intro by james
Cleveland Browns — ALLLLLLL of them
The Browns draft historical past is pathetic, nearly all of it. There are just a few first-rounders since “The Return” in 1999 that received second contracts, together with Joe Thomas, Joe Haden and Myles Garrett. Cleveland followers have had the NFL draft as their Tremendous Bowl for years and, yr after yr, have been failed.
To provide an precise reply, two stand out: Buying and selling down one spot with their bitter rival Baltimore Ravens, so the Ravens might draft Corridor of Famer Haloti Ngata whereas the Browns took Kamerion Wimbley.
Additionally, Johnny Manziel.
— Jared Mueller
Carolina Panthers — Everette Brown (2009)
That is a type of picks that haunts Panthers followers not simply because it was a nasty choice, however all of the dominoes that went into it. To set the scene: Carolina is middling within the late 2000s (as they’ve been for a lot of their existence), and the franchise is on the verge of probably the most brutal blow it’s ever confronted. Franchise legend Julius Peppers, the primary authentic celebrity the group produced, desires out on the finish of the season to play in a much bigger market.
Carolina is determined coming into the 2009 NFL Draft. They want a go rusher to be taught underneath Peppers for a yr and turn out to be a brand new star, hopefully decreasing the lack of Pep. It’s the second spherical, and the Panthers commerce their 2010 first spherical decide to the 49ers for the forty third decide in 2009, and a fourth rounder. They then decide Florida State DE Everette Brown to be the man.
It was dangerous from the very begin. Brown was undersized, projected extra as a 3-4 EDGE than a 4-3 go rusher, and had solely two pace rush strikes. The group hoped they’d get Dwight Freeney, however ended up getting six sacks in two seasons and was waived coming into yr three.
The worst half? In 2010 that decide would have been seventeenth general. The Niners took Mike Iupati, a multi-Professional Bowl guard and franchise staple. The others guys the Panthers might have taken with that decide, however didn’t have due to the Brown commerce?
Maurkice Pouncey, Jermaine Gresham, Demaryius Thomas, Dez Bryant, Devin McCourty — all Professional Bowlers. I suppose the silver lining is that in the event that they saved the decide there’s an excellent probability they might have taken Tim Tebow.
— James Dator
New England Patriots — 2019
The 2019 NFL Draft nonetheless haunts me.
The 2018-2019 NFL season ended on a excessive notice for New England Patriots followers. A group that regarded in deep trouble in December — punctuated by a disastrous loss to the Miami Dolphins on the ultimate play of the sport — righted the ship simply in time for a run to Tremendous Bowl LIII and a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Tremendous Bowl LIII marked New England’s third consecutive Tremendous Bowl look, and matched with their win over the Atlanta Falcons in Tremendous Bowl LI, they’d gained two-of-three large video games. Whereas Tom Brady was exhibiting some indicators of decline, the hope coming into draft season was a deep and engaging huge receiver class would supply the long run Corridor of Fame quarterback with a dynamic goal for one more few seasons of playoff soccer.
The factor about dynasties is you by no means fairly know after they finish, till you benefit from hindsight. On that evening in April the New England Patriots have been on the clock with the ultimate decide of the primary spherical, and certainly drafted a large receiver.
N’Keal Harry, out of Arizona State.
To be truthful to Harry, he was an intriguing prospect popping out of school. Harry racked up consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons his last two years in school, and turned in a strong efficiency on the Scouting Mix, though his 40-yard sprint did flip some heads.
He was additionally the consensus WR4 that season in keeping with the media, behind DK Metcalf, Hollywood Brown, and A.J. Brown.
But there he was, coming off the board as WR2 behind Hollywood Brown, as the primary WR drafted within the first spherical by Invoice Belichick throughout his tenure with the Patriots.
And forward of A.J. Brown, Deebo Samuel, and Mecole Hardman, amongst others.
Harry’s New England tenure was rocky at greatest. He and Brady by no means appeared to get on the identical web page, and the rookie was slowly iced out of New England’s recreation plans on offense. The group received out to a 10-1 begin however stumbled down the stretch, shedding three of their last 5 video games, together with a brutal loss within the season finale — once more to the Dolphins — that price New England a first-round bye.
As a substitute they hosted the Tennessee Titans on Wild Card weekend and fell by a last rating of 20-13. After the loss Brady walked off the stage at Gillette Stadium, and the following time he would return, it might be as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
— Mark Schofield
San Francisco 49ers — Jim Druckenmiller over Jake Plummer (1997)
Youthful 49ers followers will decide Trey Lance or perhaps the Solomon Thomas/Reuben Foster double-dip. And I don’t blame anyone for suggesting Alex Smith over Aaron Rodgers. However I’m going slightly additional again. Let’s go together with the 49ers choice to select Jim Druckenmiller over Jake Plummer in 1997.
That yr, Dwight Clark was the GM and Steve Mariucci was a rookie head coach after his QB whisperer years with the Packers. One of many largest regrets was that the 49ers went with Druckenmiller though former head coach Invoice Walsh, then serving in a marketing consultant position, pushed for them to take Plummer.
A bit of over two seasons later, Steve Younger’s profession completed because of concussions and Jeff Garcia was the brand new beginning quarterback. Garcia turned out to be a strong sufficient QB, however was by no means fairly ok to get the 49ers the place they wanted to go. Druckenmiller successfully washed out of the NFL after two seasons, whereas Plummer had a strong sufficient rookie yr in Arizona earlier than breaking out in his late 20s in Arizona after which Denver.
If the 49ers had picked Plummer, my intestine tells me getting an opportunity to work with Mariucci and Walsh would have helped him enhance his profession earlier. We already know he wasn’t going to be a washout like Druckenmiller, however extra importantly, his upside was significantly greater than Garcia. We’ll by no means know what might have been, nevertheless it nonetheless seems like a missed alternative.
— David Fucillo
Buffalo Payments — Torrell Troup over Rob Gronkowski
Heading into the 2010 NFL Draft, the Payments had an enormous want at tight finish. Arizona State’s Rob Gronkowski fell into the second spherical with harm issues, however he was actually from Western New York and considerably of a hometown hero.
The Payments as an alternative picked Torell Troup, a defensive sort out from the College of Central Florida, one spot forward of Gronkowski. Troup began simply two video games for Buffalo — each in his rookie season — earlier than a debilitating again harm price him the remainder of his profession. He ended up with 21 NFL video games, 31 tackles, one QB hit, and two TFLs.
Gronk however turned a Corridor of Famer with the New England Patriots and later the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Going through him twice a season whereas he was with Tom Brady continued to rub salt into the injuries of Payments followers who needed so as to add the explosive tight finish again in 2010. Gronkowski performed in 16 video games towards Buffalo catching 74 passes for 1132 yards, 57 first downs, and 12 touchdowns at a clip of 9.4 yards per goal. They held him with out a catch simply as soon as. Gronk’s document in these video games? 14-2.
There are others I might have listed in latest reminiscence — T.J. Graham over Russell Wilson, Marcell Dareus over Julio Jones and J.J. Watt, buying and selling up for Sammy Watkins to bypass Khalil Mack and Mike Evans — however none resonated as a lot as getting throttled by Gronk twice a yr.
It additionally must be addressed that the Payments traded away the decide that finally turned Patrick Mahomes in Kansas Metropolis. That’s not a remorse for me. The Payments’ OC on the time underneath first-year coach Sean McDermott was Rick Dennison. That man would have ruined Mahomes and Buffalo wouldn’t have picked Josh Allen the following yr. The Payments additionally received All-Professional CB Tre’Davious White out of the transfer, so it was a win for each side although clearly a roadblock for the present iteration of the Payments.
— Matt Warren
Chicago Bears — Mitchell Trubisky (2017)
“All of them” was already taken, so I suppose we are able to get particular. There actually aren’t any scarcity of choices – Curtis Enis in 1998, Marc Colombo in 2002, David Terrell in 2001, Cedric Benson in 2005, Chris Williams in 2008, Gabe Carimi in 2011. However solely Shea McClellin (drafted two spots forward of Chandler Jones) in 2012 comes near this decide.
Mitchell Trubisky was a bonkers decide in nearly each sense of the phrase. There was no protection for it on the time, and it regarded worse and worse at each flip. The Bears traded up one – *1* – spot to draft Trubisky No. 2 general. The one-year starter from North Carolina was the primary quarterback off the draft board. The second was Patrick Mahomes. It’s not hindsight to say the Bears ought to have drafted Mahomes, he was among the many very viable choices on the time. Passing on probably the best quarterback of all time is already worthy of being included on this. However what places it excessive is the whole lot to come back.
Trubisky was inserted as a starter a number of weeks into his rookie season with marginal outcomes. He had a “breakout” sophomore season on the backs of recent head coach Matt Nagy and a dominant protection. He was effective in his third yr, however clearly wasn’t getting higher. By his fourth season he was getting benched in favor of Nick Foles. Then he was out of city.
It’s not Trubisky’s fault that the Bears have been as soon as once more on the lookout for a quarterback, nevertheless it’s precisely what occurred. They used their first first-round draft decide in three years to commerce up and draft Justin Fields, who was gone after three seasons. Now on their third top-ten draft decide at quarterback in fewer than 10 years, the Bears are nonetheless digging out of 2017.
And Patrick Mahomes has gained three Tremendous Bowls.
— Kyle Thele
Jacksonville Jaguars: The 2020 NFL Draft
There are numerous, many draft blunders by the Jacksonville Jaguars to actually dig into. Drafting Taven Bryan over Lamar Jackson, Bryan Anger over Russell Wilson, the Derrick Harvey draft, and plenty of extra that despatched the franchise into the doldrums of the NFL. Nevertheless, the 2020 NFL Draft was uniquely horrible for the Jaguars as a result of nearly none of their picks in that class turned out to be something greater than common starters. Whereas different groups across the league boosted their roster with cornerstones like CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson and Tristan Wirfs, the Jaguars had two picks within the first spherical and spent them on CB CJ Henderson and EDGE Okay’Lavon Chaisson. Each of these guys are now not on the group. It will get worse as you dig deeper into the draft. Laviska Shenault? Not on the roster. Ben Bartch? See ya. Jake Luton began in one of many worst Jaguar video games of latest memory–and is now not on the group. The one gamers left from this complete draft class on the Jaguars’ 53-man roster are DT Davon Hamilton and S Daniel Thomas, and even then Thomas is a core particular teamer and Hamilton may be getting changed on this upcoming draft. This draft was supposed to assist the Jaguars get off on the proper foot in a brand new period for the game, and as an alternative contains a bunch of men who’re now not on the roster.
Amidst many dangerous Jag fumbles, this one stands out rather a lot.
—JP Acosta
