Michigan's Great Track Record: Only One NFL Draft Bust?
With the NFL Draft Combine taking place this week, there's been a lot of talk about the all-time biggest NFL Draft busts.
Unlike a certain other B1G school in our state, I would argue that Michigan's track record in NOT producing NFL Draft busts is pretty darn good. If you draft a Wolverine, there's an excellent chance he'll have a career at or above his draft spot.
I would argue that there's only been one true NFL Draft bust from U-M: Trezelle Jenkins. He was drafted in the first round in 1995 (31st overall), but only appeared in nine NFL games over three seasons.
Aside from that, our NFL Draft record is excellent. So rest assured, NFL: If you take any of the 14 guys at the combine, you'll get what you draft for.
Touche
this was the name that immediately came to my mind as well.
Was going to say Terrell. Another one would be Tim Biakabutuka. He was drafted 8th overall and only compiled 2,530 yrds over his career.
is it really a bust when a guy loses his career to injury? that can happen to anyone, it has nothing to do with talent.
It seems like most of the time the "draft bust" lists include those who got injured. It makes sense that it would be a bust if you spend a high draft pick and the person never pans out, even if it's not his fault. But I can see your point also.
If we're counting injuries, Marquise Walker?
This is he Steve Everitt conundrum. He was injured, not necessarily bad. It's a tough call, but one would expect more production out of the number 8 pick. I stand by it.
Yes, injured or not, it's still a BUST
This one makes me sad. Even though he was a buckeye, I was excited to see him play in the NBA.
I can't consider a player a "bust" when severe injury or illness prevent him from playing. The circumstances are beyond his control. It's the difference between "didn't succeed" and "couldn't succeed."
If we're counting physical infirmity, then Ernie Davis would have to be considered one of the biggest busts in NFL history - a Heisman winner who never played a down in the NFL. But I doubt anyone considers him that. And while most injuries don't equal the severity of Davis' leukemia, the concept is the same: his career wasn't a success, but he wasn't a bust. The circumstances were beyond his control.
Chris Perry?
Mike Hart? Granted he was a sixth rounder, but still. He washed out of the league pretty fast, injuries or no.
A guy drafted in the 6th round has pretty poor odds of ever contributing in the NFL, and it's not uncommon for guys to get cut and never even make a roster. I don't think anyone drafted that low can ever be considered a bust in NFL terms.
Disappointing for fans of Michigan relative to his contributions at the school? Sure. But it wasn't all that surprising.
I agree.
I think Hart is a great example of a guy who had "just enough" in several areas (speed, strength, etc.) to be a college star but not enough (excepting vision, perhaps) to be a "next level" guy.
When you're taking a guy in the 6th round, it's a total flyer and you're hoping to find a diamond in the rough. None of those guys who don't pan out could reasonably be called a bust. Sometimes though, you hit the Powerball and draft Tom Brady.
You did see the question mark, and the qualifier that I put in there? The thread topic was Michigan players who were drafted, and busted.
I saw the question mark, declined to assume or act as if you actually held such a position, and attempted to answer your question. The second paragraph is an attempt to reconcile his non-bustness with understandable feelings of disappointment many of us may have that he did not stick longer.
That was certainly a bust in term of where he was picked but him being picked that high never made sence to Michigan fans to begin with. I for one was baffled by the fact that he was taken so high.
I'd argue Desmond certainly didnt live up to expectations. My first thought was Terrell too but I think you have to consider Desmond too. Other than his Super Bowl returns he didnt do much.
Although he might not have fully lived up to his draft status, Desmond was Super Bowl XXXI MVP over Brett Favre. I'd say he was pretty successful.
By the time he got to Green Bay, he'd been cut by two teams. So he was certainly a bust for Washington.
but the counter argument is that it's hard to call a Super Bowl MVP a "bust." He was probably worth that one moment alone... if he'd have had that moment with the franchise that drafted him...
i dont think you can call any superbowl mvp a bust
Do you honestly think one game a career makes? Even a Super Bowl MVP type game.
Would you trade a first round pick for a single Super Bowl win?
For a Super Bowl win I'd trade all four of my kids, my cats and would toss in the boat.
Again though - I thought the discussion was around draft busts. Desmond was the #4 pick in the draft and here are his recieving stats. 123 catches TOTAL in 10 years and only one year over 700 yards. Not very pretty if you ask me.
| Season | Team | Games | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 1st | Fmb | Fmb lost | ||
| 1992 | WSH | 16 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | WSH | 16 | 5 | 23 | 286 | 12.4 | 27 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 1994 | WSH | 16 | 15 | 40 | 727 | 18.2 | 81 | 5 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | JAX | 13 | 6 | 26 | 276 | 10.6 | 24 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | GB | 16 | 0 | 13 | 95 | 7.3 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | OAK | 15 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | OAK | 15 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | DET | 15 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | DET | 14 | 1 | 10 | 133 | 13.3 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 136 | 27 | 123 | 1,597 | 13.0 | 81 | 7 | 77 | 1 | 0 | |
I'm 57. It'll have to be before I turn 70 and cant enjoy it anymore.
I'd say it's hard to categorize him as a bust. You're right he didn't have great production as a receiver, but he stayed in the league 10 years because of his special teams play. On top of his Super Bowl ring and SB MVP award here's some special teams #'s that stand out
9th All-Time NFL Kick Return Yards
T3rd All-Time single season Punt Return Yards
While that won't get him into Canton, his special teams play kept him the league for 10 years. Maybe he wasn't worth the value of #4 overall pick, though.
Imagine what Desmond could have done in the era of slot receivers. With his speed and hands, he would have likely had a much different receiving career..but that's just speculation.
But there's never been a GM, not even Matt Millen, who would willingly give a #4 overall pick for a return guy.
I respect him, but he was a bust all the way.
Would you give a #4 pick for a Super Bowl MVP though? Yeah, prolly.
I'd be willing to do that every year.
They invested a top 5 pick on him so in terms of them getting a return on their draft investment he was a bust.
From the Redskins perspective yes...especially considering that they traded two first round picks to jump up to #4 to take him. But from an overall career perspective it's hard to say he was a bust in the traditional sense (Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Trent Richardson, Jamarcus Russell etc).
His career outlasted half of the top 10 picks in that draft. He was one of 27 from that class to make a pro bowl. 1 of 4 from the top 10 in that class to make a pro bowl. He's the only one from 1992 to win the Super Bowl MVP.
Interestingly, none of the 1992 class has been inducted into the Hall.
I think a conclusion we can draw from the robust discussion in this thread is that Howard is a unique case that is hard to categorize. On the one hand, a high draft pick as a receiver that never came close to living up to his (reasonable based upon his college performance and talent) expectations on offense.
On the other hand, he found life as an electric return man who contributed at a very high level in that department for years, a Super Bowl MVP being a mere validation of what had already been a great season for the Packers that year.
I think "disappointment" is a fair assessment. "Bust," as described in 5th and long's post, seems to refer to guys that are total disasters.
I think a good comparison might be a player that Howard had very similar abilities to, despite playing different positions in eras when guys of their skills were used very differently: Reggie Bush.
When he couldn't stick on that Packers team as anything but a return specialist.
At one point mid-season the Packers lost their top two receivers to injury (Robert Brooks and Antonio Freeman) and Desmond got playing time at WR. He didn't crack 100 yards receiving for the year. Late in the season the Packers picked up Andre Rison, who wasn't much better in the regular season but did have a couple of touchdowns in the playoffs and Super Bowl.
I wasn't happy with the way that the Packers dumped Desmond in the off season, though.
He played 10 seasons. I'll grant you that he wasn't Jerry Rice, but he had enough talent to hang in the league for a decade. Did he live up to 4th pick of the draft hype? No. Complete and utter bust? No, again.
first round pick of the NY Giants, a big stud fullback who could catch passes out of the backfield. As a Giants fan (after Michigan of course), I was delighted with the pick.
I cant say he didnt play well, because he hardly played, and was gone.
Now you can check out his acting career on IMDM.com
Couldn't find a thing about him on IMDM - must have been a bust as an actor too.