FanHouse Tim Couch

Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.

Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.

Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.

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The last time Browns fans cheered their starting quarterback going down with an injury the team went to the playoffs. It was 2002, and then-face of the franchise Tim Couch was in the process of getting "Wally Pipped" by Kelly Holcomb. History repeated itself on Sunday, except this time, there will be no postseason. Just a bunch of guys limping through the final month of the season.

Yesterday, some fans at Cleveland Browns Stadium happily voiced their pleasure after Derek Anderson crumpled to the turf and suffered what looks like a season-ending knee injury. Predictably, neither Anderson nor his teammates were impressed.

As the Detroit Lions gird up their loins to hit the field of battle on another turkey day, they face quite a daunting task. No team in the history of the NFL has ever lost 16 games in the regular season. That's probably because they only play 16. You have to be a really, horrifically brutal football team to finish 0-16, which is why no one has accomplished that feat before.

A peek at the Lions schedule from here on out shows their task. Any win for an 0-11 team would be an upset, but this is a stout group left on the docket for Detroit. They play the Titans (10-1), Vikings (6-5), and Saints (6-5) at home, while traveling to face the Colts (7-4) and the Packers (5-6). The most winnable game would seem to be Green Bay, but beating the Packers in Lambeau on December 28th isn't an easy task for a team used to the indoors.

Simply put, I think the Lions are going 0-16. I actually have for quite some time.

Let's examine their profile against some of the worst teams in NFL history (Super Bowl era) to see where they might rank.

For the longest time -- basically 1999 to 2003 -- the Cleveland Browns made some dreadful decisions with their first-round draft picks. Obviously, it all starts with Tim Couch (1999). And then there was Courtney Brown (2000), and Gerard Warren (2001). Who could forget William Green over Clinton Portis (2002), and Jeff Faine (2003).

But with the dark days of Chris Palmer and Butch Davis behind the franchise, things have picked up in recent years. Kellen Winslow, Braylon Edwards, Kamerion Wimbley, and now, Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn. While it's easy to point to Quinn as the team's most important pick -- possibly in this version of the Browns' short history -- it may be the other 2007 first-rounder that ends up having the better career.

Cleveland's offensive line is quietly having a solid season. The unit is on pace to give up 28 sacks, the fewest in 13 years. This group is excelling with a rookie left tackle, and missing two of its best players: tackle Ryan Tucker and center LeCharles Bentley. But that's changing:

If you asked me to make a list of NFL players likely to be steroid/HGH users, Tim Couch would be just after Cowboys' kicker Martin Gramatica. Which is to say, he wouldn't be a suspect. Well, if you had Couch in the "He's a juicer" pool, congrats, you're the big winner (the odds must have been astronomical). From Yahoo! Sports' Josh Peter:

Documents obtained by Yahoo! Sports indicate quarterback Tim Couch had regimens that called for the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone while he attempted to revive his NFL career after a three-year hiatus from the league.

Couch ... told Yahoo! Sports he briefly took HGH – which is banned by the NFL – in hopes the drug would help him recover from shoulder surgery. But he denied using steroids or any other banned drugs and said he never had seen the documents.

It's worth reiterating that Couch admitted to brief HGH use, but denies the 'roids. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who claimed no knowledge of the allegations, cut Couch on August 18. And the former first-overall pick pointed out that he had to pass a drug test before signing with the team on July 29.

I imagine this will register a tiny blip on the NFL radar, but will all the other stuff going on, and because Couch has been out of action for a few years, it'll go away ... for now. Still, the fact that guys are juicing (steroids, HGH ... whatever) -- especially those trying to comeback from injury -- has to be troubling for the league. And I'm guessing it's only a matter of time until a higher-profile player is implicated.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has been all McGruff the Crime Dog since taking over a year ago, and for his troubles he's gotten: Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, Odell Thurman, and Ron Mexico. And now, Tim Couch. Didn't see that coming.

A regular look at 30 people who will affect the 2007 NFL season.

In their short history, the Cleveland Browns have a long, dreadful record when it comes to first-round picks. It starts with franchise quarterback Tim Couch -- the first overall selection in 1999 -- and it doesn't get any better with names like Courtney Brown, Gerard Warren and William Green.

Center Jeff Faine, the team's top pick in '03, never meshed with Butch Davis, Kellen Winslow ('04) was sidelined by on- and off-field injuries during his first two seasons, and Braylon Edwards ('05) has been inconsistent at best.

And then there was 2006. The Browns selected DE/OLB Kamerion Wimbley 13th overall, and -- no offense to DeMeco Ryans -- the former Florida State star had a good argument for Defensive Rookie of the Year. He made the seamless transition from collegiate defensive end to NFL outside linebacker and ended the year with 11 sacks. And Wimbley was, undoubtedly, the Browns' best defender.

Bottom line: Playing in Cleveland is akin to playing in Siberia when it comes to league-wide recognition, so Wimbley could still be flying under the radar to start the season. But if his 2007 comes anything close to his 2006, he'll be a Pro Bowler. And Cleveland could use a few of those.

30 to Watch: See them all

Tim Couch, the first pick in the 1999 NFL Draft who hasn't played a down of football since the 2004 preseason, has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It would be a surprise if Couch even makes the team, let alone actually contributes in the regular season. Still, Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio likes Couch well enough to give him a look. The other quarterbacks in the Jaguars' training camp are starter Byron Leftwich, backup David Garrard, third-stringer Quin Gray (who's on the physically unable to perform list) and undrafted rookie Lester Ricard.

The move makes it even less likely that Daunte Culpepper (pictured next to Couch at the 1999 draft) will sign with Jacksonville. Although the Jags were once seen as the prohibitive favorites to acquire Culpepper's services, they now have five quarterbacks under contract, and there's not much reason to add a sixth.

As I've mentioned, Cleveland's first-round draft plans are a mystery, but head coach Romeo Crennel did offer some insights on what might happen if the club drafts a quarterback:

"I don't know if [throwing a rookie QB into the starting lineup is] always the best thing... Because I saw that with Tim Couch. I wasn't there, but (in 1999), they said they were going to give him an opportunity to learn and come along, and then after one game they threw him in there. And probably in the long run, that might not have been the best thing for him.''

And I think Tim Couch would agree. As would Kyle Boller, David Carr and Joey Harrington. In 2004, Ben Roethlisberger didn't open his rookie season as the starter -- his first start came in Week 3 -- but what made his situation so much different than the other quarterbacks mentioned above was that he had a strong cast of players around him. Especially along the offensive line. The 2003 Ravens o-line wasn't bad, but Boller probably never should've been a first-round pick anyway.

If Cleveland takes Brady Quinn with the No. 3 pick, let's hope they draft offensive linemen with their other first-day picks. And let's also hope Crennel keeps his word and doesn't force Quinn into the lineup too early. Otherwise, he could end up a gun-shy has been like Couch, Carr and Harrington in a few years.

You've got to love mindless controversies. Many Chiefs' fans are already dissatisfied with Damon Huard, so who do the fans want instead? Brodie Croyle; the rookie Brodie Croyle. In related news, Microsoft announced today that they just hired a recent college graduate to be CEO of their uber-successful corporation.

Think about this for a second. Big Ben won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award two seasons ago--that pick was a no-brainer. Here's some mindless trivia for you: who was the last rookie quarterback before Big Ben to win an Offensive ROY award and what year was it? I'll give you a hint: it's not Joe Montana. It's not Peyton Manning. It's definitely not John Elway. The answer is Dennis Shaw. He won the ROY award in 1970. On the flipside, consider that a quarterback has been named the Associated Press MVP in 7 out of the last 10 votings. It's really easy for a quarterback to win an MVP award because he is easily the most important player on the field. There's no doubt that quarterbacks are heavy favorites to win any kind of individual award they are eligible for, so why is it that they can't win offensive ROYs? That's easy. It's because quarterbacks have historically been below average players their rookie season. Look up some of the elite quarterbacks in the league today--they either were not involved in the offense their rookie season or they put up average numbers at best. The bulletproof Peyton Manning had more INTs than he had TDs in his rookie season, by the way.

The NFL is not kind to strangers. Yes, an entire city will rally around a rookie quarterback; they will scream and shout their encouragement at that quarterback. That is, until the quarterback lets them down. In the past, it was the model that as soon as you got your highly drafted quarterback, your team needed to throw him immediately to the wolves. We watched highly touted, highly drafted quarterbacks like Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, and Joey Harrington flounder before our very eyes. In the case of Leaf and Harrington, you can't help but wonder if they would've been better players if they weren't under so much pressure to be the next big thing. You wonder if Leaf would have been a better quarterback if he was given a few years to mature not only as a player, but as a person before he was thrown into the enormous spotlight of starting for an NFL team. You wonder if Harrington would have been a better quarterback if he played when he was ready instead of learning to play NFL football on the fly.

The new school NFL model is to preach patience with young quarterbacks. Rarely, now, will you see a polished quarterback win a starting role over a polished veteran quarterback. Carson Palmer took a seat behind the always underachieving Jon Kitna. Eli Manning and Matt Leinart both had to sit behind Kurt Warner's immobile body. Palmer and Eli had more than their share of early struggles. Rookie quarterbacks typically start only in positions where they have a low expectation to succeed. Nobody ever thought that Alex Smith would be San Francisco's savior, so the pressure on him was fairly low for a starting NFL quarterback. Big Ben walked into Pittsburgh as the plug to a leaky ship--the Steelers had no playoff expectations and no backup options, so there was little pressure on Big Ben to be the man right away. With a few starting quarterbacks injured, Steelers' fans had practically thrown away the season. You get the impression that Bruce Gradkowski is in that same boat.

Croyle, on the other hand, walks into a completely different situation. He walks into a team that is thirsting for the playoffs and in front of a fan base that still believes that their team is a playoff team. While the Chiefs may now rally around Croyle, you can't help but wonder how quickly they'll turn on him if he pulls a disaster season like young Alex Smith had last season. Does he have the nerves of steel to shake off criticism like Peyton Manning did? Or will he struggle with criticism the way Harrington did?

If the Chiefs are committed to Croyle as their future quarterback, then there is no quarterback controversy. He belongs on the bench. The same with Jay Cutler. The same, in my opinion, with Matt Leinart. The Chiefs need to take a long, hard look at the shady track record of rookie quarterbacks who have enjoyed any kind of very early success. In the meantime, I will watch intently Gradkowski learns his job on the fly. Maybe Matt Leinart will be forced to do the same. If one of them is the catalyst to a playoff team, then I will eat my words. However, if history is any indication, my words will stay on the page and will not end up in my mouth.