The NFL Draft is tomorrow and I thought it would be fun to look back and compile the worst fantasy football team comprised of just Top 10 picks of the last 10 years. This squad will fill the following positions: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, Flex (QB/RB/WR/TE). No kickers were drafted in the top 10 so they were not included.
QB- Jamarcus Russell, #1 overall pick, Oakland Raiders in 2007
This was the hardest selection of all because of the extreme level of crappiness of some of the quarterbacks drafted in the top 10. It would seem like Russell is the obvious choice but it wasn’t that easy. Russell was putrid for only three years before he was out of the league. Would you rather have someone who is horrible and then off your team quickly (therefore they can’t do any more damage) or someone like Joey Harrington who managed to start 76 games and deliver a 26-50 record? Russell compiled a 7-18 record as a starter and his best season was in 08′ when he went 5-10, threw for 2423 yards, 13 TD’s and 8 INT’s (that’s right, more TD’s to INT’s). Unfortunately for Raiders fans he followed that up by going 2-7, threw for 1287 yards (which is just 143 yards per game started), 3 TD’s to 11 INT’s. Throw in some Purple Drank and Russell was out of the league. On his Twitter profile it says “Misunderstood”. That must mean “I misunderstood that you actually had to try in the NFL”.
RB- Ronnie Brown, #2 overall pick, Miami Dolphins in 2005
There weren’t a lot of options to choose from for running backs as very few were drafted in the top 10 (only seven) and of those two were Adrian Peterson and Darren McFadden. When the Dolphins selected Brown I’m guessing they were hoping to get more than one season with 1000+ yards (2006, he had 1008) or 10+ touchdowns (2008, he had 10). He has showed promise at times but has never been able to consistently deliver (sort of like Charlie Villanueva). His career has been more like one of a second running back than the second overall pick. Since 2006 he has only rushed for more than 750 yards in a season once and has only started 13 or more games twice.
RB- Cadillac Williams, #5 overall pick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005
The 2005 draft was the only in the last 10 years that had more than one running back selected in the first ten picks (there were three, Cedric Benson to the Chicago Bears was the other). Cadillac’s career started off strong as he rushed for 1178 yards and 6 TD’s in 14 starts as he won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He followed that stellar season up with a Ronnie Brown like season where he ran for only 798 yards and 1 TD in 14 starts. He was injured each of the next two seasons and was never the same. Since his rookie year he has never rushed for more than 4 TD’s and only once (2009) did he run for more than 800 yards.
WR- Charles Rogers, #2 overall pick, Detroit Lions in 2003
The problem with Chuck Rogers is that he got injured too often and was a head case. In terms of talent the dude had the potential to be awesome. He caught 22 passes for 243 yards and three TD’s in his first five games before he went down. Once that first injury happened it was like his bones were made out of Wheat Thins because a soft breeze would knock him out. He ended up only starting nine games in his career over three seasons. He has one more illegitimate child (5) than he did career TD’s (4). Recently he threatened to kill his mom.
WR- Troy Williamson, #7 overall pick, Minnesota Vikings in 2005
There was a log jam for the second WR spot as there have been numerous awful WR’s drafted in the Top 10 in the last ten years. It must have something to do with the name “Williams” because all three of the players I considered (Reggie Williams, Mike Williams, Troy Williamson) have that in their last name. Troy Williamson was drafted because he’s fast. Unfortunately for the Vikings his hands were made of stone and he couldn’t hold on to anything. In 06′ he was second in the NFL with 11 dropped passes and in 07′ he dropped two huge passes in the final game of the season that led to him being cut. Over his entire career he never reached 500+ yards receiving in a season and only once caught more than one TD (that was his rookie year where he had two). A low point of his career (which is a high point for us) is when he said that he wanted to “duke it out” with ex-Vikings coach Brad Childress. If only there were more player/coach fights in sports.
Side Note: Before this season it looked like Darrius Heward-Bey was going to be the new Troy Williamson but he shed that label by having a decent season (975 yards and 4 TD’s).
TE- Vernon Davis, #6 overall, San Francisco 49ers in 2006
There were only two tight ends drafted in the top 10 so my only other option was “The Soldier” Kellen Winslow Jr. Vernon Davis seems like he is better than Winslow but when you look at the numbers you see that he isn’t. Winslow got injured in his rookie season so that wiped out two years. Because of that you can evaluate these two players starting in 2006 (which was Davis rookie season). Both players have gone to one Pro Bowl (Winslow in 07, Davis in 09), Davis has scored more career TD’s (35 to 23) but Winslow has smoked him in receptions (437 to 304) and yards (4836 to 3803). Only once since 2006 has Winslow caught fewer than 66 balls in a season (that was 2008 where he only played in 10 games because of injury). Davis, on the other hand, has only caught 66 or more balls twice in his career. Give me consistent play over TD’s any day.
Flex- Matt Leinart, #10 overall, Arizona Cardinals in 2006
I like having the option of throwing a QB at flex because when a QB is a bust he bring a whole new level of crappiness to your team. Matt Leinart is no exception as he only has 18 career starts over his five year career, going 8-10 over that span. The thing with Leinart is that he’s so bad he can’t even get on the field. At least David Carr was good enough to beat out Tony Banks. Carr was horrible because he had zero offensive line and had about 1.3 seconds to throw the ball. If you were to put him on the Denver Broncos I’m sure he would have been fine. Leinart can’t use that as an excuse as 68 year old Kurt Warner came in and lit it up with that same Cardinals team. Luckily for Leinart he can always fall back on his party scene credentials. Note: despite not being a good QB it would not suck to be Matt Leinart.
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