We can do better

Saw this on Yahoo! Sports.

I was expecting it to be entirely hilarious and intelligent; it met me almost half-way. Here's my list of the top 10 biggest draft busts since 2000:

10. Courtney Brown 1st overall, 2000 - Cleveland

You may recognize this guy from the Yahoo! Sports list. They were right about him; he was a bust. Drafted 1st overall as a pass rusher, he played in 47 games for the Browns, recording a whopping 17 sacks. This was not a good start to the decade for Cleveland's new front office.


9. Gerard Warren 3rd overall, 2001 - Cleveland

What makes Gerard Warren so remarkable isn't simply his lack of physical ability, but also who the Browns could have drafted instead of him. 31 sacks as a DT in 128 games for Warren; 134 rushing TDs for LaDainian Tomlinson since being drafted 2 spots afterward. Don't like LT? Want to stay true to building a D-line? Fine. Richard Seymour's on the board. Or perhaps Casey Hampton? Marcus Stroud? Kris Jenkins? Shaun Rogers? Derrick Burgess? Aaron Schobel? Kyle Vanden Bosch? (That list of linemen is ordered by number of pro-bowl appearances; total this group has had 25 berths; Warren has yet to make it to Hawaii.)

8. William Green 16th overall, 2002 - Cleveland

This is one of my all time favorites. Passing on the likes of Clinton Portis and Brian Westbrook, the Browns went with William Green as their 1st round running back selection. William Green -- a running back-- had a history of severe stomach pain. He was later stabbed in the back by his girlfriend after turning pro.

7. Ryan Pontriand 142nd overall, 2003 - Cleveland

This guy wasn't really a bust in the sense that he was a bad player taken high in the draft; he was more just a stupid pick. Allow me to explain: Ryan Pontbriand is a long snapper. He comes in only on punting and place kicking plays. Since 1982, only 12 coaches have been stupid enough to spend a draft pick on a long snapper. Pontbriand has the distinction of being drafted the highest. You can literally find any old guy moving a piece of furniture and conscript him to long snap the ball. You don't need to draft for the position.

I'll give him this, he has been named to two pro-bowls, which is two more than Gerard Warren, Courtney Brown or William Green combined.

6. Mario Williams 1st overall, 2006 - Houston

This is actually an anti-bust, and if anyone should make this list, it's the Texan fans who resented this guy being picked over Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Matt Leinart. Take one look at Williams and you'll understand why it's insane for anyone to leave him on the draft board. He's absolutely huge and lean and fast. I'm not sure I'd call Bush, Leinart or Young busts, but I'd say the people of Houston were morons for not being extremely excited to have a legitimate franchise lineman like this; I mean, he's no Gerard Warren.

5. Kellen Winslow Jr. 6th overall, 2004 - Cleveland

Back to the Rock'n'Roll city for more fun! Kellen Winslow Jr. is probably the stupidest guy the Browns have ever drafted, and that's saying something. Two games into his rookie season, Winslow went on the Injured Reserve list after breaking his leg. Then, prior to the 2005 season, he was hot-dogging in a parking lot on a motorcycle (something which happened to be specifically prohibited in his contract), when he hit a curb and was thrown off the bike. This resulted in another season ending injury, this time coming before the season had started. By 2006, Winslow was healthy again and finally on the field. He was pretty good as a receiver, pretty pathetic as a blocking TE, and an all around cancer in the locker room. The Browns were lucky to trade him for a second round draft pick this past off season.

Had it been me drafting in 2004, I probably would have gone with Chris Cooley in the 3rd round if I wanted a TE, or Ben Roethlisberger in the first round if I wanted to make an impact on my offense.

4. Fabien Washington 23rd overall, 2005 - Oakland

Can't make a draft bust list without throwing Al Davis to the wolves. In this case, we've got the prototypical Al Davis pick: the "HE'S FAST, HE MUST BE GOOD!" theory. Literally, that's the only reason the Raiders picked this cornerback, because he ran the best 40 at the scouting combine. Cornerback is such a nuanced position where a player needs to do far more things with skill than just pure ability. After several mediocre years in Oakland, Washington was eventually dealt for peanuts.

3. JaMarcus Russell 1st overall, 2007 - Oakland

(Wow, it's like the Raiders have become the new Browns.)

Everything that was said about this guy in the Yahoo! Sports article is true. He's just really bad at football.

2. Brady Quinn 22nd overall, 2007 - Cleveland

(Sorry, Oakland; Cleveland is here to stay!)

It really is hard to describe how bad Brady Quinn is. You need to see it to fully understand what a waste of roster space he is. The thing is, he's afraid to throw the ball more than 4 yards down the field; he's also afraid to hold onto the ball; he's also terrible when he throws long, and generally just closes his eyes and throws it as hard as he can for the sidelines 20 yards down field. All of this has the effect of half his throws being short incompletions bordering on grounding, or long bombs to his backup QB on the sideline, Derek Anderson.

The best part of this blunder is how many teams smartly avoided it. The Browns had to trade away future first round picks to be able to bust on Quinn at 22 overall.

1. Andre Smith 6th overall, 2009 - Cincinnati

I doubt this guy will be the biggest bust of the decade. In fact, he'll probably be pretty good. I just put him at number 1 because that's where his name was cut and pasted onto my list.

The story goes like this: Smith was the highest regarded tackle in the draft, until showing up to the combine completely out of shape. He then left early without telling anyone. After that, he put on a completely disappointing pro-day workout at his college.

The Bengals took the chance and drafted him 6th overall. How did he respond? With a 30-day rookie holdout, looking to bilk them out of $10 million more than what they offered. Once they finally got him on the field, he broke his foot in pre-season.

How did these jokers ever sweep the division?