If It Looks Like a Bust...: Revisionist History and The NFL Draft

With the second overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals selected Texas’s Leonard Davis. Since that time he’s moved on to Dallas and, as their right guard, has become a two-time Pro Bowl player (2007, 2008) and a second team All-Pro (2007). He is now, arguably, one of the best guards in the NFL.

But that’s not why he was drafted.

Ask any scout, GM, coach, or committed fan and they’ll tell you that you just don’t pick a guard second overall in the draft. Not even Steve Hutchinson (a first team All-Pro in 2007, in case you were wondering) went that high. Whether it’s fair or not, interior offensive linemen don’t go at the top of the draft.

No, “Big Leonard” was drafted at the number two spot to become a dominant left tackle. We cannot forget that he did not do that. It took him three years before the Arizona coaches felt comfortable moving him to left tackle, at which point he was quite underwhelming. In 2007, the long-suffering and desperate Cardinals cut ties with Davis, allowing him to move to Dallas, play guard, and dominate.

But again, lest we forget, Leonard Davis was not drafted to become a really great guard. Just because he’s become a star at that position does not make his selection justifiable. You could therefore argue–and I am arguing–that Leonard Davis was a draft bust. He may have become good at one thing, but that was not the thing people wanted him to be.

Now, I don’t mean to pick on Davis here. Another name that comes to mind is Robert Gallery. Gallery is now a solid-to-borderline-star left guard for the Raiders who could become a Pro Bowl player at the position in the near future. But in case you don’t remember the 2004 Draft, Gallery was rated as the best prospect in the draft at left tackle (again!) and was touted as the second coming of Anthony Muñoz or Jonathan Ogden.

Gallery hasn’t even come close to expectations after being called one of the best offensive lineman prospects ever, a title which historically has some troublesome baggage (see: Mandarich, Tony). Whether Gallery becomes an All-Pro left guard doesn’t change the fact that he was originally supposed to be a dominant left tackle and failed. I’ve read in various sources that Gallery has pretty much shed the “bust” label now that he plays inside. No. No he has not.

Linemen aren’t the only ones to benefit from this kind of kid-gloves, revisionist treatment that so many highly touted draft prospects seem to receive. If you think you know where I might be going with this, go ahead and put your outrage hats on and get ready. Yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Reginald Alfred Bush II.

If Gallery was touted as the second coming of Jonathan Ogden, then before the 2006 NFL Draft Bush was being touted as the second coming of You-Know-Who. In the draft, he fell to–you guessed it–the number two pick overall (at this point that pick seems a bit jinxed, doesn’t it?) and was drafted by the Saints.

He wasn’t just going to run the ball for them. No, he was going to save the city of New Orleans and cause them to rise again from the ashes of Katrina. If you think I’m being melodramatic, you obviously didn’t watch the draft and the post-draft coverage that Reggie Bush got when he arrived in the Big Easy. But so far, his NFL career has been anything but easy.

Bush is a dynamic, multi-purpose threat that can occasionally take your breath away. But is he a starting running back? Surely that’s what you expect to get when you take a tailback at the second overall pick. As far as being the number one backfield option, Bush has disappointed so far in the NFL.

His career yards-per-carry (YPC) average is a frustrating 3.7. That is not a number you expect to get from your number one option; with the release of Deuce McAllister, Bush is widely expected to lose out on a starting opportunity to the originally undrafted Pierre Thomas.

I can understand the argument that Bush is a dynamic player that has the potential for the spectacular whenever he touches the ball…as long as it’s not between the tackles. But starting running backs have to be able to run straight ahead, gain yards, and keep the drive alive instead of simply trying to make the highlight reel.

A similar player to Bush was drafted back in 1994: the incomparable Marshall Faulk. Both ran the 40-yard dash in the low 4.3 range, and both were drafted second overall after a defensive lineman. Faulk immediately made an impact in his rookie year, rushing for 1,282 yards and 11 TD’s (not counting his over 500 yards receiving) and averaging a sterling 4.1 YPC. Bush’s rookie year? 565 yards rushing (though almost 750 yards receiving, I’ll give him that), six touchdowns, and a suspect 3.6 YPC average.

Bush’s rookie year was solid, no doubt, but since that time he has been slowed by injuries and an inability to get the tough yards. Faulk, however, continued to have stellar seasons and was at the center of one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NFL History with the 1999 St. Louis Rams. Bush? He’s helped get the Saints close but he hasn’t proven to be “the guy” quite yet that can help take them to the Promised Land (though, admittedly, the Saints’ main problem is defense).

So does this all make Bush a draft bust also? It’s too early to tell, since his career is still in its nascent stages, but he’s inching ever closer. Now, if he can’t prove to run the ball but becomes a stellar receiver and Devin Hester-esque returning threat then maybe I’ll reconsider. But Reggie Bush was not drafted to become an OK runner. He was drafted to start, a status which is very much in doubt right now.

We always say that hindsight is 20-20, and this no doubt applies to such a difficult enterprise as the amateur draft. However, just because a highly-regarded and highly-drafted player struggles but finds succeed at something else does not mean that he is not a bust.

When you’re selected to do one thing but you can’t do it, that’s a bust.