Worst high draft pick of modern times? Wait, you might want to consider

[jobycom]

SAN DIEGO - Former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips, who was wanted by police for domestic violence, was arrested Sunday after allegedly running his car into three teenagers who argued with him during a pickup football game, police said.

Police had been seeking Phillips since earlier this month for allegedly attacking his girlfriend twice, once choking her into unconsciousness.

Phillips joined a group of 16- and 17-year-olds in a pickup football game in Exposition Park on Sunday and got into an argument with several of the teens, said Los Angeles police officer Sandra Escalante. He left the park, but returned and drove a black Honda onto the field, allegedly running into three teenage boys, she said.

The car Phillips was driving was reported stolen in San Diego earlier in the week, Escalante said.

Oh, it gets better...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9014313/

[Stephist]

1. Ryan Leaf

Now Lawrence might make worst human being drafted highly in a draft but even he had more moments as a pro then Ryan did...On the field.
Did the article contain the phrase "former Nebraska Cornhusker running back" Lawrence Phillips"?

Even though he hasn't played here in 11 years and it's got jack shit to do with what he is doing now they always have to throw that phrase in.

[jobycom]

2. Ryan Leaf's biggest problem is that he ran into two of the worst coaches

of all time. Kevin Gilbride was his first head coach. This bozo screwed up the Oilers as offensive coordinator so badly that they once blew a 35-3 lead in the fourth quarter of a playoff game with the Buffalo Bills. Every time the Oilers got the ball back, Gilbride called three quick passing plays that had all the unpredictability of the last plays he called, chewed up, oh, maybe fifteen seconds of clock time, then punted. One or two first downs with one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game was all he needed.

Gilbride expected Leaf to start his first NFL game (after playing two seasons in college), need no coaching, and save the game. This actually worked for a couple of games. Leaf was brilliant. When it came time to actually coach Leaf, though, he had no clue how. So he just let Leaf get pounded. When they fired Gilbride mid-season, they turned him over to June Washisname--an idiot who had a couple of years before fired his starting quarterback, who was having a decent season, for disagreeing with him.

If Leaf had started out with a decent coach who would have taught him fundamentals before starting him, he might have had a chance. Steve McNair should be the model for all quarterbacks. He was drafted high by the Oilers, who sat him on the bench for two years while they taught him. If they had started him earlier, he wouldn't have made it. As it was, they started him when he was ready, and he's one of the most effective QBs in the game.

San Diego was stupid to draft an untested player so high. They are stupid in most of their draft picks, though. They seem to draft based on the opinions of sports geeks on bulletin boards, rather than any system based on analysis and common sense. But their biggest mistake was not training who they had. Leaf may have never had the emotional capacity to be a star, but they could have at least given him the fundamentals before expecting him to save them. He certainly had the physical skills.

[Stewie]

16. Yecch, Gilbride

"Kevin Gilbride was his first head coach."

I still love Buddy Ryan for realigning Gilbride's jaw during a game.

[dr.zoidberg]

27. That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!

[northzax]

3. now to be fair

on the Nebraska thing, successful players are always identifited with their alma maters as well, so it cuts both ways.

Plus, Phillips hasn't done anything of note since leaving Lincoln, so that's where he's ID'd with.

[ls317]

6. True

But his problems where first noted at Nebraska... Didnt him get suspended for kicking a females ass when he was enrolled there......
Wasnt he allowed to play in the Orange Bowl..after a charge of Domestic Battery


The numbers are still there in the Nebraska record book, impervious to felony. They remind the world that on Jan. 2, 1996, Lawrence Phillips rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns as the Cornhuskers crushed Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to repeat as national champions.

That Phillips was even playing had created a firestorm. Earlier in the season, he was put on probation for assaulting his girlfriend. To wit: dragging her downstairs by her hair, bashing her head against a mailbox. After a suspension — he had rushed for 359 yards and seven touchdowns in the first two games of the season — Huskers coach Tom Osborne reinstated Phillips in late October, and there he was in the backfield that January night in Tempe.

Osborne defending his actions by saying anybody deserved another chance.

[underpants]

4. Bosworth? Mandrich?

Bosworth was a high tackler who had everything funneled his way at OU. Chuck Knoll didn't want him but the front office decided they had to have him.

Mandrich-totally a creation of Sports Illustrated. Probably could have been a good lineman for several years but the crush of expectations were too much (plus he more than likely had a 'roid crash).

[KamaAina]

5. Keep your eyes on Alex Smith

if you can, that is. I know it's early, but he really looks awful. Even when he's not about to be leveled (again), he heaves the ball behind the guy by two yards. Blech.

The proof of Smith's incipient awfulness: The running game instantly got better when Rattay came in. It's all about field generalship.

It's just unfortunate he's not going to have enough time to develop (it's also unfortunate that Leinart stayed in...)

[northzax]

7. Smith is going to pull a Leaf

and vanish, I figure. He's too young, and too inexperienced for the NFL right now, you think guys from Miami and USC have trouble transitioning from college to the Pros? how much bigger, faster, stronger and smarter is the average NFL defensive player than the guys he saw at Utah? It takes serious time for anyone to get used to it, hell, Peyton Manning got molested for a couple of seasons, and he played 4 years against the best teams in college.

Quarterbacks should never come out early, there's too much to learn.

[bnr65432]

8. tim couch

[ridgerunner]

13. If Couch had of had an O-line

I might agree with that, but he didn't and got punished every time he took the field. It's hard to say that Couch was a bust considering that he went to an expansion team.

[akarnitz]

9. This lifelong Packer fan says Leaf....

...but Mandarich is a very close 2nd.

Leaf had 1 good season at WSU in an unsophisticated offense. My guess is that the Charges drafted him on that 1 season alone. The guy was a freking headcase from day 1 in San Diego(he went off when the vets were giving him the traditional hazing), which tells me the G.M.
never ran psych. tests on the kid. I don't think Leaf was very cooperative in working out for teams either. I'm no fan of Gilbride, but the blame belongs to the front office.

Tony M., on the other hand, had 3 great seasons at MSU. The Spartans were a running team(no diff. that Andre Rison was there- Bobby McAllister was QB)and Tony was "Mr. Pancake". He flattened everything in the run game. He didn't have to pass block much at all, and there weren't too many stud DE's or OLB's in the Big Ten to show him for what he was. Tony was also a walking billboard for steroids. Tony didn't work out cooperatively, either- probably to hide all the acne on his back(dead giveaway for 'roids). Packers G.M.
Tom Braatz rolled the dice and lost. What pisses me off most about this pick is that the Lions got Barry Sanders with the next selection.

Tony also made a little comeback with the Colts and played, well, serviceably. Not gonna be a comeback for Cryin' Ryan. :cry:

[Lefty48197]

19. Remember...

shortly after the Mandarich/Sanders debacle, both teams hired new coaches too. The Pack hired Mike Holmgren, and the Lions hired Wayne Fontes...

[akarnitz]

21. Infante stuck for a season or two.

He and Braatz were canned at the same time, if I trust my memory.

BTW, I really liked Wayne. Especially the year he lit up the victory cigar and pissed off Ditka. His teams always started slowly, though, and I believe he suffered from inept GM's, too. Erik Kramer led them to the NFC championship game after Rodney Peete went down. The Lions then let Kramer go in favor of Peete and Andre Ware(ugh). Kramer had some nice seasons w/ the bears after that.(One reason, perhaps, that Kramer was let go is that he crossed the NFLPA picket line. Not a popular move w/Hardcore Lions' fans. Best Lions' fans I've met were always wearing UAW/Flint Truck and Bus jackets. Showed up to every game and never gave Packer fans any shit. They were, in fact, always friendly!)

[imperialismispasse]

10. NFL only?

Hey I just found this forum. Cool.

[MKR]

11. How about Rick Mirer?

He was a failure in his first go-round, then the Bears traded the 11th overall pick for him in 1997 thinking he'd be the "answer" at quarterback.

[democracyindanger]

12. But you got to give the guy credit

he somehow managed to stick around the league as a 3rd QB for a looong time.

Well, maybe the credit goes to his agent.

[MKR]

17. Did you see John Quinn play last year?

He was signed by the Chiefs as their third quarterback for this season. If a guy who absolutely CANNOT play quarterback can hang on and get paid lots of money to be third on the depth chart, I'm not impressed with Mirer's resume. And in Mirer's case, two teams wasted first round picks on him before somebody sat up and said "Wait a minute, he can't play."

Maybe it just stings more for me because, as a Bears fan, I could see the train wreck coming as soon as Wanny and his 70's porn mustache got up there in front of the media going "Yah, uh, he's got <runs hand through hair> a decent arm. We, uh, <runs hand through hair>...we think he's gonna help us out. It only cost us a first round pick. It's <fingers through the hair again> a bargain for a starting quarterback."

[SeanQuinn]

26. You called?

OH, JOHN Quinn.

[northzax]

14. oohh, the double first round failure

I like it.

[theHandpuppet]

15. Akili Smith

Brother, and when he was drafted I thought he was gonna be a superstar. What a bust he turned out to be.

[redirish28]

18. What about Brian Greise?

[Lefty48197]

20. Joey Harrington

oh wait, he's JUST ABOUT to turn good.

[democracyindanger]

22. Trade Harrington

Nobody deserves the constant griping and whining that some Lions fans do. Go ahead and see if Garcia can get the team anywhere--oh, oops! Fractured leg and sprained ankle. Well now there's Orlovsky, who no doubt you'll see in action because the Lions lameass O-line is probably going to get Harrington killed.

[Twillig]

24. I was going to post some smack talk about Duck quarterbacks

But Harrington is a home-grown Oregon QB.

It'll keep till the civil war.





(but I gotta post a pic!)

(how's Bongterrio doing?)

[northzax]

29. and then you remembered all the beavers...

let's see, Stephen Jackson and hmm, wait, it'll come to me. :) just a minute, let me think...hmmm...

[democracyindanger]

34. Ooh..Civil War

You and I will definitely need to get a good bet going. My sense of worth still hurts from last year...

[Jersey Devil]

23. What's "modern times"? Giants had plenty of them

Rocky Thompson - scored a TD on a kickoff return and then never scored again in his career.

Joe Don Looney - left football to meditate with a yogi in India.

Hell, we have a lot more.

[Reverend_Smitty]

30. Ron Dayne comes to mind recently

boy has he sucked something fierce

[Bluzmann57]

25. Tony Goddam Mandarich

What an overrated pumped up pos he was. And the Packers could have had Barry Sanders in the same draft. Sigh. Well we got number four now. That's good. Greatest trade ever.

[Oeditpus Rex]

28. Cade McNown

Plus, he's a local and most of the people I've talked to around here who knew him can't stand him.

[SuperWonk]

31. Early write-in...

on Maurice Clarett.

[Roachman]

33. Not a high pick n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

32. He Was Quite Unpopular Here In Chicago, Too

The Professor

[KitchenWitch]

35. Are we talking football only?

Ryan Leaf is the first that leaps to mind.