Admit you were wrong about any NFL player who turned out great

[Flamma]

I will start it off with .. Derrick Henry

When he entered the draft out of Alabama I thought he was an average running back that was only drafted high because he played for Alabama.

Henry has turned out to be faster and stronger than I thought he was going to be and makes a huge impact on the outcome of games.

The one thing we can never judge is the heart and internal motivation of any given player.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

With it being the off-season, I thought it would be fun to give everyone a chance to share and own on of their mistakes in thinking a player was not going to be very good but they turned out to be great.


*** Rules of the Thread ***

• It can be any current or former NFL player for any NFL team
• Only post a player who was much BETTER than you expected (not worse)
• You must NOT in any way say you were "right" or "not wrong" about anything

*** READ THIS -- The purpose of this thread is to .. without any disclaimers, exceptions or justification .. admit you were wrong about a player you thought would not be good that turned out to be great.

Dear Leader, so many rules.

Eli Manning. When drafted I predicted Eli would be out of the league in 2 years.
Instead, he leads the GiAnts to 2 Super Bowl wins.

 

[Cattle_Rancher]

Byron Jones didn't think much of him coming out college. Been wrong on a few QBs like Mahomes thought he was just a bomber with no short game accuracy, Allen was not impressed with his accuracy, Watson wasn't sure cause he threw a lot of ints 13 and 17 his last 2 years and seen Florida state CBs easily bait him into bad throws.

 

[CyberB0b]

JJ Watt. I thought he would be a Marcus Spears type. Oops.

 

[DCCowboys11]

Jason Witten. Thought he was a wasted 3rd round pick after the Cowboys signed Dan Campbell that year (2003). Boy was I wrong. Greatest TE in club history and likely 1st ballot HOF.

 

[AsthmaField]

Herbert. That guy shocked me with how good he was from the word go. I didn’t expect a whole lot but he appears to be a legit, top-5 franchise QB. The guy is really, really good.

 

[reddyuta]

i was completely wrong about Justin Herbert,his career has gone the opposite of what i thought it was likely to unfold.

 

[Dak_Attack_09]

Micah Parsons little bit, but I always knew his speed would help him out.

 

[john van brocklin]

For me it's Micah Parsons as well. I expected that he would be OK since he was drafted in the first round, but I was surprised that he turned out to be great.

Me too, that was my choice and thinking as well.

 

[RoboQB]

"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken." -my dad

For me, it was Cam Newton. Hands down.
I didn't think he had it in him to lead.

 

[Adreme]

TJ Watt. I thought he would be like Eli Manning, a JAG who gets by on the reputation of his more talented brother but instead TJ Watt turned out to be an all pro player in his own right.

 

[Irse]

Russell Wilson and Drew Brees

 

[plasticman]

I've always been optimistic when it comes to the Cowboys and I don't know why I would ever predict that a player for another team wouldn't be good.

Of course, I might want an opponent player to be terrible but what credentials earn me the right to predict someone is going to fail?

Now, if it was the other way, if I had to confess a player ended up being a bust after I predicted greatness then I could fill pages.

The closest I can come to naming a successful player that I thought wouldn't make it..............Nate Newton.

At one point in time Nate was on the bubble and part of his offseason work was supposed to be losing a lot of weight but that did'6 happenmj until well into Jimmy Johnson's tenure. This was around the time that Nate earned the name "Kitchen" which was patterned after another "heavy" the Fridge, William Perry of the Bears.

So the coaching staff put Nate Newton on a diet which he promptly failed. Other coaches might have cut him to send a message except for one thing. A few of them observed 345 pound Nate slam slam dunk a basketball. That's right, I said Slam Dunk. Although he was heavy and sometimes very overweight he had quickness and power. he was athletic.

Between 1987 and 1996, 12 seasons, Nate missed 12 total starts.

Nobody predicted that he was going to be a two time All Pro, and a six time Pro Bowler.

 

[plymkr]

Curtis Martin. Late round pick and I thought he'd be a special teams player.

Also Terrell Davis. Exact same with Martin. Davis was a 6th rounder and I thought he'd be a special teams guy and out of the league in a year or two, if he made the team.

My newest guy I was wrong about is hands down Parsons. I felt with him missing the year prior cuz of Covid would make him less effective. I at best expected an average starter, ala LVE, and I felt we wasted an opportunity to trade down and get more players to rebuild. Very happy to be dead wrong.

 

[Hadenough]

I never thought Derrick Henry's running style would work in the NFL. Too upright and long strider with not much wiggle. He is a big rough guy who proved me wrong. I also didn't think Lamar Jackson would make it with his running so much but wow he is so elusive he doesn't take any big hits and has a pretty decent arm.

 

[jaybird]

With it being the off-season, I thought it would be fun to give everyone a chance to share and own on of their mistakes in thinking a player was not going to be very good but they turned out to be great.


*** Rules of the Thread ***

• It can be any current or former NFL player for any NFL team
• Only post a player who was much BETTER than you expected (not worse)
• You must NOT in any way say you were "right" or "not wrong" about anything

*** READ THIS -- The purpose of this thread is to .. without any disclaimers, exceptions or justification .. admit you were wrong about a player you thought would not be good that turned out to be great.

That third rule is gonna be tough for certain folks lol.

remember thinking Micah Parson was another Jerry Jones project. couldnt be more wrong

 

[Creeper]

Joey Bosa.


To a lesser degree, Anthony Costanzo and Nate Solder. They weren't great but they hung around longer than I would have figured.

Mine is Joey Bosa too. I was very wrong about him.

 

[coult44]

I will start it off with .. Derrick Henry

When he entered the draft out of Alabama I thought he was an average running back that was only drafted high because he played for Alabama.

Henry has turned out to be faster and stronger than I thought he was going to be and makes a huge impact on the outcome of games.

Lamar Jackson, I didn’t think he’d be any good at all.

.

 

[John813]

Bosa brothers-thought they were good but not on the level they are at.
DK Metcalf-thought he was going to be a David Boston-gym freak(without juice) that wouldn't stay injury free.
Mahomes I'd admit I didn't expect him to be as great as he is now. Maybe a mix of where he was drafted from and typically those QB with that type of cannon arm haven't had the best track record in the NFL. Aka some team falls in love with a strong arm, overdrafts them and expects too much too early.

 

[DonaldM]

Nice thread. I'm going with Dak as I had no idea he was going to be as great in the league.