The Hindsight Hall of Fame: 10 Years of NFL Draft Fails and Finds

The Hindsight Hall of Fame: 10 Years of NFL Draft Fails and Finds

Liam Fogarty

The NFL Draft process is an imperfect science. College football beasts & Heisman winners don’t always emulate their success at the next level and sometimes the guy at the bottom of everyone’s rankings turns out to be an NFL stud seemingly out of nowhere.

With the NFL Draft rapidly approaching, I thought I’d go back through the last 10 years of drafts and find the greatest hindsight picks. One fail and one find from each year.

Maybe it’s a player that was taken far too early and didn’t produce, maybe it was a team taking a risk on a Day 3 pick that’s turned out to be a multiple time pro bowler.

Here are some of my selections for the Hindsight Hall Of Fame.

2025

Find

Carson Schwesinger (Round 2 Pick 33, 3rd LB Taken)

The Browns (finally) uncovered a genuine gem in the second round when they took a swing on star UCLA prospect Carson Schewsinger in the second round.

The 23-year-old complimented Myles Garrett nicely on his way to Defensive Rookie of the Year honours, racking up only 2.5 sacks, but also two interceptions in what was otherwise another forgettable season at the Dawg Pound.

2024

Find

Bucky Irving (Round 4 Pick 125, 6th RB taken)

Honorable mention to Cooper DeJean who was almost best player on ground in the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.

Bucky Irving was a fantasy football darling in 2024. Rushing for 1,122 yards and 8 TDs while no other RBs drafted before him came close to those numbers.

The 6th RB off the board will be a very early draft pick in fantasy drafts this season.

 

2023

Find

Puka Nacua (Round 5 Pick 177, 19th WR taken)

 

If you redraft the 2023 draft Puka Nacua is the no brainer first WR off the board. Puka in his first year as a rookie popped off for 1,486 receiving yards and 6 TDs and holds the record for most receiving yards by a rookie. He fell just short of the 1000 yard mark in his sophomore year with 990 but only played 11 games.

It was enough production for the Rams to move on from Cooper Kupp too. A genuine late round stud.

 

Fail

Anthony Richardson (Round 1 Pick 4, 3rd QB taken)

Another example of good combine numbers not directly meaning good NFL player. Anthony Richardson only played one full season as a starter in college football before declaring for the draft which should’ve been the first red flag but NFL teams were enamoured by Richardson’s combine numbers.

The third fast 40 yard dash by a QB ever, the greatest vertical by a QB ever, and the greatest broad jump by a QB ever. AR was a specimen.

Richardson was always a pick with upside and potential but we have seen no growth from the QB in two seasons.

Injured after week 4 in his rookie year and instances of him quitting on the Colts in his sophomore year is enough for Indianapolis to bring in Daniel Jones who is set to have a QB battle with Richardson in pre season.

This could be end of the line for the combine darling.

 

2022

Find

Brock Purdy (Round 7 Pick 262, Mr Irrelevant)

No brainer here. Regardless of what you think of him (personally I don’t rate him compared to other QB1s) you can’t deny that Brock Purdy is not only the greatest Mr Irrelevant of all time but the best QB in this draft.

Purdy came out of nowhere and took over the QB Room in San Francisco. Leading them to a Super Bowl and is probably poised for a big contract renewal very soon.

Fail

Travon Walker (Round 1 Pick 1, 1st DE taken)

Pre draft there was a lot of flip flopping about whether it would be Walker or Aidan Hutchinson taken first overall and I’m more than willing to say that the Jaguars got this pick wrong.

While Walker has improved year on year as a defensive end he will forever be compared to Aidan Hutchinson who was on track to win DPOY last season before breaking his arm five games into the season.

Hutchinson has revitalised the Detroit defence and should have always been the first player taken in 2022.

 

2021

Find

Amon-Ra St. Brown (Round 4 Pick 112, 17th WR taken)

NFL fans have all seen Amon-Ra’s pre game routine of writing down the names of every WR drafted before him and I’m not going to lie. The further his career progresses, the more he looks right.

Easily the second best WR in this draft behind Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra has been one of the key reasons Detroit have turned their historic poor fortunes around and is now one of the best WRs in the league.

Fail

Trey Lance (Round 1 Pick 3, 3rd QB taken)

Plenty of players I could’ve picked here but I’ve settled on Lance. The North Dakota State QB was drafted with monumental expectations in San Fran but never lived up to the hype and has since been traded to the Cowboys where he was 4th on the QB depth chart and is now suiting up as a back up for the Chargers.

In four years the third player taken in the 2021 draft has started just five games. Not what you spend such a high pick on.

 

2020

Find

Jalen Hurts (Round 2 Pick 53, 4th QB taken)

From purely a fantasy football perspective, Quarterbacks taken in the second round have a 5% chance of ever finishing as a QB15 or higher in multiple seasons and Jalen Hurts has not only defied those odds for fantasy but also won Philadelphia a Super Bowl and been a cornerstone for Philly’s tush push. A play so unstoppable, half the league wants it banned.

There is no denying Hurts is Philly’s franchise guy, he’s broken a bunch of records already as a rushing QB and is the only Quarterback in this draft that has lead their team to a Super Bowl ring.

 

Fail

Henry Ruggs (Round 1 Pick 12, 1st WR taken)

In a wide receiver class that boasted Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Brandon Aiyuk and Tee Higgins. Ruggs was the first WR off the board and how has that gone I hear you ask?

The man is in jail for reckless driving and murder.

 

2019

Find

Maxx Crosby (Round 4 Pick 106, 10th DE taken)

The Raiders defensive end just signed a three year $106 million extension to stay in Vegas and I’m willing to say he’s the best DE in the AFC West.

Crosby has been a dawg since the day Oakland drafted him and quickly shot up ranking boards as one of the best DE’s in the league and a serious leader of men for the Raiders.

Maxx had his best year in 2023 totalling 14.5 sacks and a very iconic run in with Patrick Mahomes that has been immortalised on the Netflix show “Quarterback”

 

Fail

Daniel Jones (Round 1 Pick 6, 2nd QB taken)

It still blows my mind how long of a leash New York allowed Danny Dimes to have.

In a draft class where majority of the league had Dwayne Haskins (RIP) as the consensus 2nd ranked quarterback. The Giants shocked the world and took Jones with the 6th overall pick to be their Eli Manning replacement.

Jones somehow conned the Giants into giving him 6 seasons as the QB1 in one of the biggest markets in the NFL and it never really amounted to anything.

Frustrated OBJ so much he left town, Saquon gone too after years of mediocrity. Danny Dimes did an incredibly honourable thing after being benched and opted to step away from the team to be less of a distraction.

From all reports, a really wonderful human being but never possessed the quality to ever truly be a franchise QB.

 

2018

Find

Lamar Jackson (Round 1 Pick 32, 5th QB taken)

“They gon get a Super Bowl outta me” one of the hardest lines ever uttered on draft day and while Lamar hasn’t quite delivered on that promise yet. The two time MVP that’s broken all of Michael Vick’s rushing QB records has done pretty well for himself.

God I hope one day he does win the Ravens a Super Bowl just to truly immortalise that draft day clip.

 

Fail

Josh Rosen (Round 1 Pick 10, 4th QB taken)

Speaking of iconic draft day lines. Rosen also had a banger that night. “Nine mistakes were made ahead of me” and I don’t know if a quote has ever blown up in someone’s face more.

Rosen floated around practice squads almost ever since the day he was drafted and has now left the league and re enrolled in business school.

 

2017

Find

George Kittle (Round 5 Pick 146, 9th TE taken)

This pick could’ve very easily been Patrick Mahomes at 10 as the second QB off the board and easily the best player in the draft but George Kittle in the 5th round deserves a shout out.

The 9th Tight End off the board has had a very decorated career already. 7,380 yards 45 tds, six pro bowls and five all pro nods. Not bad production at all from out of the 5th round.

 

Fail

Mitch Trubisky (Round 1 Pick 2, 1st QB taken)

In a draft class with Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson there was always going to be huge expectation on Trubisky. Before Justin Fields, before Caleb Williams it was Mitch Trubisky with the weight of Chicago on his shoulders and he never really got it going.

After three and a half seasons as the starter, Chi town decided to move on from Trubisky and he’s bounced around as the league as a back up and is currently with the Buffalo Bills.

 

2016

Find

Tyreek Hill (Round 5 Pick 165, 18th WR taken)

Plenty of names here I could’ve mentioned too; Dak Prescott or Derrick Henry could’ve very easily been the pick here, but Tyreek Hill is my value find of 2016.

The speedster didn’t have his true breakout till his second year but ever since then he has been not only the man but one of the best receivers in the league. Winning multiple Super Bowls with the Chiefs, he’s also had multiple 1700+ yard seasons with Tua and Miami.

Incredible production in a pick range that usually doesn’t survive training camp.

 

Fail

Corey Coleman (Round 1 Pick 15, 1st WR taken)

The first season of Hard Knocks I ever watched, I’ll never forget the Browns coaches getting stuck into him for not being able to perform in training camp.

After two seasons in Cleveland failing to go over 450 receiving yards, the Browns traded Corey Coleman to the Giants for a 7th round pick. In his 8 game stint at the Giants Coleman saw 8 targets for 5 receptions and 71 yards.

One of the great NFL busts of the last decade, Coleman was on the practice squad in the USFL last season before retiring.

2015

Find

Stefon Diggs (Round 5 Pick 146, 20h WR taken)

Diggs enters year 10 this season with the New England Patriots and is head and shoulders the best WR to come from this draft class and the Vikings got him at great value.

Will he be able to bounce back from injury and help the young Pats core compete this season? Fingers crossed.

Fail

DeVante Parker (Round 1 Pick 14, 3rd WR taken)

I don’t think I’ve been edged so much in my life (against my will) than by the discourse on DeVante Parker.

Every single preseason there was always noise that THIS was the year, that Parker is PRIMED for a breakout season, but that breakout never really came.

One season of over 1000 receiving yards and nothing but blue balls for fantasy and dynasty players a like.