[melcmd]

For the past week, I have been going thru various sets from my collection going back to 2006. I've been trying to streamline and keep only a few things/sets from each year. With the recent NFL cuts, I noticed a pattern.

Certain teams in the NFL seem to continually have high draft picks and skill position players that are invited to the NFL Rookie Premier Auto/photo sessions every year. Usually the invite has 35-40+ players invited every year.....the projected star players. These player autos make up the bulk of the "hits" in every product released.

If you look at a lot of your autos pulled during the 2007-2013 seasons, you will notice most of the players from the 4 teams mentioned are no longer with the team or no longer even in the NFL.

Obviously, bad teams get high draft picks. But, to never show any real improvement should reflect on the talent scouts, coaches and GMs who pick players for these teams.....all of whom should be replaced for the year after year bad choices.

If I see a rookie player pulled that was picked by any of those 4 teams, I cringe.

Recent names that come to mind......Pat White, Patrick Turner, Daniel Thomas, Chad Henne, John Beck, Michael Egnew, Clyde Gates, Lorenzo Booker, Ted Ginn, Jr (all Dolphins), Mark Sanchez, Stephen Hill, Joe McKnight, Vernon Gholston (Jets), Trent Edwards, James Hardy, T J Graham (Bills) Brady Quinn, Mohammed Massaquoi, Dwayne Wright, Montario Hardesty, Greg Little, Brian Robiskie (Browns) just to name a few.

I can fill up a box with worthless autos and patches from these guys. I'm sure you could too.

It made me realize also how tough it is to be a collector. After 2009, I became a set builder because the odds were better to find a few diamonds in the rough and not feel I've wasted too much money on these individual players.

Has anyone else noticed the piles of garbage that you've been accumulating from these guys?

[yankeesjetsfan]

I wouldn't call the Jets hobby killers. Sure they drafted some stinkers, but they also drafted Mohammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson and so far, Calvin Pryor looks like a beast.

Mike

[phinzphan1372]

Ill take all those Tannehills ya got ….. are you getting rid of your thomas certifieds?

[melcmd]

Ill take all those Tannehills ya got ….. are you getting rid of your thomas certifieds?

I have hope for Tannehill and Miller to buck the Dolphin's trend. It gets old thinking about all of the Lorenzo Booker autos that I pulled and Certified sets never completed because of Pat White and Patrick Turner.

I'm holding on to the Thomas Certified Black until I find a reasonably priced Emerald to add to my 2011 Emerald set.

I couldn't complete the set (only one that year) because of the overpriced Thomas and Mallett. Maybe it gets better now that both will be playing somewhere else now.

---

I wouldn't call the Jets hobby killers. Sure they drafted some stinkers, but they also drafted Mohammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson and so far, Calvin Pryor looks like a beast.

Mike

I think it's too soon to talk about 2014. I'm also thinking about all of those skill position players that seem to come out of every product. I pick up a 2007 box of football periodically and still keep pulling Lorenzo Booker and Trent Edwards. Ouch.

I also remembered how much people wanted for Joe McKnight and Stephen Hill autos. I have incomplete sets because I would not pay the kind of prices being asked.

[alanch]

...skill position players that are invited to the NFL Rookie Premier Auto/photo sessions every year. Usually the invite has 35-40+ players invited every year.....the projected star players. These player autos make up the bulk of the "hits" in every product released.

This is what kills the hobby. The structure or the rookie premiere and the fact that the players at the premiere make up the bulk of the "hits". Almost all of the guys at the event are skill position players and it seems every year a bunch of them are guys who were drafted in rounds 3-7. Those are the guys that you can count on hitting with the occasional 1st rounder mixed in if you are lucky. The Jordan Todman's, Delone Carter's & Michael Egnew's of the card world.

Every team has guys that flame out no matter what round they are drafted. Most guys drafted after the 1st two rounds aren't typically drafted to become starters. With exceptions, they are mostly fillers who are expected to be rotational guys or solid backups. Some of them go on to be super stars, but the majority are guys that within a few seasons are only relevant to team collectors, set builders or guys who specifically PC that player. They are either out of the league, on their 3rd or 4th team or sitting as a backup on their original team. These are the guys that are at the premiere year after year and make up the majority of "hits" in every product released.

Though the teams you listed do seem to have a large chunk of those players and seem to consistently miss on talen, usually each year you can find a few of them with a ton of cards for every team. That leads me to believe that it is the system the companies have established and not so much the teams themselves. Just my opinion.

[melcmd]

Every team has guys that flame out no matter what round they are drafted.

Though the teams you listed do seem to have a large chunk of those players and seem to consistently miss on talen, usually each year you can find a few of them with a ton of cards for every team. That leads me to believe that it is the system the companies have established and not so much the teams themselves. Just my opinion.

Oh, believe me, I know all about bad draft picks from other teams ( I follow the Chiefs, Vikings, Steelers and Cardinals). It just seems that in the time period mentioned, there are a lot of players from the same teams flaming out......those 4 in particular. Bad drafts certainly cripple teams for a few years. Just to keep making bad picks year after year just means someone isn't very good at that job.

For every miss, teams like the Patriots find 2 or 3 hits. That's why they are always competitive.

When I think of players that could have been had that weren't even 1st round picks....Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Matt Forte, Ray Rice (pre-assault), Jamal Charles, Richard Sherman (just to name a few)....it's sad who they could have had.

[butterworth1326]

Not to argue with you but you can easily make a list like that for any team, now I do agree with you on the fact that I hit the same team a lot more than others. But everybody drafts bust. A few that I've noticed are: Lions, Raiders, Cardinals, and Vikings

[melcmd]

Not to argue with you but you can easily make a list like that for any team, now I do agree with you on the fact that I hit the same team a lot more than others. But everybody drafts bust. A few that I've noticed are: Lions, Raiders, Cardinals, and Vikings

Again, look at the time period I am talking about. Of course every team has bad drafts. Just there are more than would be expected.

For every John David Booty and Christian Ponder the Vikings picked, there was Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Cordarelle Patterson.

The Cardinals drafted Beanie Wells and a number of bad QBs under Ken Wisenhunt. He mortgaged the team and draft picks to get Kevin Kolb. And yet, we have Michael Floyd, Tyron Matheiu, Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor.

As to the Lions, they gave us Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, Jahvid Best (good player until concussions ruined his career), Ryan Broyles.

The Raiders are just bad. The difference is you don't see a lot of their players invited to the rookie photoshoot.

With the exception of the Raiders, all of the teams you mentioned have had a lot of players invited to the photoshoot, but a lot of those players have panned out. I don't the Browns, Jets and Bills can say that.

I still have hope for Tannehill and Miller in Miami to change their most recent fate.

[butterworth1326]

Again, look at the time period I am talking about. Of course every team has bad drafts. Just there are more than would be expected.

For every John David Booty and Christian Ponder the Vikings picked, there was Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin and Cordarelle Patterson.

The Cardinals drafted Beanie Wells and a number of bad QBs under Ken Wisenhunt. He mortgaged the team and draft picks to get Kevin Kolb. And yet, we have Michael Floyd, Tyron Matheiu, Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor.

As to the Lions, they gave us Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, Jahvid Best (good player until concussions ruined his career), Ryan Broyles.

The Raiders are just bad. The difference is you don't see a lot of their players invited to the rookie photoshoot.

With the exception of the Raiders, all of the teams you mentioned have had a lot of players invited to the photoshoot, but a lot of those players have panned out. I don't the Browns, Jets and Bills can say that.

I still have hope for Tannehill and Miller in Miami to change their most recent fate.

Joe Thomas, Ahtyba Rubin, Alex Mack, Joe Haden, TJ Ward, Jordan Cameron, Phil Taylor, Barkevious Mingo, Buster Skrine, Leon McFadden, sure I'm missing a few, all drafted by browns and are starters in NFL

The problem isn't the browns, maybe the planners at the photoshoot need to pick different players.. lol

[bbniner80]

That is why I am a set builder and not a player collector. In trading, I will get the popular players and the players from my team for trades only with other traders to get cards I need.