10 NFL scouting combine stars who went on to be busts
Jim ReinekingEach year, hundreds of NFL draft hopefuls attempt to impress future employers with a dazzling display of skill and athleticism at the NFL scouting combine.
Part track meet, part grammar school fitness test, the combine is a cog in the NFL draft’s evaluation machine. This is also often the first time key decision makers in the league get a first-hand look at the fresh talent. And, as the saying goes, first impressions matter.
Sometimes way too much.
What happens in said workouts on Lucas Oil Stadium’s artificial turf by athletes clad in shorts and t-shirts can seemingly overshadow what transpired on the field in actual pads and cleats the previous autumn.
This is a look at those prospects whose work in Indy might have factored a bit too much into their overall draft evaluation. What followed? Well, mistakes were made.
10. Tim Tebow
Position: Quarterback
Draft: 2010, Round 1, No. 25 overall
Selected by: Denver Broncos
The lowdown: Tebow -- one of the most decorated and famous college football players of all time -- entered the NFL with one glaring question to answer: Could he throw a football? As in, throw it with speed and accuracy in the confines of a complex offensive system. Tebow didn't go through quarterback position drills at the combine since he was working on a revamped throwing motion that he would unveil to great fanfare at Florida's pro day later that spring. Instead, he put on a display of his athleticism and seemed to impress teams with his football acumen in private meetings. The Broncos were enamored enough to trade back into the first round of the 2010 draft to get him. He had a memorable season in 2011, during which he led Denver on a series of come-from-behind wins and engineered an overtime triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC wild-card game. However, in 2012 the Broncos traded Tebow to the New York Jets after signing Peyton Manning. He attempted just eight passes while with the Jets, and after failed preseason stints with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, Tebow turned his attention to television and becoming a pro baseball player.
9. Bruce Campbell
Position: Offensive tackle
Draft: 2010, Round 4, No. 106 overall
Selected by: Oakland Raiders
The lowdown: It might seem a bit odd to list a player who was a fourth-round pick among mostly high selections, but that is the sort of company Campbell thrust himself into after one of the more impressive combine efforts in recent memory. The 6-6, 314-pounder blazed a 4.85-second 40-yard dash time. The Maryland product also had 34 reps of 225 pound on the bench press and a 32-inch vertical. His performance thrust him into the first-round conversation. To their credit, the Raiders waited until the fourth round. Campbell played in just 14 games for Oakland and didn't make a single start.
8. Stephen Hill
Position: Wide receiver
Draft: 2012, Round 2, No. 43 overall
Selected by: New York Jets
The lowdown: Hill played in an option offense while at Georgia Tech, so he entered the draft — doing so as an early entry, as well — raw and inexperienced as a passing game component. What Hill did possess was speed. He had 4.36 speed in the 40, and the Jets hoped that would open up their offense. In his two seasons in New York, the team's offense ranked 30th and 25th in total yards. Hill combined for 594 yards and four touchdowns in those two seasons, and his career was over in 2016.
7. Chris Henry
Position: Running back
Draft: 2007, Round 2, No. 50 overall
Selected by: Tennessee Titans
The lowdown: He posted less-than-impressive numbers during his four seasons at Arizona, never rushing for more than 600 yards in a year and only scoring nine touchdowns with a 3.3-yards-per-carry average. Still, a stellar combine workout — highlighted by a 4.4 40 time — can change minds quickly. Henry played in just 11 games — with no starts — in a four-year NFL career, rushing for 122 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
6. Aaron Curry
Position: Linebacker
Draft: 2009, Round 1, No. 4 overall
Selected by: Seattle Seahawks
The lowdown: He was considered an elite prospect heading into the combine. Curry solidified that lofty perch by running a 4.56-second 40 and posting a 37-inch vertical. The Wake Forest standout became the highest-drafted linebacker since LaVar Arrington went No. 2 overall in the 2000 draft. Curry played in 30 games in his first two seasons but rarely made an impact. By 2011, his draft-bust status was nearly complete after he lost his starting job to K.J. Wright and was shipped to the Raiders in exchange for a seventh-round pick.
5. Darrius Heyward-Bey
Position: Wide receiver
Draft: 2009, Round 1, No. 7 overall
Selected by: Raiders
The lowdown: No team has been more romanced by prospects with blazing speed than Oakland. Of the 14 players with the fastest 40 times at the combine since 2006, four were drafted by the Raiders (Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford, DeMarcus Van Dyke, Tyvon Branch). Heyward-Bey was a relatively unspectacular prospect coming out of Maryland, where he decided to forgo his senior season. That move paid off handsomely. Heyward-Bey's 4.3-second 40 time boosted his draft stock, and the Raiders picked him over more-heralded receivers such as Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin. Heyward-Bey lasted four seasons with the Raiders, collecting 11 touchdown passes and 2,071 yards receiving.
4. Mike Mamula
Position: Defensive end/Linebacker
Draft: 1995, Round 1, No. 7 overall
Selected by: Philadelphia Eagles
The lowdown: Mamula is the cautionary tale for putting too much stock in a combine performance. Turn back the clock to 1995, and it was rare that a draft prospect trained specifically for the combine’s drills. But such preparation paid off tremendously for Mamula, who had a 38½-inch vertical, ran a 40 that was extremely fast for his position (a reported 4.58 seconds) and had more bench press reps than the top offensive tackle in the draft (Tony Boselli). These numbers helped convince the Eagles to make an aggressive move to get Mamula, trading up five spots from No. 12 to No. 7 overall with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Five picks after the Eagles selected him, the Bucs took future Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.
3. Matt Jones
Position: Wide receiver
Draft: 2005, Round 1, No. 21 overall
Selected by: Jacksonville Jaguars
The lowdown: He played quarterback at Arkansas, and even once held the Southeastern Conference's record for rushing yards by a quarterback (later surpassed by Tebow). Jones’ athleticism prompted a position switch to help his draft status. At 6-6, he ran a sub-4.4 40. Mesmerized by a target with that enticing stature-and-speed combination, the Jags picked Jones, who was off the board six spots before the Atlanta Falcons took Roddy White and three selections before Aaron Rodgers fell to the Green Bay Packers. Jones lasted four seasons in Jacksonville, starting 15 games and catching 166 passes for 2,153 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2009, Jacksonville had had enough of Jones' off-field troubles and released him.
2. Troy Williamson
Position: Wide receiver
Draft: 2005, Round 1, No. 7 overall
Selected by: Minnesota Vikings
The lowdown: After trading Randy Moss to the Raiders, the Vikings were desperate to replicate that vertical threat in their offense. Williamson was fast (4.32-second 40), but he caught a bad case of the dropsies. He failed to hang on in Minnesota, lasting just three seasons and catching 79 passes (on 167 targets) for three touchdowns. He was unceremoniously shipped to the Jaguars in 2008 in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
1. Vernon Gholston
Position: Defensive end
Draft: 2008, Round 1, No. 6 overall
Selected by: New York Jets
The lowdown: He came out of Ohio State with all of the measurables that teams seek: size, speed, length, strength. But Gholston was raw and inexperienced. The 6-4, 258-pound physical specimen was impressive at the combine (4.67-second 40, 35½-inch vertical, 37 reps of 225 pounds on the bench), and New York was smitten, burning a top-10 selection on a player who would start just five games and record no sacks over three seasons with the team.
If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders. Do the right thing, sign up now!