Open Rants by Brownsfan93

2020,  20 Biggest Draft Busts since 2000

The NFL draft is coming up and now that we are 2 decades into the 2000’s and its 2020 let take a look at the 20 biggest busts of this century so far...

20. Mitch Trubisky #2 Overall (2017, Bears)

Again some might say too early, but I must intervene and say not… Trubisky had a decent year in 2018, leading the Bears to the playoffs which is a lot more than can be said about others on this list, but it appears the Bears have moved on and Trubisky is spare parts now, who couldn’t even get much in NFL store credit if the Bears tried…  An over drafted qb that relied on gimmicky play which worked for a while; Trubisky is for now a big time bust…

19. JP Losman   #22 Overall (2004 Bills)

Yes this list is heavy with qb’s but they have the largest impact on a team and are usually drafted higher so go figure, Losman had next to nothing in production in his first 2 seasons then had a positive td/int his third where he started every game, but he quickly faded into obscurity after…

18. Jake Locker #8 Overall (2011, Titans)

Early on some thought he could go #1 overall, ultimately he went #8 and the Titans decided to waste 4 seasons on an inconsistent, injury plagued qb, that was quite over drafted, he ended up retiring after only 4 seasons because even he had enough…

17. Kyle Boller #19 Overall (2003, Ravens)

Yes even the great GM Ozzie Newsome had some bust picks, and Kyle Boller may have been his biggest.  Teams were mesmerized by his arm talent, and the Ravens instead got multiple years mediocre to bad play.  Later on in his career, the Raiders had so little faith in him being even a temporary starter; they traded multiple first round picks for Carson Palmer just so he wouldn’t have to play for them…

16. Darius Heyward-Bey WR, #7 Overall (2009, Raiders)

One of the last picks of the Al Davis era in Oakland did definitely disappoint, with only 16 career tds many of which weren’t even with Oakland…

15. Christian Hackenberg QB, #51 Overall (2016, Jets)

Normally you wouldn’t think the 51^st overall pick would be considered a big time bust, well you would be as wrong as the Jets were about drafting this guy… Hackenberg busted so bad that he never played a meaningful down in the NFL, he was that bad…  This would be ok if he were perhaps a 7^th round pick, but a 2^nd round pick? Damn…

14. Josh Rosen QB, #10 Overall (2018, Cardinals)

Too early?  I think not…  Anytime a team dumps a top 10 pick after 1 season, which there isn’t even an “anytime” for that, there’s a major problem, and Josh Rosen is the trailblazer for this, as the Cardinals got their 2^nd round refund for him after only 1 season, the Dolphins should have kept their receipt as Rosen wasn’t even good enough to start for what should have been the worst team in football last year, and probably was at the time of the season he played.  He could still turn it around, but for now he’s already broken the bust barrier at light speed…

13. Justin Gilbert #8 overall (2014, Browns)

Some might say there are too many Browns on this list, but for good reason, they’ve made a lot of crappy picks and Justin Gilbert is in close contention for the worst.  42 Tackles, 1 Int, and 3 forgettable seasons was all it took for the #8 overall pick to be a free agent…

12. Sam Bradford QB, #1 Overall (2010, Rams)

There is only one word to describe the career of Sam Bradford... Injured.  This guy still managed to fleece several teams out of many millions of dollars anyway and was the last #1 pick to get the ridiculous wages rookies were getting pre-rookie wage scale.  He was mediocre when he did play, so he couldn’t even back up what he was getting paid with skill…

11. Matt Leinart QB, #10 overall (2006, Cardinals)

The Cardinals expected Leinart to be their future, instead he was benched for old man Warner, who proved drafting him was a mistake, after throwing for 11 td his first season Leinhart never threw for more than 2! That’s right 2 td! in an entire season….

10. Jason Smith #2 Overall (2009, Rams)

Short Career, overpaid and outplayed by a backup, one of the biggest busts at OT in a while…

9. Courtney Brown DE #1 overall (2000, Browns)

The first overall pick of the new Millennium certainly didn’t go off with a bang as Courtney Brown was a pretty big disappointment with lackluster numbers, no pro bowl appearances, and a short career plagued by injuries, which was over by 2006…

8. Justin Blackmon WR, #5 Overall (2012, Jaguars)

Oh where to begin…  He had an ok rookie year but it was all downhill from there, and I mean all…  Blackmon hasn’t played in the NFL in 6 years due to his off the field troubles yet is still technically on the Jaguars inactive roster, I can’t believe this is even possible…

7. Joey Harrington QB, #3 overall (2002, Lions)

One of the infamous early selections of the very forgettable and laughable Matt Millen era in Detroit, Harrington became nothing but a traditional bust in Detroit; he did have 1 mediocre year in 04’ having a positive td-int ratio, but was gone from the team that drafted him after 4 seasons…

6. Trent Richardson #3 Overall (2012, Browns)

Trent Richardson was regarded as the best RB since Adrian Peterson by many in the media and talent evaluators alike, the Browns took the bait from the evaluators and the Vikings and traded up to take him #3 overall, only to trade him away a season later, had it not been for the injuries and his old school style of running he may have been ok, but is definitely the biggest bust at RB this century.  Somehow the Colts were drinking the Adrian Peterson Kool Aid as well and he became one of the first and only busts to have 2 teams waste first round picks on him…

5. Johnny Manziel #22 Overall (2014, Browns)

The only way this pick could be worse is if it were higher, which it could have been, not to worry the Browns screwed up that pick too in Justin Gilbert.  This pick was actually a refund pick from the Colts for Trent Richardson, another major bust, and the Browns couldn’t even use their refund right.  A very short career, marred by off the field antics made Manziel avoided like the plague after he left Cleveland. Bonus! he busted in the CFL too which makes it even worse…

4. Robert Griffin III QB, #2 Overall (2012, Redskins)

The Redskins made one of the boldest trades in NFL history to draft RG3, it looked like it was paying off for a short while, but proved to be a flash in the pan after his second ACL tear and poor management of its recovery proved too much for the success to continue, RG3 proves the fact that qb’s with heavy rushing stats either don’t last or won’t last as long in the NFL, quite a shame as he was a very nice guy when I was around him in person…

3. Charles Rogers WR, #2 Overall (2003, Lions)

Another Matt Millen pick!  Would you expect anything else?  How this guy kept his job so long picking such immediate busts must only mean he had even more dirt on the Lions than Marvin Lewis did on the Bengals.  The #2 pick went on to catch only 36 passes in his entire career.  Making this pick look even worse is that it was 1 pick before multi pro-bowler Andre Johnson…

2. David Carr QB, #1 Overall (2002, Texans)

The first pick of the NFL’s newest team was thrown to the wolves immediately, just as Tim Couch was 3 years prior with the Browns.  Apparently the Texans player personnel dept. then, is as dumb as it is right now, as they weren’t paying attention to how Couch took a beating those first few years for an expansion team, as Carr would go on to set an NFL record in sacks for the expansion Texans.  Carr probably wasn’t that great of a qb to begin with, but making him start for an expansion team certainly didn’t help...

1. Jamarcus Russel QB, #1 Overall (2007, Raiders)

The biggest bust of this century, and probably all time, no surprise here.  Some might argue Ryan Leaf was the biggest ever, but he didn’t go #1 overall… Russell set himself up for failure with a holdout and then again by loading up on the Twinkies, eventually reaching 300 lbs at one point in his career.  He was so bad the Raiders tried to get a refund for his defective product.  Again his ineptitude as a professional athlete was proven when his own personal trainer and coach helping him to make a comeback gave up on him…

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