The one great thing about this draft class is that we haven't been overhyped with any particular players. It's like the experts have been like, "yeah, nobody here is great, but let's make the best of it." And thankfully, we'll get no over-hyped guys going way too early in the draft.
With that in mind, I'd like to take a look at the most over-hyped draft picks in NFL history. You know, just to lament the fact I don't have anybody to overhype this year. This is going to be pretty painful, especially for you Raiders fans. Seriously, I could just do this on the most recent Raiders draft picks. But I'm going to narrow it down a little bit for you and include some non-Raiders.
Seriously, this really could be all Raiders.
Some honorable mentions:
Robert Gallery - Look at the guys who sandwiched him in the 2004 NFL Draft: Eli Manning, Larry Fitzgerald and Philip Rivers. He survived as a guard, but that's a bit much for the No. 2 overall pick.
Mike Mamula -Â He wasn't a terrible player, but he's become a punchline for players who rise up draft boards because of great combine workouts.
Akili Smith - Seriously, only the Eagles were able to not fall for this. Instead they went with Donovan McNabb.
Reggie Bush - Every NFL enthusiast who chided Charley Casserly for choosing Mario Williams over Bush still owes him an apology.
Brian Bosworth - What he didn't deliver in the NFL, he made up for with his enjoyable films.
And without further ado ...
We've been so beaten down by Tebow coverage over the last year or two, we often forget the hype extended well back to the 2010 NFL Draft. Then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels put his reputation on the line to draft a quarterback who can't throw a deep ball and ran the spread offense in college. Here's a shock: McDaniels is on his third job now.
How in a world where Mike Mamula exists can something like this happen? Gholston was incredibly raw and relatively new to football, but was compared to John Abraham, Dwight Freeney and Jason Taylor coming out of college. Hard to imagine the Jets were burned by the hype. Oh wait, it's not at all. I'm not going to look this up, but Gholston had no career sacks. Hold on, I'll double-check (checking ...). Nope, no sacks. At all.
The Philadelphia fans screamed bloody murder when the Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb instead of him, and then Mike Ditka went ahead and traded all of his draft picks to nab him. Instead of superstardom, he had an enigmatic career that featured early retirement and suspensions for wellness violations.
Blame the BCS for this. If LSU didn't face Notre Dame, Russell wouldn't have torched the Irish for 350 total yards and three touchdowns and flown up the draft boards as a result. Although, looking back, it was the Raiders -- they likely would have found a way to blow this pick anyway.
I've often wondered just how much consideration the Colts gave to Leaf, but I've always felt they were doing the Chargers a solid by at least pretending it was a contest. And it wasn't so much that San Diego wasted a pick on Leaf, but it gave up a pretty sizeable ransom to trade spots with the Cardinals. Don't pat yourself on the back, Cardinals, you drafted Andre Wadsworth.
The esteemed Mandarich graced the cover of Sports Illustrated with the caption"the best offensive line prospect ever." That's hype. He was drafted ahead of Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders. Seriously, the Packers had a 75 percent chance of picking a Hall of Famer and couldn't get it done.
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Adam Rank has never won an award. For anything. We don't mean to be harsh, but it's true. You can follow him on Twitter @adamrank. Oh, and if you liked this (right!), check him out on the latest "Dave Dameshek Football Program". Which, come to think of it won an award. So Rank has won something meaningful. Yes, meaningful unlike this latest post. Am I right? But follow him on Twitter, please. He's taking us to lunch if he gets 25 more Twitter followers today.
