 |
| Juan Bonnett, CB (ret.) |
Samson brings to mind The Curse of Juan Bonnett. Houston took the CB with the fifth pick of the first round in 1975 and he immediately dropped 11 points, bottoming out at 52 overall at the time of his retirement. Bonnett still managed to stay in the league 10 seasons with four teams and The Curse of Juan Bonnett did not prevent the Denver Gold from making the playoffs twice during his stay there. Samson still has 89 speed and 60-plus coverage skills, so, like Bonnett, he could also have a long, if not distinguished, career.
The Pittsburgh Maulers made Nathan BUST-amente the second QB taken in the draft at pick 1-18. And, true to his name, BUST-amentre dropped six points.
Low volatility did not prevent first-round busts either, as the San Jose SaberCats and New York Stars both had busts with players 30 vol or lower. (For the purpose of this post, we are classifying "booms" and "busts" as swings of 4 or more points in overall potential).
Fullback Patrick Jackson was drafted by Denver, in the first round, then traded to the Portland Storm for picks in the second and fourth rounds next season. Jackson made Storm coach Pernbronze look like the genius we have always known he is when Jackson's potential climbed six points, the biggest boom of the first round.
The second round was insanity—19 of the 32 picks either boomed or busted. The first pick in the round, Orlando Renegades WLB Paul Smith, set the tone when he dropped 7 points. The Blazers felt a little better about things when, two picks later, WR Arthur Devore climbed five points.
The Birmingham Stallions had back-to-back busts at picks 26 and 30 in the second round. The Philadelphia Bell took 100-vol RB Ronnie Walts at 2-9 and saw him drop 17 points, But, four picks later, the Shreveport Steamer took another RB, 98-vol Orville Barker, and Barker boomed by 7 points.
The biggest boom of the first two rounds belonged to Honolulu Hawaiians CB Roger Skinner, who climbed 10 points at pick 2-28 and now has 81 potential.
First Round
Busts1-3, Matthew Samson, CB, Florida, 70 vol, -9
1-5, Larry Nicols, RDE, San Jose, 30 vol, -7
1-18, Nathan Bustamante, QB, Pittsburgh, 58 vol, -6
1-21, Reginald Hatfield, LDE, New York, 24 vol, -5
Booms
1-19, Edward Tillis, CB, Los Angeles, 62 vol, +4
1-22, Jerry Green, SLB, Michigan, 62 vol, +4
1-26, Patrick Jackson, FB, Denver/Portland, 94 vol, +6
1-29, Courtney Wright, WLB, Baltimore, 70 vol, +4
Second Round
Busts2-1, Paul Smith, WLB, Orlando, 80 vol, -7
2-4, Gary Williams, SS, Georgia, 58 vol, -6
2-6, Gus Powell, WR, Baltimore, 98 vol, -17
2-7, Irving Lee, DT, New Orleans, 52 vol, -7
2-9, Ronnie Waltz, RB, Philadelphia, 100 vol, -17
2-11, Jose Nunez, LG, Detroit, 84 vol, -8
2-24, Ronnie Perez, LG, Washington, 34 vol, -5
2-22. Kendrick Mobley, FS, Tampa Bay, 42 vol, -4
2-26, Roger White, MLB, Birmingham, 66 vol, -6
2-30, John Olivera, WR, Birmingham, 52 vol, -8
2-32, Albert Buckland, RB, Houston, 82 vol, -6
Booms
2-3, Arthur Devore, WR, Florida, 88 vol, +5
2-5, Nicholas Dorey, WR, Michigan, 82 vol, +7
2-8, Wilmer Kimble, QB, Southern California, 68 vol, +8
2-10, Anthony Heredia, CB, Denver, 78 vol, +6
2-13, Orville Barker, RB, Shreveport, 98 vol, +7
2-14, Jackie Becker, RDE, Charlotte, 94 vol, +8
2-21, Paul Bieber, LG, Oakland, 74 vol, +4
2-28, Roger Skinner, CB, Honolulu, 90 vol, +10
