BobDigital
Pro Bowl Player
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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?
#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?
