quotemokc
Brownlow Medallist
Goddard is easily a great playerPulled together a summary to aid comparisons...
I always felt that the Riewoldt/Koschitzke combo in 2000 was the genesis of the "rebuild your team through the draft" movement. The point in which execution of these picks became one of the top few things in the game, in terms of team off-field importance. So I was going to start the summary there. But if 2000 is the genesis, then there would've been a bit of a build up, so fu** it, let's start at 1995 for shits and grins.
Obvs player rating is subjective & my bias.
Pick 1's
Year Player Games LB Rating Accolades Status 1995 Clive Waterhouse 106 OK Player Retired 1996 Michael Gardiner 181 Good Player 1xAA Retired 1997 Travis Johnstone 209 Good Player Retired 1998 Des Headland 166 OK Player Retired 1999 Josh Fraser 218 Good Player Retired 2000 Nick Riewoldt 336 Great Player 5xAA, 1xMVP, Skipper Retired 2001 Luke Hodge 346 Great Player 3xAA, 2xNSM, Skipper Retired 2002 Brendon Goddard 334 Good Player 2xAA, Skipper* Retired 2003 Adam Cooney 250 Good Player 1xAA, 1xBM Retired 2004 Brett Deledio 275 Good Player 2xAA Retired 2005 Marc Murphy 290* Good Player 1xAA, Skipper Playing 2006 Bryce Gibbs 268 Good Player Retired 2007 Matthew Kreuzer 189 OK Player Retired 2008 Jack Watts 174 OK Player Retired 2009 Tom Scully 187 OK Player Retired 2010 David Swallow 159* OK Player Skipper Playing 2011 Jonathon Patton 95 Meh Player Retired 2012 Lachie Whitfield 150* Good Player & 1xAA Playing 2013 Tom Boyd 61 OK Player Retired 2014 Paddy McCartin 35 Meh Player Retired 2015 Jacob Weitering 98* OK Player & Playing 2016 Andrew McGrath 83* Good Player & Playing 2017 Cameron Rayner 63* OK Player & Playing 2018 Sam Welsh 44* Good Player & Playing 2019 Matt Rowell 6* Good Player & Playing 2020 Jamarra Ugle-Hagan 0* ? & Playing
So quickly scanning that and we have a bit of a cohort to consider for the OP title.
Cohort for me is Patton, McCartin with Boyd as an interesting one. I don't think it's relevant to include players with upward potential, so dismissing all of those. Some may go up a level, some may not (due to injury, application or skill ceiling). But today we don't know.
The issue with Boyd is he was still developing, played so few games and early retirement was not due to physical injury. But he played one great game. And it was a very important game to be great in. So that elevates him slightly for me. Had he played on, I would've expected him to get to at least Kreuzer levels. But he didn't, so isn't. However I think that is still enough to have Patton and McCartin covered (Did either of these play a more anonymous "great" game?). Definitely not the sort of numbers you're after for a #1 pick, but IMHO definitely not "worst ever #1 pick" either.
So Patton or McCartin
Patton had injury and off field issues
McCartin had injury and medical issues.
With better telephone etiquette, Patton may have been able to carve out a Watts level career - ie a long time based upon potential without ever really delivering consistently? Maybe. Or maybe injury will have finished him sooner rather than later anyway. Who knows.
However, his mediocre (by #1 pick standards) career nearly tripled McCartin's in terms of games played, and McCartin always looked to have a lower potential ceiling (IMHO) compared to Boyd and Patton.
So he's my pick. Sorry Paddy and Saints recruiters.