I will not be writing about Jalen Milroe in this article. I have already expressed my concerns that Milroe cannot develop his passing at the NFL level and become a top-level pro quarterback. But that die is cast, and like all Seattle Seahawks fans, I am rooting for Milroe.
I only bring him up because I am about to take a quick tour of the rest of the NFC West, looking for potential draft busts. Milroe would be my choice if I were including Seattle. However, as we are about to see, several of these bust candidates could also be exceptional players. The same is true of Milroe.
By my definition, a bust has to come in one of the first three rounds. No day three draft pick can be truly considered a bust. We may have hoped for more out of Colby Parkinson or Tre Flowers, but they weren’t really busts. They just failed to exceed their mid-level draft status. But second-round pick D’Wayne Eskridge? That’s a classic bust.
Which 2025 draft picks in the NFC West are the bust watch list?
Draft busts occur for three primary reasons. The most obvious is a simple failure of scouting. Teams fall in love with a player’s skills and turn a blind eye to his limitations. Hence, they draft him at a much higher rate than they should. The Washington Commanders’ selection of Emmanuel Forbes in the first round of 2023 is one of the more recent examples.
Happenstance can play a part. Usually, it’s an injury. A player, who may never have had an injury in his life, suffers a setback early in his career and never truly recovers. The sad case of Ki’Jana Carter, the top pick in 1995, is the poster child for this type of bust.
Finally, there is a situation. If there is a bad scheme fit, the young player won’t thrive. Zack Baun was a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2020. Over four years in the Big Easy, Baun made 14 starts and recorded 88 tackles.
Last year, he went to Philadelphia, where he started 16 games and made 151 tackles. Baun went from being a bust to a First-Team All-Pro because the Eagles knew how to use him, and the Saints did not.
So, which players selected by the Seahawks’ NFC West rivals might be this year’s draft busts? Here are the most likely candidates.
Arizona Cardinals
Will Johnson, Cornerback, Michigan
On most scouting sites, Will Johnson was a consensus top-three cornerback prospect this year. If you exclude Colorado’s dual-threat Travis Hunter, seeing Johnson ranked as the top corner was not unusual. He has everything you would want. Length, physicality, instincts.
His speed is not elite, but he is fast enough. However, when it came time to make selections, Johnson fell into the middle of the second round, after two other corners (three, if you count Hunter) had been chosen.
There is some legitimate concern about his injury history. He missed three games in 2023 and another seven last season with various injuries. That is the most likely explanation for why he fell in the draft. There are also concerns about how well he will match up against NFL receivers in man coverage.
Johnson played a lot of zone at Michigan, and his advanced understanding of route trees was evident. He was rarely out of position. In press man, however, his aggressiveness could lead to a lot of grabbing, which professional receivers will look to exploit.
Johnson could be an excellent cornerback if he stays healthy and develops his technique enough to avoid penalties. But that is far from a certainty.
Los Angeles Rams
Terrance Ferguson, Tight End, Oregon
Ferguson is a little bit different from the others discussed here. That includes Jalen Milroe. The others are all low-floor/high-ceiling players—classic boom-or-bust types. Ferguson is the opposite. He’s a high-floor/low-ceiling prospect.
I suspect he’ll be a decent flex tight end. He has good speed, solid hands, and a long wingspan that should make him a reliable target. The Rams need that, since the aforementioned Colby Parkinson didn’t make much of a mark for them last year.
The problem with Ferguson is that I’m not convinced he’s that much better than Parkinson. Though he’s a decent athlete, nothing about him jumps off the tape. He doesn’t run away from people or break tackles in the open field. He doesn’t offer much as a blocker.
If a player like Ferguson came in the fourth or fifth round, I’d consider him a reasonable value. But he was the Rams' top pick, coming in round two this year. I doubt he will produce enough to merit that selection.
San Francisco 49ers
Nick Martin, Linebacker, Oklahoma State
I know everyone wants to talk about Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and Cam Ward (actually, few people seem to want to talk about Ward). Still, the most interesting prospect in the entire draft might be Nick Martin, who San Fran chose in the third round. This is a genuine boom-or-bust player.
That is based on both athleticism and situation. Martin is a phenomenal athlete, with the burst to blow up plays in the backfield, and the straight-line speed to make tackles all over the field. San Fran lost Dre Greenlaw to free agency, and Martin might be the ideal replacement.
The problem is Martin’s size. At 6’0” and 221 pounds, he is smaller than the new Seahawks’ safety Nick Emmanwori, without Emmanwori’s elite speed and coverage ability. What role will Martin play, and if he is asked to line up as a traditional box linebacker, is he big enough to hold up against NFL linemen?
Martin was highly productive in his lone healthy year as a starter in college (2023). His performance at the combine suggests he has fully recovered from the knee injury that cut his ’24 season short. But will he be able to follow in the footsteps of Greenlaw and Fred Warner?
Martin is a powerful athlete, so it may come down to whether he has enough sheer bulk to play in the middle of an NFL defense on an every-down basis without getting worn out.
