Top Ten NFL Draft Busts of All Time

Thanks for checking out my list of the top ten NFL draft busts of all time. Click this link to see my top 20 NFL draft busts of all time and see what I whittled off the list to get this one. I got lots of feedback on the other article and took some into consideration in writing my top ten NFL draft busts of all time. All stats come from Profootballreference.com, just search for the player's name.

1 Ryan Leaf

Ryan Leaf is the biggest draft bust in NFL history especially considering he was thought to be better than Peyton Manning by some. I actually have Leaf ranked behind Andre Ware on my biggest quarterback busts of all time but I was a bit wrong with that opinion. Leaf had much more natural talent than Andre Ware and he blew it all with a bad attitude and bad play on the field.

2 Andre Ware

Andre Ware went from a run and shoot offense in college to the same with the Detroit Lions. He should have flourished especially with Barry Sanders on the Lions team with him to take off the pressure. Instead Ware showed why he is one of the top ten NFL draft busts ever.

3 Tony Mandarich

Mandarich was supposed to be locked in at offensive tackle for ten years of greatness. He was an admitted steroid abuser and that couldn't even keep him in the National Football League.

4 Charles Rogers

Charles Rogers was supposed to make the Lions a better team and make fans compare him to Jerry Rice. Well Charles Roger's career was more like minute rice. Rogers was the 2^nd overall pick in the 2003 draft according to profootballreference.com. In his pitiful three seasons Rogers caught 36 passes for 440 yards and 4 touchdowns making him one of the top ten NFL draft busts of all time.

5 Lawrence Phillips

Lawrence Phillips was the 6^th pick in the 1996 draft by the Rams. He would have been the first pick if not for character concerns which proved to be justified. Phillips did manage to score 14 touchdowns in three seasons with the Rams, Dolphins and 49ers but was a bust because of the talent he wasted.

6 Akili Smith

Akili Smith had all the tools and none of the brains to be a NFL franchise quarterback. He was a dud from day one with the Cincinnati Bengals.

7 Steve Emtman

Steve Emtman was the first overall pick in the 1992 draft by the Colts and never panned out. He was to be a devastating defensive tackle but only recorded 8 sacks and 121 tackles in six NFL seasons.

8 Dan "Big Daddy" Wilkinson

Dan Wilkinson was a number one overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft. That fact and his stats come from Profootballreference.com. Wilkinson did play 13 seasons in the NFL but never lived up to his expectations. Wilkinson started 182 of 195 games played in and 301 tackles, 54.5 sacks and 5 interceptions. He just never justified being a number one pick by the Bengals

9 Heath Shuler

Heath Shuler was the third overall pick in the 1994 draft by Washington. Shuler only played for four seasons with the Redskins and Saints, completing 292 of 593 passes for 3,691 yards with 15 touchdown passes against 33 interceptions. Shuler currently is a Democratic Congressman from North Carolina and screwing up another career in Washington!

10 Archie Griffin

Archie Griffin is the only two time Hesiman Trophy winner in college football history. After the Bengals drafted him it was though he would get a bust in Canton but instead was one of the top ten NFL draft busts of all time.

Sources

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=schoenfield/060427