Who never lived up to the hype? Let's hear your picks!

[Packer Backer]

Just thought I'd start this thread and see what kind of conversation we get going... I'll start off with a few "busts."

Andre Ware, QB. Was drafted in 1990 and was supposed to be the best all around QB ever. Never really amounted to much.

Ryan Leaf, QB. This guy duped the Chargers into a fat contract, and this guy did nothing but cry and whine all the way to the bank. What a loser!

Brian Bosworth, LB. "The Boz" was all the hype in the late 80's, growing up in Seattle. Heck, my mom even let me grow the mullet! Least known fact- He was the mastermind behind the "Boz Buster" T-shirts that were sold in Denver and other rival cities. Not bad for a Marketing major.

Steve Etman, DL. Tore it up in college and was drafted EARLY by the Colts. Got hurt in his second season and never played again.

TJ Duckett & Ron Dayne, RBs- Two guys that looked promising as all hell and never did anything spectacular. I'll put them in the same boat.

Steve Spurrier, Coach.- The Redskins had to have him- and they actually did WORSE after making him head coach. I still have no idea why they had such a hard-on for the under-achiever.

[football junkie]

Hmm...tell me if you start to see a pattern emerge.

1981 the Buffalo Bills pick Booker Moore, RB, Penn State, in the first round. He rushes for 420 yards and one touchdown in his 51 game career.

1987 the Minnesota Vikings pick D.J. Dozier, RB, Penn State, in the first round. Dozier rushes for 691 yards and seven touchdowns in 43 career games.

1990 the New York Jets select Blair Thomas, RB, Penn State, with the second overall pick of the first round. Thomas rushes for 2,236 yards and seven touchdowns in 64 career games for four different teams. Other running backs selected way down towards the end of the first round: Emmitt Smith and Rodney Hampton!

1995 with the first overall pick in the draft the Cincinnati Bengals pick Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Penn State. Carter rushes for 1,127 yards and 20 touchdowns in 57 career games with three different teams. Drafted later in the first round are running backs Tyrone Wheatley, Napolean Kaufman and James Stewart who all go on to productive NFL careers.

1998 with the fifth overall pick in the first round the Chicago Bears select Curtis Enis, RB, Penn State. Enis rushes for 1,427 yards and four touchdowns in 27 career games. Still waiting on the draft board when Chicago picked: Fred Taylor.

2003 finally the curse is broken, the Kansas City Chiefs select Larry Johnson, RB, Penn State in the first round. After languishing on the bench for two dismal seasons, Johnson finally reversed the cursed by rushing for 1,750 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2005 alone. In his first 10 games of this season Johnson has already gained 1,045 rushing yards and scored 12 rushing touchdowns.

Johnson is the exception that proves the rule. The only other half way decent Penn State RB to be drafted in the last 25 years was Curtis Warner, who had a couple of bright seasons and then fizzled out faster than champagne in a brandy snifter.

The object lesson being, don't draft running backs out of Penn State, unless you've got a "Priest" Holmes around to exorcise the demons!!!

[Snake]

Lol, FJ, made me think of a couple of RBs out of Colorado as well:

Eric Bienemy- finished 3rd in Heisman voting, has many Colorado records, nothing in NFL

Rashaan Salaam- won Heisman , had a decent rookie year, then caught fumblitis and injuryitis and never amounted to anything. Was even relegated to playing in the XFL :(


Some others off of the top of my head:

Tim Biakabatuka RB- ran wild in college, including 300+ in his final Michigan-Ohio State game.

Dan McGwire QB- Mark McGwire's little brother threw all over the field in college, went high in the draft, fizzled out.

Ricky Williams RB- You guys might not think he belongs in here, but I do. He was one of the most hyped ever coming out of college. Remember how mad Philly was when their team didn't draft him? I fully expected him to go 12-15 seasons for 1,000 or more every season. Due to his drug usage though, he never lived up to the hype.

and my all time favorite:

Todd Marijuanavich (ya, I know it's Marinovich)- Trained since the day of his birth by his father to be an NFL QB, blew up at Southern Cal, and now the reason why Al Davis cringes at the thought of selecting a QB in the early 1st round. Let the wacky weed destroy all of his natural talent and training almost over night.

[CCN]

The Sam Bowie of the NFL, Tony Mandarich, drafted one spot ahead of Barry Sanders, with future HOF'ers Deion Sanders and Derrick Thomas also a couple pick later.
Ah, yes, Todd "I've never eaten at McDonald's" Marinovich. That was the same year Denver and Dan Reeves took a first round risk on Tommy Maddux, who took years to develop and got pretty bad shortly after he reached success.

While yours is a great list, junkie, don't forget a couple of guys who shared the spotlight at PSU. Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell. I guess those two took all the talent and success with them.

[Packer Backer]

The Sam Bowie of the NFL, Tony Mandarich, drafted one spot ahead of Barry Sanders, with future HOF'ers Deion Sanders and Derrick Thomas also a couple pick later.
Ah, yes, Todd "I've never eaten at McDonald's" Marinovich. That was the same year Denver and Dan Reeves took a first round risk on Tommy Maddux, who took years to develop and got pretty bad shortly after he reached success.

While yours is a great list, junkie, don't forget a couple of guys who shared the spotlight at PSU. Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell. I guess those two took all the talent and success with them.

The first Curt Warner, former Seahawk RB went to Penn State and turned out to be pretty decent too.

[brady_branch]

Kyle Boller. 'Nuf said.

Luckily, the Ravens also took Terrell Suggs in the same round.

[BigStelly]

Ryan Leaf..... such a high profile pick but did absolutely nothing.

[Ladder]

Bo Jackson
Cade McNown
Andre Ware
Tony Mandarich
Quentin Coryatt

[Ladder]

Hmm...tell me if you start to see a pattern emerge.

1981 the Buffalo Bills pick Booker Moore, RB, Penn State, in the first round. He rushes for 420 yards and one touchdown in his 51 game career.

1987 the Minnesota Vikings pick D.J. Dozier, RB, Penn State, in the first round. Dozier rushes for 691 yards and seven touchdowns in 43 career games.

1990 the New York Jets select Blair Thomas, RB, Penn State, with the second overall pick of the first round. Thomas rushes for 2,236 yards and seven touchdowns in 64 career games for four different teams. Other running backs selected way down towards the end of the first round: Emmitt Smith and Rodney Hampton!

1995 with the first overall pick in the draft the Cincinnati Bengals pick Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Penn State. Carter rushes for 1,127 yards and 20 touchdowns in 57 career games with three different teams. Drafted later in the first round are running backs Tyrone Wheatley, Napolean Kaufman and James Stewart who all go on to productive NFL careers.

1998 with the fifth overall pick in the first round the Chicago Bears select Curtis Enis, RB, Penn State. Enis rushes for 1,427 yards and four touchdowns in 27 career games. Still waiting on the draft board when Chicago picked: Fred Taylor.

2003 finally the curse is broken, the Kansas City Chiefs select Larry Johnson, RB, Penn State in the first round. After languishing on the bench for two dismal seasons, Johnson finally reversed the cursed by rushing for 1,750 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2005 alone. In his first 10 games of this season Johnson has already gained 1,045 rushing yards and scored 12 rushing touchdowns.

Johnson is the exception that proves the rule. The only other half way decent Penn State RB to be drafted in the last 25 years was Curtis Warner, who had a couple of bright seasons and then fizzled out faster than champagne in a brandy snifter.

The object lesson being, don't draft running backs out of Penn State, unless you've got a "Priest" Holmes around to exorcise the demons!!!

Richie Anderson was a good player for a long time in the NFL.
Gary Brown had a couple 1000 yard seasons.
Leroy Thompson was a nice backup/occasional starter.

[ATLFalcons]

Packer Backer, I'll have to disagree with T.J. Duckett being a bust. He's scored 31 TDs in his career (none this year), and was a productive short yardage back for the Falcons. If he gets a chance as an everydown back, he'll be a lot more productive.

[Denbrnc]

1. Charles Rogers, the Lions #1 pick in 2003
2. Mike Williams, the Lions #1 pick in 2005
3. Mike Williams, the Bills #1 pick in 2002
4. Courtney Brown, the Browns #1 pick in 2000