An historical look at the career of WRs drafted in the second half of rd 1 (17-32): ------------------------------------------------------------- 2011: 26. Baldwin, Chiefs --> Work ethic & maturity? 2010: 22. DeMaryus Thomas, Broncos --> Injuries... 24. Dez Bryant, Cowboys --> Talent is there, his head? ------------------------------------------------------------- 2009: 19. Maclin - Eagles --> Looking good (McNabb/Vick) 22. Harvin - Vikings --> Looking good + hopefully he solved his migraines. (Favre) 29. Nicks - Giants --> Looking good (E. Manning) 30. Britt - Titans --> Talent is there, his head? Did well last year... 2008: --- 2007: 23. Bowe - Chiefs --> Good career with mediocre QBs. 27. Meachem - Saints --> Debatable. Having Brees sure helps him but only averages 45 catches per season... 30. Davis - Chargers --> Bust 32. Gonzalez - Colts --> Injuries are killing him. Bust but not his fault? He's still young... 2006: 25. Holmes - Pittsburgh --> Good Career (Roethlisberger/Sanchez). 2005: 21. Matt Jones - Jaguars --> Bust 22. Mark Clayton - Ravens --> Bust 27. Roddy White - Falcons --> Great career (Ryan). 2004: 29. Michael Jenkins - Falcons --> Bust (still in the league as a #3). 31. Rashaun Woods - 49ers --> Bust 2003: 17. Bryant Johnson - Cardinals --> Bust (still in the league though as a #3 WR). 2002: 19. Ashley Lelie - Broncos --> Bust (with one good season over 1k in 2004). 20. Javon Walker - Packers --> Debatable. Injuries fucked him... had 3 very good years (Favre). 2001: 25. Freddie Mitchell - Eagles --> Bust 30. Reggie Wayne - Colts --> Great career (P. Manning) 2000: 21. Sylvester Morris - Chiefs --> Bust 29. R. Jay Soward - Jaguars --> Bust So that sums up to 7 hits (3 in 2009 alone), 10 busts, 1 guy who's had his career fucked up by injuries & 3 who still have everything to prove (Gonzalez because of injuries, Meachem from a production standpoint and Britt in terms of work ethic). At best it's 50-50... although the 2009 draft showed teams are getting better in not drafting thugs and druggies in rd 1. 2010 & 2011 look promising in terms of talent... some questions about maturity & injuries... PS Intersting that all the guys that are looking good have some pretty good QBs throwing it to them.
Anthony Gonzalez is not a bust. He was doing quite well (aided by catching passes from Manning, of course) until the injuries.
Javon Walker? Yeah, injuries cut his career short but he's not the only guy like that on the list. Sylvester Morris had a very nice rookie season but was never able to play again due to injuries. I hate using the term "bust" on such a player. He was good when he played. It's not as if Morris was like R. Jay Soward or Ryan Leaf or Vernon Gholston. Those guys all sucked when they played. Morris did not suck when he played.
^ While Javon Walker suffered a ton of injuries, his career fell off when Darrent Williams bled to death in his arms. That really screwed him up.
Mambo... Roddy White's had a "great" career, but Santonio Holmes has only had a "good" career ??? C'mon, son.
Obviously it's because Roddy White gets to play with god's gift to football Matt Ryan, while Holmes has been held back by bottom feeders like Roethlisberger and Sanchez.
Alot of people seem to forget this. From what ive heard they were really close friends. Its unfortunate he had to go through that, and even more unfortunate that Darrent Williams life and career were tragically cut short. I think that Williams had a shot to be a top-tier cornerback in this league. It sucks that we will never get to see the likes of players like Williams or Sean Taylor take the field again. In terms of Javon Walker, I remember him saying how he should have gotten hit by the bullet, and ontop of that he was sitting right next to Darrent Williams, and supposedly Walker started the problems to begin with. I could only imagine what goes through his head at night.
We're discussing careers and not talent. Roddy White: 4 1000 yds seasons 40 TDs 3 Pro Bowls & 1 All Pro Santonio Holmes: 1 1000 yd season 29 TDs In terms of career White clearly has the best one. Holmes has excuses (always on run first teams for example) and might even be the better player... but I'm discussing numbers here, not talent. Also Holmes has that great SB catch but the Steelers got there not because of him but mainly because of a great D... one great catch doesn't change my opinion that White has had more success than Holmes.
...figured you'd use Pro Bowls as a talent measuring stick. White's played in 109 games. He mediocre for two years. Holmes has played in 79 games. He's been consistent. They're both very good receivers, but saying one is great and the other isn't is wrong. ...especially when neither is great.
You know I hate Pro Bowls as much as anyone in here... but since it served my purpose why not throw it in there ? That said I think up to now White has had a very very good career (personal, not team-wise) while Holmes is having a good one. I'm not disliking one or the other... just giving an opinion based on stats and general public perception. PS White has played in 103 regular season games, 2 seasons with the old Vick completing 53-55% of his passes (2005-2006), one with Harrington (2007) and one with Matt Ryan (2008) as a rookie. Holmes has consistenly been on good teams with competent QBs.
The old Vick? Back in those days, Vick was the scariest player in the game. I don't give a shit what his completion percentage was. You're acting like he was bad in '05 and '06.
