The Worst Picks in the 2010 NFL Draft
By jonfox
With 4 full seasons in the books, it’s a fair time to check out the 2010 NFL draft and see who made the best and the worst draft picks during it. Today: the worst picks.
Sergio Kindle(#43 overall, Baltimore).
Kindle fractured his skull before his first training camp and took 18 months to recover. After he did finally get well, he never did enough to become anything more than a special teamer for the Ravens. He was released and is now selling cars.
Whom did they pass on for him? Sean Lee(taken 12 picks after)
Jimmy Clausen(#48 overall, Carolina).
That Clausen is still in the league and has made starts in 2015 speaks to how low the talent pool of QBs in the NFL still is. He was an amazingly hyped high school recruit and college prospect, but a lot of pundits saw through the hype. Draft guys not named Todd McShay saw how weak his arm was, how the Notre Dame offense hid his shortcomings and how cocky he was.
The Panthers didn’t, but drafting him directly led to being able to get Cam Newton so it worked out moderately well for them.
Whom did they pass on for him? Carlos Dunlap(taken 6 picks after him)
Chad Jones(#76 overall, NY Giants).
Like Sergio Kindle, he got seriously hurt before he ever played a down. He almost lost the use of his left leg after a horrible car crash. He’ll remain a great “unknown.” He was a good player at LSU and teams thought he could have been a quality starter at safety if he ever got a chance.
He’s trying to one last shot at a comeback but he’s playing minor league baseball now.
Whom did they pass on for him? NaVorro Bowman(taken 15 picks after him)
Armanti Edwards(#89 overall, Carolina).
Not content with their horrible pick of Jimmy Clausen, the Panthers dealt away a future 2nd for Edwards, who was a so-so punt returner who caught 5 passes for them before they cut him. He was an accomplished player at App State and fooled a lot of scouts and pundits with his skill set.
But he at least played. Sort-of. And cost them a high 2nd round pick.
Whom did they pass on for him? Jimmy Graham(taken 6 picks after him)
Taylor Mays(#49 overall, San Fran).
Mays was an overhyped player because of his hard hitting ability thanks to the inevitable comparison that every large safety who can hit will get with Sean Taylor. So the 49ers took him when his college coach passed up on him, which in retrospect should have been a big red flag.
Fast forward to today and Mays is on his third team of 2015. He’s never been able to find a role in the NFL being too stiff for safety and too slender for LB.
Whom did they pass on for him? Golden Tate(taken 4 picks after him)
Torell Troup(#41 overall, Buffalo).
Buffalo probably regrets this pick constantly. Troup made 2 starts his rookie year and hasn’t played since 2011. It takes an extremely bad player to not get a second chance after being a high 2nd round pick.
The odd part is that they didn’t need him at all. And Troup barely saw the field. They could have used a TE, and the next pick was..well…
Whom did they pass on for him? Rob Gronkowski(the next pick)
Brian Price(#35 overall, Tampa).
Tampa took this college star hoping to reinforce to defensive line next to Gerald McCoy. They already had Roy Miller in place so Price didn’t see the field much until his 2nd year when he made 15 starts.
But his problem was his attitude. He got so upset at the head coach after a personal foul called on him that the coach threw him out of the game and reportedly got into fights with teammates.
Tampa dealt him after 2011 for a 7th round pick and Price hasn’t stuck with any of the 4 teams he’s worked out for since then.
Whom did they pass on for him? TJ Ward(taken 3 picks afterwards).
What can we learn from these busts? A couple were due to freak injuries, so nothing can divined from their failures.
As for the rest: every single one of these picks was an accomplished college player and was seen as a safer pick than many of the great players taken in this draft.
Just about all of these players were 1st team all-conference guys(usually multiple times) and a lot of them were All-Americans.
Why did they fail? Because talent evaluators didn’t watch enough film. The film guys hated Clausen, Mays, Price, Troup and Edwards because they played in systems in college that made them look better than they truly were. The scouts and decision makers probably fell victim to a combination of laziness and hype and thus ended up making bad decisions.