Sunday saw a battle between one great quarterback and one soon-to-be great quarterback. Peyton Manning marched his undefeated Indianapolis Colts out of Cincinnati with their tenth win, but Carson Palmer and the Bengals put up a fight. Down 35-17 in the second quarter, the Bengals closed the lead to 35-34 before the Colts took over. Manning threw for 365 yards and 3 TDs while Palmer fired right back with 335 yards and two TDs.
Both of these guys were No. 1 draft picks. Palmer stepped up his game against the league's best quarterback (at least statistically) and proved his worth as a No. 1 pick. He took the Bengals to a new level this season that nobody would have predicted.
That started me thinking about how certain high draft picks pay off at a higher rate than others. LaDainian Tomlinson was picked fifth overall in 2001. The Colts drafted the Edge fourth in the 1999 draft.
And then there are the great busts. Many players come into the league with high expectations and never pan out. My buddy Garis and I decided to countdown the biggest busts of the last few years.
We had to lay down a few ground rules. The player must have had at least three years of NFL experience, because some guys (Philip Rivers in San Diego) haven't had a chance to earn a starting spot.
The player must have been drafted in the top ten. There are countless busts from the last few years and nobody can name them all (certainly not in an 850-word column).
We limited our scope to the drafts between 1998 and 2002. I've heard of Tony Mandarich, and I know all about Brian Bosworth. But both were drafted before I turned five. So, here goes:
No. 10 is Koren Robinson. He was the ninth pick by the Seahawks in the 2001 draft. Here's a guy who went from 1,200 yards of receiving in 2002 to 495 yards in 10 games in 2004. He's now sixth on the depth chart in Minnesota and not even the best receiver named Robinson on that team (Marcus is better).
Keeping with wide receivers, Peter Warrick, No. 9 on the list, was the No. 4 pick by Cincinnati in 2000 and currently keeps the bench warm for Joe Jurevicius and Bobby Engram in Seattle. Warrick reached "mediocre" in 2003 when he had 819 yards of receiving and seven TDs, but was cut after a 2004 season cut short by injury.
Joey Harrington is No. 8. The Oregon quarterback was drafted third by the Lions in 2002 and lost the starting job to Jeff Garcia this season. He managed to throw for 19 TDs and over 3,000 yards last season, but still had a pitiful QB rating of 77.5 - a career high.
No. 7 is Andre Wadsworth, a defensive end drafted by the Cardinals with the third pick in 1998. Wadsworth, is another Seminole disaster, holding out on the Cardinals for a six-year deal worth $42 million. He had five sacks in 1998 before suffering injuries over the next two seasons, and is currently out of football.
The guy at No. 6 is pretty high on the list for a few reasons. Mike Ditka traded all his picks in the 1999 draft to get Ricky Williams at No. 5 and it ruined his professional run. Ricky gave up football in 2004 after reviving his career in Miami, costing another coach his job (Dave Wannstedt). He's currently trying to pay off the $8 million he owes the team.
Curtis Enis of the Bears sits at No. 5. The Penn State prospect was taken fifth in the 1998 draft, ahead of Randy Moss and Fred Taylor, and got injured in his first season. His second season was an improvement, but by 2001, he was out of football.
Akili Smith and Courtney Brown sit at numbers four and three. Smith went third overall to the Bengals in 1999, and threw for 2,212 yards. Total. He was out of football by 2001 after getting a career 52.8 QB rating. Brown, the No. 1 pick in 2000, played five seasons with the Browns and made them feel stupid for drafting him over Brian Urlacher and Plaxico Burress. He currently starts for the Denver Broncos, trying to resurrect his career.
A pair of No. 1 draft picks are at the top. Tim Couch, No. 2 on our list, was taken by the Browns with the top pick in 1999 and spent five seasons starting for Cleveland. He never lived up to expectations and then beaten out for the backup job in Green Bay by Doug Pederson.
No. 1 is the king of all busts, Ryan Leaf. The Charger's top pick in 1998, he threw two TDs and 15 picks in his first season. But he was more than just that a bad quarterback. He was also a jerk, often yelling at media and throwing tantrums (think TO but without the talent). He left for Dallas after two seasons with San Diego and then signed with Seattle in 2002, but never played a game.
