NFL teams down on their luck look to the draft each offseason as a tool to help turn things around.
Although any given April can deliver a franchise-altering player, the NFL draft has also churned out its fair share of disappointments over the years. Just because a player is selected with a high pick doesn't mean that they're guaranteed to turn into a star, and several teams have learned that the hard way and will continue to do so as long as the annual event is around.
With a new season around the corner, now is the perfect time to look back at some recent draft decisions that aged poorly. Here are the rankings for the 20 biggest NFL draft busts of the last two decades, starting with...
Honorable mentions: Johnny Manziel (2014), Justin Blackmon (2012), Derrick Harvey (2008), Isaiah Wilson (2020)
It isn't unusual for first-round picks to face pressure right away, and Treylon Burks was no exception. The Titans threw him into the spotlight when they shipped off AJ Brown in a deal that brought them the No. 18 pick used on Burks in 2022.
Since then, Burks underwhelmed, posting 53 catches for 699 receiving yards and a touchdown in 27 games over three injury-plagued years with the Titans. They eventually waived him in October, which led to his signing with the Commanders-an uneventful stint that resulted in a 10-130-1 stat line in eight games.
Considering that Brown has posted four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, made three second-team All-Pro appearances and won a Super Bowl since then, it's safe to say that the Titans likely want this decision back .
It's also interesting to see whether a first-round quarterback lives up to the hype or not. Much to Christian Ponder's dismay, he fell into the latter category after going to the Vikings in 2011.
Christian Ponder never lived up to expectations with the Vikings. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The former Florida State gunslinger posted a forgettable 14-21-1 record with 38 touchdowns to 36 interceptions across 38 games over four seasons with Minnesota , finishing only one year (2012) with an above-.500 record. He never amounted to anything more than a low-end starter, which he couldn't even be after leaving the Vikings. Ponder experienced quick stops with the Raiders, Broncos and 49ers before fading into the background after the 2016 season.
After ripping a 4.22-second 40-yard dash in the lead-up to the 2017 NFL Draft, the Bengals had high hopes that John Ross could become a key cog in their offense. Throw in the fact that he was coming off a career-high 1,150 receiving yards with a Pac-12-leading 17 touchdown grabs, and there was every reason to believe in his outlook.
It's safe to say that Ross never came close to living up to the hype. He was injured more often than not, only suiting up for 38 games (21 starts) between 2017 and 2024. It doesn't help that he wasn't exactly productive whenever he was available, catching only 63 balls on 145 targets (43.4%) for 963 receiving yards and 11 TDs.
While the 2017 draft wasn't great for wideouts outside of a couple of names ( Chris Godwin , Cooper Kupp , etc.), that doesn't change the fact that the Bengals' drafting Ross was a colossal miss.
Cornerbacks aren't often drafted in the top three, which is why the Lions shocked a lot of people with their selection of Jeff Okudah in 2020. The risk already looked clear at the time, and it turned out that everyone's concerns proved to be true. Injuries and inconsistent performances quickly made him a headache in Detroit , prompting a trade in April 2023 that sent him to the Falcons in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick.
Given that he was a top-three pick just a few years before that, it really illustrates just how much Okudah's value plummeted. That trend continued as he failed to find a permanent home, playing games with the Texans and Vikings after leaving the Falcons as a free agent in 2024. He's still yet to play a full NFL campaign and only has two career interceptions after notching three picks in his last year at Ohio State.
He's only 27 years old and might have some juice left in him; however, it's fair to say that Okudah won't ever live up to the draft hype.
The Giants needed to find a permanent right tackle solution in 2022, leading to the drafting of Evan Neal out of Alabama. The 6-foot-7, 340-pound blocker had the perfect size to help solve that issue, but injuries and a lack of reliability on the gridiron have him among the biggest busts of the last 20 years.
Despite some moments here and there, Evan Neal's NFL career has been largely disappointing. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Of the potential 68 regular-season games that he could've played since joining the league, Neal has only appeared in 29 contests with the Giants-an availability rate of 42.6%. When healthy, he's surrendered 98 pressures across 1,078 opportunities , according to Pro Football Focus , and has yet to finish with a pass block grade better than 49.6.
After missing all of 2025 due to injury, Neal re-signed with the Giants on a veteran-minimum contract back in March. If that doesn't show why he's more than deserving of a bust label, it's hard to say what would. There's a decent chance that his "best" days are already behind him.
A strong three-year run at Maryland resulted in Darrius Heyward-Bey being selected seventh overall by the Raiders in 2009. He was the first wide receiver selected that offseason, only adding to the sky-high expectations that the former Terrapin would never live up to.
Outside of a 975-yard performance with the Raiders in 2011, Heyward-Bey's career was nothing to write home about. Sure, he ended up making 71 starts across 144 games, which is more than a lot of players can say, but a 202-2,897-16 receiving line is pretty disappointing when taking his draft slot into account. He slowly faded away after joining the Steelers in 2014, leaving his fans forever wondering what could've been.
The Browns have made a plethora of head-scratching draft choices over the years, and selecting Brandon Weeden in 2012 is among them. The ex-Oklahoma State quarterback became the oldest first-round pick when his name was called, raising concerns about how high his ceiling might be compared to younger options.
It didn't take long for Weeden to justify those concerns, leading the Browns to a 5-15 record while throwing for 5,116 yards, 23 TDs to 26 INTs and a 71.8 passer rating in two seasons. He was released after his second year in Cleveland , bounced around three more franchises and eventually called it quits some time after the 2018 season.
It didn't take Brandon Weeden long to wear out his time with the Browns and-eventually-the NFL as a whole. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Making matters worse, Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins were eventually drafted after Weeden, leaving Browns fans even more frustrated. It's safe to say that being the oldest first-rounder is likely all Weeden will be known for whenever someone looks back at his career.
A 12-sack performance at Penn State in 2008 played a huge role in the Bills using the 2009 draft's 11th overall selection on Aaron Maybin. The All-American talent seemed primed to make an immediate NFL impact, only for his career to go the way of everyone else on this list.
The Bills ended the Maybin experiment by waiving him in August 2011, evidently disappointed by the zero sacks he amassed in 27 games over two seasons. It looked like his career was back on track with a six-sack performance with the Jets in 2011, only to fall back to zero in eight appearances the following campaign. He was cut from the Bengals ahead of the 2013 season, which he spent in the Canadian Football League, before announcing his retirement less than a year later .
Much to no one's surprise, the Browns are back on this list. This time, it's due to their decision to select Justin Gilbert out of Oklahoma State with the No. 8 pick in 2014. It was a choice that produced next to no value for Cleveland, as Gilbert only registered one interception in 23 games (three starts) before the Browns traded him to the Steelers for a 2018 sixth-round pick... in 2016.
From a top-10 pick to being worth a Day 3 dart throw in just a few years, few players have seen such a fall from grace.
Instead of rehabilitating his image with the Steelers, Gilbert's struggles continued to the tune of one tackle across 12 games in 2016. He was released after that season, suspended for a year from the NFL after violating the substance policy and has been out of the league ever since, playing with the National Arena League's Sioux City Bandits since 2023.
Amassing 109 catches for 1,447 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in his draft year, Kevin White seemed to be the ideal No. 1 wideout for the Bears to build around. Unfortunately, a never-ending series of injuries prevented him from seeing much of the field in Chicago , suiting up only 14 times from 2016 to 2019.
The Bears eventually had enough, declining White's fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Some thought that fresh starts in Arizona , San Francisco and New Orleans would help, but that wasn't the case. He put up an uninspiring 3-112-0 stat line over 16 games in his post-Bears days before ultimately walking away from the game when he failed to find work ahead of the 2023 season.
Injuries aren't always a player's fault, but that doesn't change the fact that White's career was extremely disappointing for a top-10 pick.
Another player hampered by injuries, it's no secret that Luke Joeckel was a disappointing second-overall selection for the Jaguars. The former Texas A&M blocker missed 25 games over four seasons in Jacksonville , all while he was expected to anchor the franchise's left tackle situation for the foreseeable future.
It likely didn't take the Jaguars long to regret drafting Luke Joeckel. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
A clean slate with the Seahawks in 2017 wasn't enough to save his outlook, even with a transition to guard. Joeckel's 58.7 overall grade on Pro Football Focus that year was only better than his rookie performance (58.1) , illustrating the lack of strides he made despite being in the league for five years by that point. His career was over after that, cementing his spot in infamy forever.
Joeckel wasn't the only bust taken early in the 2013 draft, as the Dolphins selected Dion Jordan just one pick later.
After recording 14.5 sacks in his last three years at Oregon, though, Jordan didn't have the same impact at the NFL level. He only started in one of his 26 appearances in the first two seasons, culminating in a whopping three sacks. He then missed all of 2015 due to a substance abuse policy violation, and although he was reinstated the following year, he never played for the Dolphins again.
Off-field drama followed Jordan to Seattle , where he received a 10-game suspension because of Adderall use in 2019. He remained on the West Coast for stints with the 49ers and Raiders, but that was the end of the line for him. Having 13.5 sacks in 63 career games (only five starts) is far from what any team wants to see from a third-overall selection.
The Browns-making yet another appearance-thought they found the solution to their backfield problems with Trent Richardson. The No. 3 pick of the 2012 NFL Draft showed promise by rushing for 950 yards and 11 TDs on 267 carries as a rookie, operating as one of the team's few bright spots that season.
Well, Richardson didn't have much of an opportunity to build on that performance in Cleveland. The Browns traded him to the Colts for the 2014 first-round pick that would become Johnny Manziel, capping Richardson's time with the franchise at 17 games. He played another 29 contests in an Indianapolis jersey but didn't accomplish much, fading out of the league after the 2014 season with a career stat line of 614-2,032-17 over 46 games.
Considering how Manziel didn't amount to much for the Browns either, everything about Richardson's selection and what followed screams "bust."
Whenever an offensive lineman is drafted inside the top five, it's usually because the team choosing them believes in their long-term potential in the trenches. The Rams thought they were doing exactly that when they called Jason Smith's name at No. 2 in 2009, only for the ex-Baylor blocker to disappear from the franchise almost as quickly as he arrived.
Another first-rounder who dealt with injuries, Smith only played 29 games for the Rams before being traded to the Jets in August 2012. New York went on to release him less than one year after the deal, resulting in blink-and-you'll-miss-it stints with the Saints and Jets (again) before the 2013 offseason ended. He stepped away from football shortly after that; however, he did join Abilene Christian as a tight ends coach in 2024 before South Carolina hired him as an assistant OL coach this past December.
Even if he goes on to have a terrific coaching career, Smith's uneventful time as a player in the NFL will ensure he'll remain in the bust conversation.
Five years after drafting Smith second overall, the Rams used the same pick to bolster their offensive line again with Greg Robinson. An All-SEC showing at Auburn in 2013 was enough to leave the Rams willing to take a similar risk, only for this decision to also blow up in their faces.
Robinson never became the player that the Rams needed him to be, often frustrating fans with a lack of discipline both on and off the field . He left much to be desired as a tackle and unsuccessfully tried his hand at guard before the team pulled the plug with a trade to the Lions ahead of the 2017 season. Unsurprisingly, he was ineffective in Detroit before a pair of uninspiring years in Cleveland, with his last NFL appearance coming in a Browns uniform in 2019.
No individual accolades, no playoff appearances. It's hard to get more underwhelming than that for a player drafted that high.
Aaron Curry never became the perennial defensive playmaker that the Seahawks wanted him to be. The 2009 draft's fourth-overall pick only lasted 2.5 seasons and 35 games (30 starts) in the Rainy City before the Seahawks had enough, trading him to the Raiders for two late picks in October 2011. His NFL career didn't last for much longer after that, as Curry announced his retirement in 2013 after failing to crack the Giants' final roster.
Aaron Curry is one of the most disappointing top-five picks of the last 20 years. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
As the dust settled, Curry finished his NFL career with 5.5 sacks in 48 career games. No matter how you slice it, he didn't make the impact that the Seahawks needed from him. Making matters worse for him is that Seattle won the Super Bowl two seasons after turning the page on him, likely leaving Curry to wonder what could've been had he played well enough to stick around.
The deck was immediately stacked against Trey Lance when the 49ers traded three first-round picks to the Dolphins to move up and grab him. Unfortunately, the Marshall, MN native didn't exactly do much to overcome adversity. Lance looked rather pedestrian as he led the 49ers to a 2-2 record while passing for 797 yards, five TDs to three INTs and an 84.5 passer rating in his first eight NFL games.
Lance was quickly leapfrogged by Sam Darnold and Brock Purdy on San Francisco's depth chart, leading to his being traded to the Cowboys in 2023. He started one game for Dallas and another for the Chargers since then, both ending in losses without a touchdown thrown. Unlike others on this list, Lance is still employed as Los Angeles 's backup QB; however, it's fair to say that's still a disappointing role for a former top-three draftee.
Much like he found himself at the 2021 NFL Draft, Zach Wilson lands one spot higher than Lance on this list. The Jets thought they were getting the better of the two QB prospects when they chose Wilson over Lance, but it's safe to say that neither they nor the 49ers were winners of that outcome.
Repeated benchings and poor on-field decisions prevented Wilson from finding much of a rhythm in the Jets' QB room. He went 12-21 with 6,293 passing yards and more interceptions (25) than touchdowns (23) in 33 starts for New York, all before he was traded to the Broncos in 2024. His time in Denver (followed by Miami ) wasn't much to write home about, and he's now listed as the No. 3 quarterback on New Orleans's depth chart, adding to his descent from the top of the mountain.
Zach Wilson has struggled to stick around everywhere he's gone, strengthening the case that he's one of the biggest recent draft busts. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Wilson recently turned 27 years old, which is still "young" enough to stick around the NFL for a while longer. At the same time, unless he spends the foreseeable future winning a starting job and leading a team to postseason glory, there's a high likelihood that he'll always be remembered as a top-three bust.
Ask a Jets fan what they think about Vernon Gholston, and their facial reaction should give you a good indication of how his NFL career went. After being drafted sixth overall in 2008, the ex-Ohio State Buckeye made only five starts across 45 appearances in a New York jersey, failing to record a single sack.
That selection would look bad any year, but it's even worse when you consider that Calais Campbell (117.0 sacks), Cliff Avril (74.0) and Chris Long (70.0) were all pass rushers drafted after Gholston and had better careers than him. The lack of production led to the Jets releasing Gholston after the 2011 season, only for him to spend time on the practice squads of the Bears and Rams before calling it a career.
Failing to make any sort of waves during his brief time in the league, it won't be surprising if each newer generation of NFL fans forgets about Gholston more and more.
Quarterbacks are frequently the top pick of any given draft due to their ability to transform a franchise. The Raiders had high hopes that JaMarcus Russell would lead them into brighter days as the No. 1 overall selection in 2007, and while he did transform their outlook, it was for all the wrong reasons.
Between abysmal physical condition and a frustrating work ethic, it didn't take Russell long to seal his fate as a historic draft bust. He went 7-18 while completing only 52.1% of passes for 4,083 yards, 18 TDs, 23 INTs and a 65.2 passer rating in 31 games (25 starts) before the Raiders reached their limit, releasing him in May 2010.
It's harder to find a bigger draft bust than JaMarcus Russell in NFL history, let alone the last 20 years. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Pouring salt into the wound, Calvin Johnson and Joe Thomas-two Pro Football Hall of Famers-were drafted immediately after Russell, as were two more before the first round ended.
Although he attempted to return to the league, Russell never sniffed the NFL again after his release. It's now been almost 16 years since he last played a game, yet his name still carries the same level of infamy as it did when he was imploding for the Raiders in real time. It's going to take a special player (for all the wrong reasons) to usurp him as one of the biggest football draft busts of all time.
Until then, if it ever even happens, expect to keep on seeing Russell's name at the top of most bust lists.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/jets/onsi as 20 Biggest NFL Draft Busts of the Last 20 Years .
