Who is the most surprising UM bust in the NFL to you?
Who are the guys you thought would be great at the next level, but busted?
I'll start the bidding with Devin Bush. I guess I knew it was possible that being undersized could be an issue for him, but his speed and tackling and football IQ were so insanely high in college that I never seriously considered that he'd spend his NFL career getting paved by 320lb guards who are also insane athletes.
February 27th, 2024 at 2:50 PM ^
Todd Collins' last year included probably the worst start ever by a QB whose team won the game that wasn't weather-related, and then a ghastly appearance in the NFC Championship after Jay Cutler got hurt that was so hopeless he got yanked before the 3rd quarter was done for Caleb Hanie.
February 27th, 2024 at 2:57 PM ^
And he’s a 2x Super Bowl champ
February 27th, 2024 at 3:46 PM ^
So, was Henne successful as a UM grad? Absolutely. I absolutely reject assertions that he was a bust in any way. He started for a couple of years, and like many, many others QBs, he did not stick as a top-15 starter. As a second-rounder, he was never expected to be a top 10 guy in the League.
Instead, he forged a loooong career as a backup, which is a *really* good job that requires diligence and preparedness and humility. Being a solid backup QB is an excellent role in the NFL and I'm delighted Michigan has had several guys make it at that level. A good backup QB is not a 16 (now 17) week starter, but he's a guy who can come in, run the offense, and win games for his team when the starter goes down. And Henne won games for a team that won a Super Bowl.
But... most successful career of any UM graduate? Points 2 and 3 are great... but we're talking about the school and position that produced Tom Brady.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:21 AM ^
Chad Henne and Todd Colins before him, both had a long career as back-up QB in NFL, played 14 and 15 seasons each. I don't consider neither as draft bust as round 2 picks.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:57 AM ^
Todd Collins is one of the greatest NFL backups of all time. The greatest is probably Earl Morrall.
February 27th, 2024 at 1:34 PM ^
Morrall was definitely the greatest quarterback who had only 9 toes.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:48 AM ^
I'll jump on the QB train. I really liked Tom Brady, and defended him to Boston fans when he took over, talking about his 200 4th quarter yards against State in a comeback and his Orange bowl games (I was still way off, thinking he was an Eric Kramer type of QB).
But I really thought Drew Henson was going to be a top QB when he came back to the NFL. Brady was the better QB when he was a Freshman and Sophmore, but his Junior year was amazing. He threw all over the field in a perfect match of top QBs when he played and won against Drew Breese.
I think the time off to play baseball was too much, but he looked like he could have been one of the greats. Instead we just have Brady (THE great)
February 27th, 2024 at 3:26 PM ^
Terrell seems the best answer, but Henson isn't far behind. What an absolute flop in pro sports!
February 27th, 2024 at 10:51 AM ^
I'm not sure I would trade many careers for the one of Chad Henne. After losing the job in Miami he was able for over a decade to just be "the guy trusted to come in if there is an emergency, but never good enough that the fans will want to bench the starter for." His body took way less hits than most players with that longevity and he is set for life at 40 with a ring on both fingers. Sign me up for that!
February 27th, 2024 at 1:57 PM ^
What happened to his other fingers?
February 27th, 2024 at 11:14 AM ^
Love Chad. He will forever live in Chiefs "Dynasty" lore for that 98 yard TD drive after Mahomes got hurt. Incredible to sit for basically years and come in and do that.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:21 PM ^
Whenever Chad Henne’s pro career is mentioned, I am contractually obligated to remind people of Monday Night Football, Dolphins vs Patriots, September 12 2011.
Brady and Henne combined for over 900 passing yards, Henne RUSHED for 60 yards, and led their teams to 1110 combined total yards, 52 first downs, and 3 different hundred yard receivers.
It was a glorious day for offense in a Michigan Shootout. Henne was already “mid career”, people were already asking when Brady was going to retire. Since that day, something like 7 combined Super Bowl rings between those two QBs.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:23 PM ^
Yeah. Henne it is. People may have forgotten how good he was. He was better than Brady coming out, and I thought he was gonna be a good NFL QB.
February 27th, 2024 at 3:29 PM ^
I thought Brady was much better than Henne in college. I remember mostly disappointment from Henne's time at Michigan, whereas Brady's senior (5th) year was a beautiful thing to behold.
February 27th, 2024 at 3:29 PM ^
Who's this?
February 27th, 2024 at 4:09 PM ^
It never fails, Henne and ginger ale
February 27th, 2024 at 10:03 AM ^
I guess this inverse of this is who is the most surprising hit who no one thought would amount to much, and you have to stipulate at the start of that conversation that the answer is obviously Tom Brady Q.E.D.,
So non-Tom Brady division, I'd vote for Mike Onwenu, who is basically an average tackle and one of the top 5-10 guards in the NFL, and that's just fucking stunning because he was a good starter at Michigan but I don't think anyone ever thought of him as a star....
February 27th, 2024 at 10:58 AM ^
Onwenu had every physical tool you could ask for to be a 15 year O-lineman. If he put in the work of course. It appears he did.
Now, Josh Mettelus is expected to be sitting behind a desk somewhere 15 minutes after he left Michigan. Holy crap I did not see that coming. At all.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:38 PM ^
I thought Tom Brady was going to be great. I did not think he would be the GOAT, but he was a fantastic QB in a system that didn't make its QBs look great.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:57 PM ^
I'd say Chris Calloway. He was definitely a good receiver at Michigan, but never the primary receiver on the team, and given how many Michigan receivers flamed out in The League, his success there stunned me. By the time he left the Giants he was their third-leading receiver in history and had led the team in receptions four years in a row. 11 year NFL career.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:04 AM ^
Willie Henry. I felt he was ready to dominate in the B10, but surprisingly turned pro instead with little impact.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:55 AM ^
Just imagine Henry on the 2016 DL. Our "weak link" in the two deep was Godin at DT. Had we had Henry our 2-deep would have been:
Wormley-Glasgow-Henry-Charlton
Gary-Hurst-Mone-Winovich
I do have a lot of respect for Henry though. In the summer of 2017 I was at the 12 mile Walmart in Warren (anyone who has been there knows it can be a quite...eccentric place even for Walmart standards). Henry was there with a group of around 20 teenage kids and another 10 younger special needs kids and he was having them fill up shopping carts for school shopping. He wasn't there with any PR, wasn't wearing anything Ravens; just had a Michigan hoodie on and was helping the kids make sure they had everything they needed. I then saw him walk up to the cash register and hand the manager standing there his card. I spoke with him briefly. Real jovial guy.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:05 AM ^
Bush tore his ACL week 6 of his second season and never quite looked the same. Had a phenomenal rookie campaign so no sure I’d consider him a bust.
16 games, 109 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 4 fumble recoveries, 2 INTs
Also, depends on what you call a bust in the NFL. Like, never really played? Or wasn’t a star?
Chris Perry maybe? Mike Hart didn’t do much in the NFL. Given his place in UM record books, I’d have expected Marquise Walker to do SOMETHING in the NFL ….
February 27th, 2024 at 10:21 AM ^
To me "bust" is all relative. Like Mike Hart, I never thought he was going to have a career in the NFL, he was just too slow. Some guys you can tell are great college players who don't have the talent / skills to star in the NFL which is a pretty different game. Denard's like that too.
But there are some guys where you're like, yeah, that's an NFL star right there and then they're not that good and its a total shock. Jabrill Peppers was headed that way, but he's figured it out and he's a top safety now, which is awesome.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:25 PM ^
I didn't think Hart too slow, rather too small framed for the NFL
February 27th, 2024 at 2:56 PM ^
Mike Hart ran a 4.77 40 at the combine. He was slow and already pretty banged up by the time he was drafted.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:21 AM ^
Should this thread title be changed to "Who did you expect to be an NFL superstar?"
A multi-year, league average player in any sport is extremely valuable.
February 27th, 2024 at 11:08 AM ^
I would go with "What Wolverine most disappointed you in the NFL?" as it allows discussion of non-superstar types.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:49 AM ^
This seems like the right answer on Bush and it's the first good one I've seen. He got hurt, period.
Nice avatar update, btw.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:06 PM ^
Thanks, I almost made a thread per XM’s suggestion but decided I wanted this one
February 27th, 2024 at 10:49 AM ^
Yeah, I hate calling any career destroyed by injury a "bust". It's not like DBJ showed up at camp looking like a walrus.
Shame on OP.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:53 AM ^
I don't agree that Bush's career was destroyed by injury. He was not great in his first season as well before the injury per PFF. And fwiw, the scouting reports in the NFL aren't criticisms of his athleticism.
February 27th, 2024 at 11:59 AM ^
That was his rookie season FFS. He made over 100 tackles and Defensive PoW (edit: that’s week not year) as a rookie linebacker.
No one here agrees with you. Which is fine, we all make mistakes. But doubling down on a mistake is a very bad life habit.
Just take the L and move on. You're going to get judged ten times as hard for digging in than for just admitting you forgot he got hurt.
February 27th, 2024 at 2:58 PM ^
But that's what makes it interesting. A bunch of homers making excuses for their guy is not interesting; understanding what we were missing that made Bush's skillset not NFL-suitable is way more interesting. The ACL injury is a flimsy excuse - it's generally not a career altering injury now without other damage (RIP Grant Newsome's leg).
February 27th, 2024 at 11:18 AM ^
Mike Hart was obviously a great college RB, but his size and middling speed severely narrowed his path to success in the NFL. It wasn't altogether surprising that he didn't make it in the NFL.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:08 AM ^
No question, Aidan Hutchinson.
It's funny because I see this dude on the Lions who's built like him, has a lot of his traits, and seems to know Aidan's family. That guy is turning into one of the more well-rounded defensive ends in football.
But all my OSU friends tell me Aidan was a wasted pick, so I'll go with him.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:10 AM ^
In all seriousness, we need to quantify a bust. Braylon doesn't qualify in my mind, he was just disappointing given his draft position.
But David Terrell on the other hand...
February 27th, 2024 at 12:53 PM ^
The guy you see on the Lions is Steve's son.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:10 AM ^
Braylon Edwards. I thought for sure he was going to be a HOF player
February 27th, 2024 at 10:11 AM ^
Braylon was super disappointing to me. Alan Branch didn't do much. I think he was okay in NE? but dont recall him doing a ton.
I'll add the flip. Mason Cole is still in the NFL. I would never have thought that.. he was just cut, but he'll get picked up and he did get a good contract last year.
I sometimes hear names of UM guys who I'm shocked have lasted so long or even excelled. Metellus being another.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:20 AM ^
Branch is interesting. He was an early 2nd round pick and played 11 seasons. Never made a Pro-Bowl.
Maybe slightly disappointing but not a full bust?
February 27th, 2024 at 10:24 AM ^
Branch made like $30MM in his career and won two Super Bowls. I think the scheme he played in depressed his counting stats and made him less likely to make ProBowls, but he had an outstanding career.
Edit: a quick google search on average career earnings by draft pick didn't turn up too much useful data, but playing 11 years as a 2nd round pick puts you comfortably in the top 10% for career longevity.
February 27th, 2024 at 12:09 PM ^
yeah thats fair. i didnt really think about the word bust... but more.. surprised the didnt excel, so to speak... expectations (personal) vs. outcome.
11 years, short of crappy QBs that recycle forever, is a very good career.
Dunno why he sticks out to me. Just have that shot of him walking away from the dead PSU QB int he background image in my head. haha
There have been others for sure.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:13 AM ^
For me it would be Tyrone Wheatley. Don't get me wrong; 5,000 career rushing yards is nothing to scoff at, but he was a mid-first round draft pick. I thought he had a chance to become one of the league's most dominant RBs.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:40 AM ^
For RBs I think it’s so team dependent. If you get drafted to a team with a shitty OLine then your career is over before it started.
February 27th, 2024 at 3:47 PM ^
Didn't injuries rob him of the speed that was an essential part of his toolset at Michigan?
February 27th, 2024 at 4:28 PM ^
I don't think he ever suffered the kind of injury that would have had a permanent impact on his speed or explosiveness (like an ACL tear). He pulled his hamstring and had a couple of ankle sprains, I think. IIRC, during his time with the Giants he had some issues with the coaches and in the locker room stemming from a contract holdout that kept him out of training camp. That isolated him from the team a bit. He seems to have been a case of starting an NFL career out on the wrong foot and never really getting back on track.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:17 AM ^
Braylon 100%. I thought he would be a monster.
February 27th, 2024 at 10:18 AM ^
Drew Henson. I know he screwed up his career by trying baseball first, but once he committed to football, I still thought he was going to make it.
He's still the most recent person to have played in both the NFL and MLB, so at least he's the answer to a good trivia question.