The 2023 NFL Draft class is nearly two full seasons into their NFL careers and some players are off to very promising starts. Guys like CJ Stroud, Will Anderson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and even Puka Nacua all made the pro bowls during their rookie season and have been tremendous picks for the franchises that selected them. But others haven’t. And in today’s video we’re goin to discuss 4 of the worst picks from the 2023 NFL Draft. A couple of these picks were not good from the start for various reasons and they were always going to be fighting an uphill battle, while others simply haven’t worked out despite having several opportunities. If this video was made a couple of weeks ago – there’s a chance Bryce Young would have been in this video. As we know Bryce had one of the worst starts to his second season imaginable and was benched after the Chargers game back in week 2 – but has rebounded nicely since then and looks like the player we saw all throughout the draft process. And I truly couldn’t be happier for him. But not every player has bounced back like Bryce Young, and not every player will. And there is a lot to break down in today’s video and without further ado – let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video with Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston. Johnston was the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 draft and when this selection was made – it was viewed as a very good selection. And I thought the Chargers were making a great decision to give Justin Herbert a good receiver to work with and given that both players at the time were 25 or younger – it was natural to get excited about this duo. And things obviously change quickly in the NFL – but to give you an idea of just how quickly they change – I was very excited for Quentin to get to learn from both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in his rookie year. Unfortunately Mike Williams tore his ACL early in the 2023 season, and Keenan missed a few games too – but the idea of these 3 with Justin Herbert was fun to think about and project once upon a time. Now what particularly stinks for the Chargers and ultimately QJ with this pick – is who was selected around him. Quentin was the second receiver taken in the 2023 draft, and he was the 2nd of 4 consecutive receivers taken in the 2023 draft.
The first of course was Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba who is really coming into his own in year 2 and is quietly working on 4 straight 70 yard games. JSN is currently on pace for a 99 catch, 1,174 yard season and is actually 9th in the NFL in receiving yards. Zay Flowers was the immediate pick after Quentin Johnston and Zay is having a career year as he is also top 10 in the NFL in receiving yards as he is 6th. Zay had a really good rookie year and even had a 115 yard game in the AFC championship game against the Chiefs last year. But as of now – Zay is on pace for a 78 reception, 1,129 yard year along with 5 receiving touchdowns. And I think you can certainly make the argument that despite how productive Zay has been in 2024 – he is in an offense that will limit what he can do statistically. I definitely think Zay is one of the more talented receivers in the league and I do think he could be not just a perennial 1,000 yard player – but a consistent 11 or even 1,200 yard player year in and year out. And you can’t help but think about how good of a connection Justin Herbert and Zay Flowers would have. The other receiver taken was Vikings receiver Jordan Addison.
Addison is in a very unique situation because he is in the same offense as Justin Jefferson and whether you like, love, or hate Jordan Addison – it’s fair to acknowledge he probably won’t ever be a 14 or 1,500 yard player because of a former offensive player of the year award winner in the same offense as him. But Addison is on pace for a 978 yard 7 touchdown second season and he is a really good player and at times is an underutilized part of the Vikings offense. There’s certainly parts of the year where Jordan isn’t getting the targets he deserves as from weeks 4-8 he had just 11 catches in 4 games, but over the last 3 games he has received more targets and is currently working on 3 straight 50+ yard games. Johnston on the other hand has 1 career 100 yard game and unfortunately for QJ – he is probably best known for a drop against the Packers in 2023 which was in the 4th quarter – or the drop most recently against the Baltimore Ravens.
With Justin Herbert missing some of Quentin’s rookie year and with him only being 22 years old – I was willingly to dismiss his rookie year, but his catch percentage has actually decreased from 56.7% in his rookie year – to just 52.2% in his second year. There’s certainly been a couple of flashes in his second season – but certainly not what the Chargers were hoping when they made this selection a little less than two years ago.
Emmanuel Forbes is up and this was a pick I didn’t like from the start for a couple of reasons. I – and a lot of other people did too for that matter – thought the two best corners in the 2023 draft were Devon Witherspoon from Illinois – and Christian Gonzalez from Oregon. I was surprised Gonzalez fell as far as he did in the 2023 draft and he was available when Washington was on the clock. I thought it made a tremendous amount of sense for Washington to draft Christian Gonzalez as he was a really good prospect, and heading into 2023 – the Commanders knew they were going to have to guard CeeDee Lamb, AJ Brown, and Devonta Smith for the next several years as AJ was the oldest of the 3 at the time and was only 26 years old. Obviously none of those guys were going anywhere and drafting a corner made a lot of sense. Washington’s defensive line heading into 2023 was also really good as they had 4 first round picks invested in the trenches in Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne, Montez Sweat, and Chase Young. Emmanuel was also a ball hawking corner as he had 14 interceptions during his time at Mississippi State and actually set the record for most collegiate pick 6’s during his time as a Bulldog.
But less than two years later – both Montez Sweat and Chase Young are no longer on the roster and both players were actually traded during Forbes rookie season – and most recently – Forbes himself was flat out released. I didn’t like the Forbes selection when it was made, but the writing was on the wall for Emmanuel whenever the previous regime was let go at the end of last year. Former General Manager Martin Mayhew made the selection and the 2023 Commanders season was largely bad and this team went from 4-5 through 9 games – to 4-13 through 17 games and lost their final two games of the 2023 season in convincing fashion to the 49ers and Cowboys by a combined score of 65-20. Whenever a new regime enters the picture – and for those who may not be familiar with what I mean by this – I mean a new general manager and head coach – and subsequently a new entire staff – unless you are a clear above average starter at your position – your job isn’t safe really regardless of who you are because the current general manager didn’t draft you. Now quarterbacks are a bit different and that’s on entirely separate discussion – but the point is – after the disappointing year Emmanuel had in his rookie year – he was already on thin ice entering 2024.
He got hurt in week 1 of the 2024 season and when he came back – he still wasn’t a good player for Washington and rather than continue to have him on the roster for a player who was a clear draft bust – they let him go. And what I think is particularly impressive about the Commanders success in 2024 – is none of their first round picks from any of the past several years are on the roster. Jamin Davis – their 2021 first round pick was released in October of 2024, Jahan Dotson their 2022 first round pick was traded to the division rival Eagles prior to the start of the 2024 season, and Emmanuel Forbes is now off of the team too. And I think due in large part to all of this perpetual failure around the Commanders organization – that makes the year Jayden Daniels is having even more special. But the Emmanuel Forbes pick was bad at the time, and it’s even worse less than two years later.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article! I released a video on Youtube and also broke down the selections of Mazi Smith to the Dallas Cowboys, and Myles Murphy to the Cincinnati Bengals. The video is linked below! Thank you for reading and have a great day!
