Who are some athletes who turned out better than you thought they would be? Preferably guys who had some hype and you thought would be huge busts not late round picks who came out of nowhere.

Joakim Noah tops my list. I really thought he would be out of the league after his rookie contract was up. I really wanted to see him fail as a Buckeye fan.

Matt Ryan
Russell Westbrook

Andre Drummond (wasn't expecting a bust, but didn't think he'd be this good this soon)

Brian Hartline

Steph Curry, Roy Hibbert, Rondo. Kawhi Leonard.

Alshon Jeffrey, Golden Tate, Stevie Johnson.

Hard to do with baseball because there are so many players.

NFL:
Mario Williams
Jay Cutler
Marshawn Lynch (thought he was too slow. Always reminded me of Droughns in college. lolfail on me)
Joe Staley - always thought drafting a TE from a MAC school to play tackle in the NFL was a fail
Lamar Woodley - never saw anything special while at scUM
Jake Long - always got beat like a drum when he played PWNsu.
Forte - lol'd at the bears for not taking Slaton who I thought the better prospect
JPP - See Mario Williams
Demaryius Thomas - thought ppl just liked him bc he was big and went to GA Tech and thought he was the next Calvin Johnson.

NBA:
Brook Lopez - Never impressed me in college. Poor rebounder/defender thought he'd get eaten alive in the NBA.
Kemba Walker - little chucker that couldn't defender. Played on a shitty team so was able to get stats.

Off the top of my head. I would be interested in doing a guy who you thought would be a stud/better than expected and you were wrong. My poster boy: Brandon Saine

Good call on Lopez

Stephen Curry for me.

Though would be good and sucked:
Aaron Curry
Trent Richardson
Jared Jeffries
Matt LaPorta
Jonathan Bender (injuries, though, killed him)
Jamaal Tinsley (ok, he had a good stretch)

Thought would suck and are good:
Matt Forte
Al Harrington
Andrew Bogut
Zach Randolph
Devin Harris

Laley23;1547265 wrote:Though would be good and sucked:
Aaron Curry
Trent Richardson
Jared Jeffries
Matt LaPorta
Jonathan Bender (injuries, though, killed him)
Jamaal Tinsley (ok, he had a good stretch)

Thought would suck and are good:
Matt Forte
Al Harrington
Andrew Bogut
Zach Randolph
Devin Harris

Guilty on Curry and Trich as well. Robert Gallery is also another ghost in my closet, wanted the Browns to try and get him. Jeremy Lamb is on my list, though I suppose the jury is out on him.

This is a random name, but I thought Joey Graham was gonna be a lot better than he ended up being.

Vince Young and Sam Bradford would be the first 2 NFL names I think of.

Jodie Meeks - A great college scorer, but played on some terrible Kentucky teams and I never expected him to be a 13 to 15 points a game guy for the Lakers. He was a late second-round pick. Figured he'd just disappear

Ramon Sessions - Sort of a random player, but every time I see him in the NBA and think back to watching him play in the NCAA Tournament on that Nevada team with Nick Fazekas and Kyle Shilo, it's just hard to believe he's done as well as he has. Not sure why

Shane Battier - He was never the most athletic guy and just seemed a perfect fit for the college game, so I wasn't sure how he'd turnout as a pro, but at one point he was one of the NBA's five most elite defenders and turned into a great role player and integral piece for the world champion Heat, garnering tons of praise along the way.

Adam Morrison - Admittedly, my ceiling for him was extremely low to begin with, but he did better than I thought he would

Tom Brady easy for me, did not expect him to do a damn thing in the pros let alone become probably the greatest of all time.

Michael Redd in basketball, did not think he would be an All-Star guard when healthy. Jameer Nelson, Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holliday

Rondo...yes

i was completely wrong about tim duncan..i didnt think he would be a bust but certainly thought he was too slow to be a hall of famer

Marshall Faulk. Saw him play for San Diego State and I was like, eh, he wont be any good.....

HA!

Gblock;1547359 wrote:i was completely wrong about tim duncan..i didnt think he would be a bust but certainly thought he was too slow to be a hall of famer

You should check the story out about Tim Duncan and Dan Dakich and Indiana......coulda changed history...

Unless I missed it, how has no one mentioned ALEX BOONE yet?!

Drew Brees is one for me. When the Saints acquired him I was a little hesitant if he would be a good QB since they are my favorite team and obviously that worked out well.

I didn't think coming out of Purdue he would be anything more than a journeyman backup.

thavoice;1547411 wrote:You should check the story out about Tim Duncan and Dan Dakich and Indiana......coulda changed history...

In more ways than one.

Way #2 is knight would be a convicted murderer if the story had gotten out earlier in time lol

Commander of Awesome;1547256 wrote:Off the top of my head. I would be interested in doing a guy who you thought would be a stud/better than expected and you were wrong. My poster boy: Brandon Saine

Off the top of my head, the first guy who came to mind was Limas Sweed. I thought he was a stud at Texas and was pumped with the Steelers got him in the second round.

And then he was one of the most comically inept receivers I'd ever seen in my life.

Heretic;1547524 wrote:Off the top of my head, the first guy who came to mind was Limas Sweed. I thought he was a stud at Texas and was pumped with the Steelers got him in the second round.

And then he was one of the most comically inept receivers I'd ever seen in my life.

When he laid on the field faking to be hurt after dropping that pass in the AFC Champ game....man I wanted to run down and strangle him. Did see him at camp that year, and he was th eonly one that was dropping some passing coming from the jugs machine.

pmoney25;1547475 wrote:Drew Brees is one for me. When the Saints acquired him I was a little hesitant if he would be a good QB since they are my favorite team and obviously that worked out well.

I didn't think coming out of Purdue he would be anything more than a journeyman backup.

He did well in SD when he was there, and yeah that did surprise me. Also suprised that he came back from his shoulder injury to do what he has done.

thavoice;1547411 wrote:You should check the story out about Tim Duncan and Dan Dakich and Indiana......coulda changed history...

link?

As for a player who I believed would be better than he ultimately became: Former Rutgers point guard Quincy Douby.

Of all the great scorers I've seen play point guard in college basketball over the years, Douby was right at the top. Dropped 26 points a game in the Big East as a junior, while shooting better than 40% from three-point land, despite a propensity for shooting 28-foot pull-ups at least four or five times a game. His range was the deepest and most lethal of any college player I've ever seen. Had he come back to Rutgers as a senior, he'd easily have averaged 30+. Douby had the size, too, at about 6-4, to become a great scoring combo guard with the skill-set he possessed.

He now plays for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers or some shit.

Heretic;1547524 wrote:Off the top of my head, the first guy who came to mind was Limas Sweed. I thought he was a stud at Texas and was pumped with the Steelers got him in the second round.

And then he was one of the most comically inept receivers I'd ever seen in my life.

Yeah....I liked that pick lol

I think Drew Brees has to be on pretty much everyone's list.

Classyposter58;1547276 wrote:Tom Brady easy for me, did not expect him to do a damn thing in the pros let alone become probably the greatest of all time.

Weren't you like 8 when he was drafted?