Donald Brown retiring.

[Jax Husky]

Maybe as an undrafted FA it would, but as a 1st rounder he's honestly a huge bust

But a classy guy and wish him success

He was in an offense that barely ran the ball. They managed only about 1,500 yards a year. That's on the scheme and O Line, not Brown. He played 7+ years at a position that averages only 3.5. Not a bust. Maybe not the star caliber but not a bust. You want a bust running back? Donald Brown had about as many total yards as Rashaan Salaam and Ron Dayne.

 

[Excalibur]

Calling him a bust ignores the "hit rate" on late first round picks. It's not what one would think it is.

 

[Jax Husky]

Calling him a bust ignores the "hit rate" on late first round picks. It's not what one would think it is.

100% this. Late first rounders who play 7 years can really never be called "busts".

 

[JSM1970]

True, he never had a season with more than 645 rushing yards and then signed the 3 year $10.5M deal with San Diego and had a total of 450 rushing yards in 23 games, an average of 20 yards/game

"bust" is way too strong in hindsight, certainly as compared to Trent Richardson, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, Darren McFadden, William Green, etc. but I wouldn't classify his career as "great" either based on the draft position, lies somewhere in between

Honestly, it just speaks to the risk of taking a RB early and what is the expectation

Ton of great early ones like

AP
Elliott
Sanders
Emmitt
LaDianian
Williams
Lynch
Bettis
Fred Taylor

Many 2nd or later ones without doing much research

Bell
Jamal Charles
Curtis Martin
Forte
Shady
Foster
Murray

Calling him a bust ignores the "hit rate" on late first round picks. It's not what one would think it is.