The Debate over the Biggest Draft Bust Ever

It's official. The JaMarcus Russell era has ended in Oakland. And it may be over for good. As I have written before, I don't see any team picking him up. Why would they? He never did show any semblance of a work ethic, was never in shape and never seemed to pick up the offense of be able to read defenses. Unless there is a miraculous comeback, Russell could very well go down as the biggest draft bust ever.

In the annals of the NFL, the biggest draft busts are quarterbacks. They are the marquee players, and being in the spotlight makes them easy targets for criticism. But when their performance doesn't reflect their draft status, they get the label of draft bust.

You can go back to 1979, when the Cincinnati Bengals selected Jack Thompson #3 overall. It was believed that Ken Anderson was at the end of his career, but Thompson never did play well. Anderson revived his career under Forrest Gregg, and led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1981. Thompson was eventually traded to Tampa Bay, and was out of the league before you realized he was in.

Twenty years later the Bengals selected Akili Smith with the #3 overall selection. He didn't are any better than Thompson. He held out, never did pick up the offense and had trouble reading defenses (sounds a lot like Russell, doesn't it?) Smith was released when Marvin Lewis came in and drafted Carson Palmer #1 overall in 2003. He failed to find a home in the NFL and like Thompson was out of the league in a hurry.

In the 90's, the quarterback bust list was long. Heath Shuler and Rick Mirer failed badly in the NFL. Tim Couch and Cade McNown were in the same draft class as Smith, and didn't fare any better. But the bust that everyone else is measured against is Ryan Leaf.

His bust status is so high because some people actually had him graded higher than Peyton Manning. I imagine that those personnel staffers are no longer working in the NFL. San Diego traded up 1 spot to draft Leaf, and gave up a number of picks to do it. Which never made sense to me because Arizona already had Jake Plummer at quarterback, and they had no reason to draft Leaf except as leverage. Then Leaf took the field, and was a disaster. He was even worse off the field. The less I say the better. He is simply put the poster boy for bad behavior.

It will be seen as to whether or not Russell will be a bigger draft bust than Russell. But if he doesn't get picked up by another team to prove himself I'd say yes, the Biggest Draft Bust EVER.