Dan Breen treats us to his list of top ten worst picks the Jets have made … and when I say ‘treats’ I mean ‘tortures’ … let’s just pray that we don’t have to make room for anyone from the 2008 class …

Here’s my personal list of Jet draft disasters since the 1970 merger. There are some famous names – Browning Nagle, Ken O’Brien, Johnny Mitchell, Roger Vick – missing from the list. However, those players generally made a contribution of some sort during their careers, and the “opportunity cost” of those selections – i.e., the players that might have been picked instead – was not, in my view, as great as for the players below. I’ve also spent more time than most on the second round, since the Jets record during that round has been absolutely horrendous. How about four players in 19 years who never played a game for the team, three of whom were lost without compensation? Arrgggh.

Anyway, here’s a grim trip down memory lane.

1. Blair Thomas (1990/1st Round/2nd Selection)
As the 1990 draft loomed, opinion around the NFL was virtually unanimous; Blair Thomas, the explosive Penn State RB, would be a star. Despite a more pressing need at LB, the Jets passed up Junior Seau and selected Thomas. Four seasons and 51 games later, he was gone – victimized by a combination of nagging injuries, Bruce Coslet’s RB rotation, and, after a devastating late fumble against the Bears in an infamous Monday night defeat, a loss of confidence from which he never recovered. More painful still for Jet fans, several outstanding RBs – including Rodney Hampton, Barry Foster and all-time NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith – were taken later in the same draft. The bust against whom all Jet busts are measured.

2. Doug Williams (1986/2/49)
Most lists of draft “busts” limit their analysis to the first round. The Jets can certainly compete with the worst of ‘em in that respect; however, the Jets second round history, from roughly 1970-2000, was so consistently abysmal that I think it would be a disservice not to pay homage to the franchise’s utter ineptitude. Of all the horror stories, however, Doug Williams, an OT from Texas A&M, was the worst. Unhappy with his contract offer and, reportedly, with not having been a first-round draft pick, he skipped the post-draft minicamp, briefly held out of training camp, and was waived before ever playing a game. He went on to play 23 games over two seasons as a backup for the Oilers. Meanwhile, the next three picks – Tom Newberry, Pepper Johnson and John Offerdahl – went on to star in the league, as did two high third-round selections, Tom Rathman and Pat Swilling.

3. Ron Faurot (1984/1/15)
The Jets entered the 1983 season with Super Bowl aspirations, but finished with an extremely disappointing 7-9 record. Joe Walton decided that the Jets had gone as far as they could with Richard Todd, and shipped him to New Orleans for the fifteenth pick in the draft. Along with fellow first-rounder Russell Carter (who nearly made this list in his own right), Ron Faurot, a big, blond DE from Arkansas, was expected to revitalize the Jet defense. Uh, not so much. After two uneventful years, he was out of football. Among those left on the board; Louis Lipps and Boomer Esaison, either of whom might’ve been nice to have.

4. Coleman Rudolph (1993/2/36)
A close second to Williams as the most horrific second rounder in Jets history. Rudolph, a DL from Georgia Tech, suffered a knee injury, missed his rookie season, and was waived three games into his second year without ever having suited up for a game. The most painful aspect of this disaster; Chad Brown, Natrone Means, and a little-known DE from Texas Southern were left on the board. He went four picks later, and you might’ve heard of him… Michael Strahan.

5. Anthony Davis (1975/2/37)
A big-time star at USC – perhaps most famous for scoring ten touchdowns against Notre Dame in 1972 and 1974 victories over the Fighting Irish – Davis passed up the NFL for the World Football League, which he led in rushing in 1975. (Doug English, selected by the Lions with the next pick, played 11 years in the NFL and went to three Pro Bowls.) After the WFL folded, Davis joined the CFL before playing with Tampa Bay and Houston in the NFL and finishing his career in the USFL (becoming one of the few players to play in four professional leagues). He joins Williams and Rudolph as second-round picks who never played a single game for the club – an incredible record of ineptitude, when you think about it; 3 premium picks in 19 years who made no contribution whatsoever, and for whom no compensation was received.

6. Johnny (Lam) Jones (1980/1/2)
Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder made a surprising Super Bowl pick at the beginning of the 1980 season; the New York Jets, who had been 8-8 the previous year. His reasoning? The Jet offense, already featuring speed receiver Wesley Walker, had added Johnny “Lam” Jones, a track star who’d been a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. 400-meter relay team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics – the Greek, as I recall, suggested that other teams would need motorcycles to cover such speedsters. Jones had been acquired via a dramatic draft-day trade, when the Jets traded two first-round picks to the 49ers for the second pick in the draft. Bill Walsh selected Earl Cooper and Jim Stuckey, both of whom played key roles for that season’s Super Bowl championship team. As for Jimmy the Greek’s prediction? The Jets went 4-12. Lam Jones never approached stardom (in 1983, “his best season… he started 7 games, played in 14 and was the team’s third-leading receiver”), and was traded to the 49ers in 1985. As for Anthony Munoz, who the Jets might have taken but for the fact that he failed their physical? The only “bust” associated with him is in the Hall of Fame in Canton.

7. Rick Terry (1997/2/31)
Bill Parcells revitalized the Jet franchise during his four years “shopping for the groceries,” but his draft record was decidedly spotty. Dorian Boose was a disappointment, never making a single sack, but at least he lasted for three seasons; while Terry, the first pick in 1997’s second round, only played one season and was waived early in 1998. But the real heartbreak of the Terry pick was the talent that the Jets passed up to select the underachiever; Tiki and Ronde Barber, Corey Dillon and Jake Plummer, among others, were taken later in the second round, and Jason Taylor went to the Dolphins in the third.

8. Reggie Rembert (1994/2/41)
ESPN recently named Alex Van Dyke the 46th biggest bust in NFL history, and Van Dyke, to be sure, was no prize – 25 catches in three years, and a crucial fumble in the 1998 AFC Championship game (and two quality receivers who remain active, Amani Toomer and Muhsin Muhammed, were left on the table as well). Ryan Yarborough was also a huge disappointment as a #2 pick in 1994. But neither, in my humble opinion, represents the worst Jet second-round WR of the 1990s. That dubious honor resides with Reggie Rembert – believed to be a steal on draft day, 1990 – who never signed with the team and was traded to the Bengals for Joe Kelly (LB) and Scott Jones (OT) before opening day. A three-year, thoroughly unmemorable career marred by legal and behavioral problems followed. Later second-round picks such as Keith Sims and Leroy Butler might’ve been nice alternatives…

9. Dave Cadigan (1988/1/8)
Cadigan, a tackle out of USC, enhanced his position by taking steroids – which then-Jet personnel guru Mike Hickey knew before the draft. His six-year Jet career was notable for many things – underachievement and surliness, to name two – but Cadigan never lived up to his billing and left the Jets, unmourned, in 1993. Far harder to bear than Cadigan himself is the list of multi-Pro Bowl players that Hickey left on the board; Michael Irvin, Randall McDaniel, Eric Allen, Jumbo Elliott, Dermontti Dawson, etc., etc….

10. Dewayne Robertson (2003/1/4)
He’s a better player than a lot of the “dishonorable mentions” below. But D-Rob’s career has been a crushing disappointment almost since it was lauched, especially given the high price the Jets paid (two first-round picks, 13 and 22) paid to land the DT. Who could the Jets have drafted had they kept those picks? Say, Troy Polamalu and Larry Johnson. Or Ty Warren and Nick Barnett. Calvin Pace and Nnamdi Asomugha, perhaps? Even at 4, they could have taken Kevin Williams, a dominating DT who went to the Vikings at 9. Oh well. At least they might get a fifth-rounder for him now. If they’re lucky.

Dishonorable Mention: Steve Tannen (1970/1/20); Mike Taylor (1972/1/20); Mark Merrill (1978/2/31); Russell Carter (1984/1/10); Mike Haight (1986/1/22); Roger Vick (1987/1/21); Ryan Yarborough (1994/2/41); Alex Van Dyke (1996/2/31); Dorian Boose (1998/2/57)

Yeesh, I need a drink.

Filed under: Opinion