There is nothing more frustrating to an NFL franchise than missing with your top draft picks. In recent years, the likes of JaMarcus Russell went from the second coming of Daunte Culpepper to an adequate fill-in for Santa at your local mall. And Vernon Gholston looked put a Ivan Drago-like workout for the scouts at the NFL Combine, and now is lucky to be on the New York Jets special teams squad.
There's also many who successfully fill in for their new teams immediately after being drafted. For many, notably skill positions like quarterbacks, it takes time to develop so there's no immediate way to label them a "bust" yet -- or maybe a change of scenery (see Brady Quinn).
So here's the Top Six 2010 NFL Draft Bust Watch:
48. Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame) to Panthers
In watching Clausen last season at Notre Dame, you saw that he was a dynamic quarterback for a pro-style offense under Charlie Weis. Clausen was a highly regarded recruit since coming out of high school, and in his final season as a Golden Domer he broke out.
What makes me nervous about Clausen is his mechanics, college experience and his attitude.
Clausen has a tendency to make a lot of plays while on the move. The Carolina offense is run-heavy, and when a passing play is called it is typically a three or five step drop. Jake Delhomme did not have the same set of skills as Clausen, so it will be interesting to see if the team adapts to him.
Also, Clausen makes a low of throws through a sidearm delivery. While many question that delivery when he's facing NFC South pass rushers like John Abraham or Will Smith, there have been other gunslingers who have been successful.
In college, Clausen without a doubt put up outstanding numbers passing in a pass-first offense. Question marks include the fact that he had superior physical receivers in Golden Tate and Michael Floyd. In addition, he showed steady improvement in his three years, reducing his 17 picks in 2008 to just three in 2009. But this is only one year in which he put up those stats.
Finally, the last knock on Clausen is his attitude - a tendency to get fired up and point the blame. While right now this can be detrimental to his success, he can easily turn this into a positive. He can use his passion for the game to motivate his team, not blame them.
37. Nate Allen (South Florida) to Eagles
This is definitely a different type of a bust. Nate Allen may have all the talent in the world, but he certainly will face all the scrutiny in the world if he does not live up to it.
Allen will be filling a hole that the Eagles have yet to fill since the departure of Brian Dawkins. Not only is he expected to fill that gap, but he was selected with the pick the Redskins traded to the team in exchange for former franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb. Don't you wish you were in Allen's shoes?
25. Tim Tebow (Florida) to Broncos
After becoming the most scrutinized and anticipated draft pick for the past two years, Tim Tebow finally arrived on the professional scene after the Broncos selected him 25th overall.
Even Mel Kiper Jr. was speechless.
Tebow is an excellent football player. He is more passionate about the game, his team and being a winner than any player I can recall in recent memory. But in order to become an NFL quarterback, there are certain measures that need to be taken.
Aside from basic throwing mechanics, Josh McDaniels, head coach of the Broncos, will have to transform his offense to suit Tebow's talents. Tebow will not be the Tom Brady, Peyton Manning-eque quarterback that we have grown used to. Tebow has to utilize his tremendous athletic ability -- his speech, strength and versatility as a runner and passer.
There is hope.
McDaniels is the same coordinator who put together the dynamic Patriots offense in 2007. He created a spread offense that is primarily used in college (See Urban Meyer). Tebow thrived in the spread, and with the talent around him -- Eddie Royal, Knowshon Moreno and newly drafted Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker -- there is definitely potential.
16. Derrick Morgan (Georgia Tech) to Titans
The first sign of a bust is when a projected top-five draft choice slips to the second half of the round. In this year's draft, the big surprise was the demise of Derrick Morgan, the defensive end out of Georgia Tech.
In the first round, two other defensive ends were picked ahead of Morgan, including Jason Pierre-Paul and Brandon Graham. What makes this more imminent is that the teams that opted to draft other defensive ends were two NFC East teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.
Both the Eagles and Giants have histories of drafting or signing top pass rushers (Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, Trent Cole, Javon Kearse). The Eagles even traded up to take Graham, a real slap in the face to Morgan.
Fortunately, Morgan will have a chance to develop in a Jeff Fisher-run defense. But for now, the pre-draft defense end that was rated so high fell in the minds of NFL scouts and owners, a real warning sign for bust-ness.
9. C.J. Spiller (Clemson) to Bills
While C.J. Spiller has been an electric back in his time at Clemson, there is reason to fear he will be an ultimate bust. And no, it is not because he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills.
Well, maybe.
The Bills have had a history of drafting dynamic running backs -- Marshawn Lynch and Willis McGahee -- and when the running backs are doing well, the team shows glimpses of potential. But with McGahee fleeing town because of a lack of excitement, and Marshawn becoming more into running from the cops than from inside linebackers, the Bills might have too high of expectations for their newly drafted back.
Spiller was outstanding at school, but he played in a not-so-tough ACC conference.
Aside from Clemson, the ACC had just three defenses ranked in the top 30 in total defense in 2009. Spiller did not play against their top-ranked Virginia Tech defense, but he did face No. 26 Boston College and No. 29 Miami.
The Eagles, who ranked 14th in the country in rushing defense, one of only two ACC schools with a rush defense ranked in the top 40, held Spiller scoreless. On 17 attempts, Spiller rushed for only 77 yards.
The U, whose rush defense was not ranked in the top 40, and overall defense just made the top 30, held Spiller to 81 rushing yards.
Not so dynamic when the defenses got tougher, even for the ACC.
3. Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma) to Bucs
McCoy unfortunately entered the NFL Draft at the same time my Rookie of the Year pick Ndamukong Suh entered, especially after he thrilled the nation in the Big 12 Championship Game where he made Colt McCoy look like Gumby.
G. McCoy is supposed to be an NFL defensive tackle. However, i feel he is too undersized to do so.
At the NFL Combine, McCoy measured in at 6'4 and under 300 pounds. He was only able to put up 23 bench press reps, which was 11 less than the average for the top 10 at his position.
He also failed to rank in the top 10 in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump or three-cone drill.
What this shows to me is that McCoy lacks the strength, jumping ability, speed and agility to play defensive tackle in the NFL. As a defensive tackle, you need to battle and stuff rough and tough offensive lineman, spring up and try to swat down passes and hold your own while you try to tackle quick running backs. In his combine workout, McCoy showed he had none of these physical skills.
I also question the weight of McCoy, in that he may be too light to hold his own and prove to be a durable player. Some of the defensive tackles on top 12 defenses looked at following:
- Kris Jenkings (NYJ) - 360 pounds
- Haloti Ngata (BAL) - 345 pounds
- Casey Hampton (PIT) - 325 pounds
- Pat Williams (MIN) - 317 pounds
- Albert Haynesworth (WAS) - 350 pounds
- Vince Wilfork (NE) - 325 pounds
McCoy is still below the 300 pound-mark, so he better invest deeply in the Costco snacking isle if he wants to be a baller in the professional ranks.
No comments:
Post a Comment