Prospects You Were Incredibly Wrong About

[bigbluedefense]

I'm sure this thread has been made before, but our recent convos of certain players has me thinking of prospects I was dead wrong about. Its easy to point out who we were right about, but admitting you were way off on some guys is a tough pill to swallow sometimes. So name the guys you were wrong about:


Vernon Gholston: I thought this guy could be like Shawne Merriman

Brady Quinn: I ate up the Charlie Weis/Notre Dame hype.

Reggie Nelson: I thought this dude would be the next Ed Reed

Alan Branch: I thought he'd be a Pat Williams

Chad Greenway: I thought he had bust written all over him

Bobby Carpenter: I thought Parcells found his Carl Banks

Vince Young: I thought he'd suck

Matt Ryan: Ditto for Ryan. I was a Flacco fan.

Robert Gallery: Needs no explanation really

I'm sure there are more than I'm forgetting.

[Splat]

Non homer pick.

Robert Gallery - I was 100% sold.

Homer pick.

Tamba Hali - Not only did he prove me wrong but is now one of my favorite Chiefs.

[prock]

I was very wrong about Greenway, as well.

I am hoping I am wrong about Chris Cook. I thought he was going to be a huge bust, but if he continues his preseason performance, he will prove me wrong.

[bigbluedefense]

Oh, Chris Houston the CB.

I thought he'd be great. I loved Manuel Ramirez too, although Im not sure that counts bc he was a 4th rounder.

[Splat]

Derrick Johnson - I thought he would be an All Pro LB and while he has flashed that at times he is way to up and down with his play, not even close to the player I thought he would be.

[P-L]

Let's see, there were a lot.

2008
- Chris Long, Darren McFadden, and Derrick Harvey were all in my top ten.
- I had Limas Sweed and James Hardy over DeSean Jackson.
- Sam Baker was my 9th rated offensive tackle.

2007
- JaMarcus Russell was my #3 overall prospect.
- I rated Adam Carriker and Alan Branch as top ten prospects.
- Chris Houston was my top corner, over Darrelle Revis

2006
- I loved Antonio Cromartie. He was my top corner and #10 overall.
- Matt Leinart was my #8 overall.
- Chad Jackson was my top receiver.

[bigbluedefense]

Oh i forgot about Chris Long. I was incredibly wrong on him too.

I'm not ready to call my mancrush on Cromartie a bust just yet. I think he can turn his career around in NY. If I were to make a CB out of clay, I would mold it to look and run exactly like Cromartie. The guy is an absolute freak.

[themaninblack]

I never thought Leon Hall would be nearly as good as he is. I guess I fell into the OMGZZS 40 yd dazsh!!!1 thing.

[ThePudge]

Vernon Gholston, Brady Quinn, and Derrick Harvey are the ones that really stand out in my mind as guys I was pretty high on.

I thought Orakpo had some of the same flaws that prevented Gholston from being a good 3-4 OLB, apparently I was dead wrong.

I liked Jamaal Anderson. I thought Reggie Bush would actually be special. I thought McFadden would wind up one of the league's best eventually. I still think McFadden has upside... Thomas Jones was a Top 10 pick who's career started very slowly, his first two seasons were worse than DMac's, his third he only gained 511 yards. I still have some hope for McFadden if Oakland is able to pass the ball and/or block for him.

[LonghornsLegend]

Derrick Johnson - I thought he would be an All Pro LB and while he has flashed that at times he is way to up and down with his play, not even close to the player I thought he would be.

He starts the list for me, I'm typically not wrong about the 1 or 2 Longhorn prospects I like each year. I don't hype up a ton of Longhorns each year, last year it was Earl Thomas & Lamaar Houston, the year before it was Orakpo, before that Jermichael Finley. I was so sure about all of those guys and DJ was no different. Thing is I think he's still talented and when he gets back to playing weakside in a 4-3 he's gonna provide some value, but he looked the part of a very elite LB, and besides how could a guy be a bust when he could cause fumbles that frequently?



Chad Jackson - I fell in love with the measurables, speed, hands, without pads he looked about as good as you could. All off-season he looked like the best WR.


I can't even think of anymore now, I'm sure this thread will remind me of some more.

[georgiafan]

Mcfadden I thought he was the best HB prospect I've ever seen

[bigbluedefense]

When evaluating prospects, my preferences have changed over the years too. I put more emphasis on measurables now than I did in the past.

I used to be all about the overachievers. Now I rather reach for an athlete.

For example, the guys Ive loved as middle round prospects in the past 2 drafts: Michael Johnson, Geno Atkins, Greg Hardy, Clint Ingram, Mike Wallace, Jimmy Graham, all these guys have great measurables.

[yourfavestoner]

Ooooh, awesome topic.

Robert Gallery - I think this guy will be on pretty much everyone's list

Russell AND Quinn - Loved both of them. Russell had all the warning signs, but that kind of talent was irresistible.

Roy and Reggie Williams - Roy had tantalizing talent, but his stopwatch speed comes from being such a long strider. He doesn't play nearly as fast as he times. Reggie, I thought, would turn out to be what Brandon Marshall currently is.

Carlos Rodgers - Thought he'd easily be a top 5 corner. He's solid, with terrible hands.

Donte Whitner/Michael Huff - Thought they were both the real deal, but were overdrafted by about ten picks or so. Turns out they were overdrafted by about three rounds.

Reggie Nelson - Thought he was the next Ed Reed. He's one of the worst DBs I've ever seen in my life.

Gosder Cherilus - Thought he'd be the top RT in the league within a few years.

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. There are definitely more, though.

[Shiver]

Good topic, time to own up people. I will search it if I don't believe you.

2006:

Laurence Maroney - I had him #2 at RB, ahead of DeAngelo Williams. I liked his size, how he hit the hole in a ZBS and that NE drafted him was even more proof that he was going to be the best out of the non-Reggie Bush tier.

Marcus McNeil - I didn't think for a second that he was going to be able to either stay healthy or be an effective left tackle in this league.

2007:

Jamaal Anderson and Chris Houston - My Falcons had three picks in the top 40 and they took these two Arkansas Razorbacks. I was incredibly excited as were most draft-gurus who gave Atlanta an A grade. Unfortunately Anderson's weigh gain as he grew into his body completely ruined his chances of being a quality DE in this league. He is strong, but his speed and agility that were Mario Williams-like at 270 was gone when he was at 290 for the Falcons. Worse, he is even heavier now and basically was converted to DT. Chris Houston, on the other hand, proved to be completely unable to play the ball in the air. He was always in great position, always had the speed and strength, but would let receivers go up and beat him out for the ball. It was maddening.

Chris "Buster" Davis - I really liked him. I thought his game projected well into the NFL, much like Steve Smith was better than Dwayne Jarrett. He was on a talented team with a great QB, but now he can't even start over Malcolm Floyd and Legedu Naanee.

2008:

Chris Johnson - A year after the disastrous Chris Henry pick, the Titans take another no name RB with only combine numbers to show off? Really? I thought it was an awful decision. Guess I was wrong there.

Joe Flacco - What kind of idiotic decision is that? Trading up to take a QB from Delaware? Oh... guess I was wrong about that.

[Mr.Regular]

My biggest miss was JaMarcus Russell. I fell in love with his tools.
Also loved Reggie Bush. Fell into the hype machine on that one.
Thought AJ Hawk would be much, much better than he is. Was a huge fan of Antonio Cromartie.
I thought Chris Johnson was a big time reach for the Titans. Thought Brohm was a great pick for us, thought we could turn him into Schaub like trade bait.
Also thought Joe Flacco was too big of a project to take that high.