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With the Draft 2 weeks a way this could be interesting to discuss. Here is ny definition of bust, a player taken in Round 1 who never came close to living up to their potential and subsequent draft positon. I would say 2003 is a good place to start.
2003 Busts
#2, Charles Rogers, WR, Lions
#14, Michael Haynes, DE, Bears
#15, Jerome McDougle, DE, Eagles
#17, Bryant Johnson, WR, Cardinals
#19, Kyle Boller, QB, Ravens
#30, Sammy Davis, CB, Chargers
#31, Nnamdi Asomugha, CB, Raiders
#32, Tyler Brayton, DE, Raiders
Given that players like Boss Bailey, Eugene Wilson, Anquan Boldin, and Mike Doss went in Round 2, these picks look even worse.
2002 Busts
#3, Joey Harrington, QB, Lions
#16, William Green, RB, Browns
#17, Phillip Buchanon, CB, Raiders
#22, Bryan Thomas, DE, Jets (why'd they pick him with Ellis and Abraham?)
#32, Patrick Ramsey, QB, Redskins (major reach)
Green looks particularly bad given that Clinton Portis went #51 overall. The QB picks aren't awful given how bad of a class it was, but considering Harrington was almost the #1 overall pick and is now out in Detroit it doesn't protect him from bust status.
2001 Busts
#3 Gerard Warren, DE, Browns (over Richard Seymour)
#8 David Terrell, WR, Bears
#10 Jamal Reynolds, DE, Packers
#14 Kenyatta Walker, T, Florida
#15 Rod Gardner, WR, Redskins (over Santana Moss, good call!)
#24 Willie Middlebrooks, CB, Broncos
#25 Freddie Mitchell, WR, Eagles
#26 Jamar Fletcher, CB, Dolphins
Second round picks included Drew Brees, Chad Johnson, Alge Crumpler, Kris Jenkins, Fred Smoot, Lamont Jordan, Chris Chambers, Todd Light, and Shaun Rogers. Hell, the second round produced more elite players than the 1st did. In Round 3 we saw Steve Smith go and then Rudi Johnson in Round 4.
2000 Busts
#1 Courtney Brown, DE, Browns (Noticing a trend of Browns picks?)
#4 Peter Warrick, WR, Bengals
#10 Travis Taylor, WR, Ravens
#11 Ron Dayne, RB, Giants
#17 Sebastian Janikowski, K, Raiders
#21 Sylvester Morris, WR, Chiefs
#26 Erik Flowers, DE, Bills
#29 R. Jay Soward, WR, Jaguars
#31 Trung Canidate, RB, Rams
Round 2 saw players the likes of Darren Howard, Mike Brown, Jerry Porter, and Deon Grant. Round 3 had Lav Coles, Darrell Jackson, and Reuben Droughns. So this was a good year for WRs, just not in Round 1.
1999 Busts
#1 Tim Couch, QB, Browns (wonder why they suck?)
#3 Akili Smith, QB, Bengals
#12 Cade McNown, QB, Bears
#13 Troy Edwards, WR, Steelers
#28 Andy Katzenmoyer, LB, Patriots (over Patrick Kearney and Al Wilson)
#29 Dimitrius Underwood, DE, Vikings (major reach)
Round 2 featured Jon Jansen, Dre' Bly, Peerless Price and Round 3 had Joey Porter.
1998 Busts
#2 Ryan Leaf, QB, Chargers (and they traded up for him!)
#3 Andre Wadsworth, DE, Cardinals (could that be the worst trade ever?)
#5 Curtis Enis, RB, Bears (over Fred Taylor)
#16 Kevin Dyson, WR, Titans (over Randy Moss)
#18 Robert Edwards, RB, Patriots (He was hurt in college all the time too)
#19 Vonnie Holliday, DE, Packers
#24 Shaun Williams, S, Giants (right before Donovan Darius)
#29 John Avery, RB, Dolphins
#30 Marcus Nash, WR, Broncos
Round 2 wasn't great but did have Tony Parrish and Samari Rolle. Round 3 had Ahman Green, Hines Ward, Brian Griese, and despite the off the field problems Leonard Little
1997 Busts
#5 Bryant Westbrook, CB, Lions
#7 Ike Hilliard, WR, Giants
#9 Tom Knight, CB, Cardinals
#11 Michael Booker, DB, Falcons (all of whom before Tony Gonzalez)
#14 Reinard Wilson, DE, Bengals
#15 Yatil Green, WR, Dolphins
#16 Reidel Anthony, WR, Buccaneers
#22 David LaFleur, TE, Cowboys
#25 Jon Harris, DE, Eagles (before Trevor Pryce)
#26 Jim Druckenmiller, QB, 49ers
#27 Rae Carruth, WR, Panthers (okay, he was pretty good before killing someone)
#29 Chris Canty, CB, Patriots
Round 2 had Jamie Sharper, Tiki Barber, Jake Plummer, Corey Dillon, Sam Madison, Marcellus Wiley, and Darren Sharper.
Round 3 had Dexter Coakley, Ronde Barber, and Jason Taylor.
1996 Busts
#5 Cedric Jones, DE, Giants
#6 Lawrence Phillips, RB, Rams
#8 Tim Biakabutuka, RB, Panthers (both before Eddie George)
#9 Rickey Dudley, TE, Raiders
#18 Eddie Kennison, WR, Rams (right before Marvin Harrison)
#22 Marcus Jones, DT, Buccaneers (before Ray Lewis)
Round 2 had Tony Brackens, Amani Toomer, Mike Alstott, Lawyer Milloy, Muhsin Muhammad, and Brian Dawkins.
Round 3 had Tedy Bruschi and Terrell Owens.
Round 4 had Donnie Edwards and Earl Holmes
Round 5 had Marcus Coleman, Joe Horn, Zach Thomas, and Patrick Jeffers
1995 Busts
#1 Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Bengals
#4 Michael Westbrook, RB, Redskins
#7 Mike Mamula, DE, Eagles
#10 J.J. Stokes, WR, 49ers
#11 Derrick Alexander, DE, Vikings (right before Warren Sapp)
#21 Rashaan Salaam, RB, Bears (over Ty Law)
#26 Devin Bush, S, Falcons (over Derrick Brooks)
#30 Craig Powell, LB, Browns/Ravens
Round 2 wasn't great but had Ken Dilger, Bobby Taylor, and Ted Johnson.
Round 3 had Curtis Martin and Antonio Freeman
Round 6 had Terrell Davis
1994 Busts
#1 Dan Wilkinson, DT, Bengals (over Marshall Faulk)
#3 Heath Shuler, QB, Redskins (over Willie McGinest)
#5 Trev Alberts, LB, Colts
#10 Jamir Miller, LB, Cardinals
#11 John Thierry, DE/LB, Bears
#23 Shante Carver, DE, Cowboys
#25 Greg Hill, RB, Chiefs
#27 Jeff Burris, DB, Bills
Round 2 had Tre Johnson, Isaac Bruce, Kevin Mawae, Bert Emanuel, and Charlie Garner
Round 6 had Kimo von Oelhoffen
Round 7 had Jamal Anderson and Tom Nalen
1993 Busts
#2 Rick Mirer, QB, Seahawks
#5 John Copeland, DE, Bengals
#6 Eric Curry, DE, Buccaneers
Round 2 had Michael Strahan, Michael Barrow, and Darrin Smith
Round 3 had Jason Elam, Will Shields, and John Lynch
Round 4 had Lorenzo Neal
Round 5 had Mark Brunell
Round 6 had Frank Wycheck
Round 7 had Brock Marion
Round 8 had Troy Brown, Craig Hentrich, Jessie Armstead, Blaine Bishop, Elvis Grbac, and Trent Green
1992 Busts
#1 Steve Emtman, DT, Colts
#5 Terrell Buckley, CB, Packers
#6 David Klingler, QB, Bengals
#21 Vaughn Dunbar, RB, Saints
#25 Tommy Maddox, QB, Broncos (Resurrected his career, but he was a bust)
Round 2 had Carl Pickens, Jimmy Smith, Darren Woodson, Levon Kirkland, Phillippi Sparks, Eddie Robinson, and Jason Hanson
Round 3 had Robert Brooks and Joel Steed
Round 4 had Edgar Bennett
Round 5 had Dwayne Sabb, Ed McDaniel, and Santana Dotson
Round 6 had Mark Chmura and Jeff Blake
Round 9 had Brad Johnson and Ty Detmer
Round 10 had Brad Culpepper
1991 Busts
#7 Charles McRae, T, Buccaneers
#8 Antone Davis, T, Eagles
#16 Dan McGwire, QB, Seahawks
#24 Todd Marinovichm, QB, Raiders
Round 2 had Roman Phifer, Brett Favre, and Ricky Watters
Round 4 had Aeneas Williams, Mo Lewis, Erik Williams, and Ed McCaffrey
Round 4 had Yancey Thigpen and Raghib Ismail
Round 5 had Bryan Cox, Merton Hanks, and Ben Coates
Round 7 had Leon Lett
Round 12 had Keenan McCardell
1990 Busts
#1 Jeff George, QB, Colts
#2 Blair Thomas, RB, Jets (Emmitt Smith went #17, way to go Jets!)
#4 Keith McCants, LB, Buccaneers
#7 Andre Ware, QB, Lions
Round 2 had Keith Sims and LeRoy Butler
Round 3 had Ricky Proehl and Neil O'Donnell
Round 4 had Chris Warren, Scott Mitchell, and Chris Calloway
Round 5 had Larry Centers, Barry Foster, and Brian Mitchell
Round 7 had Shannon Sharpe
Round 11 had Bill Goldberg (yes the wrestler)
Round 12 had Matt Stover
Much further back stretches my memory of who was a bust and who wasn't, but I'll attempt 1989.
1989 Busts
#2 Tony Mandarich, T, Packers (over Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, and Derrick Thomas)
#8 Burt Grossman, DE, Chargers
#16 Hart Lee Dykes, WR, Patriots (over Steve Atwater)
Round 2 had Steve Wisniewski, Carnell Lake, Darly Johnston, and Robert Massey
Round 3 had Mark Stepnoski, Marv Cook, Jerry Fontenot, and Bubba McDowell
Round 4 had Tony Tolbert and Ray Crockett
Round 5 had Jeff Uhlenhake and Dave Meggett
Round 6 had Rodney Peete and Chris Jacke
Round 7 had Marion Butts
Round 8 had Pete Stoyanovich
Make that two in a row. The Phillies (38-44) first winning "streak" in quite some time. Suddenly the skies don't look so dark. Oh, they're still dark, just not storm of the century dark. The media is even writing begrudgingly positive stories on the team. And that has got to be harder to do than to slam the Phillies. It just has to. Click here, here and here for what I'm talking about. Regardless, the bat of Philadelphia's hard-nosed (now somewhat softer nosed) favorite, Aaron Rowand, gave the Phillies a 6-5 walk-off victory in a game that should have never been tied to begin with. But it was tied and the Phils still came back to win, without forcing extras, and that's encouraging. Perhaps game number 82 is a sign of things to come for the Phils in the second half of the season. Cole Hamels didn't get to completely fulfill his childhood dream of pitching against his favorite team, save two innings before those clouds I was talking about before parked themselves right above Citizens Bank Park. Hamels only got to go two innings before the Phillies bullpen, which is now used to playing starting pitcher, came in and finished the game. Tom Gordon blew the save, but got the win thanks to Howard, Rowand -- and even Burrell. Carlos Ruiz (called up for the injured Sal Fasano) hit his first Major League homerun and it was a big one. it came as part of a five-run fourth (on the fourth) and would help the Phils hang on until they won in bottom of the ninth. Aside from letting the Padres back into the contest, the only negatives I can take from yesterday's holiday outing is the attendance figure: 29,192. That and Chase Utley making an error. Now, if you know me, you know I'm a sucker for attendance figures, but this one just makes me sad. It was the freaking Fourth of July. Baseball is America. That's what people do on the fourth, they watch/play baseball, they Bar-B-Que, they get plastered, and they shoot off crappy fireworks and pay to watch good ones. But, much to my displeasure, only 29,000 people showed up at the ballpark to do two out of those four things. It hurts even more because it was an exciting game. Can baseball die that quickly in this town. I realize we're frustrated, everyone is, but that's no reason not to come out. It's not like we're the Royals here, the Phils have still got a long way to go before this season can be written off. Oh well, at least the stadium will be full tonight. It's fireworks night. I guess that's a better show than the Phillies are nowadays. Tonight's starters: Scott Mathesion (0-2, 6.75) v. Jake Peavy (4-8, 4.50)
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Yesterday, I lived through one of my personal "sports firsts," which was exciting, because I haven't had one of them sine I watched my first lacrosse game in the Fall. This time, the venue was a little bigger than college lacrosse: The WWE Supershow at the Wachovia Center. Now let me preface any of the following by saying that I used to be extremely anti-wrestling. And that was when everyone loved it. I mean, we're talking middle school mania, but I refused to get hooked, I refused to even pay attention at all. That being said, let's move on. The appeal of the Supershow is that two of the WWE's shows are taped in the same night. On this particular night, my friends and I were going to take in Smackdown! and RAW. I'll also admit that when I was over my friends house, and wrestling was on, I watched and tried to follow along, which actually helped a lot for what was going to happen. It's all about the story line in wrestling. "Sports Entertainment" they call it. I was entertained. I didn't expect to be, but I was entertained. I think at the base of it, all you need is some kind of athletic competition and a crowd. The crowd is really what made this for me. Guys like John Cena and Rob Van Dam were both loved and hated by the eclectic group of wrestling watchers. One would hit the other and a loud mix of boos and cheers would rise up from everyone at the Wachovia Center. I'll be honest, it kind of felt like an Eagles game, simply because everyone was into it. Not one person wasn't cheering, clapping, drunk or yelling obscenities. it was awesome. That's really a big part of it. You tend to get back what you put in sometimes, and that's cool. When I say the crowd was eclectic, I mean eclectic. There was every type of person you could imagine at the event... tall, short, old, young, black, white, crazy, sane. 65 year old men carrying replica championship belts and children dressed like Rey Mysterio. It was pretty cool. Another thing that was beyond pretty cool was the fact that Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino were there. Finally, the mystery of what the Phils do on their off day is solved. One of the wrestlers, Edge, was busting Philly's balls and ended up calling out Bobby Abreu and Mike Schmidt, which got a mixed reaction from the crowd, but got Rollins in an uproar. They showed him on the screen yelling and screaming just like any other fan. That was an awesome experience, seeing Rollins dance and get into the event just like any of us would for his Phillies game. Pretty cool. As much as I hate to say it, I think wrestling got a little part of me to join it's side. Yes I know the matches are pre-determined, yes I know it's often silly and the acting is horrible, but there's something to respect about a market that can attract that many different fans and they can all enjoy themselves for two hours in the night. Just like the Flyers or the Phillies and yet drastically different.
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The annual Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest was yesterday afternoon in New York. Instead of betting on the margin of victory for 160-pound Takeru Kobayashi, fans were rooting for an underdog with a fighters chance against the now six-time champ. That man was Joey Chestnut, a 220-pounder from San Jose who also competed in the Wing Bowl, and who held the previous record by downing 50 dogs in 12 minutes. Unfortunately for the American fan-favorite, he fell just short of beating Kobayashi, who set a new record by eating 53.75 hot dogs on the Coney Island Boardwalk. He won $25,000. Chestnut ate 52 hot dogs. Now here's an event that everyone can love. It's fun, it's disgusting, it's kind of athletic (here's another one up for debate on the athlete or not list) and it's American, despite the nationality of the contest's six-time champ. As long as there weren't more people at the contest than at the Phillies. Then I'd have a problem.
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Ciao Italia! I realize I'm probably the only loser in America who's still actually watching the World Cup, but I find it exciting. The passion that these fans have for the game is unbelievable. It's really unlike anything America could ever have. Not even our love for our football can top it. Unless the NFL played every four years. But everyone knows that will never happen (I sure hope it doesn't). Anyway, back to the match. Germany had never defeated Italy in World Cup play but had never lost on its own soil. Something had to give. And give it did, but not until the second overtime, or rather, extra time. Very little time left in extra time, in fact. Everyone watching and in attendance knew the game would go into penalty kicks, but it didn't, thankfully. In hockey, the shootout is great. The goalies actually have a snowball's chance of stopping the puck. The shootout it soccer just plain sucks. The advantage favors the shooter greatly, and if you're a country with a weak goalie, you mine as well back your bags before games end. The reason the game didn't go into PK's was because of left-footed Fabio Grosso. He slammed home a goal into the far side of the net in the 199th minute. The goal was not golden, but was all Italy would need to gain massive amounts of momentum. So much momentum, in fact, that Alessandro Del Piero scored Italy's second goal no less than 60 seconds after the first. Game over. Italy advances to the finals, keeps their 24 match unbeaten streak alive and shocks the host country. Not a bad day for the boot-shaped nation if you ask me. Aside from the news that Fasano went on the D.L., but they might be able to get over that. Exciting is an understatement. Today, Portugal takes on France for the opportunity to play Italy in the Championship on the 9th.
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Part THREE of 30 Teams in 30 Days:
American Football Conference
Central Division
Team Three: Baltimore Ravens
Overview: For as long as I can remember, the Ravens have been Ray Lewis' team. He leads them on the field off the field and in their dreams. He led them to a Superbowl victory over the Giants and he led them to last season's 6-10 record. The same record as the Browns, might I note. Now, however, the Ravens have new leadership. Steve McNair joins a team that desperately needed help at the quarterback position. I don't care how old he is, any McNair is better than Kyle Boller. Period.
Passing: This area was pretty much just covered. As far as McNair can take this team, that's how far they'll go.
Rushing: Okay, finally we reach an AFC Central team with a legit rushing attack. As if Jamal Lewis (when he's not in jail) isn't scary enough, the Ravens added Mike Anderson to their roster from Denver. This, in my mind, is an awesome move. Lewis can tire somewhat quickly and Anderson can provide a great burst on second or third downs and has a nose for the endzone. Not to mention Brian Billick's knack for creating a powerful running game and Jim Fassel at the helm as offensive coordinator.
Receiving: This is where the Ravens fall a little bit short, but in a few years, their receiving corps could be right there with the big boys. Gone are the days of the Shannon Sharpe experiment, here to stay is veteran leader Derek Mason and youngsters Mark Clayton and Clarence Moore. McNair will automatically make this group better, and it's just a hunch, but he might know a thing or two about playing with Mason.
Defense: I really don't have to type anything here. I haven't for the past six years. Last season they ranked 5th in yards allow per game, picked off 12 passes and forced 14 fumbles. Ed Reed just signed a mega-million dollar six-year contract, Ray Lewis is as hungry as ever and the 12th overall draftpick from Oregon, Haloti Ngaga, just happens to play defensive end.
Special Teams: With a special teams coach who looks this happy, you can't fail. Matt Stover is one of the better, more accurate kickers in the league.
Grade: B. If the Ravens can learn how to win on the road, they will be a force in a talented division. Last year, Baltimore went 0-8 away from M&T Bank Stadium. That's gotta change, and I think ol' Steve can help that greatly.
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Quote of the Day:
"But here you are in the ninth, two men out and three men on. Nowhere to look but inside, where we all respond to pressure."
--Billy Joel --Statman
Denver Broncos Schedule
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