Fox’s NFL Draft Grades 2: The Worst Picks

NFL Draft Grades that breakdown some of the worst picks.

And now the second half of my 2nd round of draft grades: the worst picks in the NFL draft. In order to merit consideration, a pick had to be a high pick that I think will be a bust or a mid/later round pick that I saw as a total waste of a pick.
#2 Carson Wentz, Qb Philadelphia. I’m a fan of Wentz, in round 2. This worship of him as the next Brady, Manning, Big Ben, etc etc is truly mystifying. He looked good in shorts and at times at the FCS level. And doesn’t tell us much. He struggled when blitzed and couldn’t read a man defense well. Yikes.

#10 Eli Apple, DB New York Giants. I truly believe that Jerry Reese panicked here. After two teams dealt up for Leonard Floyd and Jack Conklin, both of whom were linked to the Giants, he didn’t have a plan C. Or at least not a good one. Apple is an amazing physical prospect but doesn’t fit the Giants’ needs or their defense. And he’s a project. I just don’t get it. I could be wrong, but this is a big blemish on an otherwise stellar draft for the G-Men.

#8 Jack Conklin, OL Tennessee. I wasn’t a fan of Conklin headed into the draft and I’m still not. He’s got good power but horrible technique and issues with his quickness. I understand the Titans moving up for a tackle to keep Mariota clean, especially with all their extra picks. I don’t understand why that tackle wasn’t Laremy Tunsil. Everything about this pick screams that they made it for the wrong reasons.

#51 Christian Hackenberg, QB New York Jets. Hackenberg has undeniable arm talent, but even if one accepts his excuses for his poor play(Franklin’s offense, bad offensive line, etc) he’s still a project as a quarterback who needs time to develop. Now the Jets have a perfect storm of awful: they can’t get Fitzpatrick signed(and why should he sign now?), they’re stuck with Geno Smith and Bryce Petty as the potential starter. Or they could start Hackenberg, which with a mid 2nd round pick invested in him, almost has to happen quickly. So good luck with that guys.

#59 Roberto Aguayo, K Tennessee. Barth is an acceptably good kicker, so they deal back up into the 2nd round(giving up their 3rd and 4ths) to draft a kicker? Even if Aguayo is a consistent pro bowler as a kicker, he’s not going to contribute as much as a potential high 3rd and 4th round picks would.

#85 Braxton Miller, WR Houston. I like Braxton Miller as a wideout project. He has good speed, hands, and work ethic. I don’t like him at Houston. They took another project wideout in Will Fuller and Miller’s role will be…to beat out Jaelen Strong as the 4th or 5th wideout? He’s not going to learn much barely playing. And Houston has much bigger needs than yet another wideout.

#93 Cody Kessler, QB Cleveland. Kessler is horrible. There’s no way to really spin it. Even if one talks about all the upheaval in Los Angeles, the changing offenses, NCAA sanctions, injuries, etc etc. Kessler is just bad. When I watched the tape of him, he regularly misses wide open wideouts, especially deep. Good luck with that Hue.

#16 Corey Coleman, WR Cleveland. Hue Jackson’s track record with wideouts speaks for itself, but Coleman is such a departure from who he’s developed in the past. He’s more raw athleticism and the Cincy system has done well developing guys with better receiving skills who needed the right role.

#25 Artie Burns, DB Pittsburgh. Burns either represents a philosophical shift on the Steelers’ part when it comes to drafting defensive backs or they took a gamble. I’m betting on the former since William Jackson III was available when they drafted and now are saying that they had Burns over WJ3. Burns has ball skills but they need a starter now and Burns isn’t that.

#121 Willie Beavers, OL Minnesota. Beavers is a raw prospect who has the physical tools but might struggle blocking a turtle blitzing him. His skills are sloppy, inconsistent and it’s going to be awhile before he will be ready to start. Considering that Matt Kahil’s future with the team is coming to a decision point, they could have used a less raw prospect here.

#6 Ronnie Stanley, OL Baltimore. They replaced Gene Monroe with a slightly better version of him. In 4 seasons, they’ll be looking to do the same with Stanley. Their blocking scheme, especially with their pass blocking is power based and Stanley is a speed/quickness guy. Tunsil would have made more sense, but after the last couple seasons in Baltimore I can understand why they would be extra careful of character.

#57 TJ Green, DB Indianapolis. A height/weight/speed pick. Clemson’s defense had to hide Green in coverage since his cover skills are so poor(he’s a converted wideout) so the Colts took a big project and are hoping not to ruin his confidence while they work him into the defense. This pick could have been used more effectively even if they wanted a free safety there(Thompson? Byard? Simmons?).

#65 Carl Nassib, DE Cleveland. I like Nassib but he’s flawed and it appears that the Browns’ master plan is to play him as a 5/3 on their line which should be interestingly horrible. Unless they chain him up in the weight room this summer, he might not be strong enough for that role.

#73 Kenyan Drake, RB Miami. I realize that taking Tunsil scrambled their ddraftboard, but their plan at running back for a running back based offense is two injury prone young runners and maybe someone like Arian Foster? Oy.

#77 Daryl Worley, DB Carolina. Big with natural ball skills but his lack of athleticism means that he’s going to be either a free safety(but he’s not great in space except when tracking a high pointed ball) or a press corner. The Panthers love their “best player available” picks, but this seems like a “best recognizable name available” pick.

#84 Kendall Fuller, DB Washington. The Fuller pick is being spun as a high value one. I don’t see it after looking back at his tape again after the draft. He was good in 2014, struggled in 2015 even when healthy. He gets too grabby when his gambles don’t work and he’s going to a team thick with corners. And that’s before we get into his constant injury issues.

#90 CJ Prosise, RB Seattle. He’s raw with good physical traits, but struggles blocking, receiving and with fumbles. He’s also indecisive in the hole, which is something Seattle doesn’t like with their runners(Lynch, Rawls, etc). I suspect Prosise will be out of the league before we know it.

More from With the First Pick

#100 Connor Cook, Qb Oakland. Bad lockerroom guy, developmental prospect going to a team which has a young quarterback. And after disasters like Rob Johnson, Matt Cassel, Kevin Kolb and AJ Feeley, the whole theory of “drafting a mid round quarterback and then trading him in a few seasons” just isn’t happening anymore.

#114 Ricardo Louis, WR Cleveland. Louis might move to defensive back since his hands aren’t good, but then why not just take someone like Rashard Robinson with this pick if you want a developmental corner?

#159 KJ Dillon, DB Houston. Dillon is like his former teammate Daryl Worley: 1 dimensional. Worley is big with good balls skills but slow, Dillon is more athletic but lacks the developed skills. If he’s a deep developmental project, it’s an okay pick but I suspect he’ll be on the field too early.

#192 Kolby Listenbee, WR Buffalo. He’s fast and might contribute as a returner. But there’s no logical case to take him over Aaron Burbridge or Cody Cole or even Mike Thomas(whom some draftniks rated as a top 60 guy).

#247 Zac Brooks, RB Seattle. I really didn’t want to put a 7th round pick on this list because it’s sheer luck whether they contribute or not, but since this was the Seahawks’ 3rd running back taken in this draft, I don’t understand why they bothered. Unless they see enough in Brooks to consider him a potential starter over the 2 other runners which they took, but then maybe they should have made better picks with those previous picks?