Three Recent Draft Busts and the Newest Bust Candidate
With the draft now being only one week away, NFL teams and general managers will once again be looking to reignite their fan bases with the next generational pick that secures their teams future for the next decade. Last week we looked at the top 3 safest quarterback prospects in this year’s draft; however, this week I will be discussing three players from the past decade who had the complete opposite effect on their franchises as well as a prediction for this year’s biggest bust.
Johnny Manziel
Everyone loved seeing good ole Johnny Football take the field for the Texas A&M Aggies and create Houdini-like plays time and time again. Johnny redshirted his first year at A&M and immediately took over the college football landscape during his redshirt freshman season, when he became the first college freshman to ever win the Heisman Memorial Trophy. This brilliant campaign elevated Manziel to celebrity status, a blessing and a curse that would later go on to plague him throughout his career. Manziel’s second year featured similar success, but with a lot more unnecessary antics, such as getting suspended by the NCAA for signing autographs. When Manziel declared for the draft in 2014, there was wide speculation regarding his off-field life. Some scouts and GMs viewed Manziel’s rumored party life as a red flag and many teams passed on him despite his noticeable talent. The Cleveland Browns opted to take Manziel in the first round at pick 22, a decision that would haunt the franchise for years to come. Manziel’s reckless lifestyle overtook his entire rookie season, as it was obvious through his play, that he was not properly prepared to handle the NFL, and new videos of Manziel at different celebrity parties continued to surface. Manziel sought out rehab after his first season, but it was already too late. He was cut after his second year with the Browns making him one of the first quarterbacks drafted in the first round to be cut by the team that drafted them after only two seasons.
John Ross
After having a very productive senior season for the Washington Huskies and running an NFL-record 4.22 in the combine, John Ross’s draft stock shot through the roof. The speedy wide receiver was viewed as a potentially elite deep threat who also had amazing yard after catch ability, which led the Cincinnati Bengals to draft him at the number 9 spot in the 2017 draft. However, John Ross’s pre-draft hype is about the only thing memorable about his NFL career. Ross only played in three games during his rookie season largely due to an injury, and he didn’t register a single catch. This horrific start was followed by a slightly better campaign where Ross only put up 210 yards the entire season but racked up 7 TDs. Things began to look up for Ross and Bengals fans in 2019 when he put up 506 yards in only 8 games played. Unfortunately for Ross, his career trajectory would only plummet from that point as he hasn’t played an NFL snap since 2021 with the New York Giants. Ultimately, Ross’s career served as a lesson for GMs not to gamble on receivers strictly because of their speed.
Josh Rosen
While it is in some ways sad to see someone fail at a job that they have worked for their entire life, Josh Rosen’s story is funny due to the pompous manner in which he failed. Rosen was viewed as a prodigy coming out of the revered St. John Bosco High School as the second highest ranked recruit in the 2014 class when he committed to UCLA. Rosen’s 3 seasons at UCLA were relatively successful as he set the school record for passing yards in a single season and won Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year Honors in 2015. Furthermore, Rosen led one of the most iconic comebacks in college football history against Texas A&M during his junior campaign, which caught the attention of scouts who viewed Rosen as a gutsy charismatic leader. The Arizona Cardinals picked up Rosen with the number 10 pick of the 2018 draft, and yet, Rosen personally felt that he was drafted too late as he infamously stated on national television that “there were nine mistakes ahead of [him]” and that he was going to make each of those franchises pay for passing on him. This quote did not age well. Rosen threw an abysmal 11 TDs and 14 interceptions during his rookie season, and the Cardinals ended up with the top pick in the 2019 draft where they selected Kyler Murray, Rosen’s new replacement. Rosen was shipped off to Miami after the season and again played horribly. Now, Rosen bounces around as a free agent looking to gain a new opportunity to be the headman of a franchise. To make Rosen’s story even worse, the 2018 draft featured two of the best quarterbacks in today’s NFL with Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. In retrospect, it’s clear that the biggest mistake of that whole draft was the Cardinals selecting Rosen in the first round.
This Year’s Candidate: Will Levis
In a close comparison between Kentucky QB Will Levis and Florida QB Anthony Richardson for this year’s biggest potential bust, I personally choose Levis largely due to his inability to dominate the competition at any point during his career. Many of those who closely follow college football are confused as to why Levis is such a highly rated prospect, and with valid reason. Levis lost the quarterback battle at Penn State to Sean Clifford, a quarterback who was good during his time at Penn State but was never considered among the best in college football. Furthermore, Levis doesn’t have any true signature performances in his career, and he typically played mediocre against ranked opponents with just a 3-5 record as a starter at Kentucky. This lack of tangible success is looked at by many fans and front offices as a red flag. Lastly, Levis has shown a tendency to randomly exhibit poor accuracy on a lot of his throws. He’s not terribly inaccurate; however, Levis’ precision passing is far from being starting NFL caliber and he is well below many of his other top QB peers in this draft.