Top 10 dissapointing players in the Brady/BB era

[supafly]

Adam Seward...if we drafted him, we'd have at least 2 more SB's

Fixed it for you.

 

[supafly]

Agreed, I won't pretend he was a huge success but I feel like he is villified more than he should be.

He had 745+ yards and 6 or more touchdowns in three of four* seasons here, including his rookie year. He finished his four year career with a 4.2 YPC in New England.

*The season he didn't reach those numbers was due to the fact that he got hurt in the third game of the year.

I'm not even convinced he should be on the list at all.

 

[supafly]

I suppose we all have our own criteria for tagging someone a 'disappointement' but despite the abrupt end to Hernandez's career, I would not label him a disappointment. After all, we got three seasons with him playing at a close-to-Pro Bowl level.


Obviously this hypothetical would never be real, BUT let's say that there is a player available in the fourth round of this years draft in which your crystal ball showed that for a fact............

1.) The player would put up AH's numbers.

2.) But would only be on the team for three years (for whatever the reason).

I'm thinking most of us still take that player in the fourth round.

Aside from the obvious seriousness of his crimes, the fact that he had just signed a big second deal plays a role. That left the team with the dead cap hit that was felt for two years.

Like you said, his production as a 4th round pick on a rookie contract was just fine. I agree that we'd all do it again (for a much lesser crime, of course. Not meaning to minimize the seriousness of anything).

 

[mgteich]

Kind of a downer topic but good to temper excitement. Not every draft pick will hit and not every sure thing FA is a sure thing as we recently saw with Easley. With that in mind here is my list. This will consist of draft picks and FAs the Pats have signed.


#1 Laurence Maroney - RB - IMO the most disappointing player of the BB era and the highest picked to truly bust (21 overall). He stayed on this team for a while but really that didn't matter. The Pats had one of the worst running games in the NFL and Maroney was a big reason why. Maybe the only reason. He was let go as soon as it made since financially and it makes you think of what might have been if they had gone a different way.

#2 Ras-I Dowling - CB - When got nicknamed glass-I you know that is bad. This guy could just not stay healthy and it is a case of BB taking a chance to get a stud player that did not work out. I don't hate the strategy but it hurts when you miss. If you don't do it though then you never get a guy like Gronk. Picked 33 overall

#3 Dominique Easley - DT - picked 32 overall we knew the risk but the reward was there and we even saw a little. I still believe if he could have stayed healthy he would have been one of the most devastating players in the NFL. Too bad he could not.

#4 Brandon Meriwhether - SS - Mr Big Bang Clock himself was picked at 24 and for a little while it was hopeful we found the next Rodney Harrison type player. However the kid was as dumb as a rock (unlike Rodney who is perhaps the most intelligent defender the patriots ever had in terms of football smarts and that is saying something). Even with a probowl which was based on undeserved reputation it is clear this was a huge and costly miss and it took the safety spot a while to recover from it. Thank good for McCourty.

#5 Adalius Thomas - LB - FA 5 year 35Million dollar deal - And the first non-draft pick makes the list. What a costly blunder of a FA deal this was. I completely understand why BB did it and he rarely misses so big when he gives away big free agency money. It proves he is human. Thomas never played up to his contract which at the time looked like a fairly good deal for the type of player he should have been.

#6 Chad Jackson - WR - Perhaps the most painful in some respect of all the disappointments. This guy had no question marks really He checked all the boxes. Had the numbers, had the tape, wow'd at the combine and rarely dropped a pass thrown his way. His route running was iffy could was projected to be easily improvable. He seemed to have all the will in the world to do it. Nope. Didn't happen. Brady's go to guy for the next 10 years and a unanimous steal at 36 from all the draft guru's fell through.

#7 Ron Brace - DT - Pick 40 and the forgotten bust by a lot of people. He stuck on the team for a bit but was little more than a run stuffer and felt like just another big body JAG you pick up in round 5 or 6 to fill one specific role and round out your roster. We saw a few flashes but it never really came to be.

#8 Leigh Bodden - CB - FA 4 year 22Million dollar deal - This is kind of an odd player to put here as he had 1 pretty darn good year but like Meriwether and his one promising year he soon fell off and seemed to be injured or ineffective. One of the bigger contracts BB has had to swallow and the last 3 years very much fail to make the first one worth it.

#9 Jonathan Fanene - DT - FA 3 year 9.9Million dollar deal - One of the more forgotten years here in 2012 but Fanene was suppose to be a big part of the plan for the year and was one of the more depression cold streak FA pick ups from that era. The made who was suppose to run next to Wilfork for his final years but one undisclosed injury and court case later this was a headache that was very unfortunate.

#10 Chad Johnson - WR - Ocho oh no! On a 3 year 6M dollar deal this was not nearly the most costly deal I could name even when you include the trade to get him cost a 5th and a 6th round pick. However what stings here is how this was one of BB's guys. A player not unlike Baltimore's Ed Reed BB admired from a-far for years. However he was a bit to old and a bit too bad of a fit in our system and the loved blinded BB could not resist and we were all so excited for... Well not Moss 2.0... but 1/2 Moss. BB was so sure it would work and that made us all so sure and that made it hurt more when it didn't. He tried to get it too and it just didn't work.

HM - Aaron Hernandez - I think worth a mention. Though the draft capital was not much and the return rather good for some years this was a very costly pick for the organization sadly. However he is not in the true spirit of this list but has to be mentioned.

Any thoughts or rage to share?

What a strange set of priorities.

Shawn Crable gets no mention? How many times did he disappoint?

No Haynsworth?

And Maroney as the worst pick even, when he actually performed well for quite awhile?

 

[supafly]

What a strange set of priorities.

Shawn Crable gets no mention? How many times did he disappoint?

No Haynsworth?

And Maroney as the worst pick even, when he actually performed well for quite awhile?

And guys like 2 time pro bowler Meriweather and Adalius Thomas (solid in '07 and on pace for his best year ever in '08 through nine games) in the top 5?

They were definitely both disappointments, but they may not even belong in the top 10, let alone the top 5.

At one point for Meriweather, only Troy Polamalu had created more turnovers in the AFC over a 3 year span.

 

[Ivan]

It's this the Jets forum?

I guess It's a good time to start my What if Belichick stayed with the Jets and drafted Brady? thread.

 

[PF_SU]

Agreed, I won't pretend he was a huge success but I feel like he is villified more than he should be.

People probably have forgotten that he had back-to-back 122 yard games in the 2007 playoffs. In the AFCCG against San Diego the Patriots were up 21-12 and got the ball back with 9:13 left on the clock. Maroney helped driving the nail in the coffin on a drive that took all the time off the clock. He was very good that game, but people tend to remember the 36 yards on 14 attempts in SBXLII.

 

[1960Pats]

Kind of a downer topic but good to temper excitement. Not every draft pick will hit and not every sure thing FA is a sure thing as we recently saw with Easley. With that in mind here is my list. This will consist of draft picks and FAs the Pats have signed.


#1 Laurence Maroney - RB - IMO the most disappointing player of the BB era and the highest picked to truly bust (21 overall). He stayed on this team for a while but really that didn't matter. The Pats had one of the worst running games in the NFL and Maroney was a big reason why. Maybe the only reason. He was let go as soon as it made since financially and it makes you think of what might have been if they had gone a different way.

#2 Ras-I Dowling - CB - When got nicknamed glass-I you know that is bad. This guy could just not stay healthy and it is a case of BB taking a chance to get a stud player that did not work out. I don't hate the strategy but it hurts when you miss. If you don't do it though then you never get a guy like Gronk. Picked 33 overall

#3 Dominique Easley - DT - picked 32 overall we knew the risk but the reward was there and we even saw a little. I still believe if he could have stayed healthy he would have been one of the most devastating players in the NFL. Too bad he could not.

#4 Brandon Meriwhether - SS - Mr Big Bang Clock himself was picked at 24 and for a little while it was hopeful we found the next Rodney Harrison type player. However the kid was as dumb as a rock (unlike Rodney who is perhaps the most intelligent defender the patriots ever had in terms of football smarts and that is saying something). Even with a probowl which was based on undeserved reputation it is clear this was a huge and costly miss and it took the safety spot a while to recover from it. Thank good for McCourty.

#5 Adalius Thomas - LB - FA 5 year 35Million dollar deal - And the first non-draft pick makes the list. What a costly blunder of a FA deal this was. I completely understand why BB did it and he rarely misses so big when he gives away big free agency money. It proves he is human. Thomas never played up to his contract which at the time looked like a fairly good deal for the type of player he should have been.

#6 Chad Jackson - WR - Perhaps the most painful in some respect of all the disappointments. This guy had no question marks really He checked all the boxes. Had the numbers, had the tape, wow'd at the combine and rarely dropped a pass thrown his way. His route running was iffy could was projected to be easily improvable. He seemed to have all the will in the world to do it. Nope. Didn't happen. Brady's go to guy for the next 10 years and a unanimous steal at 36 from all the draft guru's fell through.

#7 Ron Brace - DT - Pick 40 and the forgotten bust by a lot of people. He stuck on the team for a bit but was little more than a run stuffer and felt like just another big body JAG you pick up in round 5 or 6 to fill one specific role and round out your roster. We saw a few flashes but it never really came to be.

#8 Leigh Bodden - CB - FA 4 year 22Million dollar deal - This is kind of an odd player to put here as he had 1 pretty darn good year but like Meriwether and his one promising year he soon fell off and seemed to be injured or ineffective. One of the bigger contracts BB has had to swallow and the last 3 years very much fail to make the first one worth it.

#9 Jonathan Fanene - DT - FA 3 year 9.9Million dollar deal - One of the more forgotten years here in 2012 but Fanene was suppose to be a big part of the plan for the year and was one of the more depression cold streak FA pick ups from that era. The made who was suppose to run next to Wilfork for his final years but one undisclosed injury and court case later this was a headache that was very unfortunate.

#10 Chad Johnson - WR - Ocho oh no! On a 3 year 6M dollar deal this was not nearly the most costly deal I could name even when you include the trade to get him cost a 5th and a 6th round pick. However what stings here is how this was one of BB's guys. A player not unlike Baltimore's Ed Reed BB admired from a-far for years. However he was a bit to old and a bit too bad of a fit in our system and the loved blinded BB could not resist and we were all so excited for... Well not Moss 2.0... but 1/2 Moss. BB was so sure it would work and that made us all so sure and that made it hurt more when it didn't. He tried to get it too and it just didn't work.

HM - Aaron Hernandez - I think worth a mention. Though the draft capital was not much and the return rather good for some years this was a very costly pick for the organization sadly. However he is not in the true spirit of this list but has to be mentioned.

Any thoughts or rage to share?

With the 28th pick in the 1999 NFL draft, the New England Patriots select... Andy Katzenmoyer.

 

[1960Pats]

I don't believe that. I think you come here instead and make detailed posts about failed players everyone else wants to forget about. You ought to follow it up with Top 10 worst performances. Oh, here's an idea: how about a detailed listing of Top 10 worst assistant coaches?

Top ten worst threads.
Top ten worst responses to threads.

 

[1960Pats]

Andy Katzenmoyer... should have been. Too early for this list?

He was one of the first players I thought of but he wasn't during the B&B era. I put in a bad word for him in the thread anyway.

 

[Tunescribe]

Top ten worst threads.
Top ten worst responses to threads.

What a wonderful contribution.

 

[IllegalContact]

Fixed it for you.

you just made it worse

 

[The Gr8est]

Andy Katzenmoyer is exactly the kind of player to get casual draft fans and the "future GMS in waiting" types excited on draft day, while the "reaches" for Sebastian Vollmer cause much wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments, even though the resulting performances turned out to be opposite of the initial perceptions.

 

[Tanbass]

I know this wont be a very popular choice, but I just couldn't stand Danny Woodhead. I know he had talent, but he was just so small, I cringed when he would come on the field. Yes, he made some great plays, but he was simply a smurf playing a giants game......just one of those players I never liked.

 

[JMC00]

I know this wont be a very popular choice, but I just couldn't stand Danny Woodhead. I know he had talent, but he was just so small, I cringed when he would come on the field. Yes, he made some great plays, but he was simply a smurf playing a giants game......just one of those players I never liked.

So do you hate Kevin Faulk, Shane Vereen and Dion Lewis too?

 

[JackBauer]

I know this wont be a very popular choice, but I just couldn't stand Danny Woodhead. I know he had talent, but he was just so small, I cringed when he would come on the field. Yes, he made some great plays, but he was simply a smurf playing a giants game......just one of those players I never liked.

 

[Froob]

Surprised somebody hasn't found a way to get Welker on this list yet.

 

[Froob]

It's this the Jets forum?

I guess It's a good time to start my What if Belichick stayed with the Jets and drafted Brady? thread.

No, if it was, it would be top 100 disappointing players in the 21st century.

 

[Ivan]

Andy Katzenmoyer is exactly the kind of player to get casual draft fans and the "future GMS in waiting" types excited on draft day, while the "reaches" for Sebastian Vollmer cause much wailing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments, even though the resulting performances turned out to be opposite of the initial perceptions.

Yep. His bust is in the Bust Hall of Fame.

 

[patriot1136]

How bout Jonathan Wilhite and Terrance Wheatley? I remember them being disappointments.