(04-18-2021, 02:28 PM)TheDuke007 Wrote: Mine was Maurice Jones-Drew.  I hated the selection at the time.  First, I didn't see it as an immediate need.  Although getting older, I thought Fred Taylor would still be good for a couple more years.  That part, I got right.  Taylor was successful during MJD's rookie season and went to the pro-bowl (the only of his career) the following year.  Second, I thought MJD was a reach.  That part I blew.  I looked at the history of short running backs and saw that they had all pretty much failed in the NFL.  The pick was going against history.  However, it ended up that MJD broke history.  He was absolutely wonderful and even today remains the Jaguars best second round pick of all time and there's some good competition for it.  I was dead wrong on MJD's abilities.

On other side, I know there were multiple ones that I liked who turned out bad.  I would probably say Justin Blackmon was the one who I was most excited about who completely busted.  I still think he was extremely talented and would have been a good player.  It was the off the field issues that got to him.

Overall, I feel that I have been more right than wrong.  In regards to some of the ones being mentioned, I did like Taylor, Ramsey and Chark at the time.  With Chark, I remember watching his highlight tape and saw that many passes were being poorly thrown to him.  He would have the defender beat for an easy touchdown, but he had to slow down for an under thrown ball.  He would still make a nice gain, but many of those could have been touchdowns with a properly thrown ball.  In regards to R. Jay Soward, I hated the pick at the time.

I didn't follow MJD in college.  When I saw his measurables, I thought he was a receiving back. 

Man did HE prove me wrong.  The first time he impressed me was actually in pass protection against Pittsburgh, because he hadn't shown much in that preseason.  A Steeler LB came in on the blitz.  MJD squared up and absolutely stoned him.  It wasn't as spectacular as his block on Merriman, but was quite effective none the less.  I think the next game agaisnt Washington, he had some big catches in the passing game.  After that, he was the MJD we grew to love.

In many cases,  fans end up being wrong on players in part because...we're fans.  Sometimes, our desire that the team hits on the pick will cloud our judgment on the player.  I know I try to withhold judgment/predictions to players I've seen pre-draft.  But there are times the team will draft someone I haven't studied, and somewhere over time, the hope will take over.

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