Draft Picks
2000 - Courtney Browm, DE for Cleveland, did ok, not great, than left the browns for the broncos and was never heard from again. 2001 - michael vick, QB for the falcons, was one of the worst passers in the NFL and was never able to learn where to throw the football to. an impressive athlete and a good leader who failed to improve as the seasons passed, until eventually he ended up in jail. 2002 - David Carr, QB for the texans, possibly the saddest story of the bunch (or so I see it), came into an offense without a line and without weapons (except for 1 good WR in andre johnson) and spent his entire career there getting killed. afterwards the knocks on him were that he's not looking downfield but rather at the rushers, a common habit of QBs who play without protection. he might get back to form with time, and he might not. it's not so much that he wasn't a good pick but rather more a case of the Texans ruining him. 2003 - Carson Palmer, QB for the Bengals. one of the best in the game. 2004 - Eli Manning, QB for the Giants. not better than the other 2 QBs taken after him, but he seems to be finding himself, and after winning a SB, no one can really call him a bad pick 2005 - Alex smith, QB for the 49ers everyone said he was average and wouldn't have been picked #1 if it wasn't a weak year for QBs and the 9ers desperately needed one. so far he's shown that he's got decent capabilities, but for some reason he's continuously playing poorly and never quite got it together. right now it looks like a bad bad pick for the 9ers, who probably should have gone a different direction knowing the best they can get is a so-so QB. 2006- Mario Williams, DE for the Texans played injured through his first year, also faced being constantly double teamed by opposing linemen. add to that the speed and strength of NFL players and it's no wonder his first year's stats were not impressive. (it's common knowledge that it takes a year to get accustomed to playing VS a double-team his second year was quite different indeed, and he began to shine as a great DE. 2007- Jamarcus Russell, QB for the Raiders. was signed late into training camp, and by that time it was obvious he wouldn't start that season, and so, after a year on the bench, all we can really say about him is that he's a QB for the Raiders. if you ask me it comes down to 2: michael vick, since they drafted him with the hope he'd develop into a good passer, which he hasn't, and is now in jail with no return to the falcons in sight, and Alex smith, who's been drafted as average and still managed to under-perform of the 2 Alex played worse and brought less success to his organization, although unlike vick he still has a chance to become a success, but right now I'll have to say Alex smith is the biggest bust of this decade.
