2014 Draft Picks Who Had Bad Rookie Years (and may or may not one day be busts)

1st pick - Jadeveon Clowney - was injured, played in 4 games where he had 0 sacks and 7 tackles then got injured again and had season-ending knee surgery. Might never be the same. Time will tell.

8th pick - Justin Gilbert - played in 14 games, had one interception, and was called out by several members of the team and organization (Dansby and Whitner most notably) for having a poor work ethic and wasting the season.

10th pick - Eric Ebron - played in 12 games, had 23 receptions for 210 yards and 1 TD. Most catches in a game was 4.

11th pick - Taylor Lewan - Started 6 games, active for 11. Couldn't find stats on him, anyone know his PFF grade?

18th pick - Calvin Pryor - 31 tackles, no turnovers. Was benched for missing team meetings.

22nd pick - Johnny Manziel - 143 passing yards, 2 picks, and 39.6 rating. Yikes.

23rd pick - Dee Ford - 1 sack, 3 tackles, and was overdrafted. Oh and this



26th pick - Marcus Smith - Hasn't played, because he's so bad. Was projected for the 3rd round, was taken in the 1st. Terrible pick then that looks even worse now.

30th pick Jimmie Ward - Didn't make much of an impact playing a new position and struggled at times. Then he got hurt and missed a huge part of the season.


Now obviously these guys can turn it around next year, but for now, this is my list of busts. Feel free to add players from other rounds or this one.

I don't like using that word for a first year player or even a second. Bust is more like a permanent label to me. Maybe 2014 first round disappointments?

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

I don't like using that word for a first year player or even a second. Bust is more like a permanent label to me. Maybe 2014 first round disappointments?

Use whatever word you want. The point is these guys didn't meet expectations this season

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
I don't like using that word for a first year player or even a second. Bust is more like a permanent label to me. Maybe 2014 first round disappointments?

This. I ain't even mad about Ward considering he was playing with a broken foot all season long and still managed to show improvement as the season went on. He'll be a good player for the 49ers.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

I don't like using that word for a first year player or even a second. Bust is more like a permanent label to me. Maybe 2014 first round disappointments?

This. I ain't even mad about Ward considering he was playing with a broken foot all season long and still managed to show improvement as the season went on. He'll be a good player for the 49ers.

I agree. I hesitated to put Ward on the list for this reason. I think the people saying he is already a bust are focusing too much on a few bad plays and the Bears game (note that this list is merely talking about this season so I'm not one of them ). Ward was alright, cut him some slack people.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
I don't like using that word for a first year player or even a second. Bust is more like a permanent label to me. Maybe 2014 first round disappointments?

This. I ain't even mad about Ward considering he was playing with a broken foot all season long and still managed to show improvement as the season went on. He'll be a good player for the 49ers.

Agree

LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

What is this, madden?

lol can't we just have a little fun saying that some of the rookies sucked? Is that too much to ask?

Eric Ebrons numbers are very similar to VD rookie numbers.

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:
LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

What is this, madden?

lol can't we just have a little fun saying that some of the rookies sucked? Is that too much to ask?

Rookies and sucked goes together like bacon and eggs. I think any rookie that sniffs the playing field to begin with did a damn fine job

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:
LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

What is this, madden?

lol can't we just have a little fun saying that some of the rookies sucked? Is that too much to ask?

Sucking is one thing being a complete bust is another u think all these dudes u just mentioned above will have careers like Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf seriously. If u are trying to be a funny guy there isn't a need to create a thread just to hate/be a funny guy.

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

What is this, madden?

lol can't we just have a little fun saying that some of the rookies sucked? Is that too much to ask?

Sucking is one thing being a complete bust is another u think all these dudes u just mentioned above will have careers like Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf seriously. If u are trying to be a funny guy there isn't a need to create a thread just to hate/be a funny guy.

Um, I'm not trying to be funny. And bust doesn't mean Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf. A bust can be like AJ Hawk (top 5 pick, average, never great player), Sam Bradford (shown flashes, but always getting hurt and never developed into a star), or Darren McFadden (shown flashes but decimated by injuries).

Also note how I acknowledged all of these guys can turn it around, but for now they're on my "underperforming, 2014 season bust" list. Geez chill out and have some fun ripping players who had bad years lol.

When Jimmie Ward plays he's featured on ESPN, falling down or looking up as a receiver makes the catch.

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:
LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

What is this, madden?

lol can't we just have a little fun saying that some of the rookies sucked? Is that too much to ask?

Sucking is one thing being a complete bust is another u think all these dudes u just mentioned above will have careers like Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf seriously. If u are trying to be a funny guy there isn't a need to create a thread just to hate/be a funny guy.

Um, I'm not trying to be funny. And bust doesn't mean Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf. A bust can be like AJ Hawk (top 5 pick, average, never great player), Sam Bradford (shown flashes, but always getting hurt and never developed into a star), or Darren McFadden (shown flashes but decimated by injuries).

Also note how I acknowledged all of these guys can turn it around, but for now they're on my "underperforming", 2014 season bust" list. Geez chill out and have some fun ripping players who had bad years lol.

U make it seem like every rookie that comes out has to put up rookie seasons like Moss, Sanders or even like Beckam in order to avoid being labeled from ppl like you "a bust". What u should have done was used a word like underperforming instead of using the word bust for a season that isn't quite even over. After i read years i wonder if u even know the sport of football n how it works. LoL

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

Originally posted by LZRD_WZRD:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:

LoL @ this thread



This is stupid in order to officially be a bust u at least have to play a minimum of 3 years depending if u played as a rookie too.

What is this, madden?

lol can't we just have a little fun saying that some of the rookies sucked? Is that too much to ask?

Sucking is one thing being a complete bust is another u think all these dudes u just mentioned above will have careers like Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf seriously. If u are trying to be a funny guy there isn't a need to create a thread just to hate/be a funny guy.

Um, I'm not trying to be funny. And bust doesn't mean Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf. A bust can be like AJ Hawk (top 5 pick, average, never great player), Sam Bradford (shown flashes, but always getting hurt and never developed into a star), or Darren McFadden (shown flashes but decimated by injuries).

Also note how I acknowledged all of these guys can turn it around, but for now they're on my "underperforming", 2014 season bust" list. Geez chill out and have some fun ripping players who had bad years lol.

U make it seem like every rookie that comes out has to put up rookie seasons like Moss, Sanders or even like Beckam in order to avoid being labeled from ppl like you "a bust". What u should have done was used a word like underperforming instead of using the word bust for a season that isn't quite even over. After i read years i wonder if u even know the sport of football n how it works. LoL

In the OP I mentioned 9 players. I gave reasons for them being busts this year, like Marcus Smith not even getting playing time because he is so bad. Note how I left out people like Dennard, Easley, Bortles, James, Shazier etc. who haven't made big impacts at all.

I'm just listing rookies off who I thought had terrible seasons for one reason or another. Chill bro and have some fun mocking the mediocrity of others.