Bracketology: The Worst Draft Pick of All Time (The Finals)

And at long last, we are at the conclusion of the worst draft pick of all time. I hope you have enjoyed this series, and indeed all 3 parts of the bracketology series, starting with the best game of all time 2 years ago, the best draft pick of all time last year, and now the worst draft pick of all time. This brings a close to my 3 year plan of the bracketology series, as I was only planning a trilogy. Next year and beyond will be replaced with something possibly even more exciting and interesting, which will be revealed at next years AGM. But, for now let's focus on today, where we finally discover the worst pick of all time (to date) in the LOC. Let's roll.

Third place final

(60) Andre Johnson, The Tuckfards 4th Rnd, 2015 v (56) Davante Adams, The Dream Team 3rd Rnd, 2015
Who knew at the time that both of these picks, only a round apart, would end up being one of the worst draft picks of all time. We know the story of the Andre Johnson pick. Let's ignore his performance alone for a second. Coach Merritt decided to draft Johnson after drafting Hilton just 2 rounds prior. Now, it's true, the Colts are one of few offences in the NFL who can probably support 2 fantasy relevant receivers. However, That doesn't mean you should draft them both to the same team. On top of that, Johnson was old, ineffective, lost the 2nd receiver spot, and was playing with Matt Hasselbeck for large parts of the season. Johnson lasted just 3 weeks on Coach Merritt's team before he cut bait. Not a good investment.

Davante Adams, one with less back story but no less poor performance. Some were speaking of Adams as a sleeper before Cobb got injured, and to be fair to him that was probably accurate. As evidenced in 2016 he is capable of putting up numbers. But playing with an injured, not himself Aaron Rodgers, on a team without Jordy, or a run game is a recipe for bad JuJu Smith Schuster. He didn't even crack 500 yards. The worst part about all this though? He stayed on The Dream Teams roster all season, permanently taking up a spot someone more useful could have had.

Winner: Andre Johnson
Reason: Johnson was that bad and without promise, a 4th round pick got cup after 3 games, even though he was fully healthy. A worthy choice as the 3rd worst draft pick of all time.


The Final
(12) Peyton Manning, The Dream Team 2nd Rnd, 2011 v (8) Josh Cribbs, The Tuckfards 5th Rnd, 2010
And here we are, the finale we've all been waiting for on the eve of draft day. Manning v Cribbs. Nathwani v Merritt. It's almost poetic that both Viv and Phil are in the final and third place final. Phil took the third place final, let's see who will take the final....

Peyton Manning. Oh Manning. The king of the regular season, who has won countless fantasy championships for many a player, certainly for Burdettinators in 2013. But in 2011, if he was drafted he certainly didn't win anyone anything. 2011 was Coach Nathwani's rookie year in the league, so whether he knew about Manning's neck surgery or not I'm not sure. Should he have known? Absolutely. Because the whole offseason there were reports about Manning missing significant time, if not the entire season. Some doubted whether Manning would ever play again it was that serious. Unfortunately for Viv, he also started him in Week 1 due to being in California and unable to change his team. This cost him the win. But it didn't cost him the season, as it was a lost 6-8 season for the rookie. But better times were ahead.

Josh Cribbs meanwhile, did play the whole season. Josh Cribbs...I don't even know how to set this up. He played for the Browns in 2010? He was theoretically their best receiver? I'm not really sure what that's saying. He was predominantly a kick and punt returner. But one thing I can tell you he certainly was not - fantasy relevant. He only put up 35 points across the season. Even though he was a 5th round pick, few players who play the whole season in a starting role are that bad. It's unclear when The Tuckfards dropped Josh Cribbs, but it was before Week 6, so he didn't hang around long.

This is a really tough one. Both of these are just god awful picks. Part of me wants to pick Manning, because he did not play a snap in 2011. But Viv was a Rookie, and I'm not sure if he knew (not that that excuses it). Meanwhile when Phil took Cribbs, we were still in the early days of the league. And in hindsight, it's just a very Phil way of drafting. The other factor here is whether I pick Phil or not so he can finally win something. Decisions, decisions....

The Winner: Peyton Manning
Reason: Every fibre in my body wanted to pick Josh Cribbs. It was a disaster pick. But, the GM in me looks at Manning, a guy you've drafted with a 2nd round pick, who never took the field for your team. If I was an NFL GM something like that would keep me up at night, and likely also get me fired. The Cribbs pick, while horrendous, things like that happen in the NFL (just look at Blake Bortles for example - actually scratch that, any Jags QB drafted). That's a black mark, but not a death sentence. And that is why Peyton Manning is the worst draft pick of all time. 


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