Top 5 NFL busts of all time

The NFL Draft is an exciting time for all football fans looking for that highly coveted prospect that could completely change the future of their team.

Whether you’re a fan of a team that desperately needs a certain position, or a franchise just looking to fine-tune its depth, the feeling of landing that player you liked in college is a feeling like no other.

But sometimes, that player you really liked in college doesn’t age well at the professional level.

Today we’re looking at the top five busts of all time.

No. 5 - Charles Rogers, WR, Detroit Lions (2003, No. 3 Overall)

We start off this list with one of the many Detroit Lions blunders. This one comes in the form of Charles Rogers out of Michigan State.

Rogers was superb in his two seasons in college, posting campaigns of 1,200 and 1,351 yards along with 12 and 13 touchdowns, respectively.

Rogers is still Michigan State’s program leader in touchdowns and won the Biletnikoff Award in 2002 for the nation’s top receiver.

Unfortunately for the Lions, Rogers only mustered three seasons in his professional career with a total of 15 games in that span.

His stats: 36 of 84 targets caught, 440 yards and four touchdowns.

And the thing that stings most: Andre Johnson was selected with the very next pick by the Houston Texans.

No. 4 - Akili Smith, QB, Cincinnati Bengals (1999, No. 3 Overall)

If you think the Lions are bad at drafting, look no further than the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals had a slew of bad selections in the 1990s, and Akili Smith was certainly one of them. Not just for his lackluster play on the field, but for the Bengals refusing a deal from the Saints to trade out of that spot for nine total picks (including a first-round from that year, and the year after that, and the year after that).

But Cincinnati turned it down, and well, the rest is history with Smith’s 3-14 record in just his 17 games with the franchise.

No. 3 - Trent Richardson, RB, Cleveland Browns (2012, No. 3 Overall)

You know we couldn’t go throughout the biggest busts without including the Cleveland Browns.

Trent Richardson was highly inefficient at Alabama with just 950 rushing yards from 267 carries.

This inefficiency would carry on into the pros where Richardson only mustered 105 yards on 31 attempts before pulling the plug on him.

Richardson would end up playing for the Colts afterward, where his mediocrity continued with 977 yards on 316 carries in 29 games.

No. 2 - Ryan Leaf, QB, Los Angeles Chargers (1998, No. 2 Overall)

Ah yes, the infamous Ryan Leaf pick. You know you’d see it on here.

This draft held discussions over whether Leaf or Peyton Manning would go first overall.

Unfortunately, if you’re a Chargers fan, you lost the coin flip. Badly.

Leaf’s rookie season was abhorrent with only two touchdowns in his 10 starts along with 15 interceptions.

After two years, the Chargers gave up and Leaf went to the Cowboys. Success was still very hard to come by for Leaf in Dallas, and he officially hung up the cleats after that.

No. 1 - JaMarcus Russell, QB, Oakland Raiders (2007, No. 1 Overall Pick)

By no surprise to anybody, JaMarcus Russell is on this list.

Russell had so much hype out of LSU in 2007 that it was insane. This guy was to completely change the landscape of football with his unbelievable athleticism.

Russell would miss his rookie training camp and started just one game that season.

Year 2 would yield better results, but the completion percentage was very low and continued to be low thereafter.

Once Russell started throwing much more interceptions than touchdowns, and infamously commenting on the film he saw on blank tapes, it was time to throw in the towel on the biggest bust in NFL history.

Jake Irwin is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jpi5089@psu.edu.