The 2024 NFL Draft is less than three weeks away, and fans around the globe will be glued to their televisions, devices and computers to see who their favorite team will select. All in an attempt to avoid the dreaded “bust” selection.

That is a term which gets thrown around a lot among fans and media covering the NFL, but it gets the question of what constitutes a “bust”?

Before we dive into the definition, let’s look at a player who was a 1st Round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers who many deem a “bust”. That would be Terrell Edmunds. For those who forget, Edmunds was the 28th pick in the draft, not a top-10 or even top-20 selection. But for many when you were selected in a given round doesn’t matter.

If you are a first round pick, you have first round pick expectations heaped on your shoulders.

Let’s go back to Edmunds again before we start defining an NFL Draft bust. Is Edmunds, who was a very serviceable player in the league, a bust for being unbelievably reliable? Is he a bust just because he didn’t produce the splash plays of other safeties from that same draft class and before him?

That might be nit-picking, in my opinion.

I will ask for your definition of a bust here shortly, but one thing I always look for in a draft pick is can they contribute. The earlier they are selected, the faster they are expected to contribute. Teams like the Steelers often ease their rookies onto the field, but if a player is unable to find their way to the field for the majority of their rookie season, are they a bust?

If that were the criteria, those were the same people who said Cam Heyward and Troy Polamalu were busts during their rookie campaigns. Or is the “bust” tag for someone who has their career derailed, and not just a singular season? Of course everyone thinks of Ryan Leaf as the prime example, but is that an extreme example?

So, what is a bust to you? What are your criteria? For me, it’s a player who never is able to get acclimated to life in the NFL, and doesn’t contribute as expected.

Would Kenny Pickett be a bust?

Let the games begin…

Comment below and let us know what you think are draft busts, and the criteria for such a label.