Commentary: In Search of Upside

Has any NFL team ever made a bad pick on draft day? I know that nobody is going to announce “we really blew it with this pick,” but I would settle for a little realism. Just once I’d like to hear a draft guru emerge from the “war room” and say, “Well, to be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot left, so we took this guy, but he probably won’t make the roster.” You would think not one player taken in the draft yesterday even has a flaw. 254 players were selected, but every single one of them has “good size”, or “is a speed guy”, or has “soft hands”, or “tremendous leaping ability”, or “great cover skills”. Or you can combine some traits, such as: “he’s got great quickness for a guy his size.” Or you can be less specific. One of my favorites is: “he’s got tremendous upside.” In other words, he’s never actually proven he can play, but hey, give him a million bucks and who knows?. And then there’s this classic: “He’s a really good fit for us.” Which would be great, if you just drafted a pair of jeans.