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

[Rayman70]

I was way wrong on Micah. Never in a million years thought he would be an instant stud and versatile as he is. Dude can do it all. Many fans,teams and media missed on him as well.

 

[quickccc]

RBs
Chris Johnson
Derrick Henry
Nick Chubb
Aaron Jones



Reggie Wayne

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.

TJ Watt - 2021 Defensive Player of the Year and NFL Single Season Sack record setter. ..and keep in mind he missed games with a groin injury at that.
if there was an NFL do-over ..

. Can you imagine us with both TJ Watt and Micah Parsons on the same team ?

 

[quickccc]

TJ Watt
Chris Johnson
Patrick Mahomes
Derrick Henry

Brett Favre
Michael Singletary
Drew Brees
Issac Bruce
Larry Allen

Nick Chubb
Russell Wilson
Dak Prescott
Aaron Jones

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Aaron Rodgers

I thought he was system QB, like Boller who had failed in NFL.

 

[kskboys]

Joey Bosa. Thought he would just be OK.

 

[LatinMind]

Tom Brady. I wasn't buying the hype the first few seasons he started. That NE defense was legit and made a ton of plays, so I felt Brady was along for the ride more so than him doing anything deserving of all the praise the media heaped on him.

I refuse to name any qb playing from 2000 on. The nfl has made it too easy for qbs to succeed. It's funny Brady started lighting teams up after his defense killed the colts wrs in the playoffs leading to the rules being what they are today.

 

[Tussinman]

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

Solder was a first round pick and the next tackle taken after Tyron Smith. Usually 1st rounders at those premier positions make it at least 2 contracts if healthy (Solder played solid during his rookie deal but tanked hard during his 2nd deal and his career is probably over at this point).

 

[DanA]

Dereck Henry is definitely on the list along with Adoree Jackson and various late 1st QB's like Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers. I never saw Dalton Shultz being the player he is either even after 2-years in the system.

 

[xwalker]

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.

Trying to follow the rules of this exercise makes me realize that I'm an optimist.

It is easy to remember being wrong about players that I thought would be good/great but that didn't meet expectations.

• I'll go with 'Didn't see it coming":
  • Davante Adams: Watching him as a rookie, I didn't anticipate that he would become the top WR in the league.

• 'Didn't see it coming soon enough":
  • Romo:
    • We went to training camp in 2004 and I was intrigued with Drew Henson.
    • My girlfriend at the time said that Romo was the best of all the Cowboys QBs.
    • By the end of the 2005 training camp, I realized that she was correct and that Romo did 'have something'.

 

[fivetwos]

Trying to follow the rules of this exercise makes me realize that I'm an optimist.

It is easy to remember being wrong about players that I thought would be good/great but that didn't meet expectations.

• I'll go with 'Didn't see it coming":
  • Davante Adams: Watching him as a rookie, I didn't anticipate that he would become the top WR in the league.

• 'Didn't see it coming soon enough":
  • Romo:
    • We went to training camp in 2004 and I was intrigued with Drew Henson.
    • My girlfriend at the time said that Romo was the best of all the Cowboys QBs.
    • By the end of the 2005 training camp, I realized that she was correct and that Romo did 'have something'.

Ahh so the chicks are feeding you all this XO info ay?

You've been found out!

 

[xwalker]

Travis Frederick ...... I wanted some nose tackle who I cannot even remember and thought Fredbeard was a reach.

I was leery of Micah Parsons year off of football. His highlight reel was great, but I would have preferred a tradedown and pick up Jeremiah Owusu Koramoah, along with Caleb Farley and Richie Grant. I don't think Caleb Farley was able to play much last year, right?

Now, knowing that Micah Parsons could very well be #1 overall in a re-draft... I'm ok with the pick...

Jason Witten

• Witten
  • Witten was my favorite Cowboys draft pick, ever considering where he was drafted (3rd round).
  • I wanted to draft him in the 1st round.
  • I was really ticked at Parcells for passing on him in the 2nd round.
  • Where I was wrong: I never thought he would be available in the 3rd round.

• Frederick
  • Frederick was in my top 10 favorite draft picks.
  • I loved the trade down and pick of Frederick.
  • I would have drafted Frederick straight up over DT Sharrif Floyd if that had been a choice.
  • Where I was wrong: I thought Bill Callahan would want smaller, quicker type OL for his Zone Blocking Scheme.
  • Where I was wrong part 2: I would have drafted OG Jonathan Cooper over Frederick if that had been an option.

• Parsons
  • I was ecstatic that they ended up with Parsons instead of either of the 2 CBs.
  • He was obviously the best off-ball LB in the draft and best pass rushing off-ball LB.
  • Where I was wrong: I bought into the media narrative that he might have character issues.
  • Where I was wrong part 2: I didn't anticipate that he could start at DE and hold up against the run as a DE.

• JOK
  • I loved the talent.
  • My concern was durability at 6'1-1/2", 221 (Played at ~215 in college).
  • I only had that concern when he was projected as a top half of the 1st round pick.
  • As a 2nd round pick (#52 overall), I thought it was well worth the risk. Worst case he could be a part time player.
  • He missed 3 games as a rookie on short term IR.
  • Where I was wrong: TBD. Need to look back in a couple of years to see how many games he misses due to injury.

 

[SlammedZero]

Offense:
Josh Allen. As a Boise State fan, I got to watch him play a few times and he never stood out to me. I didn't understand the hype at all. Well, we all know how that story is currently unfolding.

Defense:
Joey Bosa. I thought he was going to be a massive bust. I remember when fans were hoping that he would slide down to Dallas in that draft.

 

[jterrell]

CJ2K. I've never liked collegiate speed backs. They so often fail in the league but CJ2K was obviously a monster.
He ended up with almost 10K career yards so I was an 1d10t on that one for sure.

 

[McKDaddy]

Justin Herbert is the most recent for me.

I just thought he was another overhyped Oregon QB like Mariota or Harrington.

He's a top of the food chain talent and was straight from jump street.

I was torn on him. I watched the film & saw the talent ... and the "what are you doing" plays. My final pre draft opinion was that I was more hopeful than a lot of pundits but certainly wasn't sure he would succeed. He has exceeded even my optimistic view of where he might be at this point in his career.

I thought there was a chance he might tumble down the draft and I was hoping we would take a shot on him.

 

[DonaldM]

TJ Watt
Chris Johnson
Patrick Mahomes
Derrick Henry

Brett Favre
Michael Singletary
Drew Brees
Issac Bruce
Larry Allen

Nick Chubb
Russell Wilson
Dak Prescott
Aaron Jones

Just blocked you...too many misses

 

[Khartun]

Probably Jimmy Smith. I thought for sure he was a bust then he killed it in Jax.

 

[GoCowboysGo]

DeMarcus Ware.

Hoo boy, was I wrong on that hall of farmer!!

 

[JoeKing]

My original assessment of Micah Parsons was way wrong. He's turned out great!

 

[kskboys]

CJ2K. I've never liked collegiate speed backs. They so often fail in the league but CJ2K was obviously a monster.
He ended up with almost 10K career yards so I was an 1d10t on that one for sure.

Same here. I thought TENN was stupid to waste a 1st on him.

 

[Robalocc88]

Walter Payton.

I remember my dad ( diehard Bears fan) screaming " you guys pick a division 2 running back, holds the ball like aoaf of bread?? You idiots!!"
Sweetness became his all time favorite player.
God bless them both.