Falling down in the draft
The first Bears draft pick that I remember was Walter Payton, and here's the way things were in the South in 1975 -- despite the excitement about our new rookie HB, I had to wait until 1976 just to see him play.
We wouldn't be good for a while yet, but the selection of Payton in 1975 was the beginning of a golden age of Bears scouting and drafting that would continue through the selection of RB Neal Anderson in 1986.
Hits
RB Walter Payton, Jackson State, 1975. Simply the greatest Bear of all time.
DE/DT Dan Hampton, Arkansas, 1979. Another Hall of Famer.
DE/OLB Al Harris, Arizona State, 1979. Great pass rusher who sat out the 1985 season in a contract dispute. That gaffe tarnished what was otherwise a very good career.
OLB Otis Wilson, Louisville, 1980. He struggled for the first four years, but once the lights went on in 1984 he was a lights-out, Pro-Bowl star.
RT Keith Van Horne, USC, 1981. Though he wasn't a Top 10 pick, Van Horne (No. 11) was as close to a sure thing as you're likely to see. He was always good, and occasionally great.
QB Jim McMahon, Brigham Young, 1982. He was hurt entirely too much, but a great QB nonetheless.
LT Jim Covert, Pittsburgh, 1983. Back injures shortened his career, but Covert was likely the greatest LT in franchise history.
WR Willie Gault, Tennessee, 1983. Twelve picks after snagging Covert, the Bears got a rare specimen in this Olympic sprinter. Though not a complete player, Gault's talents were so extreme that he changed games simply by stepping on the field.
DT William Perry, Clemson, 1985. Perry was more of a novelty than a true defensive star his rookie season, but he was a productive, disruptive player for much of his career.
RB Neal Anderson, Florida, 1986. Chicago scored with the last pick in the first round, with Anderson ably replacing Payton after his retirement.
Acceptable
OT Ted Albrecht, California, 1977. Albrecht was a better than average starting tackle for several years and was part of a young offensive unit that sprung Payton for some of his best seasons.
Disappointments
OT Dennis Lick, Wisconsin, 1976. Injuries kept him from meeting his considerable potential.
Busts
Trading the team's No. 1 pick to Cleveland for Mike Phipps, 1978. The front office hoped it was acquiring a veteran leader to spark the Bears' Payton-led offense, but Phipps was so mediocre he struggled to replace gritty Bob Avelini.
Since then, though, the Bears have missed more than they've hit. Take a look at their first-round picks since 1987...
Hits
MLB Brian Urlacher, New Mexico, 2000. Drafted as a weakside disrupter, Urlacher struggled at the position until injuries moved him into the starting MLB role his rookie season. He'll ultimately be remembered as one of the top five greatest Bear linebackers.
DT Tommie Harris, Oklahoma, 2004. Though his health has been a bit spotty, Harris is one of the most athletic DTs in the NFL and a mid-round steal.
Acceptable
RB/FB Brad Muster, Stanford, 1988. For a while it looked like the Muster/Anderson combo would provide a classic NFL rushing attack. Today, Muster looks like one of the last true rushing fullbacks in NFL history. He was a solid and interesting player, but never rose to greatness before departing in free agency.
WR Wendell Davis, Louisiana State, 1988. Another late-in-the-round pick, Davis had a few decent seasons before blowing up both his knees on a single play in Philadelphia.
CB Donnell Woolford, Clemson, 1989. The Bears hoped they'd solved their CB issues with Woolford, but he was never more than a functional journeyman.
DE Trace Armstrong, Florida, 1989. Armstrong was a better player after he left Chicago, but he was a valuable -- though not stellar -- contributor before hitting the road as a free agent.
S Mark Carrier, Southern California, 1990. If you only looked at Carrier's rookie season, you'd think you'd found a great one, but unfortunately time went on. The Bears drafted Carrier No. 6 when the safety agreed before the draft to a contract, and he immediately rewarded the team with 10 interceptions and the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. He played in three Pro Bowls, but basically went downhill from his rookie season and left as soon as he was eligible for free agency.
WR Curtis Conway, Southern California, 1993. The Bears drafted Conway ahead of OT Willie Roaf and RB Jerome Bettis.. Conway is one of only a few Bears receivers to notch a thousand-yard, 10-touchdown season, but most fans felt he never really lived up to his potential.
CB Walt Harris, Mississippi State, 1996. Chicago actually traded up to get Harris, who played journeyman ball and never seemed to realize his full talent. Harris left in free agency and made the Pro Bowl in 2006 after having a career year for the 49ers.
QB Rex Grossman, Florida, 2003. Though ridiculously maligned, Grossman's stats speak for themselves. He has a winning record as a starter, a Super Bowl on his resume, and turned in one of the top three statistical seasons in franchise history in 2006. Whether he returns with a new contract in 2008 remains to be seen.
TE Greg Olsen, Miami, 2007. Fans pestered Jerry Angelo to draft a tight end in 2005 and 2006, but Olsen looks like he was worth the wait. Considered a Top 15 talent by most scouts, Olsen dropped to the second-to-last pick in the round, then turned in a good rookie season. His standing could easily rise to the "Hit" level.
Disappointments
QB Jim Harbaugh, Michigan, 1987. The 1987 draft was perhaps the weakest in modern history, and in retrospect, Harbaugh was probably one of the better first-round picks. He played well enough to earn a hefty contract extension, then immediately slumped his way into an ignominious release. Strangely enough, Harbaugh enjoyed a magical season with the Colts late in his career, earning himself the nickname "Captain Comeback." The moniker didn't apply to his Bears career, where he is best remembered as the recipient of Mike Ditka's infamous Metrodome sideline meltdown.
OT Marc Colombo, Boston College, 2002. Jerry Angelo came to Chicago with a reputation for drafting linemen, and the team's fluke 13-win season in 2001 gave him a chance to chase one late in Round No. 1. Colombo was a big, non-athletic, "mean-spirited" tackle with a borderline first-round grade, and he didn't start until late in his rookie season. He immediately suffered a career-threatening knee injury, and then spent several years rehabbing. The Bears were eventually forced to cut him, an act that Colombo saw as a betrayal. The big ugly dude went on to start for the Dallas Cowboys, but few NFL observers would grade him as anything above the journeyman level. Had that freakish injury not occurred, Colombo might have been a decent right tackle in Chicago.
2006 trade down and out of the round. When WR Santonio Holmes went ahead of Chicago's No. 26 pick, Angelo traded down from the spot, picking up a No. 2 and a No. 3 from Buffalo. The two players acquired in that deal -- S Danieal Manning and DT Dusty Dvorcek -- are still developing players, but neither has proven himself as an NFL starter going into their third season. Both should be starters in 2008, and could improve this ranking. By contrast, Chicago's second pick in the second round -- WR/CB/KR/PR Devin Hester -- is now the team's undisputed star.
Busts
RT Stan Thomas, Texas, 1991. A massive mauler who looked more like a guard than a tackle, Thomas was supposedly "raw but mean" coming out of college. He was a disaster as a pro, heralding a era of mediocre offensive line play.
DE Alonzo Spellman, Ohio State, 1992. He was a physical monster, but Spellman lacked one key attribute: sanity. The guy was absolutely fucking nuts, and not in a good way.
RB Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, 1995. The Heisman Trophy winner rushed for 1,000 yards his rookie season, but fumbling and pot-smoking ruined his career almost immediately.
DE John Thierry, Alcorn State, 1994. You know the scouting insult, "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane?" It was based on this guy.
1997, First rounder traded for Rick Mirer. Mirer flashed a bright future his rookie season in Seattle, but his star faded rapidly. Dave Wannstadt figured all the Golden Domer needed was a change of scenery. Whoops.
RB Curtis Enis, Penn State, 1998. Other teams wanted the pick and were offering nice packages for it, but Mark Hadley refused to budge or consider moving down to take Fred Taylor. In a telling display of pig-headed douchebaggery, Hadley picked Enis, who instantly revealed himself to be a major headcase. A true disaster.
QB Cade McNown, UCLA, 1999. This is probably the Bears' worst pick of the modern era, and that's really saying something. Not only did the Bears trade down from the No. 6 pick (passing up on CB Champ Bailey in the process) to get McNown, they gave up their shot at Daunte Culpepper, too. Making matters worse, the front office talked about how much they preferred McNown to the other available QBs, praising his "readiness" for the pro game, gloating about how they thought they'd gotten be best of the 1999 QB class. Thing was, McNown was clearly a punk in college, lacked arm strength, and couldn't lead ants to sugar water. His selection not only set the franchise back three years, it also revealed the height of the organization's arrogance and ineptitude, paving the way for the hiring of Jerry Angelo.
WR David Terrell, Michigan, 2001. Selecting Urlacher in 2000 broke the Bears' unbroken string of stunning fuckups. Picking Terrell in 2001 put them right back on the short bus. Though considered something of a can't-miss prospect by scouts, Terrell didn't fit the Bears offensive scheme and could crack the starting lineup. Though he occasionally flirted with adequacy, Terrell was a massive failure as a player. How much of his trouble was the result of playing for bizarro offensive coordinators Gary Crowton and John Shoop? A goodly portion, no doubt.
DE Michael Haynes, Penn State, 2003. Angelo's decision to trade down from the No. 4 slot had a lot more to do with drafting QB Rex Grossman than it did anything else, which meant the team's first pick in the draft was sort of an afterthought from the get-go. Haynes was a likeable character who made a few memorable plays, but he underachieved in a major way and will always be remembered as That Guy We Drafted Instead of Troy Polamalu.
RB Cedric Benson, Texas, 2005. I will never forget how my joy at the selection of this talented back turned to revulsion and sick horror only minutes after the pick was announced. Benson sat down with an interviewer and proceeded to give one of the worst interviews in the history of draft day, revealing himself as a flaky, self-centered, overly dramatic head-case. He followed this up with a camp holdout, a wasted rookie season, and an injury. In his second season he lost his starting job, feuded with his teammates, played effectively in relief and got knocked out of the Super Bowl with an injury. Finally cleared as the full-time starter in Year No. 3, Benson struggled behind an ineffective offensive line and failed to do anything of substance with his opportunity, averaging a measly 3.4 yards per carry and scoring only four times before exiting with yet another injury. It is unlikely Benson will ever reach his potential in Chicago.
Which leads us to this chart:
1997
We Picked: Trade No. 6 pick for QB Rick Mirer
We could have picked: LT Walter Jones, the Seahawks All Pro, who they selected with our pick.
1998:
We picked: Curtis Enis
We could have picked: RB Fred Taylor, LB Keith Brooking, LB Takeo Spikes, WR Randy Moss, G Alan Faneca.
1999:
We picked: QB Cade McNown
We could have picked: OT John Tait.
2000:
We picked: MLB Brian Urlacher
We could have picked: Nailed it. We got the best player in the draft.
2001:
We picked: WR David Terrell
We could have picked: G Steve Hutchinson, NT Casey Hampton,
2002:
We picked: OT Marc Columbo
We could have picked: DE Kalimba Edwards
2003:
We picked: DE Michael Haynes, QB Rex Grossman
We could have picked: S Troy Polamalu
2004:
We picked: DT Tommie Harris
We could have picked: DT Tommie Harris
2005
We picked: RB Cedric Benson
We could have picked: DE Shawn Merriman
Giving us this lineup in 2007...
LT Walter Jones
LG Steve Hutchinson
C Olin Kruetz
RG Roberto Garza
RT John Tait
TE Greg Olsen
WR Bernard Berrian
WR Muhsin Muhammad
FB Jason McKie
RB Fred Taylor
DE Shawn Merriman
DT Tommie Harris
DT Dusty Dvorcek
DE Wale Ugunleye
LB Hunter Hillenmeyer
MLB Brian Urlacher
LB Lance Briggs
CB Charles Tillman
CB Nathan Vasher
S Troy Polamalu
S Mike Brown
We wouldn't be good for a while yet, but the selection of Payton in 1975 was the beginning of a golden age of Bears scouting and drafting that would continue through the selection of RB Neal Anderson in 1986.
Hits
RB Walter Payton, Jackson State, 1975. Simply the greatest Bear of all time.
DE/DT Dan Hampton, Arkansas, 1979. Another Hall of Famer.
DE/OLB Al Harris, Arizona State, 1979. Great pass rusher who sat out the 1985 season in a contract dispute. That gaffe tarnished what was otherwise a very good career.
OLB Otis Wilson, Louisville, 1980. He struggled for the first four years, but once the lights went on in 1984 he was a lights-out, Pro-Bowl star.
RT Keith Van Horne, USC, 1981. Though he wasn't a Top 10 pick, Van Horne (No. 11) was as close to a sure thing as you're likely to see. He was always good, and occasionally great.
QB Jim McMahon, Brigham Young, 1982. He was hurt entirely too much, but a great QB nonetheless.
LT Jim Covert, Pittsburgh, 1983. Back injures shortened his career, but Covert was likely the greatest LT in franchise history.
WR Willie Gault, Tennessee, 1983. Twelve picks after snagging Covert, the Bears got a rare specimen in this Olympic sprinter. Though not a complete player, Gault's talents were so extreme that he changed games simply by stepping on the field.
DT William Perry, Clemson, 1985. Perry was more of a novelty than a true defensive star his rookie season, but he was a productive, disruptive player for much of his career.
RB Neal Anderson, Florida, 1986. Chicago scored with the last pick in the first round, with Anderson ably replacing Payton after his retirement.
Acceptable
OT Ted Albrecht, California, 1977. Albrecht was a better than average starting tackle for several years and was part of a young offensive unit that sprung Payton for some of his best seasons.
Disappointments
OT Dennis Lick, Wisconsin, 1976. Injuries kept him from meeting his considerable potential.
Busts
Trading the team's No. 1 pick to Cleveland for Mike Phipps, 1978. The front office hoped it was acquiring a veteran leader to spark the Bears' Payton-led offense, but Phipps was so mediocre he struggled to replace gritty Bob Avelini.
Since then, though, the Bears have missed more than they've hit. Take a look at their first-round picks since 1987...
Hits
MLB Brian Urlacher, New Mexico, 2000. Drafted as a weakside disrupter, Urlacher struggled at the position until injuries moved him into the starting MLB role his rookie season. He'll ultimately be remembered as one of the top five greatest Bear linebackers.
DT Tommie Harris, Oklahoma, 2004. Though his health has been a bit spotty, Harris is one of the most athletic DTs in the NFL and a mid-round steal.
Acceptable
RB/FB Brad Muster, Stanford, 1988. For a while it looked like the Muster/Anderson combo would provide a classic NFL rushing attack. Today, Muster looks like one of the last true rushing fullbacks in NFL history. He was a solid and interesting player, but never rose to greatness before departing in free agency.
WR Wendell Davis, Louisiana State, 1988. Another late-in-the-round pick, Davis had a few decent seasons before blowing up both his knees on a single play in Philadelphia.
CB Donnell Woolford, Clemson, 1989. The Bears hoped they'd solved their CB issues with Woolford, but he was never more than a functional journeyman.
DE Trace Armstrong, Florida, 1989. Armstrong was a better player after he left Chicago, but he was a valuable -- though not stellar -- contributor before hitting the road as a free agent.
S Mark Carrier, Southern California, 1990. If you only looked at Carrier's rookie season, you'd think you'd found a great one, but unfortunately time went on. The Bears drafted Carrier No. 6 when the safety agreed before the draft to a contract, and he immediately rewarded the team with 10 interceptions and the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. He played in three Pro Bowls, but basically went downhill from his rookie season and left as soon as he was eligible for free agency.
WR Curtis Conway, Southern California, 1993. The Bears drafted Conway ahead of OT Willie Roaf and RB Jerome Bettis.. Conway is one of only a few Bears receivers to notch a thousand-yard, 10-touchdown season, but most fans felt he never really lived up to his potential.
CB Walt Harris, Mississippi State, 1996. Chicago actually traded up to get Harris, who played journeyman ball and never seemed to realize his full talent. Harris left in free agency and made the Pro Bowl in 2006 after having a career year for the 49ers.
QB Rex Grossman, Florida, 2003. Though ridiculously maligned, Grossman's stats speak for themselves. He has a winning record as a starter, a Super Bowl on his resume, and turned in one of the top three statistical seasons in franchise history in 2006. Whether he returns with a new contract in 2008 remains to be seen.
TE Greg Olsen, Miami, 2007. Fans pestered Jerry Angelo to draft a tight end in 2005 and 2006, but Olsen looks like he was worth the wait. Considered a Top 15 talent by most scouts, Olsen dropped to the second-to-last pick in the round, then turned in a good rookie season. His standing could easily rise to the "Hit" level.
Disappointments
QB Jim Harbaugh, Michigan, 1987. The 1987 draft was perhaps the weakest in modern history, and in retrospect, Harbaugh was probably one of the better first-round picks. He played well enough to earn a hefty contract extension, then immediately slumped his way into an ignominious release. Strangely enough, Harbaugh enjoyed a magical season with the Colts late in his career, earning himself the nickname "Captain Comeback." The moniker didn't apply to his Bears career, where he is best remembered as the recipient of Mike Ditka's infamous Metrodome sideline meltdown.
OT Marc Colombo, Boston College, 2002. Jerry Angelo came to Chicago with a reputation for drafting linemen, and the team's fluke 13-win season in 2001 gave him a chance to chase one late in Round No. 1. Colombo was a big, non-athletic, "mean-spirited" tackle with a borderline first-round grade, and he didn't start until late in his rookie season. He immediately suffered a career-threatening knee injury, and then spent several years rehabbing. The Bears were eventually forced to cut him, an act that Colombo saw as a betrayal. The big ugly dude went on to start for the Dallas Cowboys, but few NFL observers would grade him as anything above the journeyman level. Had that freakish injury not occurred, Colombo might have been a decent right tackle in Chicago.
2006 trade down and out of the round. When WR Santonio Holmes went ahead of Chicago's No. 26 pick, Angelo traded down from the spot, picking up a No. 2 and a No. 3 from Buffalo. The two players acquired in that deal -- S Danieal Manning and DT Dusty Dvorcek -- are still developing players, but neither has proven himself as an NFL starter going into their third season. Both should be starters in 2008, and could improve this ranking. By contrast, Chicago's second pick in the second round -- WR/CB/KR/PR Devin Hester -- is now the team's undisputed star.
Busts
RT Stan Thomas, Texas, 1991. A massive mauler who looked more like a guard than a tackle, Thomas was supposedly "raw but mean" coming out of college. He was a disaster as a pro, heralding a era of mediocre offensive line play.
DE Alonzo Spellman, Ohio State, 1992. He was a physical monster, but Spellman lacked one key attribute: sanity. The guy was absolutely fucking nuts, and not in a good way.
RB Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, 1995. The Heisman Trophy winner rushed for 1,000 yards his rookie season, but fumbling and pot-smoking ruined his career almost immediately.
DE John Thierry, Alcorn State, 1994. You know the scouting insult, "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane?" It was based on this guy.
1997, First rounder traded for Rick Mirer. Mirer flashed a bright future his rookie season in Seattle, but his star faded rapidly. Dave Wannstadt figured all the Golden Domer needed was a change of scenery. Whoops.
RB Curtis Enis, Penn State, 1998. Other teams wanted the pick and were offering nice packages for it, but Mark Hadley refused to budge or consider moving down to take Fred Taylor. In a telling display of pig-headed douchebaggery, Hadley picked Enis, who instantly revealed himself to be a major headcase. A true disaster.
QB Cade McNown, UCLA, 1999. This is probably the Bears' worst pick of the modern era, and that's really saying something. Not only did the Bears trade down from the No. 6 pick (passing up on CB Champ Bailey in the process) to get McNown, they gave up their shot at Daunte Culpepper, too. Making matters worse, the front office talked about how much they preferred McNown to the other available QBs, praising his "readiness" for the pro game, gloating about how they thought they'd gotten be best of the 1999 QB class. Thing was, McNown was clearly a punk in college, lacked arm strength, and couldn't lead ants to sugar water. His selection not only set the franchise back three years, it also revealed the height of the organization's arrogance and ineptitude, paving the way for the hiring of Jerry Angelo.
WR David Terrell, Michigan, 2001. Selecting Urlacher in 2000 broke the Bears' unbroken string of stunning fuckups. Picking Terrell in 2001 put them right back on the short bus. Though considered something of a can't-miss prospect by scouts, Terrell didn't fit the Bears offensive scheme and could crack the starting lineup. Though he occasionally flirted with adequacy, Terrell was a massive failure as a player. How much of his trouble was the result of playing for bizarro offensive coordinators Gary Crowton and John Shoop? A goodly portion, no doubt.
DE Michael Haynes, Penn State, 2003. Angelo's decision to trade down from the No. 4 slot had a lot more to do with drafting QB Rex Grossman than it did anything else, which meant the team's first pick in the draft was sort of an afterthought from the get-go. Haynes was a likeable character who made a few memorable plays, but he underachieved in a major way and will always be remembered as That Guy We Drafted Instead of Troy Polamalu.
RB Cedric Benson, Texas, 2005. I will never forget how my joy at the selection of this talented back turned to revulsion and sick horror only minutes after the pick was announced. Benson sat down with an interviewer and proceeded to give one of the worst interviews in the history of draft day, revealing himself as a flaky, self-centered, overly dramatic head-case. He followed this up with a camp holdout, a wasted rookie season, and an injury. In his second season he lost his starting job, feuded with his teammates, played effectively in relief and got knocked out of the Super Bowl with an injury. Finally cleared as the full-time starter in Year No. 3, Benson struggled behind an ineffective offensive line and failed to do anything of substance with his opportunity, averaging a measly 3.4 yards per carry and scoring only four times before exiting with yet another injury. It is unlikely Benson will ever reach his potential in Chicago.
Which leads us to this chart:
1997
We Picked: Trade No. 6 pick for QB Rick Mirer
We could have picked: LT Walter Jones, the Seahawks All Pro, who they selected with our pick.
1998:
We picked: Curtis Enis
We could have picked: RB Fred Taylor, LB Keith Brooking, LB Takeo Spikes, WR Randy Moss, G Alan Faneca.
1999:
We picked: QB Cade McNown
We could have picked: OT John Tait.
2000:
We picked: MLB Brian Urlacher
We could have picked: Nailed it. We got the best player in the draft.
2001:
We picked: WR David Terrell
We could have picked: G Steve Hutchinson, NT Casey Hampton,
2002:
We picked: OT Marc Columbo
We could have picked: DE Kalimba Edwards
2003:
We picked: DE Michael Haynes, QB Rex Grossman
We could have picked: S Troy Polamalu
2004:
We picked: DT Tommie Harris
We could have picked: DT Tommie Harris
2005
We picked: RB Cedric Benson
We could have picked: DE Shawn Merriman
Giving us this lineup in 2007...
LT Walter Jones
LG Steve Hutchinson
C Olin Kruetz
RG Roberto Garza
RT John Tait
TE Greg Olsen
WR Bernard Berrian
WR Muhsin Muhammad
FB Jason McKie
RB Fred Taylor
DE Shawn Merriman
DT Tommie Harris
DT Dusty Dvorcek
DE Wale Ugunleye
LB Hunter Hillenmeyer
MLB Brian Urlacher
LB Lance Briggs
CB Charles Tillman
CB Nathan Vasher
S Troy Polamalu
S Mike Brown
posted by Daniel at 8:04 PM
1 Comments:
Sir,
I am a historian and author researching a particular WWI pilot.
Trying to ascertain if you are the Daniel Conover who put up a webpage in the 1990s concerning a WWI fighter squadron?
If yes, please contact me
mike __a_t__ michaelhalleran dawt c_om
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