2014 NFL Draft Revisited: Players on the Verge of Being Busts

It is probably too soon to be definitive as to whether any of the 2014 NFL draft picks are busts, but for some the evidence doesn't look great. Rightly or wrongly, the window for acclimation for these rookies is very small. In particular if you are a high draft pick, the expectation is that you will be ready to play at a high level sooner rather than later.

Obviously this varies by team, but as we've seen in recent years, every franchise hopes to get a quick turnaround from its investment when it comes to high draft picks. This was certainly the case for the 2014 NFL draft. Teams reach for prospects to fill needs and overlook concerns with talent, and when the experiment doesn't work, the selection looks like a bust.

You can't always blame players for being busts; they don't get to pick where they are drafted. Sometimes these guys are selected too soon, pushed into starting roles before they're ready or wedged into poor scheme fits.

Here are five guys from the 2014 NFL draft who are on the verge of being busts if they can't turn things around this year.

There was little doubt that the Cleveland Browns' selection of quarterback Johnny Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick was boom or bust. He failed to supplant Brian Hoyer as the starting quarterback to begin the season, and the Browns were winning without him.

It wasn't until Hoyer was injured that Manziel got the starting nod in Week 15. With an entire season to prepare, Manziel fell flat on his face. He appeared in three of the last five games, starting two, but struggled. In fact, Manziel finished the season with 175 yards and no passing touchdowns in five total games.

The Browns still have Manziel listed as the backup, this time behind veteran Josh McCown. If he cannot win the starting job this year over McCown, it might be time to go ahead and check the box marked bust next to Manziel.

The Tennessee Titans drafted running back Bishop Sankey in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft with the goal of getting him on the field. Tennessee has a big, powerful offensive line, and Sankey's only opposition for touches was veteran Shonn Greene. Seems like an easy path to offensive Rookie of the Year.

Things didn't go as planned, though, as Sankey was only able to muster 569 yards and two touchdowns. Worse was the 3.7 yards per carry. His best game of the season might have been an 18-carry, 61-yard game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but a closer look showed that while his 3.4 yards per carry is abysmal, it is made worse by the fact that he got 22 of those yards on a single attempt.

Sankey enters this season with rookie running back David Cobb nipping at his heels. Don't be shocked if Cobb overtakes him at some point during the season and Sankey is relegated to backup duty.

Everyone was enamored with the athletic potential of former North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron. If you were building a tight end in the lab, he would look an awful lot like the former Tar Heels star. That's not to say his game was complete, but there were enough flashes on film for the Detroit Lions to take him with pick No. 10.

Unfortunately, even in an offense with lots of opportunities for success at the tight end position, Ebron struggled. His underdeveloped route tree made it tough for him to get open, and his hands continued to be inconsistent.

Five players caught more passes than Ebron for the Lions in 2014, and he failed to average 10 yards per catch. He needs a big turnaround in 2015 to avoid being a bust.

Sometimes the biggest indicator of a player being a bust is less about what he does and more about what his teammates do. The Buffalo Bills drafted offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio in the second round because there was a definite need for a starting right tackle. A perfect recipe for rookie success, right?

Wrong. Well, sort of wrong. The Bills did get excellent play at right tackle out of a rookie. Unfortunately, it was seventh-round rookie Seantrel Henderson and not Kouandjio.

The Bills offensive line looks fairly set at this point, and Kouandjio's best shot to win a starting spot might be to kick inside to left guard. However, as of now rookie John Miller has that spot. If he loses out two years in a row, his bust status would be hard to argue against.

Every year there are a couple of picks that firmly qualify as head-scratchers. The Philadelphia Eagles taking linebacker Marcus Smith with the No. 26 pick certainly qualified. Smith had some solid film and decent athleticism, but it was puzzling as to why the Eagles chose to bring him in so early.

With one full season in the books, it looks like Philadelphia didn't know why either. Smith only appeared in eight games and didn't get a single statistic. Even now, as the offseason rolls on there is no starting spot in sight for him.

At this point, it's not too early to call Smith a bust.

Player data and stats courtesy of NFL.com.