Aaron Curry. I was convinced that this guy was the goods. I didn’t necessarily want to take him over Stafford but I was considering it for a time. Oof
Chris Claiborne is another one. He was a monster at USC. I thought he was the next Junior Seau. Double Oof
Patricia was my final lesson on giving new a new staff three years to make this team a winner.
I always wanted to give them the time for consistency sakes. But, Patricia destroyed a competent team…consistency be damned.
Ryan Broyles
I didn’t watch him in college. Didn’t bang the table or nothing like that. Another bad use of a second round pick.
However, he used to get torn up so bad on the board, I wanted him to succeed in the worst way just to shut people up. But he didn’t.
I was going to start a thread similar to this. One of the big ones for me is Kevin Jones. I started a thread on the board in the months leading up to the draft justifying taking him with the 6th pick. 
Other notables: Cedric Benson, Leonard Fournette, Sammy Watkins. I also thought Mike Doss could turn out to be a better pro than Polamalu. 
Forgot about Huff and yeap, I thought Claiborne would be a great LB
Might be a little early to decide on Ed Oliver though. He has shown some flash the last couple years
Well I remember saying to a friend, ‘Indy has a tough choice at one. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leaf ends up being a better pro…’
He’s the first guy I though of. Total stud at USC.
Speaking of studs at USC that I thought was going to be a stud in the NFL - Rey Maualuga!
I was so happy when he “fell” to us. Fairley too but I wasn’t quite as high in him.
That was a draft that frustrated me.
I wanted Maualuga or even Laurinaitis over Delmas.
Man, forgot about him. I remember thinking at 20 he’d be our pick. Then, of course, he wasn’t. I was so excited when the 2nd came around because, clearly, that’s who we’d target… NOPE again!
I still have this old picture saved from Dan Miller doing a walk-through pre-draft:
It’s grainy as crap, but if you notice, there are no Middle Linebackers on the team’s depth chart. I thought for sure Maualuga or Laurenitis would be our target at 20.
I was so mad about the Pettigrew pick. Led to some wicked fights on Nets board. 
I wanted one of the LBers, but actually wanted Mack
I was also banging the drum for Matthews. I watched the OSU upset of USC that year and the player who kept flashing the most for me was him, despite being the least talked about
Yeah he was awesome. That brutal leg injury his last year of college I think played a major role in future.
Speaking of brutal leg injuries. I was a big fan of Willis McGahee as a potential replacement for Barry Sanders. I’m not sure if he can be labeled a bust, having a couple of pro bowls on his resume. But he certainly didn’t live up to his billing
Also totally forgot about that. Was sure Maualuga was going to be a stud. He ended up being an average 7 year starter but never lit it up.
Tulloch, Yupong.
