Being labeled an NFL Draft bust isn't just a dubious honor. It's an unfortunate designation that will linger in the minds of fan bases for many years to come, knowing their team made a bad pick on a very disappointing player.
Not all such draft busts are created equal. Some are horrible, some are downright awful, some are absolutely the worst.
Here's looking back at the bottom 25, counting down to the biggest bust of them all. As you might expect, quarterbacks dominate the list as most important whiffed position, taking up nine spots.
Who makes the cut and what teams, positions and college are poorly represented? The exercise in recognizing the most awful begins:
MORE: Biggest regrets in NFL Draft history
25. Isaiah Wilson, OT, Georgia — 2020 NFL Draft, No. 29 overall to Tennessee Titans
Wilson started his career with some COVID-19 issues and off-field concerns tied to violating team rules. He played in only game as a rookie and was traded along with a seventh-rounder with the Dolphins in 2021, with the value being just a seventh-rounder in return. Wilson struggled to stick with the regulations in Miami and was cut soon afterward. The Giants gave him a final chance in the fall of '21, only to cut him in early 2022.
24. Matt Leinart, QB, USC — 2006 NFL Draft, No. 10 overall to Arizona Cardinals
Leinart, a Heisman Trophy winner, was supposed to take over for Kurt Warner when the veteran QB was finished in Arizona. That remained the plan until 2010, when Leinart lost the job to Derek Anderson and was released. Leinart did start 17 games throughout his Cardinals tenure but managed just seven wins and 10 losses.
23. Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida — 2008 NFL Draft, No. 8 overall to Jacksonville Jaguars
Harvey's Jaguars tenure got off to a poor start when he held out before the team signed him to a massive rookie contract, the only deal he'd sign with Jacksonville. Though Harvey played three seasons with the Jaguars, they released him in 2011. His last chance in the NFL was a poor 2011 season with the Broncos.
22. Kevin White, WR, West Virginia — 2015 NFL Draft, No. 7 overall to Chicago Bears
White and Amari Cooper were regarded as the top-two wideout prospects in that class. While Cooper has panned for two teams and is on his third, White was injury-riddled from the start, missing his entire rookie season. He's battled shin, fibula and shoulder ailments. White was with the Bears for four years, resurfacing with the Cardinals, 49ers and Saints the past two seasons for not much of anything except hanging on to the thread of his pro career.
21. Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA — 2018 NFL Draft, No. 10 overall to Arizona Cardinals
Rosen did make 13 starts as a rookie but struggled mightily in a bad offense. He wasn't given an opportunity to work on getting better in Year 2, because the Cardinals turned around and used the No. 1 overall pick in 2019 to draft Kyler Murray to replace him. Rosen was flipped to the Dolphins for a second- and fifth-rounder and took several more lumps in limited action in Miami. He bounced between the 49ers and Buccaneers before being a shaky Falcons backup in 2021. His career pretty much was done before it ever got started as the Cardinals made a completely wasted pick.
20. Dion Jordan, EDGE, Oregon — 2013 NFL Draft, No. 3 overall to Miami Dolphins
Jordan couldn't settle into an effective position as a pass rusher with limited production and upside. His career got further derailed by a season-long suspension for violating the league's substance policy in 2015. After also not playing at all in 2016, he bounced around as the same shaky defender for the Seahawks, Raiders and 49ers through 2020.
19. Rich Campbell, QB, California — 1981 NFL Draft, No. 6 overall to Green Bay Packers
Before the Packers stole Aaron Rodgers late in the first round out of Cal in 2005, they failed in setting themselves up with a franchise passer in the 1980s. Campbell never made a start for them, appearing in only seven games during his four NFL seasons. He wasted no time showing Green Bay he wasn't the answer with four INTs in 30 pass attempts as a rookie.
18. Kevin Allen, OT, Indiana — 1985 NFL Draft, No. 9 overall to Philadelphia Eagles
Allen couldn't play effectively at all as a pro, showing big bust material as a rookie. Then came Allen’s positive test for cocaine the next year before he was charged and imprisoned for sexual assault. Banned from the NFL, he struggled to hang around in other leagues.
17. Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State — 2014 NFL Draft, No. 8 overall to Cleveland Browns
Johnny Manziel is the bigger headliner bust from the Browns' first-round haul in 2014, but they also whiffed on their top-10 selection. Gilbert was OK as a subpackage rookie and even had a pick-six with his lone season and career interception. The Browns, however, needed only two years to realize he was a wasted talent and somehow dumped him on the AFC North rival Steelers for a sixth-round pick.
16. Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State — 2012 NFL Draft, No. 5 overall to Jacksonville Jaguars
This one hurt because Blackmon showed so much promise before crashing and burning because of the substance issues that surfaced immediately in the summer before his rookie season. After catching 64 passes for 865 yards and 5 TDs in 14 starts, he couldn't stay on the field to produce in Year 2. Blackmon got suspended for all of Year 3, his final season in the NFL, failing multiple times to stay clean enough to return to action.
15. Andre Ware, QB, Houston — 1990 NFL Draft, No. 7 overall to Detroit Lions
A Heisman Trophy winner and with big college numbers, Ware joined fellow Heisman winner Barry Sanders in Detroit for what the Lions thought would be a winning duo in the offensive backfield. But Ware simply couldn't cut it as an NFL quarterback. He ended up starting just six games in four seasons with the Lions.
14. Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama — 2012 NFL Draft, No. 3 overall to Cleveland Browns
Coming off a record-breaking junior season that earned him the Doak Walker Award, Richardson was what many considered a sure bet in the draft. He was not. After a season and a couple games of mediocre-at-best production, Richardson was traded to the Colts early during the 2013 season. He didn't play a down after the Colts cut him in 2015.
13. Heath Shuler, QB, Tennessee — 1994 NFL Draft, No. 3 overall to Washington
Shuler was coming off a Heisman-finalist season when Washington made him its hope at quarterback. But he couldn't even beat out Gus Frerotte, the team's seventh-rounder in the same draft, for the starting QB job in the long term. Shuler started just 13 games (4-9 record) in three seasons for Washington before he was traded to the Saints after the 1996 season.
12. Jason Smith, OT, Baylor — 2009 NFL Draft, No. 2 overall to St. Louis Rams
Smith's Rams tenure lasted longer than one year, but effectively, he was finished with the franchise that drafted him before his rookie season ended. A concussion ended Smith's first year early, and he was replaced in the Rams' lineup by Year 2. He was traded to the Jets in 2012.
11. Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State — 2008 NFL Draft, No. 6 overall to New York Jets
Chris Long, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco were among several success stories in that class, but Gholston was a cautionary tale stamping the many defensive busts. Gholston was an ineffective scheme misfit from the start and failed to record a sack in making only five starts in three total NFL seasons.
10. Steve Emtman, DE, Washington — 1992 NFL Draft, No. 1 overall to Indianapolis Colts
At least Emtman has a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown on his NFL resume, because that play, during his rookie season, was the highlight of his career. Injuries destroyed the remainder of Emtman's tenure with the Colts, for whom he managed just five sacks in three seasons before he was released.
9. Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M — 2014 NFL Draft, No. 22 overall to Cleveland Browns
Manziel has joined legendary quarterback busts such as JaMarcus Russell (2007) and Ryan Leaf (1998) with his quick, off-field-related flameout with the Browns. He lasted with the team and the NFL for a forgettable couple seasons in which he never lived up to his dynamic, Heisman-winning playmaking pedigree. The Browns had better success with Baker Mayfield, winning a playoff game before decided to upgrade to Deshaun Watson.
8. Lawrence Phillips, RB, Nebraska — 1996 NFL Draft, No. 6 overall to St. Louis Rams
Some considered Phillips the best player in the '96 class considering what he had done in college on the field. But his actions off the field were what ruined his NFL career. The Rams cut Phillips during the 1997 season in part because the number of days he had spent in jail (23) was more than the number of starts he had made for the team (20). Trouble followed Phillips after his NFL career; he tragically died in prison after he hanged himself in January 2016.
7. Brian Bosworth, LB, Oklahoma — 1987 Supplemental NFL Draft, Round 1 to Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks probably could have predicted Bosworth in the NFL would be known more for his off-field antics than his on-field performance. He was decent on the field — save for the infamous Bo Jackson encounter — until a bad shoulder forced his retirement during his third NFL season. Bosworth started just 24 games for Seattle.
6. Charles Rogers, WR, Michigan State — 2003 NFL Draft, No. 2 overall to Detroit Lions
Two monster seasons at Michigan State made Rogers seem like a money pick for the Lions at the time. Then his rookie season was derailed by injuries. Then, in 2005, a violation of the NFL's drug policy got him suspended. When the Lions dumped Rogers in 2006, nobody else wanted him. The former college star managed just 36 catches and four touchdowns during his three years in Detroit. Sadly, Rogers also died way too young at only 38 in 2019 after being diagnosed with cancer.
5. Tony Mandarich, OT, Michigan State — 1989 NFL Draft, No. 2 overall to Green Bay Packers
Mandarich wasn't the first highly-drafted tackle to fail with his first team, and he won't be the last. But the next three picks after Green Bay took him at No. 2 — Barry Sanders (Detroit), Derrick Thomas (Kansas City) and Deion Sanders (Atlanta) — all became Hall of Famers. Barry Sanders falling to the division-rival Lions, particularly, has to haunt the Packers when they think about the '89 draft.
4. Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Penn State — 1995 NFL Draft, No. 1 overall to Cincinnati Bengals
Carter's pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons in college, including a 23-touchdown year in '94, led the Bengals to trade up in order to draft him at No. 1 overall and give the back a massive contract. His rookie season, though, was erased by a preseason knee injury, and more injuries hampered the rest of his NFL career. He ended up starting just 14 games in five years for the Bengals.
3. Akili Smith, QB, Oregon — 1999 NFL Draft, No. 3 overall to Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals drafted Smith at No. 3 despite his relative lack of college production, and Smith missing rookie training camp time due to a contract dispute certainly didn't help. He ended up starting just 17 games in four years — 3-14 record, 5-13 TD-INT ratio — with the Bengals, the only NFL team on which he played.
2. Ryan Leaf, QB, Washington State — 1998 NFL Draft, No. 2 overall to San Diego Chargers
Many consider Leaf the biggest NFL Draft bust from all time, primarily due to the fact that he was debated alongside Peyton Manning atop the '98 class. While poor off-field behavior and injuries contributed to Leaf's NFL flame-out, his horrendous play — 13-33 TD-INT ratio, 48.8 rating and a record of 4-14 in 18 starts for the Chargers — would have been enough. San Diego dumped him as soon as the 2000 season ended.
1. JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU — 2007 NFL Draft, No. 1 overall to Oakland Raiders
Russell is in the conversation for biggest NFL Draft bust of all time primarily thanks to the hype he generated as a rare size-strength combo at quarterback. Thanks in part to a training camp holdout that carried into the season, he started only one game during his rookie year with the Raiders. The team dumped him in 2010 after 25 starts in three seasons (a record of 7-18), and Russell never again saw the field in the NFL.
