Top Ten Draft 'Busts' of Kevin Colbert Era: No. 7 -- OLB Bruce Davis, 3rd Round, 2008
by Michael Bean on Apr 15, 2011 8:19 PM EDT
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PrintLet's continue with the top ten draft 'successes' and 'busts' in the Kevin Colbert era with the No. 7 'bust', Bruce Davis. Taken in the third round of the largely disappointing 2008 draft, Davis' inability to develop into a viable contributor at outside linebacker is one of the primary reasons why the Steelers found themselves with little depth at OLB heading into last year's draft.
Davis' story is not all that unique. It's hard to make in the NFL. He spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad, but did earn a helmet for five games in 2008. The following year, Davis was waived in early September, beginning his multi-city tour around the league for the next two years. It began in New England where Davis spent the '09 season on the practice squad. He was waived in late May of '10. He then had a two-month stint in Denver that summer before being waived before the start of August. San Francisco picked him up, stashed him on the practice squad, only to see Oakland pluck him mid-season after multiple injuries to their linebackers forced Al Davis' hand. He would play four games for the Raiders in '11, accumulating four tackles.
Davis finds himself on this list because of his third round status. Like I said, it's not easy to make a team and stick, and it's even harder to do so when making a position change. Davis was a defensive end in college, but his slight frame necessitated the change to OLB at the more physical NFL level. His speed no longer the strong asset it was in the college game, Davis could no longer blow by people, and he wasn't quite strong enough in the hands or upper body to shed blocks.
From a selfish standpoint, I was sad to see Davis go because I had emailed him while he was still enrolled at UCLA but already been drafted. He quickly responded and agreed to several interviews before the start of his rookie season. But it wasn't meant to be in Pittsburgh for Davis, who's trying to still make something of his career with the Raiders, the same organization his father had played so well for during his career.
Kevin Colbert's Top 10 Draft 'Busts'
No. 8: Thaddeus Gibson, 4th Round, 2010
No. 9: Plaxico Burress, 1st Round, 2000
No. 10: Kendall Simmons, 1st Round, 2002
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Kevin Colbert's Top 10 Draft 'Successes'
No. 6: Willie Colon, OT, 4th Round, 2006
No. 7: LB Larry Foote, 4th Round, 2002
No. 8: OG Chris Kemoeatu, 6th Round, 2005
No. 9: OT Marvel Smith, 2nd Round, 2000
No. 10: WR Antonio Brown, 6th Round, 2010
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How could they have made that mistake when you consider...
…the wisdom and foresight behind the pick of Lamarr, the previous year? Did the FO take him t in case MT switched to the 4-3, like was speculated in his first season? How can anyone imagine a slight DE being anything other than a ST contributor in a Dick Lebeau defensed team? I mean Woodley was anything but slight, and made the successful switch to OLB due to his athleticism.
"No changes are permanent, but change is." Neil Peart - Rush
by Flying Polamalus on Apr 15, 2011 9:04 PM EDT reply actions
Ah Bruce Davis. One of my favorite picks of the draft and so it was very disappointing to see him fail so miserably. He only ever had a speed move rushing the passer. Then we tried molding him to ILB which failed miserably as well
Now this is a true bust of a player drafted.
A long way from Pittsburgh PA, in fact, 8653.2 miles to be precise. My blood still bleeds black and gold like the rest of Steeler Nation, proud fan since 2002.
BTSC's token Kiwi fan. That means I'm a New Zealander. Yes, that small country next to Australia....no we are not part of Australia
by Michael Hewitt on Apr 15, 2011 10:15 PM EDT reply actions
Davis
I admit I really liked this pick at the time. I thought his production in college would translate well to the Steelers as a pass rushing OLB. At the worst I thought he could provide solid special teams play and depth at OLB. Neither happened. A third round pick who couldn’t even make it to the second season is a big time disappointment. Good choice.
Proud fan of Pittsburgh's professional sports teams and the Pirates too.
by Black&GoldTrain on Apr 16, 2011 1:42 AM EDT reply actions
ohh
This was a disappointment. I remember several fans being unimpressed with the pick to begin with. I was sad to find out that they were right. Didn’t Tomlin seem to have a big influence on picking Davis at the time?
'08 was a horrible draft in general
Only Rashard, Dixon and Mundy have been quality for their rounds. (1st, 5th and 7th respectively) but Bruce Davis isn’t on the team anymore and he was a third, Sweed had a serious injury and didn’t show huge improvement from his rookie year. Tony Hill has seen the field as a fourth round pick, Humpal was injury prone and release.
Well you can’t expect hall of fame quality drafts from the Steelers year in and year out. To me, a good draft is one in which you end up getting 3 players who fill needs for a few years to come; anything beyond that is just a bonus. Looking at the past few drafts it’s clear that we’ve had more than our fair share of excellent drafts with sometimes 4, 5 or even 6 players staying with the team. But to get a top-10 starting RB, a good backup QB, a backup safety and a backup O-lineman is, while not great by any means, certainly not horrible, even with the disappointments of Sweed and Davis.
Sweed so far is a bust yes, but he still wasn’t a bad gamble. We knew the question marks on him when he fell that far. I mean that speed and height with pretty good route running doesn’t drop out of the top 15 if you have hands. He was a gamble, but a top ten talent late in the second round, that’s a gamble worth taking, even if it doesn’t pay off.
by Phantaskippy on Apr 17, 2011 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Not sure if I would describe the 08 draft as “largely disappointing.” Sure, guys like Sweed and Davis who many of us had fairly big expectations for just turned out as huge busts, but we did get our RB for (hopefully, knock on wood) the next 5-10 years in Mendenhall, who’s been a huge success all in all, as well as pretty decent O-lineman in Tony Hills and a pretty good backup QB in Dixon, plus a decent enough safety in Ryan Mundy.
I like bust(boobies)!!
I still havent lost hope that Swee will turn out to be a good player. He had a tough first2 years but did make some plays in spots. Injuries are something that cant be helped.
If his head ever gets screwed on straight he’ll be a force.
by Phantaskippy on Apr 17, 2011 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions
I still remeber
when in ’08 he was wide open, no one near down the left sideline Ben throws the ball in a good spot I was thinking easy TD and he drops it. That being said I still remember when in the ’08 playoff game against the Ravens same game as the drop the block he put on Fabian Washington (text book Hines Ward)
Worst than the drop in my opinion
It’s one thing to drop a wide open pass like he did, hey it happens, but it’s quite another to fake an injury and forcing the Steelers to use a timeout. That was totally inexcusable. He should have been ashamed of himself for that. Totally unprofessional.
Proud fan of Pittsburgh's professional sports teams and the Pirates too.
by Black&GoldTrain on Apr 17, 2011 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
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