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Ryan Tannehill continues to rise up draft boards, because NFL teams always seem to fall for the hype. And it doesn't matter how many times teams are burned, it's as inevitable as a Kardashian publicity stunt.
With that in mind, I'd like to take a look at the most overhyped draft picks in NFL history. This is going to be pretty painful, especially for you Jets fans. Seriously, I could just select pretty much every Jets player who was ever drafted and that would be your list. But I'm going to narrow it down a little bit for you and include some non-Jets.
But seriously, this really could be all Jets.
Some honorable mentions:
Mark Sanchez. He played one year of college football *and *the Jets traded up to get him.
Robert Gallery. Look at the guys who sandwiched him in the 2004 NFL Draft: Eli Manning, Larry Fitzgerald and Philip Rivers. He's survived as a guard, but that's a bit much for the No. 2 overall pick.
Mike Mamula. He wasn't a terrible player, but he's become a punchline for players who rise up draft boards because of great combine workouts.
Akili Smith. Seriously, only the Eagles were able to not fall for this and instead went with Donovan McNabb.
Reggie Bush. Every NFL enthusiast who chided Charley Casserly for choosing Mario Williams over Bush still owes him an apology.
Brian Bosworth. What he didn't deliver in the NFL, he made up for with his enjoyable films.
And without further ado ...
We've been so beaten down by Tebow coverage over the last year, we often forget the hype extended well back to the 2010 NFL Draft. Then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels put his reputation on the line to draft a quarterback who can't throw a deep ball and ran the spread offense in college. Here's a shock: McDaniels is on his third job now.
How in a world where Mike Mamula exists can something like this happen? Gholston was incredibly raw and relatively new to football, but was compared to John Abraham, Dwight Freeney and Jason Taylor coming out of college. Hard to imagine the Jets were burned by the hype. Oh wait, it's not at all. All right, I'm done picking on the Jets.
The Philadelphia fans screamed bloody murder when the Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb instead of him, and then Mike Ditka went ahead and traded all of his draft picks to nab him. But instead of superstardom, he had an enigmatic career that featured early retirement and suspensions for wellness violations.
I've often wondered just how much consideration the Colts gave to Leaf, but I've always felt they were doing the Chargers a solid by at least pretending it was a contest. And it wasn't so much that San Diego wasted a pick on Leaf, but it gave up a pretty sizeable ransom to trade spots with the Cardinals. But don't pat yourself on the back, Cardinals, you drafted Andre Wadsworth.
Blame the BCS for this. If LSU didn't face Notre Dame, Russell wouldn't have torched the Irish for 350 total yards and three touchdowns and flown up the draft boards as a result. Although, looking back, it was the Raiders -- they likely would have found a way to blow it anyway.
The esteemed Mandarich graced the cover of Sports Illustrated with the caption "the best offensive line prospect ever." And he was drafted ahead of Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders. Seriously, the Packers had a 75 percent chance of picking a Hall of Famer and couldn't get it done.
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