Top 10 Eagles NFL Draft Busts - #10 Jack Ikegwuonu

[YourPalChrisMal]

Can't really imagine how this is the 10th worst pick they ever made. Perhaps a bit of a reach with the benefit of hindsight, but there were a lot of people who thought he would've been a #1 pick if it wasn't for the knee issue. They had plenty of picks to take a chance with. Was he really the only Eagles 4th round pick never to contribute?

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2...uonu#storyjump

Top 10 Eagles NFL Draft Busts - #10 Jack Ikegwuonu

We're starting a new series this month leading up to the draft where we first count down the ten biggest draft busts the Eagles have had in the Andy Reid era and then shift to a more positive note with the ten best picks leading up to this year's draft. Since we're limiting this to the Andy Reid era, the awful stretch of picks under Rich Kotite and Ray Rhodes are off the hook. (Mamula, Harris, Davis)
Coming in at #10....

Jack Ikegwuonu - 2008 - 4th round 131st overall pick

Jack is the lowest drafted player on our list having been taking in the 4th round. Usually a guy taken there wouldn't really qualify for a major bust list, but Jack's incredible array of red flags combined with extreme lack of any contribution was enough to get him on this list.

[sfphillyfan: I edited this part out because that photo was NOT of Jack and should not have been posted.]

There was also the small issue of his torn anterior cruciate ligament in a training accident prior to the draft. So even in the best case scenario, there was no chance he'd play in 2008.... and they used a 4th round pick on him.

He appeared in just one NFL game.

[taz]

Jerome McDougle
Bryan Smith
Matt McCoy
Shawn Andrews (traded two picks got 1 1/2 season of play)
Bobby Williams
Quinton Caver
Billy McMullen
Matt Ware
Ryan Moats
Victor Abriami
Tony Hunt

Those are 10 that I can think of, off the top of my head that were drafted before the 4th round and were all busts (yes Shawn Andrews is a bust)

[Leonard Tose]

OK, I know memories are short. But Kevin Allen is the biggest Eagle draft bust in history, by far. Remember him? The rapist of the Jersey Shore?

After that, it's the following, in whatever order:

Antone Davis -- traded a No. 1 to move up into the Top 10 to grab this stiff
Jerome McDougle -- same, except they didnt move up into the Top 10 for this stiff.
Michael Haddix -- I think they took this stiff in the Top 10. Oh man did he suck. Took him about 8 seconds to hit the hole.
Bernard Williams -- promising rookie year, left the league in a haze of pot smoke.
Kenny Jackson -- probably unfair, draft in 84 was watered down because of USFL, but he went fourth overall!
Jon Harris -- everybody except Ray Rhodes knew this was a huge reach and bust from Day 1. Too Tall Jones, he wasn't.
Leonard Renfro -- one of the Reggie White comp picks, enough said.
Leonard Mitchell -- A Dick Vermeil special who never panned out. They tried making him an o-lineman, to no effect
LeRoy Keyes -- the guy they took when they won at the end of the 1968 season and lost out on a chance to get OJ Simpson

These are all FIRST ROUND PICKS. If the guy isn't a first round pick, I don't want to hear about it.

And no, Shawn Andrews doesn't qualify. The man had Hall of Fame talent.

Bobbie Williams? He's had a productive career in Cincy.

[YourPalChrisMal]

Jerome McDougle
Bryan Smith
Matt McCoy
Shawn Andrews (traded two picks got 1 1/2 season of play)
Bobby Williams
Quinton Caver
Billy McMullen
Matt Ware
Ryan Moats
Victor Abriami
Tony Hunt

Those are 10 that I can think of, off the top of my head that were drafted before the 4th round and were all busts (yes Shawn Andrews is a bust)

Bobby Williams has actually had a really nice career...just not here.

Matt Ware sucked, but he's still playing in the NFL many years later. Nothing but role player / special teamer I think, but at least he's carved out a carear for himself.

Regardless, your point is the same as mine. Just off the top of my head I can think of 10 guys I'd say were bigger "busts" than Jake I.

[FairOaks]

The article does say they are limiting the choices to the Andy Reid era, so that eliminates most of the truly horrible, disastrous choices of the previous regimes (such as Allen, Bernard Williams, Davis, Harris, etc.)

I'm still a bit surprised Ikegwuonu would rank #10 though. It was a risk, and it failed. The article puts a lot of weight on risking a 4th rounder but... that was a *comp pick*, after the regular 4th round selections (Eagles had already taken McGlynn and Demps in that round). It seemed a reasonable risk at that point to get a top talent with a high risk of strikeout, which is what happened (the Eagles had so many picks, it was another way of deferring one to the next year). There have to be 10 worse picks in the Reid era.

I'd agree with most of taz' list, though Bobby Williams and Ware have had decent careers elsewhere (even Caver played a couple more years). I also wouldn't put Andrews on the list; I would reserve this more for mistakes in talent evaluation, and Andrews had lots of talent, and it was realized for a while -- I sure wish he had not gotten injured his rookie year; that would probably have made a big difference in how we remember him. I would add Freddie Mitchell to the list for sure. Heck, Na Brown was drafted about the same place (#130 overall) as was Ike (#131 overall). At least Ike was on IR his time here and didn't cost a roster spot. Brown... ugh. Barry Gardner probably belongs on the list too, though he played four seasons after leaving the Eagles.

[Eagle60]

I'm not even sure Jon Harris is classified as a bust. Everybody in America other than that fool Ray Rhodes knew the guy was a lazy POS and shouldn't be drafted. A kid I coached in High School was his agent. He said that he had about as much life in him as a rock. He was simply a rediculous pick.