Ravens' Top Ten Biggest Draft Busts: #9

by Bruce Raffel on Apr 5, 2011 9:00 AM EDT

Just like #10, the '9th Biggest Draft Bust' in Baltimore Ravens history truly hasn't had a full opportunity to show whether his selection in the 2nd round of the 2009 NFL has really paid off or not. However, after two years in the NFL, DE Paul Kruger has certainly not been the type of disruptive player the Ravens envisioned him to be. His first year, the word was that he was unable to make the transition to a linebacker position and grasp the Ravens complicated playbook.

For the 2010 season, he put on weight to be a down lineman and a pass rushing specialist. While Kruger has flashed the ability to harass the quarterback, his playing time has been very limited and the drafting of not only Sergio Kindle in 2010 and talk of drafting another defensive end/hybrid linebacker seems to say they do not have the confidence in him to pan out as they had hoped.

Until then, Kruger joins Kindle on this list as one of the Top Ten Draft Busts in Baltimore Ravens history.

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Comments

Another player I don’t think should be considered a bust. Come on man.

Real G's move in silence like lasagna

by Mr MaLoR on Apr 5, 2011 10:03 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed. Making the transition from college to the NFL is hard enough. But when you ask a guy to put on weight and learn to play a different position, you have to give him more time to adjust. Kruger was a beast when he was a Ute, and IMO its only a matter of time ‘til he’s a consistent contributor on our D-line.

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing right."
-Hunter S. Thompson-

by StuckInUtah on Apr 5, 2011 10:22 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I want to see the whole bust list but at #9, I can see Kruger here.

As a 2nd round he’s playing like a 6th or 7th rounder. Obviously he was drafted way too high. Yes, he still has some upside (I say hopefully) but I just can’t see him as an everyday starter and 2nd rounders should all met that expectation.

by ursula on Apr 5, 2011 10:54 AM EDT reply actions

See I disagree in a sense. Yes, I do think Kruger should have been putting up better numbers than he has right now, but the DE position in a 3-4 takes time if you are not one of those top 10 picks. He came in as a tweener from Utah where he was a 4-3 DE which usually translate to a 3-4 OLB in the NFL. Well we had JJ at that spot, which meant we wanted to use Kruger as a 3-4 DE or in our 4-3 packages sometimes.

He has been sitting behind Trevor Pryce, Dwan Edwards and now Cory Redding, all DE’s that had serious veteran experience when Kruger was brought in here.

Real G's move in silence like lasagna

by Mr MaLoR on Apr 5, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Let's hope you are right.

by ursula on Apr 5, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

Kruger was a project who should have never been drafted in the second round. The Ravens could have went with Michael Johnson (Bengals-round 3) who has 5 sacks into two seasons, or of course Mike Wallace to address that whole speed receiver thing.

But he does need time to develop. Maybe he will turn out to be servicable but as of right now he hasn’t done much.

"Have a good time...all the time." - Viv Savage

by Jergs on Apr 6, 2011 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Be patient foks,

the rest of the guys played enough to be considered the ‘busts’ I named them. But aftr drafting both Kruger and Kindle high in thedraft, to be even speaking about another pass rusher as our first pick this year tells you something about everyone’s confidence on both these two.

Hope I’m proven dead wrong, but right now,….

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Apr 5, 2011 12:23 PM EDT reply actions

I somewhat agree, but it just seems unfair to label two guys busts who have only been in the league for 2 seasons or less. I will say they are busts if they are doing the same things in their 4th, 5th, 6th seasons. But right now, hell no.

Not every rookie DE/OLB is going to be Terrell Suggs. I bet the same things could have been said by you and others about Dwan Edwards after we drafted him in the 2nd round in 2004. He was injured off and on and rarely saw the field. Come the 2009 season, he is starting for us and then became one of the most coveted free agent DE’s on the market last off season.

Things take time….

Real G's move in silence like lasagna

by Mr MaLoR on Apr 5, 2011 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Which is why

they currently come in at #’s 10 & 9. They can easily fall off this list next year thru improvement, or creep up it with another “invisible” year.

This is now.

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Apr 5, 2011 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions

After this year if he does not produce he will be a bust and shortly will be out of baltimore.

by Raven_all_day on Apr 5, 2011 1:29 PM EDT reply actions

Sorry, you cannot label a guy with only two years experience who was asked to change positions a “bust.” He was constantly in the opposing teams’ backfield last season applying pressure. I predict he will be a big part of the defensive line rotation next year. Let’s see if he rounds into form before saying he wasn’t worth a second round pick.

by JoshuaStein on Apr 5, 2011 2:32 PM EDT reply actions

Exactly. I think this list should be top 5 busts instead of top 10. In order to pick out 10, you are going to need to start using 3rd and 4th round picks, and are those guys really considered busts if they don’t pan out? I don’t even like using 2nd round picks as saying they are busts. First rounders only in my opinion. My guess is Gooden will be on this list for sure.

Real G's move in silence like lasagna

by Mr MaLoR on Apr 5, 2011 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree as well. Most positions in the NFL take a few years to really transition and become solid contributors. You don’t see a whole lot of picks come in and make significant contributions right away. In Kindle’s case he only missed his rookie year and that’s way too early. If a guy tears his ACL his rookie year and misses the season, you can’t call him a bust even if he was the #1 overall pick. That’s just to soon to throw out the bust label. Kruger is a project and everyone knew that. You can’t label projects as busts this soon because they take even longer to adjust because of switching positions and gaining weight, which is a lot harder to do than losing weight. With Kruger, I think you have to give him at least two more seasons before the bust talk and Kindle should have a couple more years as well.

by AV23 on Apr 5, 2011 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Nothing is permanent

This is just RIGHT NOW, and right now, Kruger (and Kindle) have basically done nothing. I agree it’s too soon to give them that label permanently, but right now….

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Apr 5, 2011 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Do you pick projects in the 2nd round?

That’s a better question.

"Have a good time...all the time." - Viv Savage

by Jergs on Apr 6, 2011 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Every rookie is a project.

Real G's move in silence like lasagna

by Mr MaLoR on Apr 6, 2011 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s what I thought.

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing right."
-Hunter S. Thompson-

by StuckInUtah on Apr 6, 2011 5:02 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Not necessarily

It seems like we are getting caught up with a difference in the definition of terms.

A project to me is a player who has great physical tools but does not yet have the skills to play at this level. I believe that the expectation is that those drafted in the first three rounds will develop into starters or valuable contributors while first rounders will be impact players.

There is always a level of risk with rookies and no one one truly knows where a player will top out. But when I hear the label “project” I think of a player like Ramon Harewood not a second rounder.

"Have a good time...all the time." - Viv Savage

by Jergs on Apr 7, 2011 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Numbers usually dont mean alot most times. But when you have less than two sacks and less than 5 tackles for loss, being in the opponents backfield doesnt mean much besides the opposing teams O-line is forcing him to do exactly what they want.

by Raven_all_day on Apr 5, 2011 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions