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LB Tom Cousineau (All B1G, B1G MVP, 2x All-American, CFB HOF, Grey Cup MVP)

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If you read his criteria, I think he also mentions that some of it has to do with how big of a bust the guy was for the team that picked him. So since Cousineau never played for Buffalo(IIRC), he was a big bust for the Bills. Kijana at least suited up for the Bengals...didn't do much else though.
 
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Then they should include Baltimore taking Elway #1. That's even worse than Cousineau since Cous ended up being a mediocre player. How would you like drafting somebody No 1 and he refused to play for you, and he ends up being an NFL legend?
 
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Or maybe this guy's the worst...

Terry Baker, B, Oregon State
1963-1965 Los Angeles Rams (three playing seasons)
Rushing: 210 yards, 1 TD
Receiving:302 yards, 30 receptions, 2 TDs

That's not so good.
 
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Late in 1978, Linda was in Florida. The Bills had the first and fifth picks in the draft. Chuck Knox, the head coach, wanted to use the No. 1 overall pick on Tom Cousineau, an Ohio State linebacker. Wilson wasn't so sure. He asked Linda if she would go to the Gator Bowl, where Ohio State was playing Clemson, to see Cousineau. She hesitated.

"I'll give you $100," Ralph replied.

Finally, she relented. A few days passed and Wilson hadn't heard from her. So he called Linda and asked about Cousineau. She hesitated and said, "He was OK."

"OK?" Wilson said. "He's going to be the first pick in the NFL draft!"

"Oh, he's all right," Linda said. "But I did see a great player. He's a Clemson receiver. His name is Jerry Butler. Fast, with great hands."

So Wilson called Knox and said he wasn't high on Cousineau, but the Bills should take Butler. Knox took Cousineau at No. 1, anyway. The Bills took Butler fifth overall.

"I was furious," Wilson recalled, laughing again. "We couldn't sign Cousineau. He went to Montreal. When they folded, we had his rights.

"The Browns asked what I wanted for him. I said a first and a fourth."

The Bills used the first-round pick, the 14th overall, on Jim Kelly. Butler became a star wideout for the Bills. It was soon apparent that "Blanda" was right about Cousineau. So in 1982, Wilson offered his daughter a job in scouting. Again, she said "OK." He didn't have to prod her with $100.
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Bills owner Wilson perseveres with heavy heart : Don't Miss : The Buffalo News
 
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Tom Cousineau, Chosen One in 1979, Reflects on Bold Decision
4/21/2010
By Pat McManamon

AKRON, Ohio -- Tom Cousineau sat in a coffee shop and thought back 30 years to the day he became the first player taken in the NFL Draft.

A few months later, Cousineau became the fourth player not to play a down for the team that drafted him first overall (now there are six). Cousineau balked at the salary offered by the Buffalo Bills and in a move that shocked the NFL establishment and ruffled many egos signed a three-year deal with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

"Decisions have consequences," said Cousineau, the top overall pick in 1979. "I don't know if it's the smartest thing I ever did. It was a good, solid financial decision, is what I can say. It was very hard emotionally. It, practically, was hard to live with that choice those three years. What I didn't realize was that it would follow me."

Because it changed the perception of him -- from hard-working Ohio State Buckeye to a money-grubbing maverick as a professional. He laughs at the monikers, but admits they've stuck. Now 52, Cousineau's shoulders hurt and knees ache and he needs double hip replacement. Still, he states of the sport: "I love football."

At Ohio State, Cousineau was a tackling dervish, using rare speed to move sideline to sideline to drag down runners and receivers. He set records for tackles and talked when he left about setting the bar so high nobody could catch him (he still holds the single season record). He was a captain as a senior, an honor he still calls a privilege. Nowadays, he will discuss his football career, but says it is simply part of his past. His focus, he says, is his wife Lisa and raising his two daughters, Kyle, 16, and Kacey, 13.

"If you walked in my house, you would never know I played football," he said.
Click to expand...

Tom Cousineau, Chosen One in 1979, Reflects on Bold Decision -- NFL FanHouse
 
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