Where does Ereck Flowers rank among Giants' Draft busts?

The former first-round pick joins an unfortunate group of former Giants

10/9/2018, 6:00 PM
The Giants' Ereck Flowers appeared at the 2015 NFL combine. (Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)undefined
The Giants' Ereck Flowers appeared at the 2015 NFL combine. (Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)undefined

Ereck Flowers became a member of a certain club as soon as the Giants made his release official on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the 2015 first-round draft pick, there's nothing elite about this group of sorry former Giants. After Big Blue finally met its breaking point with the offensive lineman early in his fourth-straight struggling season, Flowers has undoubtedly become one of the biggest first-round draft busts in franchise history.

But where does he rank among other top Giants picks of the last 30 years who failed to live up to the hype? 

8.) RB David Wilson (2012)

Despite fumbling on his second career carry against the Cowboys, the No. 32 overall pick out of Virginia Tech impressed in his rookie season as the Giants' kick returner while contributing as a backfield option. But Wilson's career met a swift end during his sophomore campaign. After failing to take on a bigger role as a running back, he suffered spinal stenosis in Week 5 and required neck surgery. He was informed that any further injuries to his neck could threaten his life, which forced him into retirement at age 22. 

In 21 games, Wilson recorded 115 rushing yards with five touchdowns and 4.4 yards per carry.

7.) RB Ron Dayne (2000)

Wisconsin's "Great Dayne" eventually saw his nickname fall to "No Gain Dayne" after the Giants took him 11th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. Big Blue selected the college star to complement Tiki Barber in the backfield, and despite a promising rookie season (770 yards, five touchdowns), Dayne couldn't put it together in New York. 

Dayne's playing time and rushing totals declined each year, and by the end of the 2004 season, when he tallied just 179 yards in 52 carries, the Giants decided not to re-sign him. After a year in Denver, Dayne saw a slight resurgence in two seasons with the Texans, where he finished his career in 2007.

6.) FB Jarrod Bunch (1991)

The Giants followed up their Super Bowl XXV victory over the Bills by drafting Bunch with the final pick in the first round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Big Blue envisioned the Michigan fullback as a complement to RB Rodney Hampton, and after playing on special teams as a rookie, Bunch put up a decent sophomore season with 501 yards and 4.8 yards per carry. 

But knee injuries cut Bunch's career short. By 1994, he was out of New York and by the following year he was out of the NFL. He tallied 138 carries for 629 yards in 48 games. 

5.) WR Thomas Lewis (1994)

The speedy wide receiver out of Indiana burned out much faster than the Giants expected when they drafted him 24th overall. In four seasons, Lewis caught just five touchdowns and failed to record more than 700 receiving yards in a year. 

He managed to score a touchdown as a return specialist, but with only 15 total starts, Lewis' once-promising NFL career turned out to be a brief one.

4.) DE Cedric Jones (1996)

The Giants envisioned their No. 5 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft would form a powerful pass-rushing duo with Michael Strahan. But Jones -- an Oklahoma star who was legally blind in one eye -- didn't record his first sack until his third season and didn't see regular playing time until his fourth year in the league.

Jones recorded 15 sacks in 73 games with the Giants, nearly winning a Super Bowl in 2000, his final season.

3.) DT William Joseph (2003)

The Giants drafted Joseph 25th overall to bolster the left side of Michael Strahan's formidable defensive line. After a contract holdout leading up to his rookie season, the University of Miami product made an immediate impact when he strip-sacked Rams QB Kurt Warner in the end zone for a touchdown in his first game. But that proved to be the main highlight in Joseph's Giants career. Joseph dealt with a bevy of injuries and failed to start more than 10 games in a season for Big Blue. He spent the 2007 season on the IR while the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl. 

The Cowboys, on the other hand, made the best of their 2003 draft by selecting DT Jason Witten in the third round.

2.) TE Derek Brown (1992)

The Fighting Irish star brought little fight and even less luck to the Giants after they drafted him with their 14th overall pick. The 6-foot-6 Brown caught just 11 passes for 87 yards in three seasons with the Giants, failing to score a touchdown in a combined seven games.

Unlike other first-round Giants draft busts, Brown moved around the league after his time in New York. He scored his first and only touchdown in 1997 with the Jaguars, making a stop with the Raiders before ending his career with Cardinals.

1.) OT Ereck Flowers (2005)

The Giants selected Flowers with the ninth overall pick in the 2015 draft with the hopes he would protect Eli Manning's blind side. Instead, the left tackle position became a consistent and reliable point of attack for Big Blue's opponents. After three poor seasons, the Giants transitioned Flowers to right tackle before this year after acquiring Nate Solder, which prompted Flowers to hold out in protest. 

After failing to find any success on the right side, the 24-year-old Flowers was benched before Week 3 this season for Chad Wheeler.

The Giants can look forward to a post-Flowers squad, but the pain of who they passed on in his draft class -- Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon and Marcus Peters to name a few -- will last quite a while.

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