Who Were The Biggest Busts In Dolphin History??...

[Awsi Dooger]

That was going to be mine...either him or Cecil Collins, who was a bust mainly because Randy Moss was still on the board, but we picked him even though we knew he'd be in jail.:cry:

That's like Retief Goosen on Sunday, strangely so far off it's not even in contention. Cecil Collins was a 5th round pick, Randy Moss taken with the 21st selection in the first round. On top of that, they weren't even in the same year. Moss was picked in '98 and Collins in '99.

It's true we did botch a RB pick in the first round of the Randy Moss draft, but it was John Avery not Cecil Collins. We traded down from 19 to 29 and picked Avery. Moss would have been available at 19.

The recent guys have been named. In the early years there were some notable 1st round flops like Rick Norton, Mike Kadish, Darryl Carlton and Donald Reese.

 

[Al13]

I Would Have To Say...
Bosa
Kummerow
Sammie Smith
Lorenzo Hampton
Troy Stradford
Randell Hill
Eric Green
Ferrell Edmonds
Jackie Shipp
Wanny
-

i disagree with edmonds and randall hill, then hill at least got us troy vincent next year, when we traded him to the cards and got their 7th overall

 

[LtDan]

yatil green for sure

A guy who got injured and never played a regular season down for the Fins can't really be labeled a bust. Had he played and not lived up to expectations, then he could be a bust

 

[CaptainK]

Perfect List

Troy Stratford was a 4th round pick in 1987. He had a damn good rookie year (won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors). Getting anything out of a 4th round pick is a bonus let alone a Rookie of the Year season. Yes, the rest of his career was mediocer to say the least but calling a 4th round pick a bust is not fair...a fourth rounder even making the team is considered a success in my opinion.

Randall Hill was turned into a first round pick (Troy Vincent). Yes, he was a bust but he did'nt bust for us...he was traded for a Pro Bowl corner essentially.

Eric Green was a free agent signing...he was a mega bust but not a "drafted bust".

Ferrell Edmonds was a 3rd rounder. He went to 2 Pro Bowls and had a decent career. Again, calling a third round pick who had a half decent career and went to a few Pro Bowls is unfair in my opinion. Getting production out of a 3rd rounder is great...getting Pro Bowls out of a 3rd rounder is even better.

The All Time Bust list? I'll only list from '84 to 1995. I won't get into the J.J. era because I consider his drafting a success (for the most part). Shula is the one who had the best player in league history and faled for years to surround him with anything.

Only players taken in the first three rounds can be considered busts in my opinion...although even third rounders get a little bit of wiggle room.Take a look at the Don Shula defensive selections....and people wonder why Dan never won a ring.

When you look at this list it makes you wonder why we did'nt go 2-14 every year. We never added any quality young players. It also (in my opinion) makes you realize just how good Dan and the Mark's Brothers really were.

1984: We got nothing out of this draft accept a bad safety (Bud Brown) in the 11th round.
1st: Jackie Shipp LB
2nd: Jay Brophy LB
1985: Yet another poor draft. We did get production out of Ron Davenport and Fuad Reveiz. Little and Moyer never did anything and Hampton showed early flashes but eventually disappeared.
1st: Lorenzo Hampton RB
3rd: George Little DT
3rd: Alex Moyer LB
1986: Trade our #1 for Hugh Green (DAMN it to the Meadowlands turf for tearing up his knee) and got John Offerdahl in the 2nd. Other then that we got nothing accept a reciever who could'nt catch (James Pruitt) and a great special teamer (Reyna Thompson) who did'nt play that way until Parcells got a hold of him.
3rd: T.J. Turner
1987: Other then a good year from Troy Stratford this has to be considered one of the worst drafts in team history. Bosa was always hurt and Graf was just a bad player. The Scott Schwedes selection was the first of MANY attepts by Don Shula to find a third reciever.
1st: John Bosa DT
2nd: Rick Graf LB
2nd: Scott Schwedes WR
1988: I'm not including Jarvis Williams on this list only because he started a few years. I only think he started because we had nothing else...he was'nt any good. Ferrell Edmonds was a productive player, Jeff Cross was a late round steal and Harry Galbreath started a couple of years. Considering the 3 drafts before this one this was a good draft...even though it was bad.
1st: Eric Kummerow LB/DE
1989: Many of you would consider this draft a success because of Louis Oliver. I tend to think differently. Oliver was O.K. for a few years. I don't consider him a great player by any means though...he could'nt cover anybody. Sammie Smith was awful, Jeff Uhlenhake started for a year or two, Stoyo was a dependable kicker for years.
1st: Sammie Smith RB
1990: We got a potential Hall of Fame tackle (Webb) and a multi Pro Bowler at guard (Sims). Scott Mitchell had an o.k. career seeing he was only a 4th rounder. Oglesby was terrible.
3rd: Alfred Oglesby DE
1991:Randall Hill was a bust but he turned into a first round pick so that is a success. Arron Craver was a usable player for a time. Bryan Cox was a steal in the 5th round. Gene Williams started some games at guard.
1st: Randall Hill WR
1992: Perhaps the best draft of this 10 year stretch. Troy Vincent was been a very good player for years (although he walked due to Don Shula's cap mismanagment). Marco Coleman had some good years as well. Larry Webster was a productive player for a few years (not in Miami though) and Dwight Hollier was useful.
2nd: Eddie Blake DT
1993: O.J. McDuffie was a good player. It's too bad he got hurt. Terry Kirby was a good reciever out of the backfiled and was really developing until he got hurt in Minnesota. Ronnie Bradford was alright for a few years (not in Miami though). Chris Gray has started a ton of games in the league.
No busts 1994: Hit and miss. Tim Bowens was defensive rookie of the year and played at a high level for a decade. Tim Ruddy was a decent player for a few years. Sean Hill was a decent special teamer and Brant Boyer is still in the league. Aubrey Beavers was just straight up terrible.
2nd: Aubrey Beavers LB
1995: God awful. The only players worth a damn we drafted did'nt play well for us. Norman Hand was a very good defensive tackle for a while and Pete Mitchell was a useful tight end for awhile. Andrew Greene and Billy Milner could be the 2 worst draft picks in team history.
1st: Billy Milner OT
2nd: Andrew Greene OG

Perfect list. You found players that others had forgotten - for good reason. Beavers, Millner, Greene especially. Anyone remember Brophy in the Super Bowl against San Franciso? He is still trying to chase down Roger Craig.

 

[MarinoFAN13]

A.J Feeley....

let the flaming begin :tongue:

 

[CrunchTime]

Several of the names mentioned were disappointments or were injury prone but were not really busts.Kumerow and Milner were busts.

 

[dolphinsjayshaw]

Ricky Williams - no, he was not a bust while he played, but when you look at negative impact this guy has to be on the list somewhere. Hopefully he'll make up for it this year :)

 

[DolfanISS]

A guy who got injured and never played a regular season down for the Fins can't really be labeled a bust. Had he played and not lived up to expectations, then he could be a bust

He did play in 1999 and wasn't anything to right home to Mom about. he almost had a 100 yard game on Thanksgiving in Dallas but that's it. Word is as well as being fragile he was not too smart and couldn't learn the playbook. He's a bust without a doubt.

 

[Dphins4me]

1987: Other then a good year from Troy Stratford this has to be considered one of the worst drafts in team history. Bosa was always hurt and Graf was just a bad player. The Scott Schwedes selection was the first of MANY attepts by Don Shula to find a third reciever.
1st: John Bosa DT
2nd: Rick Graf LB
2nd: Scott Schwedes WR

Nice work. I do want to address a couple of things. First the '87 draft as a whole was a horrible draft. Just check out the 1st Rd. Only 2 out of the top 7 amounted to anything. Most were out of the league in a couple of years. Didn't Fullwood come to Miami and get cut prior to something like the '90 season?

Vinny Testaverde QB Miami
2 Indianapolis Cornelius Bennett OLB Alabama
3 Houston Alonzo Highsmith RB Miami
4 Green Bay Brent Fullwood RB Auburn
5 Cleveland Mike Junkin ILB Duke
6 St. Louis Kelly Stouffer QB Colorado State
7 Detroit Reggie Rogers DE Washington
8 Buffalo Shane Conlan MLB Penn State
9 Philadelphia Jerome Brown DT Miami
10 Pittsburgh Rod Woodson FS Purdue
11 New Orleans Shawn Knight NT Brigham Young
12 Dallas Danny Noonan DT Nebraska
13 Atlanta Chris Miller QB Oregon
14 Minnesota D.J. Dozier RB Penn State
15 L.A. Raiders John Clay T Missouri
16 Miami John Bosa DE Boston College
17 Cincinnati Jason Buck DE Brigham Young
18 Seattle Tony Woods DE Pittsburgh
19 Kansas City Paul Palmer RB Temple
20 Houston Haywood Jeffires WR North Carolina State
21 N.Y. Jets Roger Vick RB Texas A&M
22 San Francisco Harris Barton T North Carolina
23 New England Bruce Armstrong T Louisville
24 San Diego Rod Bernstine RB Texas A&M
25 San Francisco Terrence Flagler RB Clemson
26 Chicago Jim Harbaugh QB Michigan
27 Denver Ricky Nattiel WR Florida
28 N.Y. Giants Mark Ingram

Very few players in that draft ever amounted to anything. Also Bosa messed his knee up, so you cannot forsee injuries. I do not rate him as a bust because I think he would have been a solid player considering the talent level of that draft.

1995: God awful. The only players worth a damn we drafted did'nt play well for us. Norman Hand was a very good defensive tackle for a while and Pete Mitchell was a useful tight end for awhile. Andrew Greene and Billy Milner could be the 2 worst draft picks in team history.
1st: Billy Milner OT
2nd: Andrew Greene OG

I also disagree with Milner being one of the worst. He played very well in '95 as a rookie. JJ turned him into Troy Drayton the following year because Milner was more of a pass blocker than run blocker & JJ had signed James Brown to fill that need. Milner then hurt his neck in St. Louis & his career was done. Greene was overage when Miami drafted him & I agree he was a terrible pick.

 

[Dphins4me]

A guy who got injured and never played a regular season down for the Fins can't really be labeled a bust. Had he played and not lived up to expectations, then he could be a bust

Yatil did play a few games for Miami in '99. He caught 18 passes that year.

I hate to think what might have been. Again I disagree with people who label a new injury to a player as him being a bust. Injuries happen in the NFL & Yatils knees had been fine until his arrival in Miami.

 

[Dphins4me]

Fortunately, Milner only lasted a year in Miami before being traded to the Rams in a deal that netted the Phins a pretty damn good TE (Drayton). Milner was out of football the next season, but at least the Dolphins were able to get something out of him.

Milner was out of football because of a neck injury, not because of his play.

The changing of coaches from Shula who wanted to protect Marino to JJ who wanted to pound the ball changed the course of his career. Milner was not a run blocker and that is what JJ wanted & needed.

 

[Dolfan4life!]

Didn't see anyone calling out JJ Johnson, He didn't do very much, another one of Jimmy's "great RB" draft picks.

 

[Gadsden86]

john avery yatil green, jamar fletcher, r. hill

 

[NYNCDOLFAN]

Yatil Green

 

[finmann]

Cecil Collins/Yatil Green