Top Ten New York Jets Draft Busts #2: Blair Thomas

by John B on Apr 14, 2011 9:00 AM EDT

The Jets passed on the guy who ran for more yards than any back in NFL history in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft. They took a guy instead who had 2,009 rushing yards in four seasons with the team. That guys with 2,009 rushing yards was Blair Thomas, who set a trend of Penn State running backs going down as first round busts like Ki-Jana Carter and Curtis Enis. It took Larry Johnson to redeem Franco Harris' alma mater.

Emmitt Smith, who the Jets passed on, is the all-time NFL rushing champion. He won three Super Bowl rings. He went to eight Pro Bowls. He was First Team All Pro four times. He won four rushing titles. He was an MVP and a Super Bowl MVP.

Could Smith have done all of those things with a suspect offensive line and supporting cast instead of the stable of studs he was surrounded with in Dallas? Maybe not, but it is telling that Smith produced taking a pounding as he was in the top two in touches in the league five straight years during his prime. His most memorable performance was playing with a separated shoulder in the final week of the 1993 season. He ran for 168 yards as he willed the Cowboys to an overtime win over the Giants with the NFC's top seed and a badly needed bye on the line. Had Dallas been forced to play Wild Card weekend and on the road a week later, they would likely not have won their second Super Bowl of the 1990's.

Thomas, meanwhile missed thirteen games in his four seasons with the Jets. He also had five rushing touchdowns as a Jet to Smith's career 164. Blair never ran for more than 724 yards in one season. He was considered the ultimate Jets bust for a decade until the top man on our list came along.

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Guess that leaves The KRAKEn or the Ghost as number one.

Just a high school student who lives his ambitions of working for the NFL,
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by Max Strauss on Apr 14, 2011 11:03 AM EDT reply actions

it's the ghost

"it's not easy being green"-kermit the frog
"we the mets are an improved ball club, now we lose in extra innings"-casy stengal
i cant spell a nosebleed
he's gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!OLIE PEREZ IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by rexthejet on Apr 14, 2011 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I dunno, I think they should have been flipped

Blair Thomas was much more of a bust than Gholston imo when you factor in that Thomas was chosen higher and the lack of talent on the team otherwise. At least Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas are capable players. Blair Thomas had the likes of a Freeman McNeil and Johnny Hector to compete with who were both over the hill, and Brad friggin Baxter the 11th round fullback a year prior pretty much usurped his role from day one. You can say that at least Thomas actually did something, but I think their expectations were different. Gholston was a project that had to learn a whole new position. RBs are expected to be able to produce from day one, and it turned out we needed Thomas at the time much more than we needed Gholston now.

In the end I see it like this: Thomas was probably the most painful bad decision for an entire decade of mediocrity, whereas Gholston—while more recent and therefore it still stings—was a bad decision that in the end really hasn’t made much of a difference. By that alone, you have to put Thomas over Gholston on the list.

by Exystence on Apr 14, 2011 12:25 PM EDT reply actions

agrred with most of what you said

untill you said that gholston being a bust hasn’t made much of a difference. what was our biggest problem this year? the pass rush. gholston was the 6th pick, but people said he had the talent to go higher. not one sack in 3 years!!! there is no excuse that is the meaning of inepitude. it’s like blair thomas never getting a td.

by rexthejet on Apr 14, 2011 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions

What I meant by much of a difference is that we’ve still made it to two straight AFC Championship games despite his complete ineptitude, which lessens the blow.

by Exystence on Apr 14, 2011 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions

but you have too ask yourself

if there was more pressure on peyton manning in 09, maybe things would be different

by rexthejet on Apr 14, 2011 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I knew that argument would come up

Of course, chances are that it really wouldn’t have made much of a difference at all given that we had no DBs anyway. If Gholston wasn’t a bust then he makes Manning throw the ball quicker… to a still-wide-open Pierre Garçon for a huge gain. Meanwhile Blair Thomas brought us from being an awful team… to still being an awful team.

I dunno about you but I’m a lot happier as a Jets fan now than I was when we were going 4-12 under Herm Edwards and Eric Mangini. I view Gholston as a missed opportunity in a time of good fortune, whereas Blair Thomas is more like the biggest symbol of an entire stretch of awful.

by Exystence on Apr 14, 2011 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions