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Was Tyson Alualu The Biggest Misfire of The 2010 NFL Draft?

By Luke Sims

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I got a chuckle out of reading Erik Lambert’s piece on the biggest draft misfires over the last ten years. It wasn’t because the Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t on there (they were) but it was because instead of Blaine Gabbert from the 2011 draft making the list, we were treated to the Jaguars being represented by defensive lineman Tyson Alualu, drafted tenth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft.

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Honestly, I think Gabbert was a bigger misfire than Alualu.

Then again, Lambert has Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder representing 2011 and I honestly can’t argue against that too much either. Flip a coin and it’s probably one of those two from that year of subpar QBs.

But back to 2010.

Because I enjoy and respect Lambert’s work over at NFL Mocks, here is what he had to say about Alualu:

"It’s not so much that defensive lineman Tyson Alualu was a bad player when the Jacksonville Jaguars took him in 2010.  The problem was he wasn’t worth the 10th overall pick.  While he did prove a durable and hard working player on the field who could get the occasional sack, he isn’t the dominant pass rusher the Jags had hoped for."

I completely agree. Alualu isn’t a major liability for the Jaguars (is that really how we’re judging our past first-round selections these days!?) and he occasionally provides a spark. He’s been durable, playing in all 16 games of every season up to 2014, he’s been consistent (meager sacks, around 30 tackles a season), but he certainly has not been a dominant pass rusher. He has not been the player we were sold on by then-GM Gene Smith.

Does his mediocrity make him the worst of the 2010 draft class? What about living up to expectations? First overall pick Sam Bradford has certainly fallen short of his near-savior status when he was selected by the St. Louis Rams. I’m not certain.

When I first read Lambert’s assessment of Alualu I wanted to scratch my head, then I pulled up the 2010 first round draft class to compare. Of those 32 selections, exactly half have gone to the Pro Bowl. Alualu is only one of three (Bradford and linebacker Rolando McClain) who has not attended the Pro Bowl. Considering Bradford’s injuries and the McClain’s personal issues with the Oakland Raiders organization (though he had subpar play, too), it’s no wonder they didn’t get to the Pro Bowl. Alualu is really the only top-10 pick from 2010 that simply has not performed.

All in all, there are other players from the first round who could have done what Alualu does for the Jaguars and then some. One truly great pass rushing talent, Jason Pierre-Paul, was taken five slots later.

Yet, the biggest misfire of 2010 has to be Tim Tebow at 25th overall to the Denver Broncos. I know a lot of Jaguars fans wanted him to come home to Jacksonville, but he was easily the biggest reach of the year and he is also one of the few who not only hasn’t gone to a Pro Bowl but is no longer playing in the NFL at all.

So, while Tyson Alualu deserves to be in the conversation, Tim Tebow washing out at quarterback after only a few seasons is definitely a bigger misfire.

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