They say it takes about 4 years to really know how a draft works out. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to revisit the 2010 draft and give your team a retroactive grade.
I’ll go first:
Carolina Panthers
Grade: D-
This has to be one of the worst drafts by any team. EVER. So much bad.
Round 1: No pick (traded away for the *privilege *of moving up to draft Everett Brown in 2009)
Round 2: Jimmy Clausen (bust)
Round 3: Brandon LaFell (serviceable WR, no longer on team)
Round 3: Armanti Edwards (huge bust, plus traded away pick for him)
Round 4: Eric Norwood (bust)
Round 5: Greg Hardy (still on team; good player)
Round 6: David Gettis (bust)
Round 6: Jordan Pugh (no longer on team)
Round 6: Tony Pike (bust)
Round 7: RJ Stanford (who?)
Round 7: Robert McClain (no longer on team)
To recap: One player still on roster. One ridiculous trade to move for a guy they took 4 rounds too early. Two QBs who didn’t sniff decency. How Marty Hurney kept his job so long I’ll never understand.
1 23 Bryan Bulaga, OT - starting RT, and very good. Tore ACL and missed last year. B+
2 56 Mike Neal, DE/OLB - 'tweener status still intact. After time on the D-line, he started at OLB last year and picked up 5 sacks, good for 3rd on the team. Still developing, he signed a 2 year contract extension in March and is now a solid, if unspectacular player. B-
3 71 Morgan Burnett, S - Starting FS he’s not lived up to his ball-hawking reputation (0 interceptions last year), but he’s not a huge liability either. Passable safety who, it is hoped, had to cover for bad SS play and will finally take a big step forward this year. Got a contract extension last year, so they still like him as a starter. C+
5 154 Andrew Quarless, TE - An average TE who couldn’t fill Jermichael Finley’s shoes when he was injured (which was tough to do). Signed extension last year and will have the chance to start this year. C.
5 169 Marshall Newhouse, OT - Filled the starter role (not very well) for a couple years. Signed with the Bengals in the offseason. Not a complete washout, but never developed into a starting caliber LT. Still, not bad for a 5th rounder, though I would have preferred Arthur Jones or Reshad Jones here.
6 193 James Starks, RB - Productive when healthy, he could be a starter in the league, but he’s too big an injury risk. Resigned this offseason to back up Eddie Lacy, he’s good value for a sixth rounder. If he could stay healthy, this would be a much higher grade. B-
7 230 C.J. Wilson, DE - rotational guy who left to the Raiders this offseason. Nothing special. C.
Overall: Pretty good draft, but still up in the air. Most of the guys are still with the team and part of a solid, deep roster, but nobody spectacular. Neal and Burnett need to really step it up this year and Bulaga needs to stay healthy and return to form. B+
I nailed it with “my guy” Alterranum Verner, missed on “my guy” Tyson Alualu, and basically made some bad decisions (Dez Bryant, oof!). I did some draft grades that were spot on (Gerald McCoy) and not so much (Jimmy Clausen).
Worth a laugh though, and reminds me just how difficult the draft is.
Round 1: Trent Williams - starting left tackle, 2x Pro Bowler, will anchor OL for a long time.
Round 2: traded to Eagles for Donovan McNabb.
Round 3: forfeited in supplemental draft for Jeremy Jarmon. Played as backup for 2 years, retired from football in 2012.
Round 4: Perry Riley - has developed into a solid player. Backed up London Fletcher, will presumably take Fletcher’s place this upcoming year.
Round 6: Dennis Morris - special teamer, never developed. Currently a free agent with zero interest.
Round 6: traded to Dolphins for the Jason Taylor rental.
Round 7: Terrence Austin - practice squad player. Made the team for 1 season, caught 15 passes for 184 yards and no TDs. Currently a free agent with zero interest.
Round 7: Erik Cook - practice squad player. Was signed to the 53-man roster just as a body to fill Albert Haynesworth’s spot. Started 2 games. Currently a free agent with zero interest.
Round 7: Selvish Capers - practice squad player. Currently playing in the CFL.
Not a great draft by any stretch, but they got a Pro Bowler and a decent, reliable MLB out of it. Recklessly threw away a second rounder on McNabb. The rest may as well have been dudes picked randomly out of the stands.
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The Packers OL never fully recovered from being without Bulaga last year. Hopefully he returns to full strength this year.
Besides Bulaga, the other 2010 rookie who made the biggest impact to the Packers since was UFA Sam Shields, CB, who the Packers signed to a 4 year contract this year when he was due for free agency.
Frank Zombo, LB, was another 2010 UFA who ended up playing a fairly major role on the injury-ravaged defense for the Packers’ Super Bowl XLV team, but he’s since gone to the Chiefs.
I really should have included them. UDFA have been pretty good for the Packers. Seattle’s championship also brought a fair amount of attention to their UDFA program (they give out 12 page brochures!) and I expect many more teams to focus more on UDFA’s.
Hmm, hard call on the Lions, people will probably disagree.
Suh. Hasn’t met his potential for sure and has been a serious head case liability, but overall pretty good. Looking at the first round there isn’t a single player in it who I would consider worth the money the 2nd over all pick was going to get anyway. B
Jahvid Best. Depends on how much you can blame a staff for predicting injuries(I can). Was a very effect playmaker, for the 20 or so games his career lasted. C+
Amari Spievey. Didn’t look horrible in a bad secondary, but is released as a free agent. B-
Jason Fox, completely forgettable. C-
Willie Young, fairly competent for a 7th rounder, in a deep position on the team. Minor head case as expected. A-
7.(Mr Irrelevant)Tim Toone. Had to look him up, Professional practice squad guy. But for a Mr. Irrelevant to make a career of football at all for 3 years is a success. A
New England took Rob Gronkowski in the 2nd and Aaron Hernandez in the 4th. Both are, ah, legendary figures, even if they both have trouble staying on the field nowadays.
Devin McCourty was #1, one of the many Rutgers DB’s Belichick has taken over the years for some reason. A solid performer, good addition but not a #1 in hindsight.
Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Spikes in the 2nd have stayed in the league but never distinguished themselves. Zoltan Mesko in the 5th is an interchangeable punter, didn’t need to use a pick on him but hey, it’s just a 5th.
Other than that, a bunch of warm bodies. Overall, some hits, some misses, but a better than average weekend.
I saw a newspaper graphic recently that showed the team actually has more UFA’s than draftees on the roster.
His durability and health were huge question marks when he came out, and they were absolutely right to do so. And outside of a couple nice games against the Bears, he wasn’t all that impressive to me. For every big play, there were 4 or 5 carries under 3 yards. His rookie season, he had a 3.2 ypc and in only two games the next season did he average over 3.6. Considering they traded up back into the first round to get him, I’d give that pick a D, at best.
St. Louis got Bradford, Saffold, Sims and Hull out of 11 picks and Hoomanawanui and Selvie went on to serviceable stints with NE and Dal, respectively. I would give them a C- overall.
Bradford is a good QB who has never had better than a #3 reciever to throw to and has had to do it behind lines that were like tissue paper sieves. Even then he has never had worse than a 70.5 QB rating for a season and was on a really good track in 2013 before bad O-line play allowed him to go down with the high ankle sprain. He is overpaid by virtue of being in one of the last draft classes before the new CBA, but I would much rather have him over ANY other QB in that draft class and over much of the top 10 from that year.
Saffold has struggled a bit a Tackle, but can really start to shine moving inside to guard.
Sims has done really well contributing to what is now a really solid front 4 and was a steal in the 6th round.
Hull has contriubted well on special teams and a filler LB. Not bad for a 7th round pick who was 1 spot away from being “Mr. Irrelevant”
So many memories. Reid gets credit for the McNabb trade, which was a laugher, but this was also the moment he went off the rails and completely lost it. I’m not sure why I gave him credit for being a team builder when I don’t think he had much authority before 2009/2010 and completely lost it after 2011.
1-13 - Brandon Graham (DE): C-
The Eagles did trade like I said, but not for the guy I thought. Graham gets some credit for being one of the most productive DEs on a per snap basis in recent years. He just can’t find the field. Now the Eagles run a 3-4 and he has no position. Good pick, wrong team/time. Major deduction for trading up but not taking Earl Thomas, who went one pick later and is a stud. Still on the team though, and maybe he gets moved soon for another pick/player because he’s a legit asset to someone else.
2-37 - Nate Allen (S): C-
He showed some flashes his first year, but got injured and hasn’t been the same since. He’s a good player, but probably not a starting quality player. Has to be a bit of a bust based on draft position, but still on the team and probably starting this year (note previous sentence).
3-86 - Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (DE): D+
Head scratcher at the time, he did absolutely nothing for Philly. He’s now a reasonable rotation guy for Tampa, which gets him a little boost.
4-105 Trevard Lindley (CB): F
Lasted a while with the Eagles, getting cut and resigned several times over a few years, but never really got to play. He’s in the CFL now.
4-121 Kennan Clayton (LB): D-
Stuck around a few years, had a tiny bit of rotational value for a while, but got cut and is no longer in the NFL
4-122 Mike Kafka (QB): D
Never could play worth a damn for Philly, but might still have some value as a backup. Still, none of the QBs taken after him could play either. Still in the league, not with the team.
4-125 Clay Harbor (TE): C-
Athletic TE who never found a role on a team with Brent Celek, but has some pass catching value as a second TE. Not with the team, but still in the league. Maybe not for long.
5-134 Ricky Sapp (DE): F (for Fuck this Guy)
Came into the league, got hurt, went on IR, mysteriously left the team and got released. Still in the league amazingly, but not with Philly.
5-159 Riley Cooper (WR): A
Pretty great value here. Starting WR (potentially). Took over for an injured Maclin last season and put up legit numbers (47-835-8 in essentially 11 games). Has good apparent chemistry with Nick Foles, and has good size.
This is tiring, what am I doing?
6-200 Charles Scott (RB): F
Never did anything. I don’t think he lasted a season in the NFL.
7-220 Jamar Chaney (LB): B-
Came in as a rookie and showed some potential. Really excelled in limited action in 2011 and was called one of the top players under 25 in the NFL. Then… just stopped progressing. Didn’t last much longer for Philly, but as a 7th rounder, he was a really good pick for a short time. Still in the league.
7-243 Jeff Owens (DT): F
Honestly don’t remember this guy. I don’t think he played but in one game.
7-244 Kurt Coleman (S): B
Not a great player, but definitely belongs on a roster as a backup. He has a lot of starting experience, has a 3 INT game, but has major flaws that prevent him from being a starting caliber player. No longer with the Eagles, just signed a FA deal with Minnesota.
Overall: Not a great draft, but a hit or two in there later. I just wish they had taken Thomas, freeing up their second round pick for a position other than safety. Then maybe they take a DE in the 2nd instead of the 3rd and get Lamarr Houston or Carlos Dunlap. 2010 and 2011 really sunk this team. Long live Howie Roseman.
