So the story on the main site about whether or not Bush was a “Bust” got me thinking about what exactly is the definition of a bust…
The general rule is that a Bust is a loss of value of an asset in regards to the value of the capital you put in. So in theory a seventh round pick or league minimum free agent signing that only contributes on special teams is not a bust, but a second or first round pick that ends up being a pure special teams player is… (think DHB for the raiders)
As far as I am concerned, there are several different types of Busts:
1. The Total bust. This is a guy whose talent simply doesn’t translate to the nfl or wasn’t there to begin with… this player doesn’t contribute anything at all to any team ever.
-Think Huey Richardson… just a stiff un-useable waste of assets
2. The Injury Bust. This guy’s career is ended or altered die to a major injury… its theoretically possible that they would have been worthy of the capital spent on acquiring them had the injury not happened.
-An example is Senquez Golson, who was a second round pick that lit up every practice but was never healthy enough to play a single snap for us…
3. The Character bust. This players Busts because of off the field issues. Drugs, Criminal behavior, immature behavior…
-Anthony Smith was a third round pick that was notoriously immature and didn’t have a great work ethic.. to date he is still the only player I can remember seeing DLB publicly berate on the sidelines… he spent six years in the NFL but only 3 with the Steelers… in those other 3 seasons, he bounced around to 4 different teams…
4. The Developmental Bust. This player never returns the investment that the initial team puts into him, but then puts it together for the next team. Sometimes this is the players fault and sometimes this is the teams fault…
- Kraig Urbik… a fourth round guard we gave up on after a season on the bench… he went on to play really well as a starter for the Bills until a knee injury derailed his career at 31… we simply failed to develop him and cut him..
5. The system or use Bust. This player simply doesn’t fit the system the team that acquired him runs, or the role they are trying to utilize him at.. this is similar to development busts but not the same.
-we got James Farrior because the Jets insisted on using him as a Olb … he switched here and had an all pro level career.. To jets fans he was a bust as an 8 OA pick…
6. The overstock bust. This happens when a team backlogs a position and a player never gets a chance… it’s basically a subset of the development issue… but they do develop the player… he just has nowhere to go on the team..
-Mike Vrabel is a great example… guy was a long term starter when he left here… he just couldn’t break past our established starters at olb.. the guy was here for four years and had zero start’s and relatively limited snaps despite showing playmaking ability … but he was also stuck behind names like Gildon, Lloyd, Emmons, and Porter in those seasons …
7. The political bust. These happen when a front office or coaching change happens or a rift between the coach and front office exists that causes a player to be replaced, cut, traded, or just mothballed in favor of a player the new coach or front office prefers. Jamain Stephens was likely just going to be a bust, but the Donahoe/ Cowher fued escalated him being jettisoned from the team… he was a first round pick and started ten games the year before.. he was cut in year 3 after doing poorly in the conditioning drills… it was similar to Haskins being cut in Washington so quickly during another coach /FO spat…
8. The Quitter… this rarely happens these days, but its the player that simply doesn’t want to play for the team and opts to just do something other than football… with the money these days, you really don’t see this happening anymore.. maybe a guy refuses to report, but that is no cost waiver wire guys like Justin Layne… not really draftees costing assets…
9. The overdrafted/ overspent bust. This is the most common type of bust in the early rounds… guys that have some value to a team but far less than the expectation based on the asset cost going in… Ziggy Hood, Edmunds, Burns… if these guys are third or fourth round picks, they would be good gets… but as firsts, they are viewed as busts.. swap the Draft positions of Mike Wallace and DHB and you get two pretty good picks.. but as it stands you get one bust and one utter steal.
The general rule is that a Bust is a loss of value of an asset in regards to the value of the capital you put in. So in theory a seventh round pick or league minimum free agent signing that only contributes on special teams is not a bust, but a second or first round pick that ends up being a pure special teams player is… (think DHB for the raiders)
As far as I am concerned, there are several different types of Busts:
1. The Total bust. This is a guy whose talent simply doesn’t translate to the nfl or wasn’t there to begin with… this player doesn’t contribute anything at all to any team ever.
-Think Huey Richardson… just a stiff un-useable waste of assets
2. The Injury Bust. This guy’s career is ended or altered die to a major injury… its theoretically possible that they would have been worthy of the capital spent on acquiring them had the injury not happened.
-An example is Senquez Golson, who was a second round pick that lit up every practice but was never healthy enough to play a single snap for us…
3. The Character bust. This players Busts because of off the field issues. Drugs, Criminal behavior, immature behavior…
-Anthony Smith was a third round pick that was notoriously immature and didn’t have a great work ethic.. to date he is still the only player I can remember seeing DLB publicly berate on the sidelines… he spent six years in the NFL but only 3 with the Steelers… in those other 3 seasons, he bounced around to 4 different teams…
4. The Developmental Bust. This player never returns the investment that the initial team puts into him, but then puts it together for the next team. Sometimes this is the players fault and sometimes this is the teams fault…
- Kraig Urbik… a fourth round guard we gave up on after a season on the bench… he went on to play really well as a starter for the Bills until a knee injury derailed his career at 31… we simply failed to develop him and cut him..
5. The system or use Bust. This player simply doesn’t fit the system the team that acquired him runs, or the role they are trying to utilize him at.. this is similar to development busts but not the same.
-we got James Farrior because the Jets insisted on using him as a Olb … he switched here and had an all pro level career.. To jets fans he was a bust as an 8 OA pick…
6. The overstock bust. This happens when a team backlogs a position and a player never gets a chance… it’s basically a subset of the development issue… but they do develop the player… he just has nowhere to go on the team..
-Mike Vrabel is a great example… guy was a long term starter when he left here… he just couldn’t break past our established starters at olb.. the guy was here for four years and had zero start’s and relatively limited snaps despite showing playmaking ability … but he was also stuck behind names like Gildon, Lloyd, Emmons, and Porter in those seasons …
7. The political bust. These happen when a front office or coaching change happens or a rift between the coach and front office exists that causes a player to be replaced, cut, traded, or just mothballed in favor of a player the new coach or front office prefers. Jamain Stephens was likely just going to be a bust, but the Donahoe/ Cowher fued escalated him being jettisoned from the team… he was a first round pick and started ten games the year before.. he was cut in year 3 after doing poorly in the conditioning drills… it was similar to Haskins being cut in Washington so quickly during another coach /FO spat…
8. The Quitter… this rarely happens these days, but its the player that simply doesn’t want to play for the team and opts to just do something other than football… with the money these days, you really don’t see this happening anymore.. maybe a guy refuses to report, but that is no cost waiver wire guys like Justin Layne… not really draftees costing assets…
9. The overdrafted/ overspent bust. This is the most common type of bust in the early rounds… guys that have some value to a team but far less than the expectation based on the asset cost going in… Ziggy Hood, Edmunds, Burns… if these guys are third or fourth round picks, they would be good gets… but as firsts, they are viewed as busts.. swap the Draft positions of Mike Wallace and DHB and you get two pretty good picks.. but as it stands you get one bust and one utter steal.
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