{"id":64063,"date":"2018-04-25T07:32:26","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T07:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64063"},"modified":"2018-04-25T07:32:26","modified_gmt":"2018-04-25T07:32:26","slug":"4-nfl-draft-busts-offer-advice-to-this-years-class-of-top-quarterbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/4-nfl-draft-busts-offer-advice-to-this-years-class-of-top-quarterbacks.html","title":{"rendered":"4 NFL draft busts offer advice to this year’s class of top quarterbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

4 NFL draft busts offer advice to this year’s class of top quarterbacks<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

That in essence is the advice for Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield \u2013 the four quarterbacks widely expected to be taken among first top 10 picks of the 2018 NFL draft Thursday \u2013 courtesy of four retired quarterbacks who headed down a similar path long ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heath Shuler. Akili Smith. Joey Harrington. Kelly Stouffer.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of them have been labeled busts, highly drafted quarterbacks who failed to live up to expectations, and each told USA TODAY Sports that the transition from draft day to the NFL is critical.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens so fast, you don\u2019t have time to react,” said Shuler, picked No. 3 overall by the Washington Redskins in 1994. \u201cIt\u2019s like drinking through a fire hose.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some of what Shuler, Smith, Harrington and Stouffer remembered, and some of what they thought might help this year\u2019s crop of prized quarterbacks stay on track.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heath Shuler<\/span><\/p>\n

Shuler finished as runner-up to Charlie Ward for the 1993 Heisman Trophy and held nearly all the passing records at the University of Tennessee before bypassing his senior year and entering the 1994 NFL draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

He played four seasons in the NFL, throwing for 15 touchdowns and 33 interceptions before a foot injury ended his career in 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest enemy was myself,\u2019\u2019 Shuler said. \u201cPush, pressure myself. From high school to college, I always had always been successful. Very fortunate that I\u2019d always been with a winning team that had a tot of talent. So I put this added pressure on myself.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

But Shuler said much of what took place after the day of the draft was beyond his control.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo be truthful, I think there\u2019s so much emphasis put on those first three or four picks, or even the first 10 picks,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cWhen in reality, if you\u2019re a quarterback, it\u2019d be much better to be drafted at the end of the first round.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that means you\u2019re going to be with a team that has been far more successful and a team that has had some playoff experience. And if they\u2019re looking to bring you in as the next quarterback \u2026 that\u2019s a better opportunity than it is to be a highly drafted first-round pick.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

When Shuler joined the Redskins, they were coming off a 4-12 season. They also had a first-year head coach, Norv Turner, and first-year quarterbacks coach, Cam Cameron.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all rookies. so we were pressing ourselves,\u2019\u2019 Shuler said. \u201cI needed a veteran guy to put his arm around me and say, \u2018Hey, you know it\u2019s going to take some time.’ “<\/span><\/p>\n

After three disappointing seasons with the Redskins and one failed season with the New Orleans Saints, Shuler said, he made an important discovery after signing with the Oakland Raiders. Jon Gruden, then the Raiders head coach, was running the West Coast Offense, similar to what Shuler ran in high school and college.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, I should have begged before to be in this system all over again,\u2019\u2019 said Shuler, who re-injured his foot in training camp and then retired. \u201cThis is where I felt comfortable and that\u2019s where I felt like I had the most to give back with my own abilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, it comes down to that coach and that system and that team around you.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Akili Smith<\/span><\/p>\n

After starting just 11 games at the University of Oregon but throwing 30 touchdowns during that impressive stretch, Smith was taken No. 3 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1999 NFL draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Less than six years later, he was playing for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. He finished his NFL career having passed for five touchdowns with 13 interceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, Smith said, a highly drafted quarterback needs to stay focused.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe money you get and the fame and things of that nature, you have to put all of that stuff to the side,” he said, \u201cand make sure that you get acclimated with your new organization, with your new city, with your teammates and things of that nature.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t easy, Smith said, after he signed a contract that was worth up to $56 million and included a $10.8 million signing bonus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my God, I had an uncle that had a $1 million \u2018Price Is Right\u2019 check and he was on his front lawn and taking pictures thinking that I was going to give him $1 million,\u2019\u2019 Smith said. \u201cAnd then you got other aunties and parents and brothers, everybody is just expecting something. And it\u2019s not fair to that individual.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In part, Smith said, he traces his failures in part to a 27-day, rookie contract holdout that he said resulted in no financial gain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst things first, get your butt in (training) camp,\u2019\u2019 Smith said. \u201cYou may only get one opportunity at a signing bonus. But at the end of the day, if you get in camp and you take care of business, you\u2019ll be able to enter into your second contract in the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was the holdout really about? The holdout turns out to be more about the dislike between the Browns family and Leigh Steinberg (Smith\u2019s agent at the time).\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Smith also said he doesn\u2019t think any young quarterback could have succeeded with the Bengals at that time, he cites his own behavior as part of the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI ran from Cincinnati to come back to San Diego to party and do things like that, looking for temporarily pleasure,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cIf you go to a Cleveland Browns or something like that, obviously things aren\u2019t where they need to be. You don\u2019t run from that situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou go to a local boys and girls club. You go to an at-risk or group home or something like that and you start working with the people in the community. It will keep you grounded. it will keep you humble.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Joey Harrington<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2001, a billboard in Times Square read \u201cJoey Heisman.\u2019\u2019 Harrington, then racking up yards and touchdowns at the University of Oregon, finished a respectable fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting before being picked No. 3 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2002 NFL draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

He played six seasons and passed for 14,693 yards, but had a sub-par quarterback rating of 69.4 while throwing for 79 touchdowns and 85 picks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest piece of advice that I could pass on to anybody is don\u2019t ever lose belief in yourself,\u2019\u2019 Harrington said. \u201cWhen you get to the level where you\u2019re theoretically one of the 32 best people in the world at what you do, you\u2019re competing against the best in the world and not everything\u2019s going to go right all the time. And there may be some significant stretches where you struggle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut no matter what happens, you can\u2019t lose belief in yourself. The moment you lose belief in your ability to play and your ability to compete in the NFL is the moment you\u2019re done. Because doubt breeds hesitation, and hesitation creates mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference between a touchdown and an interception in the NFL is fractions of a second. And so if you doubt yourself enough to hesitate, that potential touchdown turns into an interception.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

After his third year in the league, Harrington said, he consulted a sports psychologist for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the only reason I continued in the NFL is because I started working with one,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI mean, I struggled in Detroit. And for me, it was really the first time I had had any sort of failure, public failure, and so that was rough. I didn\u2019t deal with it well. And had I not sought out a sports psychologist afterward, I would have been in some trouble.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s 100 guys that can make every single throw in the NFL. They can throw every deep comeback, they can throw every post route. What separates success from failure is absolutely minute in the NFL. Not only is it minute, but it\u2019s all in your head.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly Stouffer<\/span><\/p>\n

By the end of his senior year at Colorado State, Stouffer was the school\u2019s career leading passer but suddenly in limbo. Picked No. 6 overall in the 1987 draft by the then-St. Louis Cardinals, Stouffer held out when contract negotiations fell apart. A year later the Seattle Seahawks acquired his rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

He threw for seven touchdowns and 19 touchdowns during his five-year NFL career.<\/span><\/p>\n

He emerged as the starter midway through his rookie season, but injuries helped derail his career.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the sudden you\u2019re hurt and out for six weeks,” he said. \u201cWell, for me that was a huge challenge because I didn\u2019t know how to take that. So what begins to happen to me is I begin to lose my confidence, I begin to just feel differently about myself even though it was things out of my control.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore long I found myself really questioning my ability to do the job. And once you start thinking that way, the world begins to spin out of control as far as football is concerned.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

A head-spinning experience is what this year\u2019s prized rookie quarterbacks can expect, Stouffer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best advice I could give is you have to realize it\u2019s going to be a completely different animal and there really isn\u2019t anyway to circumvent the learning curve you\u2019re going to experience,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThat\u2019s just simply part of the process and really unavoidable, and that doesn\u2019t mean that something is wrong. It doesn\u2019t mean the sky is falling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt just means that you\u2019re at a different level now and there are grown men that play the game at the highest level everywhere you look. In the end, it\u2019s a football game. It really is just a game that is a played in a similar way that these kids will be used to. And so before long you\u2019ll find yourself realizing it\u2019s somewhat business as usual.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/2018\/04\/23\/heres-advice-4-busts-years-class-top-quarterbacks\/543595002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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