Top 10 Eagles NFL Draft Busts - #6 Barry Gardner

by JasonB on Apr 8, 2011 10:00 AM EDT

Remember how I said we'd be seeing a couple second round linebackers on this list? Here's yet another. Like Bobbie Williams, this guy was picked in Andy Reid's first year before he had any control over the draft, but was one of several LBs taken highly during the Reid era that failed to meet expectations.

Barry Gardner - 1999 - 2nd round 35th overall pick

Like the other 2nd round linebacker on this list, Matt McCoy, Barry Gardner did manage to carve out a fairly long NFL career. After he was let go by the Eagles after four seasons, he spent some time with the Browns, Jets and Patriots.

However, his Eagles career never met the expectations that come with a very high second round pick. He did manage to crack the starting lineup after the Eagles let Jeremiah Trotter walk, but just never was good enough. There's alot of guys on this list where I can point to one thing that was their main deficiency, but with Gardner that's tough. He never seemed to be fast or strong enough. He never seemed to get the defense, he took bad angles... Again, he just wasn't good enough.

Being perfectly honest, I just don't remember almost anything he ever did. I do know however, that he was one of the guys that failed to make a tackle on that infamous Joe Jurevicous TD in the 2002 NFC title game...

Are You Smarter Than The Experts?
Correctly predict the first 32 picks of the 2011 NFL Draft and you’ll win $10,000,000!
BEST ROUND EVER IN PRIMETIME
Enter at facebook.com/BudLight
Here We Go

Enjoy Responsibly ©2011 Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Bud Light® Beer, St. Louis, MO. ©2011 NFL Properties LLC. All NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. No Purchase Necessary. Contest open to U.S. residents (except CA) 21+. Contest begins 12AM CDT on 4/1 and ends 5:59:59PM CDT on 4/28. See Official Rules for complete details. Void where prohibited.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

infamous Joe Jurevicous TD in the 2002 NFC title game…

Oh god…please don’t ever bring that up, EVER.

"If I can get you to think twice, I'm in your head."
-Brian Dawkins

"Yeah, I like to hit people"
-Brandon Graham

by immynimmy on Apr 8, 2011 10:04 AM EDT reply actions

my very same thought

by corn on the kolb on Apr 8, 2011 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions

That game still gives me nausea…

by 92-74-99-96 on Apr 8, 2011 10:19 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Hahaha, I logged in to say the same exact thing. Worst loss of my life.

by BitterSportsFan on Apr 8, 2011 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions

"Like the other 2nd round linebacker on this list, Matt McCoy, Barry Gardner did manage to carve out a fairly long NFL career."

No Quinton Caver? Or was he not a second-rounder?

by Rujasu on Apr 8, 2011 11:17 AM EDT reply actions

Caver was a second too.

"I don't know what we're yelling about!"

by EaglesCouch on Apr 8, 2011 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Caver isn’t on the list…. yet.

Follow Bleeding Green Nation on Twitter & Facebook

by JasonB on Apr 8, 2011 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions

That damn Tampa Bay game……the horror

"When people see me sack the quarterback, I want them to see Jesus." - Reggie White

Twitter @JoshBernat17

by jbernat17 on Apr 8, 2011 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

Top 10 Successful and Non-Successful Trades during the Andy Reid Era

These Top 10 lists sure keep me occupied during downtime at work. Thank you, JasonB for the posts.

I’ve seen NBC Philly’s Top 25 Draft Picks, this list of the busts, the 5 best and worst, etc.. What would be the definitive list of players of players who Andy traded for that came in and made a difference? Who are the ten that were less than successful?

A recent trade bust that comes to mind is definitely Ernie Sims. We all know what his issue was. He just couldn’t use his head. I’m interested to see where this goes..Thanks guys!!

by greendemon on Apr 8, 2011 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

Ernie was so cheap, I don’t know how much of a bust I’d consider that.

Its entirely likely he wasn’t used correctly ontop of not being too bright of a player to compensate for poor playcalling.

Dmitri Patterson was exploited far more often than Sims was, imo.

by corn on the kolb on Apr 8, 2011 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions

i may be one of the few people who things that Sims wasnt THAT bad…far from great, might not have even been GOOD, but he’s not nearly as awful as some people make him out to be. the D was just bad overall last year that you can’t really pin it on a single player. i’m more inclined to blame the DC, honestly…

by RogerPodacter on Apr 8, 2011 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree actually. For what he was had for, I don’t think I’d call Ernie a bust either. He wasn’t good last year, but of all the things wrong on the defense, he was not at the top of the list. Or even top 3 probably.

Follow Bleeding Green Nation on Twitter & Facebook

by JasonB on Apr 8, 2011 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Bummer I missed this until now

I have a story about this guy. I went out with a girl for about a year and a half, and right after we broke up she stumbled on to an Eagles party, though she wasn’t a fan. Gardner was all about her and she gave him her number at some point. He was pretty persistent, but she had no interest at all. I always hated that guy, but I also figured if he couldn’t even manage to get a girl that a poor college student like myself could, he wasn’t worth shit.

"This is the most popular sport in America blaming its feet for insolence and cutting them off with a chainsaw to show them who's the boss in this arrangement. When it bleeds out, it will admit no regrets because those who paint themselves into corners forget that a path out ever existed."-Spencer Hall, The NFL Lockout and Taking Sides in The League's Labor Dispute

by einman77 on Apr 14, 2011 1:39 AM EDT reply actions