Is Aaron Maybin the Worst Bills' Draft Pick of All Time?

[st. pete gogolak]

God knows there has been an overabundance of Aaron Maybin threads but I don't think this question has been addressed head-on in a thread. Here's my objective criteria in answering the question:

1) How high was the pick? The higher the pick, the bigger the bust.

2) What kind of production did we get out of the guy?

3) Did we pass on any quality players of need in picking the guy?

4) Bonus factors (did we trade up to get him? did we draft him knowing he was severely injured and wouldn't play for two years? of course, nobody's stupid enough to do that!)

 

By these criteria, you can make a strong case for Maybin being the all-time Bills' bust. He was an awfully high pick (#11); the production we've gotten and almost certainly will get is essentially zero; and we passed up at least four quality players at need positions in selecting him (Orakpo, Cushing, Oher and Matthews).

 

At least Mike Williams gave us a couple of years as an ok starting right tackle (his problem was that he wasn't Orlando Pace or Anthony Munoz or even Bryant McKinnie). Losman was a horrendous pick but more because of the trade up to get him than anything else.

 

You really have to go back in Bills' history to find a worse pick. Rueben Gant was a starting tight end for a couple of seasons. I think the only three that rival Maybin are Al Cowlings (#5) '70, Walt Patulski (#1) '72 (special shout out to Fred Swendson 3rd round in '72, #53 overall pick in the draft and got cut in training camp) and Phil Dokes (#12). Dokes was out of the league after two seasons and contributed nothing. My vote - if Maybin is cut next training camp, he will join Phil Dokes as the worst Buffalo Bills draft pick of all time.

[San Diego Bills Fan]

The worst has to be Tom Cousineau 1979 The Ohio State University. Never played a game n a Bills Uniform. The only saving grace that year was that the Bills had two 1st round draft choices and with the second pick in the first round they chose Jerry Butler out of Clemson.

[Offside Number 76]

The worst has to be Tom Cousineau 1979 The Ohio State University. Never played a game n a Bills Uniform. The only saving grace that year was that the Bills had two 1st round draft choices and with the second pick in the first round they chose Jerry Butler out of Clemson.

 

The bigger saving grace is that Cousineau was traded for the pick used to select Kelly.

 

Williams--biggest of all time, IMO.

[davidkski]

In terms of pure bust-for-the-buck, I think Walt Patulski is still the Bills' biggest draft day whiff. He was chosen #1 in THE ENTIRE DRAFT - before people like Franco Harris, Willie Buchanon and Cliff Branch. Patulski's Notre Dame pedigree made him tempting. His pierogi-juicy Polish name made him irresistible for a team like the Bills in a town like Buffalo. But, as a Polish-American myself, it pains me to say that he was so slow and undersized that he couldn't manage to sack a pussywillow bush on Dyngus Day.

[Albany,n.y.]

The worst has to be Tom Cousineau 1979 The Ohio State University. Never played a game n a Bills Uniform. The only saving grace that year was that the Bills had two 1st round draft choices and with the second pick in the first round they chose Jerry Butler out of Clemson.

After his CFL contract expired, we were able to match the Houston offer & trade him & get Jim Kelly, so Cousineau wasn't such a bad pick. Worse picks were in the old AFL days when the top pick would sign with NFL teams & the Bills never got anything in return. The worst 1st rounder signed who never played a down was Jim Davidson.

Maybin has to rank pretty high if not #1, because of the limited amount of playing time he's received and the million of $ he's been paid. Most of our other 1st round busts got a lot more playing time & actually started games.

Now there will be some who will tell you that you can't properly evaluate a player without giving him significant playing time. They'll say he just needs more time. We've seen it before, we'll see it again. But they're wrong,a bust is a bust. Players get cut every day without ever starting a single game. I'm sure if it wasn't so politically incorrect, coaches would be cutting 1st rounders in camp every year. When a player switches from college to the pros & his game doesn't translate, it's evident pretty soon. The only reason Maybin even is on the roster is it's too hard to cut a highly picked bust this early in his career, but we all know he's a goner sooner or later. I still can't believe the other M guy is still around, trying to break Victor Allotey's inactive streak record.

[Bananahands]

Thought this was an interesting article....

 

Is Aaron Maybin the worst player in the NFL?

 

Sorry if it was posted elsewhere, I'm new and don't check everything!

[Billsguy]

In terms of pure bust-for-the-buck, I think Walt Patulski is still the Bills' biggest draft day whiff. He was chosen #1 in THE ENTIRE DRAFT - before people like Franco Harris, Willie Buchanon and Cliff Branch. Patulski's Notre Dame pedigree made him tempting. His pierogi-juicy Polish name made him irresistible for a team like the Bills in a town like Buffalo. But, as a Polish-American myself, it pains me to say that he was so slow and undersized that he couldn't manage to sack a pussywillow bush on Dyngus Day.

 

Every couple of months this same thread comes back. The Bills have given the fans so many busts over the years it is awesome to behold incompetency in action. Thanks to Ralph Wilson.

 

The picks of Mike Williams and Aaron Maybin were clearly very bad.

 

The All-time worst was Walt Patulski! It isn't even close!

 

I guess most of the posters are too young to remember. Patulski, the number one pick in the entire draft, was the biggest bust ever!

[PromoTheRobot]

Maybin was bad but the failure also falls on all the draft expert gurus who touted him as a first-round stud. People forget these guys are wrong more than they are right.

 

PTR

[KOKBILLS]

 

The All-time worst was Walt Patulski! It isn't even close!

 

I guess most of the posters are too young to remember. Patulski, the number one pick in the entire draft, was the biggest bust ever!

 

No way...

 

Patulski had 21.5 sacks in 4 years then The Bills got a 2nd round Pick for him from St Louis...Maybin has 23 Total Tackles in a year and a half and ZERO sacks...Patulski had 7 Sacks his 1st Season...Plus I'm pretty sure the Bills got Joe Devlin for that 2nd Round Pick...Maybin would not get a Conditional 7th Rounder after 4 Years the way he's going...There was at least good reason to Draft Putulski at #1 Overall at the time...He was a hell of a College Player...Maybin was a bit of a stretch at #11...

 

Maybin has 2 more years to make up lost ground...But at this point he's 100 times the bust Putulski was...

[thebug]

Erik Flowers?

[Trader]

The Bills first pick ever was Richie Lucas QB from Penn State. He ranks right up there in terms of Busts!

[Typical TBD Guy]

Erik Flowers?

 

Flowers was a late 1st round pick, lasted 6 years in the league, started 6 games, and had 5 sacks plus an interception. At this point, I'm not so sure Maybin ever plays in another NFL regular season game.

 

I think the OP has a solid argument here. At least guys like Patulski and Mike Williams played for some years and made some meaningful contributions here and there. Epic busts no doubt, but it's hard to fault Buffalo's front office for making those picks when they did. Maybin might have had a late first round grade for a few front offices, but was probably a third rounder for the vast majority of credible NFL front offices. No one but the Bills was dumb enough to pick Maybin that high.

 

I would also generally rate draft busts as more significant the closer they are in time to the present day, as football scouting has gotten much more sophisticated over the years.

[1B4IDie]

Flowers was a late 1st round pick, lasted 6 years in the league, started 6 games, and had 5 sacks plus an interception. At this point, I'm not so sure Maybin ever plays in another NFL regular season game.

 

I think the OP has a solid argument here. At least guys like Patulski and Mike Williams played for some years and made some meaningful contributions here and there. Epic busts no doubt, but it's hard to fault Buffalo's front office for making those picks when they did. Maybin might have had a late first round grade for a few front offices, but was probably a third rounder for the vast majority of credible NFL front offices. No one but the Bills was dumb enough to pick Maybin that high.

 

I would also generally rate draft busts as more significant the closer they are in time to the present day, as football scouting has gotten much more sophisticated over the years.

Its likely Maybi will go down as the worst draft pick in Bills history when all is said in done.

He will have worse stats than Flowers and play less games than Williams, and Cousineau was actually a good player that decided to go to the CFL, and then we got Kelly out of the deal.

 

So Maybi will likely go down as the worst pick in Bills history since the AFL-NFL merger.

What makes it worse is what Internet Tough Guy points, out by all regards Maybin was undersized but very fast. Orakpo was not undersized and almost as fast as Maybi, why a team that needs a homerun takes the risk on Maybi over more of sure thing like Orakpo is beyond me.

 

This sounds outrageous but unless being made inactive in front of his family in Baltimore, lights a fire under his but and gets him motivated to head to the Duffy's for some wings and fries to get his weight up, Maybi could go down as one of the worst picks in Major Sports, right after Sam Bowie over Jordan.

[dollars 2 donuts]

Its likely Maybi will go down as the worst draft pick in Bills history when all is said in done.

He will have worse stats than Flowers and play less games than Williams, and Cousineau was actually a good player that decided to go to the CFL, and then we got Kelly out of the deal.

 

So Maybi will likely go down as the worst pick in Bills history since the AFL-NFL merger.

What makes it worse is what Internet Tough Guy points, out by all regards Maybin was undersized but very fast. Orakpo was not undersized and almost as fast as Maybi, why a team that needs a homerun takes the risk on Maybi over more of sure thing like Orakpo is beyond me.

 

This sounds outrageous but unless being made inactive in front of his family in Baltimore, lights a fire under his but and gets him motivated to head to the Duffy's for some wings and fries to get his weight up, Maybi could go down as one of the worst picks in Major Sports, right after Sam Bowie over Jordan.

 

 

 

Yeah, I mean even Booker Moore (FB, 1st round draft pick, Penn St., '82) did something after missing his rookie year with a nerve disorder...until Maybin, I thought he was the worst.

[mannc]

I will have to defer to others when it comes to zeros like Patulski and Cousineau, but the worst and most costly pick in recent memory was JP Lose-man. Not only did the Bills trade up to get him, surrendering a 1 and a 2, his pathetic play and inability to develop into a decent QB set the franchise back years and cost the team many football games. As bad as Mike Williams was, it's hard to say that he really cost the team football games as opposed to just generally sucking. Same goes for Maybin, I suppose.

[GRHater69]

They weren't number ones, but in '75 the Bills drafted two linebackers who both held out of training camp and the preseason. Tom Ruud and Bob Nelson. Neither saw much of the field and their failure to become players set the team back defensively for several seasons.

 

As to Walt Patulski, I wouldn't rate him a bust, but he didn't really do much after his rookie year.

[Enemarty]

No way...

 

Patulski had 21.5 sacks in 4 years then The Bills got a 2nd round Pick for him from St Louis...Maybin has 23 Total Tackles in a year and a half and ZERO sacks...Patulski had 7 Sacks his 1st Season...Plus I'm pretty sure the Bills got Joe Devlin for that 2nd Round Pick...Maybin would not get a Conditional 7th Rounder after 4 Years the way he's going...There was at least good reason to Draft Putulski at #1 Overall at the time...He was a hell of a College Player...Maybin was a bit of a stretch at #11...

 

Maybin has 2 more years to make up lost ground...But at this point he's 100 times the bust Putulski was...

 

+1

 

- also, Walt's was my first player autograph.

[Ennjay]

They weren't number ones, but in '75 the Bills drafted two linebackers who both held out of training camp and the preseason. Tom Ruud and Bob Nelson. Neither saw much of the field and their failure to become players set the team back defensively for several seasons.

 

Actually Ruud WAS a Number 1.

 

I still lean toward Flowers even if he did get on the field. At least he's got to be the biggest reach ever -- Maybin may turn out to be the biggest bust but he was projected as a first-rounder.

 

But then there's Phil Dokes . . .

[Steve O]

If Mike Williams worked as hard as Maybin he would have been at least serviceable as he showed last year for Washington until injured. Maybin tries hard, he just isn't a very good football player. Not sure who this makes the bigger bust but at least the coaches found a way to get Williams on the field.

[dollars 2 donuts]

I will have to defer to others when it comes to zeros like Patulski and Cousineau, but the worst and most costly pick in recent memory was JP Lose-man. Not only did the Bills trade up to get him, surrendering a 1 and a 2, his pathetic play and inability to develop into a decent QB set the franchise back years and cost the team many football games. As bad as Mike Williams was, it's hard to say that he really cost the team football games as opposed to just generally sucking. Same goes for Maybin, I suppose.

 

 

Respectfully disagree. Losman's worst offense was that he wasn't very good...everything else was controlled by the Bills, even having some affect on his results as an NFL QB (Coaching, line, etc.). Maybin can't even get on the field.

 

To more accurately compare Losman and Maybin, Losman's ineptitude would've had to have rsien to the level of never appearing on the field as a starter and never throwing a TD (in other words, Maybin's 20 games without a start and no sacks).

 

Hell, as bad as he was as a QB there were still a couple of games that he just plain won for us...no such comparison with Maybin.

Edited October 29, 2010 by dollars 2 donuts