What could have been

[TheGlennonCannon]

[Tampa-Two]

The injuries were a real shame.

He ran alot bigger than his size in his rookie year, but now it seems like he can't break a tackle.

I still hope we bring him back for his qualities on 3rd down and leadership, but only at a reasonable price.

[TheGlennonCannon]

The injuries were a real shame.

He ran alot bigger than his size in his rookie year, but now it seems like he can't break a tackle.

I still hope we bring him back for his qualities on 3rd down and leadership, but only at a reasonable price.

I hope we do too I really do. The injuries were heartbreaking

[Hate]

at 100%, he wasn't worthy of the #5 pick. Time to turn the page!!

[Franchise Freeman]

at 100%, he wasn't worthy of the #5 pick. Time to turn the page!!

I seem to remember him setting the rookie rushing record for his first four games.....and then he got hurt.

[JavaRay]

at 100%, he wasn't worthy of the #5 pick. Time to turn the page!!

I seem to remember him setting the rookie rushing record for his first four games.....and then he got hurt.

He was the key to the Bucs making the playoffs his rookie year and he was rookie of the year.   At 100%, he was a stud.

[AKA T.Calvin]

i honestly think he has 1 more pretty good year yardage-wise in him given the perfect situation,won't be here though

[JDouble]

He was never worth a 5th overall pick. He wasn't even the best RB in the draft. We could have taken Frank Gore in the 3rd round or Marion Barber in the 4th round that year. Taking running backs in the first round is stupid. He split carries with Ronnie Brown in college and still couldn't stay healthy....wth did Gruden think was gonna happen when you had him carry the rock 30 times game?Taking the consensus 3rd best RB in the draft with the 5th overall pick is borderline retarded. Good thing we passed on Demarcus Ware and Thomas Davis that year and took Ruud in the 2nd instead! We obviously didn't need Roddy White either cause we had just drafted Mike Clayton!

So glad we have this new regime. With Freeman, Williams, Winslow, and Blount this new regime has brought in more talent at better value in just 2 years, than Allen/Gruden could have in two decades.

[JavaRay]

He's pretty much done.   But he's had a good career for a RB with the injuries he's had.   I never thought he was a superstar type of back, but he's been decent.   He definitely does not deserve to be insulted, he's one of the best character guys on the team.   The Bucs can only wish guys like Talib or Blount had Caddy's character.

[Larry Brackins]

Looking back on it, I have no idea how he was a top 5 pick. He wasn't big enough or fast enough to warrant it.   

Don't get me wrong, I love Cadillac. If we can't get Bush or Sproles, I'd bring him back.

[JDouble]

I'd love to hang out with the guy and have a beer. He seems awesome and his story is amazing....but that has nothing to do with us wasting a top 5 pick on him or him being on the Buccaneers roster this year.

[AKA T.Calvin]

i don't even wanna rehash that '05 draft haha

[JavaRay]

Taking running backs in the first round is stupid.

Good post.    You obviously know football.   These guys taken in the first round really suck.  Stupid picks.

Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Emmitt Smith
Eric **CENSORED**erson
Jim Brown
Larry Csonka
OJ Simpson
John Riggins
Earl Campbell
Tony Dorsett
Franco Harris
Marshall Faulk
Fred Taylor
LaDainian Tomlinson
Adrian Peterson


etc. etc. etc.

Pretty much a Who's Who of the NFL football Hall of Fame running backs.   But stupid picks for sure.   Good call.

(There is no position you exclude in the first round.  You take the best player based on the talent available that year.   Just because one player in a weak draft year didn't work out the way you may have wanted, you don't base your mindset on that.)

[AKA T.Calvin]

Crunching the Numbers: First-Round RBs, 1989-2003
Number of RBs drafted: 41

Notable busts: Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, Lawrence Phillips, Curtis Enis (that's three Penn State guys if you're counting)

Number of busts: 20

Bust percentage: 49 percent

Players on the bubble (could be considered non-busts): Tim Biakabutuka, Greg Hill

Number of running backs with at least one Pro Bowl appearance: 15

Pro Bowl percentage: 36 percent

Teams with multiple busts: Falcons, Rams, Bears, Dolphins, Giants, Patriots

Conclusions
This position ended up being riskier than anticipated. Running back, by conventional wisdom, is an "easier" transition for rookies simplicity-wise (run to daylight), so one would think the bust percentage would be low. However, a good number of the players busted due to injury (Ki-Jana Carter, Robert Edwards), the legal system (Lawrence Phillips) and just plain subpar performance (many others).

That said, there seems to be a strong argument for taking your running back in a later round, as proven by (in no particular order) Corey Dillon, Tiki Barber, Ricky Watters, Terrell Davis, Chris Warren, Charlie Garner and Curtis Martin all having come out of later rounds during the study cycle, and outperforming most of the first-rounders.

[JavaRay]

I'll take Barry Sanders or Walter Payton over any guy in your list there.