What we have here, is a failure, to communicate lack of competence.
What follows is arguably (cause some years there were plenty of candidates) the most regrettable first-round draft selections we’ve made. In a perfect world, I would have been relegated to simply listing the 12th pick each year by default, but a perfect world this is not – THIS is SC League.
In the first of two posts, I will focus on 2001 up to 2010. Have fun reliving the misery.
*A lot of the old seasons do not have complete stats intact, so most of these numbers will be based off their NFL totals for that season, not necessarily the Fantasy totals. For example, if a guy played 15 games, but you didn’t make the playoffs, you would have only played 13.
2001 – Brian Griese
Draft Idiot – Dave (7-7, 6th place)
Draft Slot – #3 (2nd QB taken)
Griese, despite being taken third overall and second among QBs, finished outside the Top 20 in passing yards, and was taken well ahead Rich Gannon, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning – all of whom had much better seasons.
Stats: 15 Games (NFL Totals)
Passing: 2827 yds, 23 TDs, 19 INTS, Sacked 38 Times
Rushing: 173 yds, 1 TD, 7 Fumbles (5 Lost)
2001 Points: 3135
2001 Average: 209 ppg
2019 Points: 3044
2019 Average: 202 ppg
Runner Up – Daunte Culpepper: #7 (Trigger)
21 Total TDs vs. 22 Total TOs. (271 ppg)
2002 – Kurt Warner
Draft Idiot – C Tan (7-6, 3rd place)
Draft Slot – #1 (1st QB taken)
Coming off the previous couple of seasons, Warner was a no-brainer for the #1 pick – until he forgot how to play football cause his Grandma Wife stopped praying to the god of grocery bag boys. Sure, had he been healthy he might have turned it around, but even before the injury, he was downright terrible, as Chris began his streak of Madden Curse-level QB jinxes…
Stats: 7 Games (NFL Totals)
Passing: 1431 yds, 3 TDs, 11 INTS, Sacked 21 Times
Rushing: 33 yds, 0 TD, 10 Fumbles (8 Lost)
2002 Points: 604
2002 Average: 86 ppg
2019 Points: 946
2019 Average: 137 ppg
Runner Up – Nah, this one sits alone atop the mountain.
2003 – Michael Vick
Draft Idiot – Kaiser (5-8, 9th place)
Draft Slot – #6 (3rd QB taken)
Young Michael Vick, not yet arrested for being a Dog Murderer, saw action in only 5 games during the 2003 season, and was taken one pick ahead of Peyton Manning. Though he added some flash on the ground, he hadn’t learned to complete a pass yet, so this pick was dead in the water.
Stats: 5 Games (NFL Totals)
Passing: 585 yds, 4 TDs, 3 INTS, Sacked 9 Times
Rushing: 255 yds, 1 TD, 4 Fumbles (3 Lost)
2003 Points: 560
2003 Average: 112 ppg
2019 Points: 810
2019 Average: 162 ppg
Runner Up – Rich Gannon: #5 (Kronner)
7 Games, 6 TDs, 6 TOs (143 ppg)
2004 – Priest Holmes
Draft Idiot – C Tan (5-8, 6th place)
Draft Slot – #1 (1st RB taken)
Revenge of the #1 pick – and Chris blows it again. Well, not really. This is was the right pick, and Holmes was tearing it up, leading the league in YPG up until his Week Eight injury. Averaging over 200 points a game, he carried Tan up till he got hurt, and then limping into the playoffs (1-3 in the last 4), with a 5-8 team (Playoffs?!?), The Sneaky Filipino got bounced first round. In other years his per-game numbers might have kept him off this list, but we all drafted pretty strong in 2004.
Stats: 8 Games (NFL Totals)
Rushing: 892 yds, 14 TD, 4 Fumbles (All Lost)
Receiving: 19 Catches, 187 yds, 1 TD
2004 Points: 1694
2004 Average: 211 ppg
2019 Points: 1824
2019 Average: 228 ppg
Runner Up – Ahman Green: #3 (Jones)
Most fumbles by a Non-QB (119 ppg)
2005 – NFC NORTH TIE:
Kevin Jones/Daunte Culpepper
Draft Idiots – Bryan Pauly (6-7, 5th place)/C Tan (6-7, 7th place)
Draft Slots – #9 (5th RB taken)/#10 (3rd QB taken)
A lot of competition this year. A year after Tan took Priest Holmes, Matt took another shot at him, and he got hurt again, this time only playing seven games – the difference though was production. His points per game dropped from 211 to 150. That said, his total stats were real close to what Kevin Jones did in ’05 – the problem is Jones played fifteen games compared to Holmes seven.
Not to be outdone, Tan looks to defend his “Worst Pick 2004” title and takes the Vikings QB, who totally shits the bed, and is eventually cut on Halloween, following a trade with Kronner for Drew Brees. In fact, there were a lot of big trades in 2005 (mostly people taking advantage of Kronner and his newly minted Lions tattoo).
Prime example; Before the year even started, Pauly traded Kevin Jones to the Skippers for Darrell Jackson, Corey Dillion, and Ray Lewis. Four days later, the Skippers flipped the Lions RB, along with Joe Jurevicius, Ty Law, and Jevon Kearse to Kronner for Anquan Boldin, Willis McGahee, Julius Peppers, and Julian Peterson. This allowed Kronner to flip Muhsin Muhammad, Warrick Dunn, Chad Pennington, and Adam Archuleta to Byrd for McNabb and Steve Smith. Real blockbuster. By the end of the season, only two of these players were still on the Skippers – Julius Peppers, and Willis McGahee – who he attempted to trade back to Kronner, but it fell subject to a Veto by the league.
Kevin Jones ended the season on Kronner’s team. He finished 5-8, good for 10th place.
Stats for Kevin Jones – 15 Games (NFL Totals)
Rushing: 664 yds, 5 TDs, 2 Fumbles (Both Lost)
Receiving: 20 catches, 109 yds, 0 TDs
2005 Points: 1103
2005 Average: 73 ppg
2019 Points: 1113
2019 Average: 74 ppg
Stats for Culpepper – 7 Games (Fantasy Actual)
Passing: 1564 yds, 6 TDs, 12 INTs, Sacked 31 times
Rushing: 147 yds, 1 TD, 5 Fumbles (3 Lost)
2005 Points: 1096
2001 Average: 156 ppg
2019 Points: 1401
2019 Average: 200 ppg
Runner Up – This season had a lot of competition for Worst, in contention was Matt Alley with Priest Holmes at #4 and Trigger taking Domanick Williams with the 9th pick.
2006 – Shaun Alexander
Draft Idiot – Kaiser (8-5, 8th Place)
Draft Slot – #8 (5th RB taken)
Alexander was a fantasy MONSTER in 2005, 1950 yards from scrimmage and 28 total TDs. It’s a wonder he slid to the 8th spot in the draft. But 2006 showed a slowed down workhorse, and he turned in half as much yardage and 20 fewer rushing TDs. TWENTY! He ended the season having played only 10 games, and his career never recovered from having to be part of the Hulkamania! team in 2006. He was out of football by 2008, his final season playing only four games for the Redskins, in which he had 11 carries for 24 yards.
Stats: 10 Games (Fantasy Actual)
Passing: 896 yds, 7 TDs, 6 Fumbles (3 lost)
Receiving: 12 Catches, 48 yds.
2006 Points: 1174
2006 Average: 117 ppg
2019 Points: 1249
2019 Average: 124 ppg
Runner Up – Clinton Portis: #3 (Kronner)
Averaged 86 total yards, played 8 games (141 ppg)
2007 – Chris McAlister
Draft Idiot – Kaiser (7-6, 8th Place)
Draft Slot – #5 (1st DB taken)
Kaiser really wanted to defend his title for worst pick here, and it’s pretty impressive he was able to. This is maybe the dumbest first round we’ve ever had, with more bad picks than good ones. It started with Tan reaching at #1 for Frank Gore, but got worse quickly. Larry Johnson at #2 (Josh), Rudi Johnson at #3 (Trigger), and Zach Thomas at #12 (Kronner) were all huge busts. At first glance, I figured to have this one locked up with Taylor, but upon closer inspection, I realized that was CHRIS McCalister, not Deuce McCalister – which is probably the same mistake Mark made back in 2007. That said, Deuce (3 games, 24 yards) would have been even worse. Chris McCalister was coming off a 2006 that saw him grab six picks, score 2 Def. TDs, and earn a reputation as one of the better DBs in the NFL. 2007 saw him cut by Kaiser a few weeks in, ending the season with one INT and 19 tackles in 8 games.
Stats: 8 Games (NFL Totals)
DEF: 19 Tackles, 1 INT, 9 PDs
2007 Points: 470
2007 Average: 58 ppg
2019 Points: 600
2019 Average: 75 ppg
Runner Up – Rudi Johnson: #3 (Trigger)
607 Total yds, 4 TDs, 5 Fumbles. (72 ppg)
2008 – Carson Palmer
Draft Idiot – Josh (9-4, 8th Place)
Draft Slot – #4 (1st Non-Keeper QB taken)
Carson Palmer had a rough bit of bad luck and a career full of injuries, and 2008 was no exception. The Bengals QB missed 11 games following an elbow injury against Dallas. In a rare example on this list, the loss didn’t cripple Josh’s team however. And not because he had a capable QB in his stable of keepers (Steven Jackson, Larry Johnson, Julian Peterson, E.J. Henderson), but because he was able to pick up the undrafted Kurt Warner before the season began, and Warner had a major bounce-back year, putting up the best numbers he ever had post-Super Bowl era Rams – 4270 points, good for sixth best among QBs, only 13 points behind Peyton Manning.
Stats: 4 Games (NFL Stats)
Passing: 731 yds, 3 TDs, 4 INTS, Sacked 11 Times
Rushing: 38 yds, 0 TDs, 2 Fumbles (1 Lost), 1 Solo Tackle
2008 Points: 584
2008 Average: 146 ppg
2019 Points: 694
2019 Average: 173 ppg
Runner Up – Willie Parker: #12 (Ryan)
Wisely Traded to Josh for Larry Johnson. (97 ppg)
2009 – Brian Westbrook
Draft Idiot – Kronner (5-8, 10th Place)
Draft Slot – #7 (4th Non-Keeper RB taken)
Another year of keepers leads to another year of a watered-down talent pool at the top. This time around, Kronner takes Eagles RB Brian Westbrook to pair with keeper Kevin Smith at RB. Problem is, Westbrook was done. He played only half of what would be his last season in Philly, and the games he did play, he was pretty useless. And while Kronner was able to trade Westbrook away to the eventual champ Burrito Warrior for WR Greg Jennings, it wasn’t enough to save his pitiful season. Not even Peyton Manning, Ricky Williams, and Jared Allen could overcome a league-high 23,503 points against.
Stats: 8 Games (NFL Stats)
Rushing: 274 yds, 1 TD, No Fumbles
Receiving: 25 Catches, 181 yds.
2001 Points: 680
2001 Average: 85 ppg
2019 Points: 680
2019 Average: 85 ppg
Runner Up – Brandon Jacobs: #12 (C Tan)
6 Total TDs, Fewer than 1000 total yds. (93 ppg)
2010 – Frank Gore
Draft Idiot – Toepel (6-7, 3rd Place)
Draft Slot – #5 (5th Non-Keep RB taken)
Unlike 2007, this year it was hard to find a ‘worst pick’ – and while Gore only played 11 games, he was still pretty damn solid. The man that time forgot was 9th in catches by an RB, and 21st in Rushing Yards. Combined, he had the 18th most yards from scrimmage despite missing time, but that’s still a little low for a Top 5 pick, and the time he missed was down the stretch, and Toepel could have used him come playoff time.
Stats: 11 Games
Rushing: 853 yds, 3 TDs, 4 Fumbles (3 Lost)
Receiving: 46 Catches, 452 yds, 2 TDs
2010 Points: 1875
2010 Average: 170 ppg
2019 Points: 1905
2019 Average: 173 ppg
Runner Up – Notta.
Well, that’s where we’re at for the first decade of draft picks. If you guys liked the post, let me know and I’ll do 2011-2019.
SC League Forever 