Quote:  What you mentioned brought back memories of the Broncos drafting undersized DT-NT Ted Gregory in Round 1 in 1987.   Gregory never played a regular season or post-season game for the Broncos.   The next year he was traded to the Saints for DT-DE Shawn Knight,  also a 1st Round pick in 1987.   Both players were colossal busts.  It's rare when teams give up on 1st Round picks this quickly but it was justified.  

 

  Another memory brought back was from my youth when listening to Sports Talk show host Pete Franklin on then 3WE 1100 AM radio out of Cleveland,  a station that can be heard at night in 38 states and half of Canada when atmospheric conditions are right.   The call letters now are WTAM.   At least for me,  when Pete Franklin was in Cleveland,  he was the best sports talk host I've ever heard.   Not even close.    Pete Franklin put together an annual Draft Report.   He was pounding the table for the Browns to draft Rulon Jones.   They took RB Charles White instead,  who turned out to be a much better college RB than NFL RB.  Jones went in the 2nd round to the Broncos and was part of teams that denied the Browns a chance at reaching the Super Bowl in AFC Championship games. 

 

 A Casey Hampton type of NT or an in shape Jerry Ball would have made a huge positive difference for those Broncos teams and the Bills teams that fell short 4 straight years in the Bowl.

That 1987 draft is probably the worst draft I've ever seen, followed closely by 2013.

 

If memory serves, Charles White had drug issues in Cleveland.  Actually, the Browns of that era had some horrible luck with drugs during that time with him, Don Rogers, Chip Banks, and Kevin Mack. While Rulon Jones was a good pass rusher, I'm not entirely sure how much he would have helped Cleveland.

 

As to your closing point, Denver and moreso Buffalo would have benefited greatly from a big physical NT like the two you mentioned above.  Ball was an absolute beast when in shape.  He was the one guy I saw dominate Mark Stepnoski.  It is my deepest hope that if the Jaguars should switch to a 3-4, they find a stud NT like the ones you mention here as quickly as humanly possible.

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