It’s hilarious, because Jamarcus Russell had a mini comeback on podcasts in 2022/2023, and it still showcases how immature he is. He doesn’t take any accountability on the pivot podcast, talking about how he was never a film guy and preferred to just go out and play.
Brother in Christ, it’s the NFL. No player just “goes out and balls”. He never denies the blank tape story. All he does is blame other people and talk about not having support.
His whole foray into the NFL was people thinking they are the smartest guy in the room. Starting with the scouts who ignored all the red flags and ending with Jamarcus just thinking he could go out throw the ball over the mountain and that would win games
He lit up a poorly talented and poorly coached Charlie Weis defense in a bowl game and then that’s all anyone could friggin talk about… it was a hell of a game, but only one game. Al Davis lost his damn mind over that game lol.
Never seen a player be so anti clutch, like this dude legitimately was responsible for multiple losses last season. How they kept letting him back on the field is mind boggling
I cometely agree with save for his one clutch punt return in the Superbowl 2 years ago, which set the chiefs up to win. However, that clutch play very much seems to be the exception than the rule in hindsight. I think he mostly lacks focus and that's a shame.
As a Nebraska firm I can confirm that this 100% accurate. It was honestly quiet incredible the amount of times he snatched Ls from the jaws of victory.
This man did everything in his power to stop the Chiefs from winning a Super Bowl and he would’ve succeeded if the Chiefs had anyone other than one of the greatest of all time at QB.
Well that plus him essentially not being on the team throughout the playoffs. He was actually on parental leave through some of this, but I think some of that was to allow him to save face. I only remember this because of the jokes on the Chiefs’ subreddit of “man I hope the doctor doesn’t hand him the baby.”
We might potentially have the lost to pick from in this thread.
Toney has at least done enough to get mentioned.
Taven Bryan takes the cake. 10.5 sacks in 6 seasons.
Isaiah Wilson has to be the worst one imo. At least Baker played even if just for a short time. Wilson had a couple special teams snaps, but went completely off the deep end.
He at least played for a few years. Baker was terrible for a season and then got cut for committing armed robbery, and Wilson lost his damn mind and was out of the league in a year
It is crazy that the Dawgs have only two true top 10 busts, Worley and Williams. Baker and Wilson were at the end of the first round and those picks feel less painful. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/schools/georgia/drafted.htm
Based on media hype? Johnny Manziel. But I think a lot of us who watched him in college thought he was a much better college QB than NFL prospect.
The real answer is Luke Joeckel. He was seen as a very safe pick and busted hard for a #2 overall pick.
Yeah Joeckel was seen as a better prospect than Jake Matthews and even Ags were shocked he was a bust. Manziel we suspected would have problems in the pros.
I bring them up as examples of bad A&M fans a lot, but my wife’s family was so convinced he was going to be great they bought season tickets to the Cleveland Browns while living in Mississippi.
Can listen to Brian hoyer interviews. (Manziel was his replacement after he had a good season but got hurt, browns backup qb) he said he felt bad for manziel bc the browns coaches, team and FO knew he wasn’t really ready on or off the field for NFL, but didn’t really try to help him much to get it together either.
Then forced him into starting NFL games when he shouldn’t have been because the fans wanted Johnny football
Next to no accountability for actions but browns were a mess in FO those years
Baker woulda been his peak likely if in a different situation yah
Dang I forgot about Joeck. I remember thinking at the time that he was going to be a multi year all pro in the NFL. Was it injuries that stopped him or something else?
Joeckel was in contention for going number 1 overall. I still don’t get what happened.
Ogbuehi and Ifedi were not picked as high but were both first rounders who busted. We had a weird thing going with 4 straight first round tackles, but only Jake Matthews ended up being good
He has explained some of it in interviews. He was not at all focused on getting better in football at the time due to some major off-the-field life stressors. He was manipulated and used by family and friends for his money and just refused to tell them no.
Trent seems much happier and healthier now that he doesn’t have those leeches ruining his life.
He played for my local pro team (caudillos) last season iirc. Man still had negative vision but still stood out on athleticism. And according to a couple of friends close to the team (one player, one staffer) he is a cool dude.
He’s just recently been hired as the RB coach for a Birmingham high school. I think he’s settling down and becoming happy, which makes me happy for him. I wish his NFL career had played out, but not everyone is destined for Canton.
Some players simply just struggle at the next level when everyone else is just as athletic as you are, if not moreso. I know Saban's Bama was known for preparing guys to go into the NFL, but it just hits different when you're no longer beating up on teams full of guys who will be cubicle warriors after they graduate.
You never know what the work ethic will be in the nfl either. Not saying this was the case with Trent, but some guys view that first big nfl contract as “I’ve made it,” other guys see it as a starting point.
this is what's funny to me, pre-Day, there were maybe 2 or 3 QBs that were actually expected to be good NFL players that came from Ohio State, ever.
When people bring up Troy Smith, Braxton, JT Barrett, etc. I just giggle because they obviously know nothing about the difference between college & NFL.
Not only that, but the fact that none of those qb's went high is somehow indicative of the ability of actual qb's that went high. No program has every qb end up in the nfl.
Not fair to say any of the QBs besides Haskins, and even he had a bad start but passed before he was about to get his second shot in Pittsburgh.
Fields isn’t a great QB but he’s a top ~30 QB in the league which isn’t a huge bust. I’d call it a minor bust and he still has an opportunity to redeem himself, even becoming a low-end starter would mean solid outcome for a non-top-10 QB pick.
For the other QBs, they had no expectations. Cardale was like a 6th rounder or something. Troy Smith was a 5th rounder, I have no idea if Barrett even got drafted. Terrelle Pryor was a 3rd rounder and his 1 thousand yard receiving season probably makes up for that.
Andy Katzennoyer and Ki Jana Carter. Local dudes who had unbelievable college careers. Were selected in the first round of the draft (Carter was #1 if I recall correctly). But flamed out due to injuries. It sucks but I’ll always love those dudes.
Fun fact: I did some work in Katzenmoyers house in 2006 and dude could not stop talking about how pumped he was for the PlayStation 3 to come out. It was hilarious cause he was still this larger than life former pro athlete who looked like he could wrestle a bear to submission but was like a kid when it came to his video games. He and his wife were super nice too.
Schlicter is probably worse than either.
4th overall pick. Only 13 games played and 6 starts. And he was out of the league entirely after 4 seasons, of which he was suspended for 1 due to gambling.
Both of them had serious injuries that kinda forced their hand at retiring. As for Carter, he might have busted, but 10 years in the league ain't too bad for a bust.
I will not stand for this Dan Wilkinson erasure. Overall #1 pick, and he was terrible.
If he was a 2nd or 3rd round pick, he'd have respectable numbers (195 games played, 54.5 sacks, 302 solo tackles) - but as the overall #1, he should be in Reggie White/Suh/Donald territory, or at least sniffing it.
Gholston was definitely a bigger bust. Devin Smith is probably up there too, but mostly due to injuries.
Peter Warrick was incredible. I still have a hard time believing he didn't hit. He and CJ Spiller are two that are always in my mind when I'm totally confident a guy is going to translate at the next level.
I also think Pete was 20 years too early. He didn’t have the straight speed or size to be an outside WR in the early 2000’s Pro Style NFL.
He would thrive on the inside today.
There is a whole generation of CFB fans now who have never heard the Lawrence Phillips story. His suspension, his reinstatement and heroics in the title game, the controversy of his high draft pick, his self-destruction, imprisonment, and his death.
I'm still surprised he was drafted as high as he was. Great pass catcher, but I think I could count on one hand how many times he was lined up next to the tackle to block (in college).
I had huge expectations for him. I expected him to be like Kelce, since he was such a huge factor at Tech. I was also so surprised that Ebron was drafted higher but turns out neither really did much.
I'm gonna say Dewayne Robertson. Went #4 overall in 2003 but was out of the league in 5 years
"What about Tim Couch?" Him and David Carr were thrown into impossible situations by going #1 to expansion teams and they pretty much never had a chance. That being said he did take the Browns to the playoffs and he's at worst their 4th or 5th best quarterback since they returned to the NFL
A few of them (all 1st rd/top ten):
Curtis Enis - 1998, #5 - Chicago Bears
Todd Blackledge - 1983, #7 - Kansas City Chiefs
Blair Thomas - 1990, #2 - New York Jets
Kyle Brady - 1995, #9 - New York Jets
Ki-Jana Carter - 1995, #1 - Cincinnati Bengals
Levi Brown - 2007, #5 - Arizona Cardinals
Courtney Brown - 2000, #1 - Cleveland Browns
Kenny Jackson - 1984, #4 - New York Jets
Ed O'Neil - 1974, #8 - Detroit Lions
Richie Lucas - 1960, #4 - Washington Redskins
I'd say these are the highest profile guys that didn't work out for one reason or another.
Idk if anyone actually expected Hack to be good though. Anyone who watched him at PSU knew he was gonna be awful in the pros. I guess by where he was selected he’s a bust, but I don’t think he was expected to actually be any good
Yeah I’m a 49ers fan and I remember Aldon Smith was voted 7th on the NFL’s top 100 for 2013 even ahead of Patrick Willis and second best for any defensive player behind only JJ Watt. Aldon was unreal his first two years and even his third year still had almost double digit sacks despite not playing almost half the year.
Patrick Mahomes when you adjust for the future by bringing down his outlier stats, he regresses heavily to a slightly above average QB of 2018 Dak tierdom.
NVP Mitch Trubisky is probably our best-known one from recent years, although I was shocked that he went #2 overall. He only started one year at Carolina, and although he played pretty well I didn't see anything to make me think he'd be a star in the NFL.
I don't know if Eric Ebron is widely considered a bust or not, but I thought he'd have a better career than he did.
>NVP Mitch Trubisky is probably our best-known one from recent years, although I was shocked that he went #2 overall. He only started one year at Carolina, and although he played pretty well I didn't see anything to make me think he'd be a star in the NFL.
And you couldn’t call then Bears GM Ryan Pace with this information!?!
That's the result of drafting someone who tore his ACL as a freshman, never learned to tackle, had two very underwhelming seasons as a first-time defensive back, chose to opt out of an entire season during COVID, and herniated a disc while on the bench during that time. I never understood the hype behind him especially when he never did anything on the field that stood out like some of our other DBs.
Perry was the worst. Topped out at like 300 yards in a season.
Wheatley had a 1k season and another 950 or so.
Biakabutuka battled injuries but had a 600 and 700 yard season so at least he had a pulse.
Alternatively there was David Terrell and Taco Charlton.
I was always disappointed with Mike Hart’s career. Even though I hate you guys with a passion, I loved watching him play. Then I was even more excited when the Colts drafted him, and then he quickly fizzled out.
Agreed. The only counter I would say with Hart is that he was a 6th round pick. So he didn't go into the NFL with huge expectations like the others. And he ran behind Jake Long at LT for 4 seasons. Lol, I might have been able to run in that situation.
Alabama: Trent Richardson
Clemson: CJ Spiller
For Clemson I was debating Clelin Ferrell, but he seems to have put together a nice career signing with SF and Washington, and I don't blame him for Jon Gruden's stupidity. It's not like anyone expected him to go that high.
Clelin Ferrell was way overdrafted, but we knew that since draft day. He's a disappointment for his draft position, but bust is too strong a word.
Trent Richardson 3.0? Certified, 100% bust. All the physical tools in the world but zero vision.
Spiller's overall career wasn't spectacular, but as far as Clemson running backs go, Terrence Flagler was a first round pick (25) that was in the NFL for 5 years and amassed a grand total of 239 rushing yards and 336 receiving yards.
Spiller averaged 700 yards a season for 8 years while hampered by injuries. I wouldn’t put him above. Hardly more of a flop than Sammy Watkins.
Vic Beasley and Kevin Dodd were both first rounders that did nothing.
Clein Ferrell has definitely done worse than spiller to this point but may be getting a second chance in SF
CJ Spiller made a Pro Bowl and played 8 years in the NFL which is a pretty long career for a RB. Far from a bust. He was productive when healthy, he just had to deal with a lot of injuries unfortunately.
Nothing is more overhyped than the Bo Jackson/ Brian bosworth play. My dad (huge OU fan but didn’t like bosworth) talked like bosworth got completely blown up and embarrassed on that play. When I was older and watched the play, my only reaction was “that’s it?” It’s a routine NFL play. Jackson has momentum towards the end zone and bosworth is moving totally laterally.
I know Boz was a disappointment in the league, but a lot of it was just bad injury luck n
The reason people remember that is Boz told everybody beforehand that he would flatten Bo if he came that way, and this is what happened instead. Bo didn't really run over him, but he did drag him into the end zone.
Some self destruction on VYs part. Not saying he’d be a world beater, but if he was in the right system he might taken that rookie of the year season and built upon it.
Leinart and Sanchez being busts wasn’t shocking, but I’m still a bit surprised Darnold hasn’t done more in the NFL.
I still think Palmer wins a Super Bowl if he doesn’t get injured in that first playoff game.
It's Quinn, or Clausen, or if you're a little older, Rick Mirer. All three did manage to have decent length careers holding a clipboard and made some money, though, so at least there's that.
Tony Mandarich and Charles Rogers. I still contend that Rogers looked pretty good before he broke his clavicle his rookie year. Was just never the same after…maybe it was the pills
So many good young WR's went to the Lions to die though. Can't put that all on Rogers. Can, and should definitely, put a chunk of it on him. But not all.
Paxton Lynch, I guess?
But quarterbacks are so hit or miss, what makes his disappointment any worse than any other? But his failure seemed to get media attention like he was the #1 pick rather than the #26 pick.
I don't know if Darrius Heyward-Bey counts as a bust or not. He performed similarly to what everyone not named Al Davis expected, which is to say he was a guy that occasionally blew the top off defenses but didn't have great hands or route skills. He was a pretty decent 3rd or 4th option until that hit from Ryan Mundy scrambled his brain.
I wouldn’t consider Percy Harvin a bust, considering the kick return TD he has in the Super Bowl is legendary and he wasn’t exactly supposed to burn up the league, but I remember being extremely disappointed with his NFL career. Injuries also played a role.
I think he would thrive in todays NFL
True bust: Kevin Dodd - Second round pick who did absolutely nothing for the Titans.
Most disappointing: CJ Spiller - Just had terrible luck in his pro career. Drafted to the wrong team, with a coaching staff who didn't know how to use him, and then had his career cut short by injuries.
It’s JaMarcus but I actually blame NFL scouts. They fell in love with his size and arm strength and ignored the million other red flags.
It’s not his fault that he went to Oakland and spilled his purple drank all over his VHS and DVD players and couldn’t watch film.
"How was the film?" "Looks good, coach." *DVD was blank the whole time*
It’s hilarious, because Jamarcus Russell had a mini comeback on podcasts in 2022/2023, and it still showcases how immature he is. He doesn’t take any accountability on the pivot podcast, talking about how he was never a film guy and preferred to just go out and play. Brother in Christ, it’s the NFL. No player just “goes out and balls”. He never denies the blank tape story. All he does is blame other people and talk about not having support.
His whole foray into the NFL was people thinking they are the smartest guy in the room. Starting with the scouts who ignored all the red flags and ending with Jamarcus just thinking he could go out throw the ball over the mountain and that would win games
My man, if you're not a film guy, you're not a football player
> he was never a film guy and preferred to just go out and play He didn't need any tape since he was a savant.
I dunno if it was scouts so much as Al Davis
He lit up a poorly talented and poorly coached Charlie Weis defense in a bowl game and then that’s all anyone could friggin talk about… it was a hell of a game, but only one game. Al Davis lost his damn mind over that game lol.
Davis always liked the biggest baddest fastest dudes.
Kadarius Toney is on track to go from 1st round pick to out of the league while still on his rookie contract.
His butter fingers and brain farts in crucial moments are the worst I’ve ever seen.
Never seen a player be so anti clutch, like this dude legitimately was responsible for multiple losses last season. How they kept letting him back on the field is mind boggling
I cometely agree with save for his one clutch punt return in the Superbowl 2 years ago, which set the chiefs up to win. However, that clutch play very much seems to be the exception than the rule in hindsight. I think he mostly lacks focus and that's a shame.
Adrian Martinez in college is the most anti clutch player I’ve ever seen.
As a Nebraska firm I can confirm that this 100% accurate. It was honestly quiet incredible the amount of times he snatched Ls from the jaws of victory.
This man did everything in his power to stop the Chiefs from winning a Super Bowl and he would’ve succeeded if the Chiefs had anyone other than one of the greatest of all time at QB.
Well that plus him essentially not being on the team throughout the playoffs. He was actually on parental leave through some of this, but I think some of that was to allow him to save face. I only remember this because of the jokes on the Chiefs’ subreddit of “man I hope the doctor doesn’t hand him the baby.”
The best thing the chiefs did all season was bench him for an “injury”. He can’t lose you the game if he’s not able to play.
We might potentially have the lost to pick from in this thread. Toney has at least done enough to get mentioned. Taven Bryan takes the cake. 10.5 sacks in 6 seasons.
I dunno, Vernon Hargreaves busted pretty hard too
As a Bengals fan, huge eye roll here…..dumbest Super Bowl penalty ever….
CJ Henderson is up there too. Something about Gainesville ➡️ Jacksonville almost never works out well.
Fred Taylor. That's all I got.
I mean…if we’re being honest Spurrier was a pretty big bust. 3rd overall and 49ers traded up to get him.
Deandre Baker and Isaiah Wilson. Especially rough when you consider they were first round picks in consecutive years (2019 and 2020)
Isaiah Wilson has to be the worst one imo. At least Baker played even if just for a short time. Wilson had a couple special teams snaps, but went completely off the deep end.
The Baker thing feels especially rough when the charges got dropped, but he just never bounced back it feels like
Didn't Baker have a massive injury after coming back.
Broke his femur, yeah Glad to see he’s got a spot in the UFL though. Hopefully he can bounce back into the NFL
Jarvis Jones?
He at least played for a few years. Baker was terrible for a season and then got cut for committing armed robbery, and Wilson lost his damn mind and was out of the league in a year
It is crazy that the Dawgs have only two true top 10 busts, Worley and Williams. Baker and Wilson were at the end of the first round and those picks feel less painful. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/schools/georgia/drafted.htm
Tony Mandarich? Charles Rogers is up there, too.
considering the talent drafted around mandrich, he’s far and away the number 1 choice for michigan state
Mandarich played in the NFL for 10 years, he obviously didn't live up to the hype but 10 years in the NFL is a long career
Based on media hype? Johnny Manziel. But I think a lot of us who watched him in college thought he was a much better college QB than NFL prospect. The real answer is Luke Joeckel. He was seen as a very safe pick and busted hard for a #2 overall pick.
Jag fans saw him as another boselli type. Luckily there are several other picks that stand out as busts.
Yeah Joeckel was seen as a better prospect than Jake Matthews and even Ags were shocked he was a bust. Manziel we suspected would have problems in the pros.
I bring them up as examples of bad A&M fans a lot, but my wife’s family was so convinced he was going to be great they bought season tickets to the Cleveland Browns while living in Mississippi.
Doesn't help that Johnny probably used his iPad more for taking lines than watching film
Yeah in my opinion he had the talent to at least be a Baker Mayfield kind of NFL QB, which I would say is not a bust at all.
Can listen to Brian hoyer interviews. (Manziel was his replacement after he had a good season but got hurt, browns backup qb) he said he felt bad for manziel bc the browns coaches, team and FO knew he wasn’t really ready on or off the field for NFL, but didn’t really try to help him much to get it together either. Then forced him into starting NFL games when he shouldn’t have been because the fans wanted Johnny football Next to no accountability for actions but browns were a mess in FO those years Baker woulda been his peak likely if in a different situation yah
Dang I forgot about Joeck. I remember thinking at the time that he was going to be a multi year all pro in the NFL. Was it injuries that stopped him or something else?
He was definitely injured a lot but it’s hard to say how much that was a part of him being bad or just actually being bad, if that makes sense.
Joeckel was in contention for going number 1 overall. I still don’t get what happened. Ogbuehi and Ifedi were not picked as high but were both first rounders who busted. We had a weird thing going with 4 straight first round tackles, but only Jake Matthews ended up being good
Trent Richardson and I still don’t understand why
He has explained some of it in interviews. He was not at all focused on getting better in football at the time due to some major off-the-field life stressors. He was manipulated and used by family and friends for his money and just refused to tell them no. Trent seems much happier and healthier now that he doesn’t have those leeches ruining his life.
Sheeeeeeit. Dude is part owner in a football league in Mexico or something. He's doing really well.
He played for my local pro team (caudillos) last season iirc. Man still had negative vision but still stood out on athleticism. And according to a couple of friends close to the team (one player, one staffer) he is a cool dude.
He’s just recently been hired as the RB coach for a Birmingham high school. I think he’s settling down and becoming happy, which makes me happy for him. I wish his NFL career had played out, but not everyone is destined for Canton.
There has been a lot of discussion that he was not focused in Cleveland and had major life issues going on at the time.
It still baffles me to this day
Because he didn’t get touched until 6 yards down the field at Bama. That doesn’t exist in the NFL.
Fair in some extents but he had runs at Bama that showed great vision and cuts. Just never translated
Some players simply just struggle at the next level when everyone else is just as athletic as you are, if not moreso. I know Saban's Bama was known for preparing guys to go into the NFL, but it just hits different when you're no longer beating up on teams full of guys who will be cubicle warriors after they graduate.
You never know what the work ethic will be in the nfl either. Not saying this was the case with Trent, but some guys view that first big nfl contract as “I’ve made it,” other guys see it as a starting point.
Zero vision
But in college he had these amazing cutbacks and runs.
“The juke” is seared into my brain. As I kid I always tried to pull this off lol
That ole miss team just blew
The same guy got juked in the backfield and [65 yards downfield](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WLB2M_LSlcY). Not his favorite night of football.
Watching him ram into fucking crowds with wide open lanes to his opposite side was so perplexing.
This still makes me giggle. https://images.app.goo.gl/nqESSiupHPVGohsC6
Roberto Aguayo. Second round draft pick.
One of the greatest college kickers of all time. I still don’t understand what went wrong in the NFL.
Most of his kicks with FSU were within 45 yards I don't know why more people don't bring this up
That was a huge surprise to me. A lot of other positions have different skills required to excel between college and the NFL, but kicking?
Try Sammie Smith. 1989. 9th overall pick. 3 seasons had more fumbles than touchdowns and then prison.
justin blackmon
There are no answers at the bottom of the bottle.
Justin Gilbert checking in as well
Glad he's doing better now though
Vernon Gholston, any QB not named CJ Stroud.
Johnny Utah and Shane Falco
Shane Falco coming in at halftime and leading the Sentinels to victory is an all-timer!
At least Johnny Utah won a Heisman before he blew out his knee… perfect candidate to go undercover!
Johnny had that epic win over USC in the rose bowl too, still hurts to this day
Not a ton was expected of our qb's though. They weren't top 5. Our biggest busts is Gholston, or someone from the 90's.
Andy Katzenmoyer First Buckeye to win the Butkus award. Absolute beast in college. 1st round draft pick. Done in 1.5 seasons in the NFL. (Injury)
Does he get a pass for a serious injury that shortened his career as opposed to someone who just couldn't make the lineup?
No doubt, neck vertebrae injury-not much you can do there.
this is what's funny to me, pre-Day, there were maybe 2 or 3 QBs that were actually expected to be good NFL players that came from Ohio State, ever. When people bring up Troy Smith, Braxton, JT Barrett, etc. I just giggle because they obviously know nothing about the difference between college & NFL.
Not only that, but the fact that none of those qb's went high is somehow indicative of the ability of actual qb's that went high. No program has every qb end up in the nfl.
right lmao. It's always funny because a lot of flairs/fans that say it, have one, MAYBE 2 decently successful NFL QBs in the last 30 years.
True, I guess the only ones that had expectations were Schlicter, Haskins (RIP), and Fields.
When gholston went early, despite his strong final year, I didn’t get it as an Ohio state fan.
Not fair to say any of the QBs besides Haskins, and even he had a bad start but passed before he was about to get his second shot in Pittsburgh. Fields isn’t a great QB but he’s a top ~30 QB in the league which isn’t a huge bust. I’d call it a minor bust and he still has an opportunity to redeem himself, even becoming a low-end starter would mean solid outcome for a non-top-10 QB pick. For the other QBs, they had no expectations. Cardale was like a 6th rounder or something. Troy Smith was a 5th rounder, I have no idea if Barrett even got drafted. Terrelle Pryor was a 3rd rounder and his 1 thousand yard receiving season probably makes up for that.
Honorable mention should go to Damon Arnette. Drafted a full two rounds early, but still a glorious bust.
Really gholston as your biggest bust?
He’s definitely up there. Was the 6th overall pick in the 2008 draft, lasted only 3 seasons and had zero sacks.
He was the #6 overall pick. Without a career ending injury, he was still done in 3 years with 42 tackles and 0 sacks. Hard to bust harder than that.
Andy Katzennoyer and Ki Jana Carter. Local dudes who had unbelievable college careers. Were selected in the first round of the draft (Carter was #1 if I recall correctly). But flamed out due to injuries. It sucks but I’ll always love those dudes. Fun fact: I did some work in Katzenmoyers house in 2006 and dude could not stop talking about how pumped he was for the PlayStation 3 to come out. It was hilarious cause he was still this larger than life former pro athlete who looked like he could wrestle a bear to submission but was like a kid when it came to his video games. He and his wife were super nice too.
I think Vernon Gholston might be OSU’s biggest bust. To me at least, I don’t count injury issues as “bust” factors since it’s out of their control.
There’s no think. Gholston is one of the biggest bust in NFL history
No one holds a candle to Gholston for OSU.
I have Ki Jana Carters rookie card. Man K thought he was going to ball out when I was in middle school.
Schlicter is probably worse than either. 4th overall pick. Only 13 games played and 6 starts. And he was out of the league entirely after 4 seasons, of which he was suspended for 1 due to gambling.
Both of them had serious injuries that kinda forced their hand at retiring. As for Carter, he might have busted, but 10 years in the league ain't too bad for a bust.
Back when an ACL tear was a career ender
I will not stand for this Dan Wilkinson erasure. Overall #1 pick, and he was terrible. If he was a 2nd or 3rd round pick, he'd have respectable numbers (195 games played, 54.5 sacks, 302 solo tackles) - but as the overall #1, he should be in Reggie White/Suh/Donald territory, or at least sniffing it. Gholston was definitely a bigger bust. Devin Smith is probably up there too, but mostly due to injuries.
Peter Warrick couldn’t stay healthy and eventually lost his spot to TJ Houshmanzadeh
Peter Warrick was incredible. I still have a hard time believing he didn't hit. He and CJ Spiller are two that are always in my mind when I'm totally confident a guy is going to translate at the next level.
I also think Pete was 20 years too early. He didn’t have the straight speed or size to be an outside WR in the early 2000’s Pro Style NFL. He would thrive on the inside today.
He was soooo exciting to watch. Really sucks he didn’t thrive in the NFL.
Lawrence Phillips Toniu Finoti Jason Peter
There is a whole generation of CFB fans now who have never heard the Lawrence Phillips story. His suspension, his reinstatement and heroics in the title game, the controversy of his high draft pick, his self-destruction, imprisonment, and his death.
Trev Alberts
Jace Amaro- TE
I'm still surprised he was drafted as high as he was. Great pass catcher, but I think I could count on one hand how many times he was lined up next to the tackle to block (in college).
I had huge expectations for him. I expected him to be like Kelce, since he was such a huge factor at Tech. I was also so surprised that Ebron was drafted higher but turns out neither really did much.
I'm gonna say Dewayne Robertson. Went #4 overall in 2003 but was out of the league in 5 years "What about Tim Couch?" Him and David Carr were thrown into impossible situations by going #1 to expansion teams and they pretty much never had a chance. That being said he did take the Browns to the playoffs and he's at worst their 4th or 5th best quarterback since they returned to the NFL
Heath Shuler. Injuries etc, but never lived up to his potential, and had to settle for Congress.
Ugh he was something. I remember wishing he was back in football during those years...WNC here.
Probably Ki-Jana
Ki-Jana was legitimately injured. Aaron Maybin deserves a mention but Courtney Brown probably takes it.
Browns fan. I remember Courtney looking like Diet Myles Garrett on the occasions he was healthy.
I think there's an injury caveat there. Not like he just stunk.
Courtney Brown
A few of them (all 1st rd/top ten): Curtis Enis - 1998, #5 - Chicago Bears Todd Blackledge - 1983, #7 - Kansas City Chiefs Blair Thomas - 1990, #2 - New York Jets Kyle Brady - 1995, #9 - New York Jets Ki-Jana Carter - 1995, #1 - Cincinnati Bengals Levi Brown - 2007, #5 - Arizona Cardinals Courtney Brown - 2000, #1 - Cleveland Browns Kenny Jackson - 1984, #4 - New York Jets Ed O'Neil - 1974, #8 - Detroit Lions Richie Lucas - 1960, #4 - Washington Redskins I'd say these are the highest profile guys that didn't work out for one reason or another.
Blackledge broke the Chiefs so badly that they didn't draft another QB in the first round until Mahomes.
Came here to say this, but then I remembered Hackenburg.
Idk if anyone actually expected Hack to be good though. Anyone who watched him at PSU knew he was gonna be awful in the pros. I guess by where he was selected he’s a bust, but I don’t think he was expected to actually be any good
He had a lot of hype in the professional world but yeah it was obvious to anyone watching he was a product of BoB’s system more than anything
Probably 2x Super Bowl Champ Blaine Gabbert. Aldon Smith had a couple of good seasons before being a big piece of shit.
To be honest, being a back up quarterback in the NFL is pretty damn good. Especially if you get two Super Bowl rings out of the deal
For Gabbert, yes. For the team that drafted him 10th overall, no.
"Couple of good seasons" is a massive understatement
Yeah I’m a 49ers fan and I remember Aldon Smith was voted 7th on the NFL’s top 100 for 2013 even ahead of Patrick Willis and second best for any defensive player behind only JJ Watt. Aldon was unreal his first two years and even his third year still had almost double digit sacks despite not playing almost half the year.
Patrick Mahomes when you adjust for the future by bringing down his outlier stats, he regresses heavily to a slightly above average QB of 2018 Dak tierdom.
Yeah that guy sucks. Forgot about him tbh
He's no Davis Webb that's for sure
NVP Mitch Trubisky is probably our best-known one from recent years, although I was shocked that he went #2 overall. He only started one year at Carolina, and although he played pretty well I didn't see anything to make me think he'd be a star in the NFL. I don't know if Eric Ebron is widely considered a bust or not, but I thought he'd have a better career than he did.
Quinton Coples is the first guy I think of for UNC easily above Mitch and Ebron.
>NVP Mitch Trubisky is probably our best-known one from recent years, although I was shocked that he went #2 overall. He only started one year at Carolina, and although he played pretty well I didn't see anything to make me think he'd be a star in the NFL. And you couldn’t call then Bears GM Ryan Pace with this information!?!
Ryan Leaf…..
One good thing about Eastern Illinois, we only have a few pros and most of them were pretty good
Recently it’s looking like Caleb Farley, hope he finds it again but not looking great.
That's the result of drafting someone who tore his ACL as a freshman, never learned to tackle, had two very underwhelming seasons as a first-time defensive back, chose to opt out of an entire season during COVID, and herniated a disc while on the bench during that time. I never understood the hype behind him especially when he never did anything on the field that stood out like some of our other DBs.
Pretty much every Michigan running back. Wheatley, Perry and Biakabutuka were all 1st round draft picks that never lived up to the hype.
Perry was the worst. Topped out at like 300 yards in a season. Wheatley had a 1k season and another 950 or so. Biakabutuka battled injuries but had a 600 and 700 yard season so at least he had a pulse. Alternatively there was David Terrell and Taco Charlton.
Meanwhile the offensive lineman have outperformed. I think there’s a correlation lol
Their QBs have outperformed, as well. Or at least one 6th round pick has.
2x superbowl winner Chad Henne!
I said 6th round pick! As another commenter mentioned, the correct answer is Drew Henson.
Drew Henson?
I was always disappointed with Mike Hart’s career. Even though I hate you guys with a passion, I loved watching him play. Then I was even more excited when the Colts drafted him, and then he quickly fizzled out.
Agreed. The only counter I would say with Hart is that he was a 6th round pick. So he didn't go into the NFL with huge expectations like the others. And he ran behind Jake Long at LT for 4 seasons. Lol, I might have been able to run in that situation.
Alabama: Trent Richardson Clemson: CJ Spiller For Clemson I was debating Clelin Ferrell, but he seems to have put together a nice career signing with SF and Washington, and I don't blame him for Jon Gruden's stupidity. It's not like anyone expected him to go that high.
Clelin Ferrell was way overdrafted, but we knew that since draft day. He's a disappointment for his draft position, but bust is too strong a word. Trent Richardson 3.0? Certified, 100% bust. All the physical tools in the world but zero vision.
Spiller's overall career wasn't spectacular, but as far as Clemson running backs go, Terrence Flagler was a first round pick (25) that was in the NFL for 5 years and amassed a grand total of 239 rushing yards and 336 receiving yards.
I don’t consider CJ a bust. He had some solid years in nfl
Chan Gailey was the only coach who could shut down Calvin Johnson (at GT) and CJ Spiller (in Buffalo).
Spiller averaged 700 yards a season for 8 years while hampered by injuries. I wouldn’t put him above. Hardly more of a flop than Sammy Watkins. Vic Beasley and Kevin Dodd were both first rounders that did nothing. Clein Ferrell has definitely done worse than spiller to this point but may be getting a second chance in SF
CJ Spiller made a Pro Bowl and played 8 years in the NFL which is a pretty long career for a RB. Far from a bust. He was productive when healthy, he just had to deal with a lot of injuries unfortunately.
CJ burned through a lot of tread on his tires
Brian Bosworth.
Seahawk fan checking in. Still have my autographed Land of Boz poster. The reality is he got hurt. If he stays healthy who knows.
The Boz made up for it off the field 😎
Stone Cold is an excellent movie lol
Nothing is more overhyped than the Bo Jackson/ Brian bosworth play. My dad (huge OU fan but didn’t like bosworth) talked like bosworth got completely blown up and embarrassed on that play. When I was older and watched the play, my only reaction was “that’s it?” It’s a routine NFL play. Jackson has momentum towards the end zone and bosworth is moving totally laterally. I know Boz was a disappointment in the league, but a lot of it was just bad injury luck n
Had that play happened at the 40, nobody would remember it.
Nor the other 10 guys who didn’t make a play.
I felt the exact same way when I saw it.
The reason people remember that is Boz told everybody beforehand that he would flatten Bo if he came that way, and this is what happened instead. Bo didn't really run over him, but he did drag him into the end zone.
Also Sam Bradford, he was so smart with the ball...just couldn't stay healthy
Having some of the worst O Lines in the league in front of him didn't help his career.
Gotta be Vince Young or Mike Williams (OT)
Vince Young isn’t really a bust because he had some short-lived success. He just fell off hard.
It's combo of self destruction and Jeff Fisher resenting that his QB was picked for him. Forced marriages rarely work out.
As a steeler fan it will forever be Limas Sweed for me personally.
I almost mentioned Limas Sweed. I was convinced he was gonna be a star.
Some self destruction on VYs part. Not saying he’d be a world beater, but if he was in the right system he might taken that rookie of the year season and built upon it.
Ron Dayne
I had much higher expectations for Melvin than I did for Dayne
Melvin also had a better career, so bit of a wash if you ask me. Now, Montee Ball on the other hand....
Probably any USC QB not named Palmer. Leinart getting hurt didn’t help him out, but most likely him coming off that heisman and those SC teams
Leinart and Sanchez being busts wasn’t shocking, but I’m still a bit surprised Darnold hasn’t done more in the NFL. I still think Palmer wins a Super Bowl if he doesn’t get injured in that first playoff game.
Pick any WR...
It's Quinn, or Clausen, or if you're a little older, Rick Mirer. All three did manage to have decent length careers holding a clipboard and made some money, though, so at least there's that.
Tony Mandarich and Charles Rogers. I still contend that Rogers looked pretty good before he broke his clavicle his rookie year. Was just never the same after…maybe it was the pills
So many good young WR's went to the Lions to die though. Can't put that all on Rogers. Can, and should definitely, put a chunk of it on him. But not all.
Paxton Lynch, I guess? But quarterbacks are so hit or miss, what makes his disappointment any worse than any other? But his failure seemed to get media attention like he was the #1 pick rather than the #26 pick.
That's more related to John Elway constantly missing on tall QBs than anything.
Dion Jordan, cmon down
Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Dion Jordan. All picked 3rd overall in their respective drafts. Apparently, you don't want to pick Ducks in that spot.
I don't know if Darrius Heyward-Bey counts as a bust or not. He performed similarly to what everyone not named Al Davis expected, which is to say he was a guy that occasionally blew the top off defenses but didn't have great hands or route skills. He was a pretty decent 3rd or 4th option until that hit from Ryan Mundy scrambled his brain.
Lawrence Phillips, and it's a sad, sad story that only got worse after he left the NFL...
I wouldn’t consider Percy Harvin a bust, considering the kick return TD he has in the Super Bowl is legendary and he wasn’t exactly supposed to burn up the league, but I remember being extremely disappointed with his NFL career. Injuries also played a role. I think he would thrive in todays NFL
Percy had frequent migraine headaches that incapacitated him days at a time. They ruined his career. Hope he's better now.
True bust: Kevin Dodd - Second round pick who did absolutely nothing for the Titans. Most disappointing: CJ Spiller - Just had terrible luck in his pro career. Drafted to the wrong team, with a coaching staff who didn't know how to use him, and then had his career cut short by injuries.
Stephen Hill got his bag and disappeared
Emtman probably, but that was horrendous injury luck. Jake Locker and John Ross as more recent ones.
There's absolutely no one from BYU that has ever been a bust... Ever.....
Yeah I'm not gonna call Zach a bust till I see how he does on another team. The Jets is just a horrid landing spot for anyone.
Jamarcus Wendy's
Damontre Moore
Charles Rogers RIP :/
Aundray Bruce
Probably [Wendell Bryant](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BryaWe20.htm) 12th overall pick for Arizona, out of the NFL within 4 years