Posted on 04/17/2010 5:54:53 PM PDT by DemforBush
When we talk about "risk" in the draft, what do we mean? If a team takes a flyer on a guy in the middle-to-late rounds - a spread-offense quarterback with little chance to make the pro transition, a receiver with demon speed and little else, a tackle on either side of the ball with great athleticism and iffy fundamentals, or a player at any position who's already been coached to his ceiling - well, the risk is negligible. Teams are playing dice with the universe after the first couple of rounds, and they know it. It's the picks early on that can come back and haunt a franchise for years if they're made without the proper scouting and background work...
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
Nobody can beat Ryan Leaf.
Lol.
NFL ping.
He sure was shaky.
I am a Bengals fan, so I know all about risky picks (Akili Smith, Peter Warrick, David Klingler, Odell Thurman, Kijana Carter, Dan Wilkinson).
Dez Bryant can play on my team anytime. Tebow needs the right spot where he can grow into an NFL QB over a couple of years. I would take Tebow over Clausen, but not McCoy at QB.
Don’t forget the ultra-radical left-wing liberal democrat bust Heath (”Bust at two levels”) Shuler/
“Nobody can beat Ryan Leaf.”
Ryan’s standing at the top of the list seems pretty secure. But if anybody can bump him from the #1 spot, it will be Jamarcus Russell.
Mel Kiper Jr. ripped the Colts for passing on Shuler and instead drafting Trev Alberts. In retrospect they didn't much better with that pick.
I totally disagree with this guys criteria. The biggest risk in drafting a player is what is in his helmet. For this guy, that isn’t even a consideration.
Kiper has passed himself off as an expert on football players for years and it is my solid opinion: he knows not didly squat about football players. Why does anyone listen to that bozo?
Any quarterback is a gamble. Leaf and Manning were considered toss ups in talent. Tony Romo was an undrafted free agent. Tom Brady was a sixth rounder.
The rest of the “risky” picks are guys that have questions about maturity or guys that have a lot of raw talent but haven’t developed skills.
Some guys grow up, but maturity is always a concern with guys who are 23 years old and suddenly have several million dollars.
Guys with incredible raw athleticism sometimes rely on that athleticism and don’t develop their skills. That can be good or bad. DeMarcus Ware was working on developing a ton of different moves and his position coach finally told him, “You’re faster and stronger than most of the guys you’re going against. Develop a few good moves and quit negating your talent by outsmarting yourself.” That said, the top athletes in college only go against people as good as they are maybe twice a season. In the pros, it’s far more rare for a player to be able to simply “out-athlete” the other side.
Hey, don't forget Kurt Warner, undrafted yet has two NFL MVP awards, a Superbowl MVP award, and a Superbowl ring. A guy who was undrafted and rattled around in the Arena football league for 4 years before being given a shot!
Yeah - you could see Tebow saying that, having won the Heisman and a national championship, but Clausen? He almost beat USC and his coach got fired, so that counts for something, I guess.
Replace Dez Bryant with Sergio Kindle and this is a pretty good list.
That reminds me of Good Sir Robin who nearly fought the dragon of Endor(?) and only peed his pants. Thanks for the laff!
Ha! The Chicago Bears can come close. 1967- Loyd Phillips, a defensive end out of Arkansas. Lasted two years and gone.
1968- the Bears took running back Mike Hull out of USC. Two years and gone
1969, Chicago took Rufus Mayes, an offensive tackle from Ohio State. Lasted one season and went to another team.
1971, Joe Moore, a running back out of Missouri, two seasons and gone.
and... ta da! the worst QB in Bears history..... 1999, UCLA quarterback Cade McNown- 2 years of complete failure!
Hey, given the current situation, I’d be getting the hell out of Notre Dame too.
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