Biggest Busts in PSU Football History
- Thread starter Taycro
- Start date
Derrick Williams may not have lived up to his number 1 ranking, but he was not anywhere close to a bust.
I feel a little bad about posting in this thread. It’s likely that nobody feels worse about being a bust than the player himself. “I coulda been a contender!” Hard.
He played in the NFL.
Part of DWill's issues, at least IMO, is that after he broke his arm freshman year the staff put too much weight on him.
Here's one not mentioned.... JB Walton (Wasn't he the top-rated interior lineman in the country coming out of high school?)
Easy, King and Dwill? I don't think they were busts @Midnighter
All had great games as Lions and started for over more than one season.
I liked Hack and he made his mark. We'll always have OSU 2016 with Mr. Sickles.
He played for the Detroit Lions after leading the team to a great 2005 season. I don't think he's a bust under any definition. I think he's a famous Lion who came up big in several games. Maybe I'm not enamored with stars as others -- I evaluate what they do in blue and white.
Derrick Williams was certainly not a bust. He played multiple positions (WR, KR, wildcat QB) and provided a spark and some speed to an offense that was lacking it. Williams and the freshman class he came in with, that included King, Butler, and Norwood were responsible for turning the program around. Williams committing to PSU started some recruiting momentum that was absent for PSU during the early 2000’s. Those guys should be celebrated, not criticized.
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I think Derrick Williams did help to change the program. We went through some bleak years and Williams help lead us back both on and off the field.
Exactly- add in the fact that many posting their "busts" list probably didn't make their HS JV team and couldn't get laid in a whorehouse.
I don't consider Sickels a bust. 11 career sacks and 6 his final year.
Agree. He was a big contributor to the 2016 team and I was disappointed he didn’t return for 2017.
He couldn’t get out of his own way.
I believe had Bill O’Brien stayed, Christian’s story would have ended much differently.
Reminded me of the time MackDaddy, as a joke, reported that Williams had broken his leg in practice. People were ready to lynch him afterwards. And the next week Williams broke his arm.
If you meant under James Franklin, there were 4 offensive coordinators who were either fired or encouraged to take another job:
1. John Donovan
2. Ricky Rahne (famous for that disastrous 4th and 5 hand-off to Miles Sanders in 2018)
3. Ciarrocca
4. Yurcich
All these guys were forgettable.
The only thing that should resonate with regard to D.Will and Joe PA's prowess as a recruiter came down to one play, and one game, where D. Will caught the TD from MRob to be part of the magical 2005 season that got Penn State FB back on track.
Joe PA said "We are one or two players away from a championship caliber team" This was just after Penn State had a losing season in 2004" Thru all those dark years he knew the simple difference -- just need one / two players to make the difference. (These two players became Derrick Williams and Justin King)
In my opinion D.Will was the #1 recruit and lived up to that hype for the PSU program. He didn't need to win a Heisman only to make that catch against Northwestern in '05
He was spot on.
False. No pocket awareness. Not that accurate and no mobility. Really wasn't even that good with O'Brien.
He was Big Ten freshman of the year under O’Brien his true freshman season.
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Exactly...He was also named Big Ten Freshman of the Week five different times that season. Saying that it "wasn't even that good" is completely inaccurate.
Mark Brennan did a great article on Quintus McDonald a few years ago. Great read, and inspiration for those guys that didn't find the success they had dreamed of on the football field at PSU...
247sports.com
30 years later, former Lion Quintus McDonald earns his degree
The one-time high school superstar made good on a goal he set more than three decades ago. But it was not easy.
247sports.com
Right! And there was no reason to think he wasn’t going to get better under O’Brien. Look what O’Brien did with McGloin.
Most posters cant speak intelligently about a player they saw in person last week let alone one they only have a vague recollection of from over a decade ago.
....and make that electric 78 yard punt return vs. Notre Dame.
Yes I believe he was at least a top 100 recruit, not sure about #1 IOL. Another overrated MD kid. Lots of poor coaching in that area and he was not that big. Had sloped shoulders and wasnt a true big frame IOL to carry 300 lbs. Could move well in HS but didnt play top competition. Not sure if he was ever able to carry the weight/strength needed to play P5 football.
I think he played in one of the local arena type leagues for a while down here.
Titcus Pettigrew married Bonnie Bremner. The diametric opposite of a bust!
Amazing. Remember hearing Joe Jurevicius was dating Terri Zemaitis when I was at UP; didn’t work out but we still got our Jurevicius.
Rahne is not AK or JoMo but he isn’t as bad as some thought it still think.
Sometimes a player can be a huge bust for us, but go somewhere else and turn out really good. Best example is Jeff Hosteller. Really was a flame out for Paterno at QB, but when we went to WVU, he had a great career as a QB and then went to the NFL where he won a Super Bowl with the Giants. Why he was a bust here is a head-scratcher....
Or someone like Robbie Gould who was underwhelming here, but had a long, successful NFL career.
That’s a much better example. I was there for Hostetler and I wouldn’t describe it as flameout more so just beat out.
Thinking? I ran into McQueary at the Saloon a couple of days after he signed as a free agent with the Raiders. He was "showing" young women how to shoot pool from behind. Once a tool, always a tool.Ugh… as a thinker too
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