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Biggest Busts of the NFL Draft – #1 Tony Mandarich

By ArtieFufkin

As we continue our countdown to NFL Draft Weekend, I thought it fitting to take a look at one of my favorite aspects of any draft: the BUST.

First off, it’s important to define the term “bust”.  For our purposes here, we’re talking about high-profile college players who went high in the draft and were projected as can’t-miss prospects, but never made it in the pros for one reason or another.  Whether due to injury, inability to make the jump to the next level, or just plain laziness once they got the big payday, there is an ever-growing list of high draft choices who will forever be known as huge piles of wasted talent.  I tend to give guys who suffered an injury right away a pass, and focus more on the flops who simply wasted their golden opportunity.

The fine folks over at NFLMocks.com are currently conducting a Worst Man Drafted Tournament, in honor of March Madness, and it really brings to mind just how many “sure things” have failed miserably once they got to the NFL.  The names – Ryan Leaf, Steve Emtman, Brian Bosworth  & Todd Marinovich, to name a few of the most notable – are forever etched in NFL draft lore.

For me, the definitive NFL Draft bust will forever be Tony Mandarich.  A lot of people will say Ryan Leaf, but with Leaf there was argument over whether he was even the best QB in his draft class (vs Peyton Manning).  A lot of people questioned Leaf’s maturity and intelligence from the beginning.  When Mandarich came out, the opinion was unanimous.  He was the “best OL prospect ever”.  I’ll never forget that 1989 Sports Illustrated with Mandarich – the massive OT from Michigan State – on the cover, declaring him to be the next Anthony Munez, and the safest pick of the draft that year.  The article told tales of Mandarich’s ridiculous seven-meal-a-day diet, and his workouts consisting of insane, Guns ‘n’ Roses-fueled lifting sessions. The term “pancake” was literally invented for him at MSU.  As an undersized sophomore linebacker in high school, I pinned the SI cover to my wall, attempted to mimic his workout routine, and used Mandarich as inspiration to gain size, muscle and meanness on the field.

Mandarich was selected 2nd overall by Green Bay, and was cut after 3 years of a 4 year contract.  The Packers cited a failure to live up to expectations.  Because of his drastic weight loss upon entering the NFL, there was speculation that his success at the collegiate level was fueled by the use of steroids (gasp! shocking!). Compounding the negative stigma is the fact that Barry Sanders was selected right after Mandarich, at No. 3 by the Lions.

But perhaps more interesting to me than the classic busts are the slightly lesser-known ones.  The guys that we, as fans, remember hanging our hopes on after our favorite team picked them, only to be severely let down.  For the Giants, there are names we’ve blocked out of our memories like Cedric Jones (DE Oklahoma – #5 overall) and Derek Brown (TE Notre Dame – #14 overall).  There are so many stories of underachieving or all-too-fragile players – guys like WR Hart Lee Dkyes, DE Demetrius Underwood, WR Charles Rogers & RB Curtis Enis – who haven’t lived up to their potential … it almost seems to make the exercise of draft scouting a big ol’ waste of time.

The more you look at it, you can’t help but wonder if maybe you’re better off having lots of 2nd & 3rd round picks instead of high 1st round choices.  There’s less pressure on the players, less money to pay them, and probably less head cases who were spoiled in college, and fell into the trap of believing their own hype.

Who are some of your most memorable draft busts???