u/ZhangtheGreat

We'll limit this discussion to when you started following your team's drafting, so no need to go back to ancient history. Who were the players whom, at the time of the draft, your team was seriously considering or you really wanted them to draft, only for their careers to later turn out to be a disappointment or worse (and subsequently, made you breathe a sigh of relief that your team didn't take that player)?

Probably the biggest example of a dodged bullet is Ryan Leaf for the Colts. Prior to that draft, there were reports coming out that the Colts were having trouble choosing between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf (supposedly, reports later said they'd targeted Manning from the start, and the Leaf rumors were just to not give away their hand, but we're going by what was being reported on at the time).

For the Eagles, I remember really wanting CB Ahmad Carroll in 2003. At that time, our starting DBs were getting older, and the young guys we'd drafted in 2002 had not yet fully developed. We wound up trading up and grabbing DE Jerome McDougle (a bullet we didn't dodge; injuries and misfortune ravaged his career), and Carroll landed in Green Bay, where he was cut after a few seasons for being horrible in coverage.

Let's look back at our times as fans of our teams (no need to discuss the entire history of your team, no matter how old or young it is). Choose one draft pick (it doesn't have to be "the best/worst") who fits each of the following four categories:

1. The one whom you were right about all along

This is a player your team drafted who panned out exactly as you foresaw at the time he was taken. It could be good or bad--you predicted he'd be great, and he was; or you predicted he'd be doomed and were pleading with your team to leave him be, but your team took him anyway.

2. The one whom you were wrong about the most

This is the opposite of #1: either you thought he'd be great, but he wound up as a disappointment; or you thought he was a waste of a pick, but he turned out to be a blessing.

3. The one whom your team stole from another team who turned out great

This is not necessarily your team's biggest steal (although it could be). This is a player whom you knew was being coveted by at least one other team around the time he was drafted, but your team ended up landing him, and you're absolutely glad you did.

4. The one who got away

This is a player your team was coveting at the time of the draft, but who wound up being drafted by another team when your team had a realistic chance of taking him. He has since gone on to have a productive career, leaving you wondering "what if he'd landed with us?"

For those unfamiliar: Eileen Gu is a skiing athlete from San Francisco who chose to represent China in the Olympics because of her mother’s heritage. She has since gone to two Olympics and won six medals (3 gold, 3 silver).

Her critics have called her a traitor for this move, since it’s China, unashamed to hold her to a double standard seeing as how American-born athletes compete and win for other countries all the time.