Top 10 All-time Draft Busts

1. Ryan Leaf- In the 98 draft Leaf was selected 2nd overall behind Peyton Manning.  San Diego selected the 6′5″ strong armed quarterback out of Washington Sate, not knowing he would only start 21 games.  Leaf is the epitome of an “over-rater.”

2. JaMarcus Russell- As if his recent arrest for prescription cough syrup wasn’t enough, Russell so far (I use that term losely) has thrown for only 4083 yards in his 3 year NFL career.   The only thing that kept him from being number 1 was that he did throw for more career yards then Leaf (3666).  Russell you are the reason I compiled this long overdue list.

3. Akili Smith- Yaal remember this cat Bengals fans?  Drafted in 1999 the same year as Donavon McNabb and Tim Couch, Smith was the third pick overall.  The former Oregon quarterback threw for 32 TDs as a collegiate at Oregon, but only threw 5 (thats pitiful) career NFL TDs and just over 2200 yards.  Akili Smith would classify as what we at RFT call a “Bummy Wummy.”

4. Charles Rogers- Lions fans, I couldn’t leave you off this list without any representation.  Rogers was a sad case.  The man had a clear problem with drugs.  He was the second overall pick for the Lions in the 2003 drafted and has had more arrests than sessons played in the NFL.  That is a true sign of a bust.  The Flint, Michigan native became far from the hometown hero after receiving the prestigious Fred Belitnikoff award while playing at Michigan State University.  After being suspended four games in 2005 for his third violation of the leagues substance abuse policy, his career was over after 14 professional games played.

5. Courtney Brown- When the Browns came back in the league in 1999 there were several draft choices that led to the teams current struggles not establishing franchise players who still might be veterans if they’d had successful NFL careers.  Courtney Brown was a record setting sack leader at Penn State with 33 in his collegiate career.  But, after being drafted 1st overall in the 2000 draft, in 6 NFL seasons at defensive end he was only able to record 19 total sacks in his NFL career.

6. Tim Couch- Drafted in 1999 by the Cleveland Browns as the 1st overall draft pick just ahead of Donavon McNabb, Couch holds a dubious distinction on this list.  He is the only quarterback on this list to have lead the team he was drafted by to a playoff appearance.  Of course, Couch never played in that playoff game because of a broken leg and was replaced by Kelly Holcomb who threw for over 400 yards in a playoff loss against the Steelers in 2002.  After being released by the Browns in 2004, Couch tried out for several teams but after throwing for over 11,000 yards in 5 NFL seasons with Cleveland he would go on to never play in another regular season game.

7. Andre Ware- Andre Ware was the first black quarterback to win the Heisman at the University of Houston.  Ware was drafted seventh overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1990 draft.  He played with the Lions from 1990-93 where he started only 6 games.  He, like Akili Smith, only threw for 5 career NFL TDs.  He finnished off his professional football playing career in the CFL and is now a college football analyst on ESPN.

8. Ki-Jana Carter- Carter was the first overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1995 draft.  In his third carry of the first preseason game of his NFL career he tore a ligament in his knee.  At the time he had signed an all-time high rookie signing bonus of over $7 million.  In a total of nine NFL seasons playing for the Bengals, Redskins, Packers, and Saints he rushed for a total of only 1144 yards (a good RB has that in a season).

9. Curtis Enis- In 1998 the 5th overall pick of the Chicago Bears was another Penn State RB (like KiJana Carter).  Enis is a native of Union City Ohio.  He ended his NFL playing career with a minscule  4 TDs in three NFL seasons.

10. Brian Bosworth- Bosworth played LB for the Seattle Seahawks from 1987-89.  Playing under Barry Switzer in college for Oklahoma, Bosworth was a two-time Dick Butkus Award winner.  After two seasons in the NFL Bosworth sustained a serious shoulder injury which ended his palying career.  He played a total of only 24 games and had 4 sacks.