A Busted List of Busts

Chris Chase has gotten together a list of the 10 biggest busts in the decade of the 2000's in the NFL Draft. In reality, this list is pretty easy to compile since there are a bunch of names that just leap off the tongue who were busts, like David Carr, Joey Harrington, Gerard Warren, David Terrell, Travis Taylor, Courtney Brown, etc. So off the bat, I want to give Chase props for going away a little bit from those names that may seem so obvious and doing a little thinking outside the box. Unfortunately, many times when a person starts thinking outside of the box in making a list, it means they run a greater risk of being wrong about some of the names on the list. That is the problem Chris Chase runs into here.

Compiling a list of the top 10 busts of all-time in the NFL is based purely on opinion, but the problem starts when the list contains players that aren't busts or weren't even close to being as big of a bust as another player. It's nice to think outside the box, but when listing the Top 10 busts for a decade it doesn't make sense to leave guys off the list who were bigger busts than those put on the list. Chris Chase limits this list to players drafted in the 2000's so I won't compare his list to players who weren't drafted in that decade (obviously), but I will use players drafted before the 2000 NFL Draft as examples when necessary.

What makes a draft bust?

If a player is drafted highly in the first round and that player turns out to be nowhere worthy of being drafted anywhere near that position in the draft. Cade McNown would be a great example of this.

Is draft position alone the determining factor? How much does one have to fail? Could a bust have an otherwise fine career, aside from the massive expectations that accompanied him into the league? What role do injuries play in the whole thing? Does bad luck equal bust?

No, draft position is alone not the determining factor, but it plays a major part in the determination.

A player has to fail to the point he is out of the league in a few years because he has no obvious talent that would make him useful to an NFL team. Vinny Testeverde was not a bust and really neither was a guy like Damione Lewis because he has proven a useful, but not a great player.

A bust should not be judged by the expectations others have put on him because of his draft position. For example, Darrius Heyward-Bey is not considered a huge bust by me because he wasn't expected to be drafted that high by the Raiders. I even hesitate to call Mike Mamula a bust (though I would) because he was drafted too high but not based on football talent. A player like Joey Harrington would be considered a bust because he played well in college and his performance there set the expectations for what he could do in the pros.

Injuries play a role in whether a player is a bust, but I don't think a player can be excused for being a bust due to injury. This can be easily debated though and it depends on each individual situation.

Bad luck really shouldn't have much to do with being a bust, but it does. Would a better situation for a player like Ryan Leaf have made a huge difference? Probably not. How about for a player like Heath Shuler? Who really knows? We should look at bad luck when it comes time to determine whether a player is a bust or not, but I don't think it should stop a player from being considered a bust.

There are no right answers, hence the following list fraught with contradictions.

Yes, there are right answers. For example, a guy like Kerry Collins was not a bust. Simply because a player underachieved or didn't meet all the expectations he had set for him by the media or the fact his performance in the NFL isn't worthy of his draft position doesn't necessarily mean that player is a bust. I will get to this more later, but the right answer is to list a player who is actually a bust. Guys who perform well but didn't quite meet the expectation of their draft position should not be considered busts in my opinion.

There are no right answers, hence the following list fraught with contradictions. You'll find complete flops next to guys who could play a decade in the league.

If a guy played an entire decade in the NFL then he is not a bust. I don't know how I can make that clearer other than to just say it. If the player was in the NFL for a decade (at a decently high level) or more then that means he got 2-3 contracts which means he had some value to an NFL team and should not be considered a bust.

And some of the names you don't see might be as surprising as those you do see. For instance, David Carr or Alex Smith on this list, even though their names frequently pop-up on such rankings.

I would actually agree with the David Carr assertion that he is not a major bust because he had very little chance to excel with some of those Texans teams and I semi-agree with the Alex Smith assertion because he hasn't shown himself to be completely incompetent at playing quarterback in the NFL, though he has come close. Players who are busts are players who are out of the NFL for one reason or another within a couple of years of being drafted.

For example, Cade McNown is a bust because he only stuck with the Bears for two years and no team wanted him after that. If Alex Smith got cut today, don't you think a team would take a chance of him after that and give him a realistic chance to start? It's very possible. Ryan Leaf is still a bust even though he was given second chances, but he was only given another chance because he was a high draft pick and not because of his on-the-field performance...while Alex Smith would be given a second chance because he hasn't been absolutely horrible in the NFL.

Now that I have thoroughly confused everyone as to the criteria I use, let's move on...

Just because they went No. 1 doesn't mean that, outside of a two-month stretch in the spring of the year they were drafted, most people ever thought they'd be great.

It's a little dangerous to use other people's expectations to judge some of these NFL busts. Simply because the media and other people hyped them up, does not mean that player is a bust if he didn't meet those expectations. I think we should base a player being a bust on draft position, performance in college as compared to the NFL (if a guy didn't play well in college and got drafted high, would it surprise anyone he didn't play well in the NFL? Probably not), and how long it took before that player was out of the NFL due to being a useless player.

10. Mike Williams, WR, Detroit Lions, No. 10, 2005

I agree with this choice. Williams was a player who played well in college, stunk in the pros, was out of the league quickly and never was a valuable receiver in the NFL. I wanted to point this out as a good example of a bust...Mike Williams very rightly should be #10 on this list.

Let's just use as a general rule that if a player comes out of college as a highly drafted wide receiver and at some point teams are looking to transition him into a tight end and he DOESN'T have to gain weight for this position switch, that player could be really close to being a bust. I think that is a good rule for wide receivers.

Mike Williams was the reason Dwayne Jarrett was drafted in the 2nd round in 2007. Of course Jarrett currently can't beat out a 36 year old possession receiver with bad hamstrings for the #2 wide receiver spot on a team where the #2 wide receiver ALWAYS faces single coverage...so he is pretty close to being a bust himself. The lesson learned? Don't draft USC wide receivers who are tall and don't have a lot of foot speed.

9. Robert Gallery, T, Oakland Raiders, No. 3, 2004

Absolutely not. While Gallery is not the left tackle that everyone thought he could be, he is still a solid and usable guard. There is no way that I would consider Gallery a bust large enough to be #9 of the 2000's. Maybe he is an underachiever, but not a bust. Just like Leonard Davis is not a bust, Robert Gallery is not a bust. Mike Williams should be placed far ahead of Robert Gallery if we are talking offensive linemen who were busts in the NFL. Otherwise DeWayne Robertson, Jerome McDougle or Reggie Williams would have been great choices in this spot.

Sports Illustrated called him "the best lineman to come out of college in years". He was supposed to dominate the left tackle position for "10 to 15 years".

So we are basing Gallery being a bust on high expectations that others unfairly put on him and not his actual performance in the NFL? That seems completely unfair. If Sports Illustrated says that Drew Bledsoe is going to be voted in the Hall of Fame unanimously when he retires and he only went on to have the career he ended up having in real life, does that mean he is a bust?

But he went from that marquee offensive line position to right tackle to left guard, on the Raiders no less. He's an adequate NFL player, but far from the "next Tony Boselli".

There should never be a guy who is an adequate NFL player put on a list of NFL busts when there are many other busts that can be chosen from the decade like Michael Huff or Ryan Sims.

7. LaVar Arrington, LB, Washington Redskins, No. 2, 2000

Injuries should be taken into account when determining whether a player is a bust or not, but this is just a simply retarded choice. LaVar Arrington made three Pro Bowls and only retired because of injuries. I don't put a whole heck of a lot of stock in Pro Bowl appearances by a player, but the fact Arrington was able to even sniff a Pro Bowl shows that he wasn't any type of bust.

Two Penn State defenders went with top two picks in the first draft of the decade. Neither have played in the league since 2006

To just make a blanket statement say Arrington hasn't played in the NFL since 2006 and that is what makes him a bust is completely unfair. Arrington ruptured his Achilles tendon after signing a huge contract with the New York Giants. After rehabbing that injury, and deciding whether to return to the NFL or not, he got in a serious motorcycle accident. Arrington is in NO WAY a bust and was in fact a very good defensive player who may not have earned his draft position, but would potentially be taken in the first round if the draft was done over again. He had proven he was a good NFL player before he got injured, so he's not a bust.

I don't know how anyone in their right mind can label Arrington a bust. He was no worse than David Pollack, Jamal Reynolds, Ryan Sims or Wendell Bryant. In fact he was much better than those players.

5. Maurice Clarett, RB, Denver Broncos, No. 101, 2005

Raise your hand if anyone else thought Maurice Clarett was going to be a good NFL player.

(No one is raising their hand)

There is a reason that the Broncos were mocked for taking the obviously overweight Clarett in the 3rd round in 2005 and that reason is because he was never considered to be a good player for the NFL. There is no way Clarett is a bust because he was just an untalented, unmotivated guy who got drafted too high...in the 3rd round.

I would like to also mention Chris Chase just went from #7 to #5. His list doesn't have a #6, but two #5's. It's a very interesting way to count.

Not a bust in the traditional sense,

Or at all.

it was thought that Maurice Clarett could be a good gamble for the Broncos.

I am sure there was one person who thought this, but the overwhelming reaction was that Shanahan had reached for Clarett in the 3rd round (remember my questions about Shanahan's ability to evaluate talent a few weeks ago? Exhibit A is Maurice Clarett).

Gary Horton, Scouts Inc. on why a team would draft Clarett in the 3rd round when he was projected to be a late round pick:

Obviously Denver has had great success with RBs in the middle to late rounds, so it's hard to criticize them. But you certainly had the feeling Clarett was going to be there until the fifth or sixth...No question, it is a surprise pick, and a roll of the dice.

Randy Mueller on the same issue:

I'm very surprised, just from a character standpoint. You can't challenge Denver Coach Mike Shanahan, but I'm really surprised. I'll be shocked if Clarett steps in like the other guys. I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid. I thought he would be a sixth- or seventh-round pick, at best. The 40 times, the character issues, all those concerns. I just didn't see him going this early. This guy has issues.

So we have a guy who had no substantial track record of great performance in college, wasn't expected to go as high as he did, and then pretty much did exactly what many expected him to do in the NFL...sounds like a guy who isn't the 6th biggest bust of all-time.

5. Matt Leinart, QB, Arizona Cardinals, No. 10, 2006

Leinart is the 2nd highest quarterback bust on the so-called list of all-time busts. That would mean Chris Chase thinks Leinart is the 2nd biggest bust of the 2000's when it comes to quarterbacks. I would argue this is not true because David Carr, Joey Harrington, or even Kellen Clemens were bigger busts than Matt Leinart has been. We can't just limit these busts to first round quarterbacks. I am not trying to make excuses for Leinart, but he hasn't gotten a good opportunity to show what he can do in the NFL because he has been stuck behind the completely rejuvenated Kurt Warner.

How about Drew Stanton or John Beck, both of whom were high 2nd round draft choices who are not even good enough to be backup quarterbacks just three years after they got drafted? These are guys who are busts, quarterbacks who were drafted highly in the 2nd round and now are 3rd string quarterbacks.

Why Leinart and not Carr or Smith? Leinart was the USC golden boy, the Heisman Trophy winner who became the toast of L.A. and could have been the No. 1 pick in 2005 before coming back and getting his game nitpicked by scouts.

Here we go again with judging players based on other's expectations of them coming out of college and not necessarily basing it on reality. Simply because Leinart had more hype coming out of USC doesn't necessarily mean he is a bigger bust. Hype doesn't equal talent. Sure, Leinart played in a much more higher profile program than Harrington, Akili Smith or David Carr, but that doesn't mean he is a bigger bust because of that.

What kind of logic is that to use to say he won the Heisman Trophy and people at his college loved him, so that makes him a bigger bust? To reason that Leinart is a bigger bust because he was more celebrated than Smith or Carr coming out of college and completely ignoring how the players performed in the NFL is not reasonable. There is no way Matt Leinart is the 5th biggest bust of the 2000's.

4. Reggie Bush, RB, New Orleans Saints, No. 2, 2006

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Reggie Bush is in no way a bust. I have been hard on Reggie Bush in the past, but he is not now, nor does it ever appear he will be, a bust. Even if he were a bust, he wouldn't be the biggest running back bust for the decade of the 2000's, which is where Chris Chase has him on this list.

Check out Bush's numbers, compare them to another running back bust (William Green/Darren McFadden) and try to tell me I am wrong. Bush is a productive running back, maybe not a traditional back, but a productive back nonetheless.

All of the flaws that are readily apparent in Bush's game today weren't so obvious three years ago.

Unless you watched college football and noticed that LenDale White got most of the carries between the tackles and Bush was used as more of an outside runner. When he wasn't used as an outside runner exclusively and he did get the ball between the tackles, Bush would often get to the outside as quickly as he could. It was pretty obvious Bush was talented but he may not have had a future as a feature back in the NFL.

Bush is a fine NFL player, but far from the game-changing superstar he was anticipated to be.

Which means he isn't a game-changing player but doesn't make him the biggest bust in the history of the NFL when it comes to running backs...not even close. It's hard for me to take any list that has Reggie Bush as the 4th biggest bust for the 2000's seriously. He is a good change of pace back and a great receiver coming out of the backfield.

2. JaMarcus Russell, QB, Oakland Raiders, No. 1, 2007

This blog does have a tag that says, "JaMarcus Russell is the worst athlete in pro sports in out lifetime," so I would have to say I agree with this sentiment. I would be tempted to keep dumping on him and say he should be at #1 on this list, but I won't do that.

1. Charles Rogers, WR, Detroit Lions, No. 2, 2003

I have to agree with this choice because I personally thought Rogers was going to be a game-changing wide receiver. Then not only did he stink in Detroit but he also didn't have any value for all the other teams in the NFL due to drug, discipline and "he sucks so we don't want him on our team" problems. Nobody in the NFL even tried to give a crap about rehabbing him. Heck even Ryan Leaf got second and third chances. Rogers was out of the league so quickly, he probably has to be #1 on any list of busts from the 2000's.

I LOVED Charles Rogers coming out of college. The players I love coming out this year, so go ahead and put them down as busts, are Ndamukong Suh (saying I love him is an understatement, I think he should be considered for the Heisman and will be better than Warren Sapp...I really, really like him), Tony Pike, Golden Tate, and Jerry Hughes. I know these aren't novel guys to like, but are four of my favorite 1st/2nd round guys.

The players I really don't like at this point are Carlos Dunlap and Jevon Snead. I think both players are going to stink in the NFL. Dunlap seems to given an inconsistent effort and I don't trust Snead's decision making all that much. I have a feeling both will go higher than they probably should.

Some of the choices on Chris Chase's list are not horrible, but he lists players who are in no way busts in the NFL for the decade of the 2000's.

In fact, here is a list of players who could have appeared on this list over some of the players that Chris Chase did include:

Travis Taylor
Ron Dayne
Sylvester Morris
Gerard Warren
David Terrell
Jamal Reynolds
Willie Middlebrooks
Freddie Mitchell
Mike Williams
Ryan Sims
Wendell Bryant
William Green
DeWayne Robertson
Johnathan Sullivan
Jimmy Kennedy
Michael Haynes
Jerome McDougle
Reggie Williams
Kenechi Udeze
J.P. Losman
Troy Williamson
Travis Johnson
David Pollack (As commenter HH pointed out, it may be unfair to include Pollack since he had to retire due to a fluke neck injury. I will be fair and leave his name but say he never got a chance to show what he could do. Same thing for Matt Jones. If he wasn't coked up all the time, he could have been an average receiver.)
Erasmus James
Matt Jones
Michael Huff
Tye Hill
Jason Allen
Bobby Carpenter
Gaines Adams
Jamaal Anderson
Justin Harrell
Jarvis Moss
Buster Davis
Drew Stanton
John Beck
Darren McFadden
Vernon Gholston

Those guys, maybe excluding McFadden and Gholston because they haven't played in the NFL long enough to prove they are incredible busts or not, could have easily been on the list that Chris Chase made. Hence, they did not make the list and that is a shame. Many of these players would have been better choices than some of the players on Chase's bust list.