NFL Draft Busts

So much hope, such utter disasters. Below is a list of NFL players who failed to live up to high expectations. Remember how good Ryan Leaf was supposed to be? Trained by his father since he was a small child, Todd Marinovich's collapsed like a deck of cards in the NFL? Don't forget Thunder and Lightning! While Tiki Barber has shown MVP like prowess on the field, Ron Dayne's professional performance resembles a drizzle more than a thunderstorm.

Quarterbacks

 * Tim Couch: Drafted by Cleveland Browns, round 1 #1 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Kentucky. Career NFL Stats: 62 games played (59 starts), 1025/1714 passing attempts, 11131 total passing yards, 64 touchdowns, 67 interceptions, 75.1 QB rating. Picked over Donovan McNabb, Edgerrin James, Ricky Williams, Torry Holt, and Champ Bailey..


 * Ryan Leaf: Drafted by the San Diego Chargers, round 1 #2 overall in 1998 NFL Draft out of Washington State. Career NFL Stats: 25 games played (21 starts), 317/655 (48.4%), 3666 total passing yards, 14 touchdowns, 36 interceptions, 50.0 QB rating. Taken over Randy Moss, Charles Woodson, and Takeo Spikes.


 * Todd Marinovich: Drafted by Oakland Raiders, round 1, #24 overall in 1991 NFL Draft. Career NFL Stats: 8 games played, 104/205 (50.7%), 1345 passing yards, 8 touchdowns, 9 interceptions. Picked over Brett Favre, Ricky Watters, Ed McCaffrey and Keenan McCardell. His career was ruined by drug problems.


 * Cade McNown: Drafted by Chicago Bears, round 1 #12 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of UCLA. Career NFL Stats: 25 games played (15 starts), 281/515 passing attempts, 3111 total passing yards, 16 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, 67.7 QB rating. Picked over John Tait, Jevon Kearse, Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, and Mike Rucker.


 * Rick Mirer: Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, round 1, #2 overall in the 1993 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. Career NFL Stats: 80 games played in 12 seasons (68 starts), 1088/2043 passing attempts, 11,969 passing yards, 50 touchdowns, 76 interceptions, 63.5 QB rating. Selected over Willie Roaf, Lincoln Kennedy, Jerome Bettis, Sean Dawkins, and Dana Stubblefield.


 * Heath Shuler: Drafted by the Washington Redskins, round 1 #3 overall in 1994 NFL Draft out of Tennessee. Career NFL stats: 29 games played (22 starts), 292/593 passing attempts, 3691 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 33 interceptions, 54.3 QB rating. Selected over Willie McGinest, Sam Adams, Aaron Glenn, Joe Johnson, Aaron Taylor, DeWayne Washington, Johnnie Morton, and Isaac Bruce.


 * Akili Smith: Drafted by Cincinnati Bengals, round 1 #3 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Oregon. Career NFL Stats: 22 games played (17 starts), 215/461 passing attempts, 2212 total passing yards, 5 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 52.8 QB rating. Picked over Edgerrin James, Ricky Williams, Torry Holt, Champ Bailey, and David Boston.


 * Andre Ware: Drafted by Detroit Lions, round 1 #7 overall in 1990 NFL Draft out Houston. Career NFL Stats: 14 games played, 83/161 passing attempts, 1112 yards, 5 touchdowns, 8 interceptions 63.6 QB rating. Picked over Richmond Webb, Emmitt Smith, Leroy Butler, Ricky Proehl, Neil O'Donnell


 * Kelly Stouffer: Drafted by St Louis Cardinals, round 1 #6 overall in 1987 NFL Draft out of Colorado State University. Career NFL Stats: 22 games played, 225/437 passing attempts, 2333 total passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, 54.5 QB rating. Picked over Rod Woodson, Jim Harbaugh,  Christian Okoye

Running Back

 * Ki-Jana Carter : Drafted by Cincinnati Bengals, round 1, #1 overall in 1995 NFL Draft out of Penn State. Career NFL stats: 59 games played (14 starts), 319 rushing attempts, 1144 rushing yards, 3.6 yds/carry, 20 touchdowns. Picked over Steve McNair, Warren Sapp, Kevin Carter, Kerry Collins, Ty Law, Joey Galloway, Hugh Douglas, and Derrick Brooks.


 * Ron Dayne: Drafted by New York Giants, round 1, #11 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. Career NFL Stats: 72 games played (14 starts), 638 rushing attempts, 2337 yards, 3.7 yds/carry, 17 touchdowns (active NFL player). Picked over Shaun Ellis, John Abraham, Julian Peterson, Chad Pennington, and Shaun Alexander.


 * Lawrence Phillips: Drafted by St. Louis Rams, round 1, #6 overall in 1996 NFL Draft. Career NFL Stats: 35 games played, 424 rushing attempts, 1453 yards, 3.4 yds/carry, 14 touchdowns. Picked over Eddie George, Marvin Harrison, Ray Lewis, Joe Horn and Terrell Owens.

Wide Receiver

 * Troy Edwards: Drafted by Pittsburgh Steelers, round 1 #13 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Louisiana Tech. Career NFL Stats: 89 games played (22 starts), 201 receptions, 2389 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns. Picked over John Tait, Jevon Kearse, Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, and Mike Rucker.


 * R. Jay Soward: Drafted by Jacksonville Jaguars, round 1 #29 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of USC. Career NFL Stats: 13 games played (2 starts), 14 receptions, 154 receiving yards, 1 touchdown. Picked over Keith Bulluck, Todd Pinkston, Jerry Porter, and Marcus Washington.


 * Travis Taylor: Drafted by Baltimore Ravens, round 1 #10 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of Florida. Career NFL Stats: 84 games played (74 starts), 254 receptions, 3362 receiving yards, 19 touchdowns (active NFL player). Picked over Shaun Alexander, Chad Pennington, John Abraham, Shaun Ellis, and Julian Peterson.


 * Peter Warrick: Drafted by Cincinnati Bengals, round 1 #4 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of Florida State. Career NFL Stats: 79 games played (60 starts), 275 receptions, 2991 receiving yards, 18 touchdowns (active NFL player). Picked over Jamal Lewis, Corey Simon, Plaxico Burress, and Brian Urlacher.


 * Eric Crouch: Drafted by St. Louis Rams, round 3 #95 overall in the 2002 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. While Crouch's selection came later than most others considered to be "busts," he is notable because he won the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback in 2001. Crouch never took a snap in the NFL. He was drafted as a Wide Receiver because many NFL scouts considered him too small to play quarterback in the league. He retired before playing a game with the Rams. Following a tryout with the Green Bay Packers and another attempted conversion to Wide Receiver, he retired again and became a sports reporter. Crouch signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in January 2005 and was allocated to the Hamburg Sea Devils of the NFL Europe. His CFL rights are currently held by the Toronto Argonauts. Picked over Alex Brown, Randy McMichael, Najeh Davenport, Andra Davis, and Aaron Kampman.

Offensive Linemen

 * Tony Mandarich: Drafted by the Green Bay Packers, round 1 #2 overall in 1989 out of Michigan State. Lasted only three sub-par seasons with the Packers before being cut. He returned five years later to play three decent, if unspectacular, seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. Picked ahead of Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders.


 * John Michels: Drafted by the Green Bay Packers, round 1 #27 overall in the 1997 NFL Draft out of USC. Michels started for one year, then lost his job and never regained it. After spending 1998 on injured reserve, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he subsequently was injured again and retired. Drafted ahead of Amani Toomer, Mike Alstott, Muhsin Muhammad, Randall Godfrey, Reggie Tongue, and Brian Dawkins.


 * Kenyatta Walker: Drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, round 1 #14 overall in the 2001 NFL Draft out of University of Florida. The Buccaneers traded up to the 14th spot in the first round to select him. The favourite of the boo-birds in Tampa for his seemingly-endless array of holding, personal foul and false start penalties. Drafted ahead of Santana Moss, Nate Clements, Deuce McAllister, Reggie Wayne, Todd Heap, Drew Brees, Alge Crumpler and Chad Johnson.

Defensive End

 * Courtney Brown: Drafted by Cleveland Browns, round 1 #1 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of Penn State. Career NFL Stats: 61 games played (58 starts), 156 tackles, 19 sacks, 7 forced fumbles (active NFL player). Picked over LaVar Arrington, Chris Samuels, Jamal Lewis, and Corey Simon.


 * Steve Emtman: Drafted by Indianapolis Colts, round 1 #1 overall in 1992 NFL Draft out of Washington. Career NFL Stats: 50 games played (10 starts), 8 sacks, 1 interception 1 forced fumble. Picked over Sean Gilbert, Troy Vincent, Dale Carter, Robert Porcher, and Darren Woodson.


 * Erik Flowers: Drafted by Buffalo Bills, round 1 #26 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of Arizona State. Career NFL Stats: 58 games played (6 starts), 38 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble (active NFL player). Picked over Rob Morris, Keith Bulluck, Todd Pinkston, Raynoch Thompson, and Jerry Porter.


 * Lamar King: Drafted by Seattle Seahawks, round 1 #23 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Saginaw Valley State. Career NFL Stats: 58 games played (38 starts), 94 tackles, 12 sacks. Picked over Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, Mike Rucker, and Dre' Bly.


 * Jamal Reynolds: Drafted by Green Bay Packers, round 1 #10 overall in 2001 NFL Draft out Florida State. Career NFL Stats: 18 games played (0 starts), 14 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles. Picked over Dan Morgan, Marcus Stroud, Rod Gardner, Santana Moss, and Casey Hampton.


 * Dimitrius Underwood: Drafted by Minnesota Vikings, round 1 #29 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Michigan State. Career NFL Stats: 19 games played (0 starts), 21 tackles, 4 sacks. Picked over Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, Mike Rucker, and Dre' Bly.


 * Mike Mamula: Drafted by Philadelphia Eagles, round 1 #7 overall in the 1995 NFL Draft Drafted out of Boston College. Drafted over Ty Law, Hugh Douglas and Warren Sapp.

Defensive Tackle

 * Gabe Rivera: Drafted by Pittsburgh Steelers, round 1 #21 overall in 1983 NFL Draft out of Texas Tech. Career NFL Stats: 6 games played, 2 sacks. Picked over Dan Marino, Ken O'Brien, Jim Jeffcoat, Darrell Green, and Roger Craig.  Paralyzed in an auto accident in which he was legally intoxicated.
 * Reggie McGrew: Drafted by San Francisco 49ers, round 1 #24 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Florida. Career NFL Stats: 24 games played (0 starts), 9 tackles, 1 sack, 3 pass deflections. Picked over Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, Mike Rucker, and Dre' Bly.
 * Gerard Warren: Drafted by Cleveland Browns, round 1 #3 overall in 2001 NFL Draft out of Florida. Career NFL Stats: 74 games played, 167 tackles, 18.5 sacks, 9 pass deflections. Picked over Justin Smith, LaDanian Tomlinson, Richard Seymour, Santana Moss, Steve Hutchinson, Nate Clements, and Deuce McAllister.

Linebacker

 * Brian Bosworth: Drafted by Seattle Seahawks in 1987 in the supplemental draft, Bosworth was one of the greatest college linebackers ever to play. However, he was a complete bust in the NFL, playing three poor seasons before retiring due to shoulder injury.


 * Aundray Bruce: Drafted by Atlanta Falcons, round 1 #1 overall in 1988 NFL Draft out of Auburn. Career NFL stats: 151 games (42 starts), 32 sacks, 1 fumble recovery. Picked over Tim Brown, Sterling Sharpe, Michael Irvin, Keith Jackson, and Ickey Woods.

Cornerback

 * Rashard Anderson: Drafted by Carolina Panthers, round 1 #23 overall in 2000 NFL Draft out of Jackson State. Career NFL Stats: 27 games played (9 starts), 67 tackles, 0 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble. Picked over Ahmed Plummer, Chris Hovan, Rob Morris, Keith Bulluck, and Todd Pinkston.


 * Antuan Edwards: Drafted by Green Bay Packers, round 1 #25 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Clemson University. Career NFL Stats: 67 games, 179 tackles, 3 sacks, 7 interceptions, 28 passes deflected (active NFL player). Picked over Fernando Bryant, Aaron Gibson, Patrick Kerney, Al Wilson, Mike Rucker, and Dre' Bly.


 * Fred Vinson: Drafted by Green Bay Packers, round 2 #47 overall in 1999 NFL Draft out of Vanderbilt. Career NFL Stats: 16 games played, 1 tackle, 1 sack, 2 interceptions. Was drafted because of his speed, despite having suffered injuries in college. He was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for Ahman Green after one year, but blew out a knee during training camp. He was released and made an unsuccessful attempt at a comeback with the Carolina Panthers. Picked over Joey Porter and Marty Booker.