Steelers Draft History: Mike Adams is the biggest bust of the last 10 years

[zulater]

To me Adams is the biggest bust. I think the guy's a fraud. The highlight of his career was bambooziling Tomlin into drafting him when he requested and was granted a private meeting with the coach prior to the draft. I don't think he has heart or desire to make the commitment necessary to succeed. He just wants that check and will do as little as possible to "earn it".

Sweed just was 3 bricks shy of a load as they say. Great size and speed, could gain separation better than any receiver on the team. The desire and work ethic seemed to be there. He just had a mental block that he couldn't overcome.

Mendenhall deserves consideration because he was your prototypical Tinman. Except unlike the Tinman, Mendenhall couldn't give a shit that he had no heart. He could have been a very good back in the league for a long time if he had only given a damn.

[Craic]

To me Adams is the biggest bust. I think the guy's a fraud. The highlight of his career was bambooziling Tomlin into drafting him when he requested and was granted a private meeting with the coach prior to the draft. I don't think he has heart or desire to make the commitment necessary to succeed. He just wants that check and will do as little as possible to "earn it".

Sweed just was 3 bricks shy of a load as they say. Great size and speed, could gain separation better than any receiver on the team. The desire and work ethic seemed to be there. He just had a mental block that he couldn't overcome.

Mendenhall deserves consideration because he was your prototypical Tinman. Except unlike the Tinman, Mendenhall couldn't give a shit that he had no heart. He could have been a very good back in the league for a long time if he had only given a damn.

I don't think Adams was the biggest bust. I think he was a square peg they tried to put into a round hole. He was not a left tackle. They should've stuck him on the right side and left him there to develop. However, I also think he would have played even better in a phonebooth - so guard might have been his better spot. As for Sweed, I think Tomlin broke him. When you get yanked everytime you drop a pass, it tends to screw with your confidence, as we saw one game with RBs in Cleveland fumbling the ball. Tomlin has since stopped yanking players for one bad play. Had Sweed come in now, I'm not saying he'd be a top-tier WR, but I think he'd have stuck around a couple of years more than he did, and made some good contributions to the team.

Mendenhall - yep, no heart, but big twitter account. Not a good combo.

[fansince'76]

As for Sweed, I think Tomlin broke him. When you get yanked everytime you drop a pass, it tends to screw with your confidence, as we saw one game with RBs in Cleveland fumbling the ball. Tomlin has since stopped yanking players for one bad play. Had Sweed come in now, I'm not saying he'd be a top-tier WR, but I think he'd have stuck around a couple of years more than he did, and made some good contributions to the team.

Agreed. Tomlin definitely mishandled Sweed.

[Born2Steel]

Adams is one of those players with potential thru the roof. He's had injury after injury, and has always been behind the rest because of it. I don't think he has the best work ethic, probably due to he has always been good enough on raw talent. When you mix the injury bug with poor work ethic you get a guy that can't stay on the field, and after a few seasons, doesn't deserve to be. He is a bust, IMO. Biggest bust? Maybe.

[Psycho Ward 86]

To me Adams is the biggest bust. I think the guy's a fraud. The highlight of his career was bambooziling Tomlin into drafting him when he requested and was granted a private meeting with the coach prior to the draft. I don't think he has heart or desire to make the commitment necessary to succeed. He just wants that check and will do as little as possible to "earn it".

Sweed just was 3 bricks shy of a load as they say. Great size and speed, could gain separation better than any receiver on the team. The desire and work ethic seemed to be there. He just had a mental block that he couldn't overcome.

Mendenhall deserves consideration because he was your prototypical Tinman. Except unlike the Tinman, Mendenhall couldn't give a shit that he had no heart. He could have been a very good back in the league for a long time if he had only given a damn.

whats work ethic got to do with it? Lazy players produce all the time while hard workers never see the field. The opposite is also true. Adams actually started a lot of games. Horrible left tackle. Very "meh" right tackle, but that 'meh' is better than never seeing the field, and simply dropping passes when you get there.

[steelreserve]

Again, I think no production > bad production, so Hood is still at the top for me.

Adams was miscast as a left tackle for sure. He was better on the right, but most importantly was best blocking the run but sub-par on pass protection whichever side he was on. It was just less critical on the right. So that to me says he is an ideal candidate to be tried at guard. Maybe now that we have extra offensive tackles, we'll try that as a last resort before cutting him loose. Who knows, if it works out, it saves us from having to find another OG for depth / eventual Foster replacement.

[zulater]

whats work ethic got to do with it? Lazy players produce all the time while hard workers never see the field. The opposite is also true. Adams actually started a lot of games. Horrible left tackle. Very "meh" right tackle, but that 'meh' is better than never seeing the field, and simply dropping passes when you get there.

Adams has stuck out like a sore thumb virtually every down he's played regardless of what side he's been lined up on. Even when he hasn't given up a sack or let his man in to destroy the running play he's just got by. The amount or pressures he gave up that Ben was able to step out of (guess he knew where to expect the breakdown) are innumerable given the number of snaps he's played. He's only ever been given playing time because he was overdrafted. Well actually the few times he didn't absolutely suck was when he was used as a 3rd tight end. Other than that this guy owns no good plays.

[katmandu]

Sweed... it is 100% Sweed.

The kid had a very serious problem with Depression and Anxiety. Like a lot people actually.

Too bad he was not able to overcome these issues in time to have a productive career.

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Ziggy Hood has them both beat. Not only did he suck, we kept running him out there 16 games a year for five years because we didn't want to admit the #1 draft pick was a bust.

Sweed's and Adams' problem was that they didn't contribute anything positive and ended up riding the bench. Hood actually played the whole time and made the defense WORSE for several seasons.

Very true. Even though Ziggy was the strongest player on the team, he sucked.

Mikey's biggest problem is that he's a soft. Just a big assed Teddy Bear. If he had Hine's Ward's Warrior mentality and fire he'd be a Perennial Pro-Bowler.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Only David DeCastro Now Remains From Steelers 2012 Draft Class

BY DAVE BRYAN MAY 5, 2016

Just over four years ago the Pittsburgh Steelers selected nine players during the 2012 NFL Draft. As of Thursday, guard David DeCastro is now the only one of those nine that remains of the roster as tackle Mike Adams, who was team’s second-round selection in 2012, has now been released with the failed physical designation.

While it’s easy to judge that particular Steelers draft class four years later by how many players currently remain from it, you have to take into account the fact that they did manage to get quite a bit of production from a few others they selected that year. For starters, tackle Kelvin Beachum, the Steelers final draft pick in the 2012, played in 44 games and made 39 starts during his four years in Pittsburgh. Those numbers would have been even higher had Beachum not torn up his left knee during the first half of the 2015 season.

While Adams career in Pittsburgh certainly didn’t turn out as the organization had originally hoped it would, he still managed to play in 41 games and make 20 starts in his first three years on the roster. Like Beachum, an injury last year not only forced Adams to miss playing time, but the entire season as well.

The Steelers got very unlucky when it came to their third-round selection in 2012 as a serious knee injury suffered by linebacker Sean Spence during the preseason of his rookie year eventually resulted in the Miami product sitting out his first two years in the league. Spence, however, was able to return to action again for the 2014 and 2015 seasons and wound up contributing some on defense in both of those years in addition to playing on special teams. Spence, like Beachum, left Pittsburgh this past offseason via free agency so at least both should ultimately factor into the compensatory draft pick formula next offseason.

The Steelers did miss badly on their five other remaining draft picks, however, as defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu, running back Chris Rainey, wide receiver Toney Clemons, tight end David Paulson and cornerback Terrence Frederick all washed out of Pittsburgh very quickly. Paulson, however, at least stuck around for two seasons while Rainey only played one year in Pittsburgh before being cut loose. With that said, Clemons, Paulson and Frederick were all seventh-round selections and when you factor in that the Steelers hit with their selection of Beachum, their fourth and final seventh-round draft pick that year, it makes the misses with the other three very forgettable.

The fact that the Steelers at least came away from the 2012 NFL Draft with an All-Pro guard in DeCastro, who is almost certain to sign a long-term contract extension later on this summer, makes that 2012 haul a success in my book and especially when you add on top of it how much production they also got out of Beachum.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/05...2-draft-class/

[Kittyfish]

Ziggy, Urbik, Sweeeeeeed, even Mendy - at least they're all fun to say. Mike Adams? Don't get no duller than that. Biggest bust, for sure.