Biggest draft blunders in NFL history

[Beware the Beast Man]

I'll have to go with the Steelers taking a pass on Dan Marino in the 1983 draft. He wanted to stay in his hometown, but they went instead with lineman Gabe Rivera, who sadly wound up paralyzed.
I've heard they passed on Elway, too....for Mark-friggin'-Malone!

[skooooo]

1. whoever took Ryan Leaf...

Was it the San Diego chargers? What a loser.

[trotsky]

2. SD even traded UP to get him!

Yikes.

[Guaranteed]

23. That's what I thought. nt

[MacCovern]

25. Ryan Leaf career: 14 TDs, 36 interceptions

Yes, the Leaf draft was horrendous, and his career lasted all of parts of three seasons. It did not help that he was emotionally unstable, and a sports psychologist predicted this before the draft in 1998, but San Diego wasn't listening.

Ryan Leaf's career QB rating was only 50.0. Ouch!

[CatWoman]

3. Indianapolis colts + Jeff George

[THUNDER HANDS]

5. you can hardly fault Indy for that though

everyone thought George was going to be a great quarterback. If Indy had any offensive line he might have been.

[CatWoman]

18. yes, you have a point there

the world must be on the brink of destruction.

I just agreed with Jason!!!!!! :D

[THUNDER HANDS]

29. feels good doesn't it?

;)

[coloradodem2005]

13. Anybody who ever had Jeff George.

He was never that good and many thought that he was a loser.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. a lot of teams passed on Marino, but what a qb class it was in 83

My Jets passed on Marino too, and took Ken O'Brien, who wasn't too bad, except he got sacked every other play.

I'd say the biggest bust for my team was taking Blair Thomas of Penn State with the No. 2 overall pick.

[rkc3]

6. Ben Rothlisberger - it'll never pay off.

[Beware the Beast Man]

7. Why, you....

:grr:

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. he's overrated

he really is. Pittsburgh has GREAT receivers. I'd like to see him do as well as he has with just average or sub-par receivers.

[Beware the Beast Man]

10. Yeah, Maddox was a real smash with the same receivers

:eyes: Bunch of haters, I tell you!

[rkc3]

20. I was only kidding about Big Ben, although he has been a bit of a mortal

in the past two games. It will be interesting to see if he picks up the pace once Plax comes back.

[Beware the Beast Man]

21. He's a rookie. A 10-0 rookie, but still a rookie.

If this is rust, look out next season!

[JohnKleeb]

22. dude they're just jealous

The fact that the steelers are where they are now is good in its own, and about the receivers, yes burgess, ward, and randle el are great receivers but he generally has around 200 yards passing a game, he relies heavily on the run, and Bettis and Staley get it done on the ground and if I recall the team's offense is virtually unchanged from last year when they won I believe 6 games.

[Rambis]

8. Cade McFreakin NOWN?

I am a Vikes fan and Da Bearsz still don't have a QB although Jeff George is gonna do well for them.

[mark414]

16. definite second on Cade McNown

what a pompous ass, and a bad QB to boot!

[trotsky]

11. Didn't ESPN do a ranking on this at one time?

There are just so many... how about Akili Smith? Tim Couch?

[Beware the Beast Man]

14. I was thinking along the lines of teams that passed up great picks.

And went with, eh..not so great ones.

[dr.strangelove]

17. There are many

I don't include the like of Ryan Leaf as a "blunder" because he was high up on every NFL team's draft board. If the Chargers did not trade up, several others teams wanted to. I don't rate it as high a blunder if 28 teams are fooled by a player. I think in those cases, the player just did not play to his potential, not that the teams were all wrong.

When a team over rates a player and is proven to be wrong, that is when it hurts. Several teams were concerned with Mandarich's poor footwork. Detroit and Atlanta turned down offers to go up to get him. The cowboys didn't have him on their board after Aikmen. This was just a bad call, and many people knew it at the time. They could have taken Barry Sanders or Deon, but blew it. Bad move Packers.

I still think it was Rocky Thompson in 1971, by the Giants. (See post no 15), they passed on three Hall of Famres when no one else wanted Thompson. This move is followed by Aundray Bruce by the Falcons. Neil Smith and Chris Spielman were highly rated, but the Falcons dropped the ball.

[Mojambo]

12. Tony Mandarich n/t

[dr.strangelove]

15. Rocky Thompson, Aundray Bruce, Tony Mandarich

There have been many over the years. My list is topped by Rocky Thompson, 1971 Giants draft pick. He was said to be the fasted college receiver in years. His career totals were 85 receiving yards and 217 rushing yards. He could not catch or run fast. The giants cut him and he goes down as one of the biggest blunders in NFL history. The reason he is the worst pick, reportedly no other team had him going in the first 10 rounds. the giants were fooled. They passed on Hall of Famers Jack Youngblood, Jack Ham, and Dan Dierdorf.

A think a close second is a tie between Aundray Bruce and Tony Mandarich. Blair Thomas is up there too.

Some players never get a chance though. I pick the above because they were never injured, but they flat out sucked.

Several players were injured who may have been great, but never amounted to anything after a bad injury. Leading this list is Steve Emtman. In 1991 Emtman was the best defensive lineman in college football. The Colts selected Emtman with the No. 1 pick. Emtman played great in nine games his rookie season before blowing out his knee. He returned the following season, mostly playing part time, only to injure his other knee. He played only 10 games over the next six years. another great "could have been" is Ki-Jana Carter, who is hands down the most exciting player I ever saw. His play at Penn State was the stuff of legends. His pro life was marred by injuries and he never played more than 4 full games in a season.

[DelawareValleyDem]

19. I remember Rocky

along with another Giants flop, Tucker Fredrickson

[dr.strangelove]

27. Tucker was another bomb.

Glad there is another old Giant Fan around. I remember sitting in the Yale Bowl watching them suck. I'm a season ticket holder now, and this year seems a lot like that Yale bowl season.

[Twillig]

24. Joe Don Looney drafted by the New York Giants

If you think Ricky Williams is a fuckup, you haven't heard of Looney.

[ronzo]

26. Ditka trades away Saints future for Ricky Williams...

That was pretty catastrophic.

[ronzo]

30. Oh yeah... in 1979,

In 1979, the Saints pick kicker Russell Erxleben with their first round pick (#11 overall).
The next season the New Orleans Saints go 1-15, their only win coming at NY Jets in the snow. :eyes:
We then had the first overall pick in '81. George Rogers. I think we got two decent seasons out of him.

It goes on and on and on....

[hippiechick]

28. Tony Mandarich

Need I say more ? :puke:


:hippie:

[Richardo]

31. Steelies did not pass on Elway. Colts got him as 1st pick...

...and traded him to Denver.

[donheld]

32. that time Elway left the window open

and all the broncos got the flu. :evilgrin: What do you mean i have the wrong kind of draft in mind?

[maveric]

33. Ryan Leaf

What a loser and an asshole.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

34. Bud Lite

Echh - what swill :puke:

[MrSlayer]

35. Jon Harris to the Eagles. Rick Mirer also comes to mind.

What a friggin disaster that was. Ray Rhodes was comparing him to Charles Haley and he played like Charles Nelson Riley.

There was a big debate over whether Mirer or Drew Bledsoe should go first. We all know how that worked out.

[MrSlayer]

36. Damn I just remembered Mike Mamula too.

The Eagles drafted this fool instead of Warren Sapp, terrible choice.

[MikeG]

37. Every team but the Steelers in 1974.

The Steelers picked Lynn Swann, Mike Webster, John Stallworth and Jack Lambert. And got Donnie Shell as a free agent.