The Ultimate Draft Bust

[Guest Aloysius]

Actually, Lawrence Phillips probably was the worst, but this is pretty bad:

 

Former Lions WR Charles Rogers in jail

 

Charles Rogers, the former Michigan State standout receiver and Lions draft bust, has been in Oakland County Jail since Wednesday on $100,000 bond, the Free Press has learned.

 

According to Novi police chief David Molloy, Rogers was arrested Sept. 12 in Novi, where he once lived, after calling 9-1-1 regarding an incident involving him and a woman. Rogers was charged with assault and battery and later pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of trespassing and was sentenced to probation, Molloy said.

 

Rogers violated probation by allegedly taking unauthorized leave from partial confinement and testing positive for narcotics, the Oakland Press reported, citing court records. He is to appear in court at 9 a.m. Monday.

 

An arbitrator ruled in October that Rogers must repay the Lions $8.5 million because he defaulted on his contract when he served a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy in 2005.

 

Rogers, a prep star from Saginaw, starred at wide receiver for the Spartans, and the Lions drafted him second overall in 2003. But after he struggled with injuries and other issues, the Lions cut him before the 2006 season. He has been out of the NFL since.

What do you think the chances are that Detroit ever sees that $8.5M?

[ballpeen]

In defense of Millan, everybody had him rated highly.

 

Had Millan not taken him when he did, someone would have inside of 2-3 picks....it's not like Millen took a guy #2 who otherwise would have fallen to 41....or even 15.

[Riffer X]

Tell me Crabtree didn't breathe a huge sigh of relief when Millen got axed.

[Guest mz.]

Tell me Crabtree didn't breathe a huge sigh of relief when Millen got axed.

 

Hey, with Calvin opposite him, he should get plenty of single coverage.

[dencyguy]

I kind of agree with Ballpeen, although I would suggest that there are three types of draft busts:

 

1) The guy that people think is a "can't miss" prospect, who nonetheless misses badly without help from his supporting cast--I would put someone like Ryan Leaf in this category, but not Tim Couch or David Carr (both of whom had plenty of help in missing badly...think about it for a second; it makes perfect sense).

 

2) The guy who shouldn't be drafted as highly as he is, but manages to get sufficient buzz to get drafted way higher than he would normally slot--think Mike Mamula, even though he ended up having not-a-terrible career; had he been a late first or second-round pick, nobody would bat an eye at him.

 

3) The guy who gets drafted so much higher than everyone else thinks he should be drafted that people think that the coach must be smoking crack--see Clarrett, Maurice.

 

Obviously Rogers is closer to #1 than #2 or #3, but he's not a perfect example of the type; he just sucked.

 

Were I to rank the top five in recent memory, I would put them something like this:

 

1) Ryan Leaf

2) Tony Mandarich

3) Lawrence Phillips

4) Michael Vick--who, dogfighting aside, was about a year and a half from being switched to WR anyway

5) Maurice Clarrett--if we factor in not only his crappy (sort of) career, how short it lasted, and what a reach it was to take him with a #3, he's got to be at least in the top ten, pound for pound

 

I'll leave out guys who were derailed by injuries, like Courtney Brown (who should have been Mario Williams) and Steve Emtman, and guys who probably had average or ever-so-slightly above average careers, like Quentin Coryatt and Dan Wilkinson; to be a true bust, you have to suck out loud.

 

Dennis

Incidentally, here's a spot where embedding a YouTube clip would be really handy: this is

in college. The downside is that it broke the guy's jaw in three places; the upside is, man, he made crushing the guy look easy.

[Guest Aloysius]

Yeah, I agree with ballpeen & Dennis...and I was the guy who started the thread.

 

Still, it's amazing how far a guy like Rogers has fallen overthe past few years. I mean, you've got a guy who ran a 4.40 40 at the Combine, but he couldn't run any faster than a 4.8 when he tried out for teams last year.

 

The money, along with frustration over injuries (Harrington laid him out to dry a few times), must have completely wiped out his will to succeed...

 

But you guys are right. Of Millen's three straight Round 1 receivers, the Mike Williams pick was the biggest mistake.

[roach]

I kind of agree with Ballpeen, although I would suggest that there are three types of draft busts:

 

1) The guy that people think is a "can't miss" prospect, who nonetheless misses badly without help from his supporting cast--I would put someone like Ryan Leaf in this category, but not Tim Couch or David Carr (both of whom had plenty of help in missing badly...think about it for a second; it makes perfect sense).

 

2) The guy who shouldn't be drafted as highly as he is, but manages to get sufficient buzz to get drafted way higher than he would normally slot--think Mike Mamula, even though he ended up having not-a-terrible career; had he been a late first or second-round pick, nobody would bat an eye at him.

 

3) The guy who gets drafted so much higher than everyone else thinks he should be drafted that people think that the coach must be smoking crack--see Clarrett, Maurice.

 

Obviously Rogers is closer to #1 than #2 or #3, but he's not a perfect example of the type; he just sucked.

 

Were I to rank the top five in recent memory, I would put them something like this:

 

1) Ryan Leaf

2) Tony Mandarich

3) Lawrence Phillips

4) Michael Vick--who, dogfighting aside, was about a year and a half from being switched to WR anyway

5) Maurice Clarrett--if we factor in not only his crappy (sort of) career, how short it lasted, and what a reach it was to take him with a #3, he's got to be at least in the top ten, pound for pound

 

I'll leave out guys who were derailed by injuries, like Courtney Brown (who should have been Mario Williams) and Steve Emtman, and guys who probably had average or ever-so-slightly above average careers, like Quentin Coryatt and Dan Wilkinson; to be a true bust, you have to suck out loud.

 

Dennis

Incidentally, here's a spot where embedding a YouTube clip would be really handy: this is

in college. The downside is that it broke the guy's jaw in three places; the upside is, man, he made crushing the guy look easy.

 

 

As a Browns fan, trading Chip Banks to move up to #5 and selecting Mike Junkin was a pretty big blunder. Maybe not higher than Mandarich, but i think it deserves recognition. Didn't we back that up with Clifford Charlton in the 1st round the next year? How about Olympic runner Ron Brown who was a 2nd round pick and never played a game for us?

 

We've had some great 1st and early round picks too like Jim Brown and Paul Warfield, but that's not what this thread is about.......