10 biggest NFL draft busts in UCLA football history
By Josh Yourish
Freddie Mitchell. . No. 25 overall. player. . 2001. Freddie Mitchell, WR. Freddie Mitchell, WR. 6. 54
Freddie Mitchell’s NFL career did not go nearly as well as his collegiate career when he was catching passes from Cade McNown. In the NFL, he seemed like the perfect fit on an offense with Donovan McNabb with Andy Reid calling the plays, but over his four seasons, he eclipsed 500 receiving yards in a year and didn’t get a second contract after catching 22 passes for 377 yards in 2004.
Despite whiffing on their first-round pick four years earlier, the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl in 2004 and Mitchell found his way to the center of it. He criticized the Patriots secondary in an interview claiming that he, “had something” for Rodney Harrison. He gave Bill Belichick plenty of bulletin board material and never played another NFL game after catching one pass for 11 yards in a loss to New England.
At UCLA, Mitchell was an All-American as a junior after catching 68 passes for a staggering 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns. He was expected to be a big play threat in the league, but the Eagles were forced to bring in Terrell Owens for 2004 to provide that on the outside.
When a team is forced to reinvest in the same position where they recently used a first-round draft pick, that’s unimpeachable evidence that the player they drafted is/was a bust.