Dirty Diamonds: NFL Edition

Throughout the years in every single draft there are always some guys that you look back on and label as a “bust”. Some of the guys I'm going to be covering in this new series are guys that were once looked at as having high potential, but haven't quite lived up to expectations, not complete “busts” but guys that could still breakout in a big way. For part 1 of the series we’ll be focusing on the NFL.

Solomon Thomas:

A Defensive-End coming out of Stanford where he would receive multiple All-American honors and winning the Morris Trophy as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Thomas led the team with 62 tackles, 15 for loss, while sacking the quarterback eight times. With Myles Garret also in the draft class draft analyst Lance Zierlein, had this to say about Thomas, “Thomas has the potential to become the best defender from this draft class and a future all-pro”. Many teams questioned Thomas’s ability to keep his weight up and worried he may have to be kicked out as an end, but wherever it is he was viewed as a pro-bowl talent. In his first season on a young San Francisco 49ers team, Thomas was solid starting in 12 of the 14 games he would suit up in. With all the leash in the world Thomas would put up 41 tackles, 3 sacks on the quarterback and 10 tackles for loss. 2018 would see Thomas suit up in all 16 games that season and start 13 where he wouldn't quite have the sophomore breakout many were hoping for. 2018 he would put up only 31 tackles, 3 being sacks and only 3 tackles for loss. Although the finishing numbers weren't there, he slid at pressuring the QB with 19 pressures on the season and 13 hurries of the QB. 2017 would be where the wheels fell off the Solomon Thomas train and he although played in all 16 games, he would only start in 3 of those games. You could make the argument that he is still solid, he just hasn't lived up to the hype of the 3rdoverall and almost ahead of Myles Garrett.

Forrest Lamp:

Now this choice is debatable, as Lamb wasn't a first round pick and was taken istead in the second round of the 2018 draft by the Chargers at 38th overall. The main issue that happens with a lot of players is the injury bug, Lamb has only played in 9 games through his 2 year career, 7 in 2018 and only 2 this previous year. The potential is obviously still ere for Lamp to be a tremendous offensive-lineman, it's just the injury bug has lowered the hype on him a bit.

Corey Davis:

Entering the draft in 2017 out of West Michigan, Davis was a top 3 receiver in a class that included John Ross, Mike Williams, JuJu Smith Schuster and Chris Godwin just to name a few. Despite not doing any of the drills at the combine Tennessee was intrigued enough by the 6’3 wideout coming off a 4 year career where he would have over 1400 receiving yards each season besides his freshman season (941 yards), that also included 52 touchdowns over those 4 years at West Michigan. As said by one AFC regional scout "Man, he breaks them off with those routes. It wasn't even fair the way he did those corners in that conference. A man among boys.", so the hype was real on Davis. Unfortunately he hasn't lived up to the expectations many of us have expected out of a 5th overall draft pick. Davis’s rookie season was relatively disappointing, playing in 11 games and putting up 375 receiving yards on 34 receptions/65 targets. His sophomore season was what opened peoples eyes and showed us what we could expect out of the Titans #1 Wide-Receiver of the future. 2018 he would play in all 16 games and also start all 16 games, He was targeted 112 times and racked in 65 receptions for 891 yards with touchdowns. With the Titans taking another reciever early in the draft there were more mouths to feed and that was evident seeing as Davis’s targets dropped down to 69 targets with 43 receptions for 601 yards. 2019 he was surpassed by rookie wide out AJ Brown and looks like he has taken the #2 role behind brown. Davis still has the potential to be a 1000 yard receiver for a competing Titans team, but he also has a chance to fade and be just an average wide receiver.

Dante Pettis:

Drafted in the 2nd round 44th overall by San Francisco, Pettis had the opportunity for targets in his rookie season considering the 49ers only had Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin at the top of their depth chart. He would play in 12 games and started in 7 of those games. He would have a respectable rookie season, with 45 targets/27 receptions for 467 yards. Pettis has been viewed as a deep threat receiver, he averaged 17.3 yards per catch his rookie year along with averaging 7.3 yards after the catch. Intriguing numbers for a rookie on a team that lacked young wide-receiver talent His sophomore season to put it lightly, was just a flat out disaster. With Deebo Samuel surpassing Pettis on the depth charge he slowly saw his role fade and eventually was on the sideline more often than being thrown to. His sophomore season consisted of him playing in 11 games and only starting 4 of them. His targets went down to 24 and only had 11 catches for 109 yards. It was rumored many times that the 49ers were not impressed by his work ethic and his unwillingness to block, he wasn't the only victim of this as fellow wide out Marquise Goodwin saw a decreased workload due to his blocking. With the addition of 1st rounder Brandon Aiyuk out of Arizona, it may take a huge step forward or even a trade for Pettis to rediscover himself.

Karl Joseph:

Coming out of West Virginia, Karl Joseph was a tackling machine at his alma mater, registering over 65 tackles each season aside from his 2015 season where he missed time due to a non-contact knee injury he suffered in practice. But the funny thing is, after only playing in 4 games he would still lead college football with 5 interceptions. Since his 2017 he hasn't started in more than 10 games, he also has never managed to play a full 16 game season . The closest he has come to a full season was 2016 where he played and started in 15 games. But in the next 2 seasons he would play 12 and 9 games in 2018/2019. He did not start in only 5 of those games, the Raiders have always shown the willingness to play him, but not the trust of wanting him on the team. Since 2018 he has popped up in several trade rumors with new head coach John Gruden being at the helm. He chose to leave the Raiders for the Cleveland Browns this past off-season, agreeing on a 1 year deal. Joseph if he stays on the field has the ability to be an above average safety for you, but due to his health concerns he cannot necessarily be trusted. Even with the injuries, Joseph is still a quality safety.