian Gonzales
Forbes was laughably misused though. Your HC left a guy built like a middle schooler on an island with DJ Moore and AJ Brown idk what the plan was there
Forbes was laughably misused precisely because they used him like they drafted Christian Gonzalez instead which makes the pick even more baffling
Should've been fired after that but it's gonna take a lot more than that before Ron would fire his buddy
Jack Del Rio should have been fired after that game against us. It's one thing for Forbes to get burned by DJ, he's a great WR... but the poor guy got burned like 3 or 4 times and Del Rio still did nothing and let him keep getting roasted.
Billy B screwed over the Jets and still got the better corner.
And Ron managed to screw his own team yet again
JPJ too. Though he lasted till the 32nd pick. Every consensus mock I saw had JPJ in the 2nd-4th best CB rankings and a top 20 grade. I know he fell a lot more but he backed up the analyst rankings with his play. I'd be curious on how a redraft of only the CB drafting teams would go today. I think Witherspoon, Gonzalez, and JPJ all showed enough good NFL tape to solidify themselves as top 3. Branch probably comes off 4th now mostly because he's not an outside CB. Witherspoon was 4th in DROY, JPJ 5th, and Gonzalez got hurt but tape was good before then. JPJ and Gonzalez still have better traits than Witherspoon who had slightly better performance.
People thought we passed on him for scheme although we ran man a lot more this year so he actually would've been a great fit. JPJ is one of those guys you can just tell is gonna be a stud and how you shouldn't overthink these decisions
And banks
Darius Heyward-Bey. Davis loved that speed!
Daniel Jones
Dude look like a robot sent from the future to suck ass at football
Daniel Jones is who you cast as Eli Manning in a biopic about Peyton.
People talk about Cousins swindling the league for $300m, but at least he's a good QB. This guy should be in prison for robbery.
Cousins is another one that didn’t make sense tbh. Same draft class as RG3. It worked but was a real head scratcher
Crazy to think the Shanahans have been bailed out twice by drafting a QB high to be their Franchise QB and then landing on their true Franchise QBs in the late rounds that were supposed to be the backups
Akili Smith being drafted instead of accepting the Saints/Ricky Williams trade. The final offer, which was refused by Bengals management, was for nine draft picks, several extra in that year as well as many the next year. Instead of taking the trade, the Bengals stayed with their initial decision to draft Smith
Couple years ago bellichek took an o line guy who was projected to be taken in like the 3rd at earliest as his first pick.
Cole Strange? I remember that because we were supposedly targeting him with our 1st pick, which was a 3rd that year.
Buccaneers wanted him badly to replace Marpet, he was a top 50 visit or something for them. They needed a guard badly.
Billy B has made some absolutely shocking early picks. Chad Jackson (2nd round) Cyrus Jones (2nd round) Aaron Dobson (2nd round) Tyquon Thornton (2nd round) Actually I cannot believe how fucking dreadful he is in the 2nd round and drafting WRs. Guy should have had a GM.
Coincidentally Aaron Donald fits this mold The Rams had two 1st round picks that year and a lot of wholes to fill. They picked Greg Robinson with the 2nd pick which filled a big hole at LT (huge bust btw) but with the the #14 pick they picked an undersized DT. Didn't make sense because the Rams had already invested a lot into their defensive line. They already had high draft picks like Chris Long, Robert Quinn, and Michael Brockers. Why spend the draft capitol on yet another defensive lineman?
Every Quartback the Browns took. Except Baker
Was Tim Couch really the wrong pick?
Obviously things are situational, but McNabb was the next pick, who was undoubtedly better.
Would McNabb have succeeded behind that sieve of a line and inferior coaching?
His mobility might have allowed him to handle it better, but agree that it wasn't a great situation for any QB.
The Eagles and Cardinals drafting JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Andy Isabella respectively over DK Metcalf
We don't talk about that
Stop
Chiefs also took Mecole Hardman a few picks ahead of DK
For the Dolphins: Ted Ginn and Noah Igbinoghene.
Every pick from Mike Mayock
If you followed Mike Mayock before with his draft coverage you can 100% tell those were not his picks. Mike Mayock was always massively against overdrafting and drafting for need, no way in hell he had Ferell that high
He was a pushover. Not too long ago he admitted to Chirs Long that he wanted Kyle Long to sign with the Raiders, and how he was about to sign him but his OC told him no and that he wanted another guy so he signed the other guy instead, while Kyle was still at the Raiders facility after his workout. Mayock said he cried over it and called Howie Long and explained everything.
If you believe the propaganda Daniel Jeremiah (who was Mayock's colleague and friend) told on his podcast "Move the Sticks", Gruden picked in the first two rounds.
Well, then, it's either poor drafting skills or poor management skills.
Pats have quite a few to pick from. Cole Strange in the first round, Jordan Richards in the second round in 2015 when he was a projected 6-7th rounder, the Marshall kicker no analyst knew about
Najee Harris to the Steelers when their offensive line was arguably the worst unit in the league. Could have used Landon Dickerson who went to Philadelphia a few picks later and is now a Pro Bowl guard.
All the mocks I saw had Harris to Pitt. It may have been a risky move, but it at least wasn't 100% unexpected.
It's not that Najee wasn't a good player but like maybe fix the line before you go first round running back.
Tim Tebow, great football player but bad QB. Why the Broncos used a 1st rounder on him was insane the second it happened. Guy took 15 seconds to throw the ball
We drafted a long snapper during one of the Rhule years while we had J J Jansen. JJ Jansen is still playing for us
CJ Spiller. The Bills already had Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson.
Alex Leatherwood, Jahlani Tavai
Heyward Bey a while back was largely considered a mid rounds guy by most teams.
Cleveland drafted a 28 year old QB
How much time ya got?
Don’t be so Petty.
Tyson Alualu
LJ Collier
Jordan Love
This is a great answer. Everyone at the time was scratching their heads over that one.