2012 NFL Draft: Elite Prospects with Highest Bust Potential

They sit in the upper echelon of the first round of the NFL draft, posing as sure things but are really nothing more than busts in waiting. 

We all love the NFL draft, the perfect time to sit back and take in every moment to refresh our day dreams for the future of the sport. 

It's hard not to think that every last prospect will live up to their billing, especially those that will go in the top half of the first round. 

Here are our targets that teams should be wary of come draft day. It's hard to classify elite with so many pundits differing on the meaning. 

What we have is a few potential busts that may very well feature in the first half of the first round come next Thursday. 

1. Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M

This seems like easy picking, but his soaring draft stock makes him fair game. The fact is the Dolphins have holes all over their roster, making it impossible to fix them with one draft. 

A slow build makes a prospect like Tannehill a great fit as he can mature slowly on the team, but I have other feelings on the QB. 

The sample size is far too small—started 19 games—and the expectations far too big. Dolphins fans are tired of waiting. 

He has epic bust written all over him.

2. Riley Reiff, OT, Iowa

The intriguing part of the draft for me is the fiction sold by the media and the reality seen by the league. Reiff is as high as the top 10 in many mock drafts, but he may be falling well short of that with league scouts. 

Pro Football Talk's Evan Silva cites NFL expert Russell Lande with this tweet.

"

Per @RussLande, NFL teams aren't as high on Riley Reiff as the media, and Reiff could fall to late 1st or even 2nd rd: bit.ly/HSWY7q

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) April 18, 2012"

It may be time to take Reiff off that pedestal. 

3. Dontari Poe, DT, Memphis

It's amazing what we saw at the combine from this mountain of a man, but we have to temper our expectations. 

After the behemoth known as Dontari Poe tossed up a sub-5 second 40-yard dash and 44 reps in the bench press, the Memphis standout flew up draft boards. 

However, his tape from his college career doesn't nearly illustrate that sort of domination, making a top-15 pick far less valuable than we previously thought.

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