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Johnathan Sullivan
Posted on 5/4/21 at 9:49 pm
Posted on 5/4/21 at 9:49 pm
Okay, someone started a Garrett Grayson thread on why he didn't ultimately work out with the Saints. This inspired me to start a thread on another guy who didn't work out with the Saints, but one picked much higher, Johnathan Sullivan, who was picked sixth overall in the 2003 NFL Draft.
This guy was a total bust through and through. Out of 36 games played, he had only 1.5 sacks, 78 combined tackles, and 5 tackles for loss. Nowhere near the stats that warrant an early 1st round selection. Guys we passed on in favor of Sullivan? Kevin Williams, Terrell Suggs, and Troy Polamalu. Polamalu is in the HOF and so will be Suggs. Another guy we could have picked who was a solid defender if not as recognized as those other guys was Marcus Trufant
The fact that he only started 16 games in three seasons seems to indicate, if memory serves, that this guy was injury prone. I would say all in all that he was ineffective and just not the player the Saints envisioned with that pick at all. Why do you think Sullivan failed with the Saints? Is he Top 5 of all-time biggest Saints draft busts?
This guy was a total bust through and through. Out of 36 games played, he had only 1.5 sacks, 78 combined tackles, and 5 tackles for loss. Nowhere near the stats that warrant an early 1st round selection. Guys we passed on in favor of Sullivan? Kevin Williams, Terrell Suggs, and Troy Polamalu. Polamalu is in the HOF and so will be Suggs. Another guy we could have picked who was a solid defender if not as recognized as those other guys was Marcus Trufant
The fact that he only started 16 games in three seasons seems to indicate, if memory serves, that this guy was injury prone. I would say all in all that he was ineffective and just not the player the Saints envisioned with that pick at all. Why do you think Sullivan failed with the Saints? Is he Top 5 of all-time biggest Saints draft busts?
7
Posted on 5/4/21 at 9:52 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Please don't remind me of that disaster. No, he wasn't injury prone, he was "I don't give a shite about football" prone. Got paid, then didn't care. That was before the rookie cap was put in place to try to limit this kind of waste.
Posted on 5/4/21 at 10:12 pm to SaintlyTiger88
quote:
Guys we passed on in favor of Sullivan?
Lotta bad picks in round 1 that year
We actually gave up 17, 18, and 54 to move up to 6 (37 - stincomb & 102 - Montreal holland as well)
Pick 54 was Anquan Boldin
Posted on 5/4/21 at 10:20 pm to SaintlyTiger88
He was over drafted, realized he couldn’t make it in the NFL, got discouraged and basically quit while on the active roster.
I would actually be pretty interested in learning what he is doing now in life. Maybe he pulled his life together and found success/happiness. I truly hope so. It has to be hard to make it to the top of the mountain only to trip and fall as soon at you crest the peak.
I would actually be pretty interested in learning what he is doing now in life. Maybe he pulled his life together and found success/happiness. I truly hope so. It has to be hard to make it to the top of the mountain only to trip and fall as soon at you crest the peak.
Posted on 5/4/21 at 10:38 pm to SaintlyTiger88
He’s the worst draft pick in Saints history simply because of what was given up to select him, and what was returned.
I remember the day he was picked. I thought the price was insane for him. I tried rationalizing it... like maybe this dude really was that good... but it blew up right away. He was an unmotivated, chronically overweight waste of a roster spot.
Not Shawn Knight, not Russell Erxleben... this guy was the worst pick of them all. Been a Saints fan for 50 years. Trust me.
I remember the day he was picked. I thought the price was insane for him. I tried rationalizing it... like maybe this dude really was that good... but it blew up right away. He was an unmotivated, chronically overweight waste of a roster spot.
Not Shawn Knight, not Russell Erxleben... this guy was the worst pick of them all. Been a Saints fan for 50 years. Trust me.
Posted on 5/4/21 at 11:08 pm to SpqrTiger
The Erxleben pick is fun when you realize Kellen Winslow was drafted 2 picks later. I am sure Manning would've loved having him out there instead of a kicker who couldn't kick.
The 1987 draft had a lot of bad players in the first round...sadly the pick right before Shawn Knight was HOFer Rod Woodson. The only other Hall of Famer in the class was Chris Carter but he was a supplemental pick.
But the thing that made the Sullivan draft so bad is I was at the draft party and when the trade was announced people were throwing out names like Polamalu, Suggs, Trufant... and we get Sullivan.
I know we wanted Newman and basically had the deal in place for him but the fact we still did the trade after Newman was taken...
The 1987 draft had a lot of bad players in the first round...sadly the pick right before Shawn Knight was HOFer Rod Woodson. The only other Hall of Famer in the class was Chris Carter but he was a supplemental pick.
But the thing that made the Sullivan draft so bad is I was at the draft party and when the trade was announced people were throwing out names like Polamalu, Suggs, Trufant... and we get Sullivan.
I know we wanted Newman and basically had the deal in place for him but the fact we still did the trade after Newman was taken...
Posted on 5/5/21 at 12:05 am to saintsfan92612
Alex Molden was drafted before Eddie George, Marvin Harrison and Ray Lewis.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 5:24 am to Paul Allen
And imagine the domino effect. You have a good RB so don't need to mortgage the future for Ricky
Posted on 5/5/21 at 6:55 am to SaintlyTiger88
I honestly don’t even remember him playing/starting in that many games. I always knew he was a bad pick but that was right around the time I was starting to really follow football so I don’t think I understood just how much of a bust he was considering the trade up.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 7:07 am to SaintlyTiger88
I will never forget when one of the Saints radio guys(I'm pretty sure it was Hokie) who was shocked to see Sullivan in the in the media buffet line at the Dome press box before one of the games where he was inactive & actually mentioned it on the radio during pre-game.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 9:11 am to Hetfield
quote:
I will never forget when one of the Saints radio guys(I'm pretty sure it was Hokie) who was shocked to see Sullivan in the in the media buffet line at the Dome press box before one of the games where he was inactive & actually mentioned it on the radio during pre-game.
I remember that too.
Sullivan, if memory serves, was the guy that Joe Horn nicknamed "11.5" (or whatever) because he got his $11.5 million signing bonus and pretty much endeavored to do as little as possible from that moment forward. That money is probably long gone but Sullivan sure did think it was all he'd ever need.
ETA didn't Payton basically cut this guy as soon as the Saints hired him?
This post was edited on 5/5/21 at 9:13 am
Posted on 5/5/21 at 9:15 am to USMEagles
quote:
ETA didn't Payton basically cut this guy as soon as the Saints hired him?
traded him to patriots for bethel johnson
Posted on 5/5/21 at 9:31 am to Chad504boy
That was a bad year for upside picks and mega busts at the top of the draft. Charles Rogers, Dewayne Robertson, and Sullivan were sandwiched in between Pro Bowlers like Carson Palmer, Andre Johnson, and Terence Newman. I remember hoping to get DeWayne Robertson, but he only lasted two more years than Sullivan. The sad thing is we could have picked Jordan Gross, Keven Williams, Terrell Suggs or Marcus Trufant witht he trade up.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 10:01 am to saints5021
One year the Saints selected Rick Middleton a Linebacker from Ohio St. in the first round. He never played much and was out of the league quickly. What made this the most laughable and stupid Saints first round pick ever is that Middleton was teammates with Randy Gradishar. Gradishar was selected by the Broncos one pick later and was a perennial all-pro. If you actually scouted Middleton, you could not help but scout Gradishar. This is to me the ultimate incompetence in a long history of incompetence.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 2:58 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Just five years later, the saints again traded up into the top 10 to pick a DT. That DT was Sedrick Ellis who was also a major bust. However, Sullivan makes Ellis look like a HOFer. Given the price paid to move up to Sullivan, I fully agree the Sullivan pick is as bad as any in saints history. In a span of 10 years, the saints traded up into the top 10 to draft:
1. Ricky Williams
2. Sullivan
3. Ellis
Whoof.
1. Ricky Williams
2. Sullivan
3. Ellis
Whoof.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 3:02 pm to Tigerlawyer
quote:
One year the Saints selected Rick Middleton a Linebacker from Ohio St. in the first round. He never played much and was out of the league quickly. What made this the most laughable and stupid Saints first round pick ever is that Middleton was teammates with Randy Gradishar. Gradishar was selected by the Broncos one pick later and was a perennial all-pro. If you actually scouted Middleton, you could not help but scout Gradishar. This is to me the ultimate incompetence in a long history of incompetence.
Buddy D said the reason the GM at the time gave for picking the wrong linebacker of the two was that they were convinced Gradishar only looked so good because other teams "were running away from Middleton."
Posted on 5/5/21 at 3:14 pm to Tigerlawyer
quote:
. What made this the most laughable and stupid Saints first round pick ever is that Middleton was teammates with Randy Gradishar. Gradishar was selected by the Broncos one pick later and was a perennial all-pro.
Here’s one we got right....
Ricky Jackson
Everybody thought Hugh Greene was the superstar!
Posted on 5/5/21 at 3:20 pm to ned nederlander
quote:
1. Ricky Williams
quote:
Whoof.
does not compute.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 3:26 pm to SpqrTiger
quote:
Not Shawn Knight, not Russell Erxleben... this guy was the worst pick of them all. Been a Saints fan for 50 years. Trust me.
Yikes! But very true.
Posted on 5/5/21 at 9:22 pm to Chad504boy
Trading an entire draft and than a first and a third the subsequent year for a RB deserves a whoof. Ricky the player was decent (for the saints) to very good (for the dolphins) but that trade is as bad as they come.
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