The 2024 NFL Draft commences Thursday, and hundreds of college football’s top players will see their professional dreams realized over a three-day period. No matter what comes afterwards, it’s always a special moment to see players that have developed and broken out at the amateur level hear their names called on the biggest stage in their sport.
For some players, unfortunately, walking across the stage in April is the pinnacle of their career. Projecting college talent to the NFL level is incredibly hard for myriad reasons, and there are some ballyhooed draft selections that just don’t work out.
We often refer to these prospects as “busts,” and each draft has at least a handful of them. But for those that cover college football, there are some busts that come as an absolute shock. Even the most surefire, can’t-miss prospect can flame out.
Ahead of Thursday’s NFL Draft, the CBS Sports and 247Sports college football crews — who often see these players come into their own at their respective universities — got together to reminisce on some of the most surprising letdowns in NFL Drafts past. In other words, these are college football players that we were absolutely sure would be stars in the NFL, that just weren’t for whatever reason.
Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State
As more offenses are adopting spread-based, pass-heavy schemes, good edge rushers are at a premium. When Young, who was the No. 4 prospect nationally in the class of 2017, was at Ohio State, he wasn’t just good — he was downright elite. After a relatively quiet freshman season, Young burst onto the scene in 2018 with 10.5 sacks. He blew that number out of the water in 2019 with 16.5 sacks in just 12 games, collecting unanimous All-America honors, the Ted Hendricks Award, Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. He also finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting, becoming just the ninth defensive player to ever be nominated for college football’s most illustrious individual award.
He was then selected No. 2 overall, ahead of the likes to Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Justin Jefferson in the 2020 NFL Draft. So, yeah, expectations were incredibly high. Things started so well. He was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020 after registering 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and 44 total tackles. That was the high point of his career thus far. Young hasn’t played in a full season since. From…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…