Draft Nerds: Who were you most wrong about?

[Servo]

The Cam thread got me thinking. Draft geeks always talk about the players that they got right (or claimed to have got right). I thought it'd be funny to see who we totally whiffed on. I'll start:

First of all I LOVED the Rey Maulaluga pick when they took him top of 2. I have to admit I also wanted to see the Bengals take Taylor Mays and thought he'd be a Bob Sanders type safety in Zimmer's scheme. I thought Cam Newton was a huge project. I thought Matt Leinart was a safe QB pick. I loved Danny Watkins coming out of Baylor. I loved DeQuan Bowers but to be fair backed off of that when it was obvious he was injured.

I've got some right, though. Most recently (not obvious like Andrew Luck or AJ Green):

Loved Kiko Alonso, Janoris Jenkins and Casey Heyward.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Matt Ryan. Did not think he would be a good NFL QB. Thought Vince Young would be a star, though had he not went crazy he was winning a lot of games. I don't call myself completely wrong on that one.

 

[DanBengalfan]

byron leftwhich. The scene where he is carried down the field still gets me pumped.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jzYMSiNHQ]Marshall Herd QB Byron Leftwich carried down the field - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Servo]

VY is like an mentally unstable version of Tim Tebow. Better than Matt Leinart, though. The jury is still out on my Ryan Mallett infatuation. I thought he was the best QB in that draft. Not that he'd be better than Cam, but I still would love to see what he can do given the opportunity.

Tubbs, you were with me on Taylor Mays, right? It was either you or Crash. What the fuck were we thinking? The guy can't play the pass which is kinda critical in the NFL. He's a 220 lb, 4.3 running stiff. To be fair, Earl Thomas was the guy I coveted in that draft but I knew he'd be long gone. I also liked Navarro Bowman in that draft and Golden Tate (meh).

 

[Servo]

Yeah, how could you not like Leftwich after that. He had such a goofy delivery. He didn't live up to his draft position but he wasn't a bad QB.

 

[DanBengalfan]

and now I'm pumped...

I'm about to file a Problem Report bitches, and who ever gets it is going to fix the damn thing!!!!

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Luke Kuechly - I loved him in college thought he would be an awesome pro.
Calvin Johnson - I remember thinking he was going to be a beast even coming out of this college program he was in.
Ed Reed - I remember back in the day I really wanted him drafted by the Bengals and thought he would be a good safety.
Thought Burfict would be a good pro if he got his head on straight regardless of his 40 combine speed.
At the time, I preferred Darrell Revis over Leon Hall, but of course he went ahead of Hall anyways, so didn't matter.

---------

Plenty I whiffed on...

Thought Cam Newton would be a project and not amount to a good passing QB in this league.
I loved Byron Leftwich coming out of Marshall as well.
Wanted the Bengals to draft Mays in the first round.
Thought the Bengals got a steal in Maualuga in the second.
Thought Chase Coffman was going to be a good TE in this league.
Thought Ryan Leaf would be a good QB and that Indy couldn't go wrong either way with that first pick the year Manning went #1.
I thought Bernard Scott could be a difference maker for the Bengals.
I thought Phillip Buchanon would be a stud of a corner.

Many more I am sure.

 

[Clayton]

The player that jumps out recently is Trent Richardson. I figured he would be Corey Dillon good and Richardson is just a nobody with no vision or burst.

Bengals? Burfict. I thought he was too slow for the league and had too many character issues. In a redraft type of scenario, he probably goes in the 2nd round at latest

 

[NCBengal]

Trent Richardson -- I thought he would be way better than what he is now.

I did think Russell Wilson would be a good QB in NFL having watched him play at NCSU -- kid is an athlete and smart as a whip.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I think Trent Richardson will make a comeback.

he went from 3.5 ypc to 2.8 ypc after the trade, the trade just didn't fit for the Colts, but they will figure it out if they really are serious about using him as a running threat to take the heat off of Andrew Luck.

 

[Servo]

Richardson is a stud. He'll be fine. I still believe in his talent. Not sure what the issue is right now assuming he's 100 percent healthy. Goes to show you that taking a RB 1st round (especially high 1st round) is just kinda dumb. On that topic, I loved Bobby Rainey out of WKU who finally is getting his shot.

 

[kramer1]

It's all just educated guessing.

 

[Servo]

Pretty much. A lot of it is luck too. I mean, what if Andy Dalton was drafted by the Jaguars? How brutal would he be there? There's also injuries and for offensive players having the benefit of playing with a good QB or behind a good O-line. I think that's why it's so interesting and so many people waste time and mental energy trying to figure it out. There's just something compelling about it to a lot of people (myself included)

 

[kramer1]

The good teams get 1 in 3 right.

The bad teams get 1 in 4 right.

That's the difference.

Plus the luck factor, obviously.

 

[cincygrad]

I remember thinking that Mardy Gillyard would be a good pro.

 

[kramer1]

I remember thinking that Mardy Gillyard would be a good pro.

Is he back to living in his car?

 

[jwil007]

Odell Thurman! LMFAO! I thought Cam wouldnt be ish even though he grew up in my backyard I was wrong... Im wondering if I was too early on Colin Kaepernick...Stay tuned.. knew it about Burfict, knew it about TJ was wrong on Coffman..... Still think De De could have played in the league but it was opportunities... and numbers...Dude always made plays... was wrong about Hall although those 1st 2 years were frustrating...lol

 

[Cincyfan78]

Odell Thurman! LMFAO! I thought Cam wouldnt be ish even though he grew up in my backyard I was wrong... Im wondering if I was too early on Colin Kaepernick...Stay tuned.. knew it about Burfict, knew it about TJ was wrong on Coffman..... Still think De De could have played in the league but it was opportunities... and numbers...Dude always made plays... was wrong about Hall although those 1st 2 years were frustrating...lol

Tried to tell you about Thurman...

Yeah, missed out on Cam as well.

Was right about dude from LSU that went to Oakland.

Looks like A. Smith will be pretty good at RT, which I thought.

I didn't like the Gresham pick...still don't.

I liked the Hall pick

I wanted Mays as well...and I think Thomas was the safety that Jax picked (or maybe Carolina?) that ended up being moved to LB. I dont think he did so well...anyone know who I mean? I liked him.

Loved the whit pick. And the Zietler pick.

I know there are a lot more that I whiffed on. It's a certainty when thinking about all of the NFL picks you like and only a handful only end up making a real impact.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Ki Jana Carter sure inspired a lot of false hope.

 

[cincygrad]

Ki Jana Carter sure inspired a lot of false hope.

Emmet Smith with better top-end speed.