Table of Contents
10 Biggest NFL Busts of the Last 10 Years
The best players are desired by all teams. But not all the best people succeed. As a result, not every player lives up to the anticipation.
Busts in the NFL are nothing new.
Therefore, we’ll rank the top 10 NFL busts of the past ten years on this list.
These are not necessarily the worst players, though.
Simply put, they fell short of their potential.
Injury or poor team management may occasionally be the cause.
It might be difficult to control expectations and the tough competition in the NFL.
The Top 10 NFL Failures of the Past 10 Years
After looking at websites like thecomeback.com, the list is created.
The player statistics were chosen from Pro-Football-Reference.
| S.N. | Name | Drafted Year |
| 10 | Justin Blackmon | 2012 No. 5 |
| 9 | Blaine Gabbert | 2011 No. 10 |
| 8 | Johnny Manziel | 2014 No. 22 |
| 7 | Ej Manuel | 2013 No. 16 |
| 6 | Paxton Lynch | 2016 No. 26 |
| 5 | Trent Richardson | 2012 No. 3 |
| 4 | Dee Milliner | 2013 No. 9 |
| 3 | Justin Gilbert | 2014 No.8 |
| 2 | Kevin White | 2015 No. 7 |
| 1 | Dion Jordan | 2013 No. 3 |
10. Justin Blackmon
Justin Blackmon, a wide receiver, only played one season in the NFL.
He was chosen by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round.
The fifth pick overall was him.
His playing abilities were top-notch.
In his first year, Justin was named to the All-Rookie team.
Sadly, substance abuse was what led to his downfall.
Blackmon was stopped for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Following that, the NFL suspended him for violating their drug policy.
After being suspended, he participated in just one game.
He was placed on an indefinite suspension by the NFL almost four months after his arrest.
He was then detained for drunk driving in Oklahoma once more in 2015.
Later, he admitted to the accusations.
But in the end, he was sentenced to a year of probation, as well as penalties and community work.
Therefore, there is basically no likelihood that he will play in the NFL.
9. Blaine Gabbert
The list of the top 10 NFL busts in the past ten years is dominated by quarterbacks.
Blaine Gabbert is one of the quarterbacks.
He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round in 2011.
He was the tenth overall choice.
Blaine was anxious to join the NFL.
So, rather than playing in his senior year of college, he elected to pursue the NFL draft.
He won the wager because he was chosen in the first round.
His performance in the NFL, though, was dismal.
In his debut year, he suffered 40 sacks.
Even worse, his league average completion percentage was only 50.8 percent.
Some blamed his bad performance on his injury.
For two additional seasons, there were still injuries.
The Jacksonville Jaguars traded him following his third season.
He has switched teams three more times since then.
He was a member of the Super Bowl champion team in 2020.
But during that season, he served as the backup quarterback.
He consequently played very few games.
8. Johnny Manziel
Johnny Manziel is another quarterback on the list.
He wasn’t a top 10 pick, in contrast to other players.
However, Johnny Manziel was the subject of considerable hype.
After college, most players are selected.
Johnny Manziel was chosen from high school in this instance.
Throughout his time in high school, he received many honors.
His career was derailed by the off-field controversies in this instance.
He was detained even before he had participated in a single college game.
He was accused of unruly conduct, failing to provide identity, and having a fake driver’s license, among other things.
He was surrounded by some issues from 2012 to 2016.
He appeared to be having trouble adjusting to his new celebrity.
He was accused of domestic violence in 2016 against Collen Crowley, his ex-girlfriend.
Numerous people severed ties with him as a result of this occurrence.
Agent Drew Rosenhaus, his marketing company, also ended their agreement with Manziel.
Prior to this, Drew Rosenhaus had never canceled a player’s contract.
7. Ej Manue
Only six seasons of Ej Manuel’s career as a professional football player.
Manuel was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round.
He was chosen with the 16th overall pick in the 2013 draft.
The squad, therefore, had high expectations for him.
However, injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential.
He was a standout performer at the University of Florida.
He injured his right lateral collateral ligament in his first year.
He was forced to rest for more than two months as a result.
He was unable to continue the first season.
He was forced to sit on the sidelines in 2014.
A better third season was experienced by Ej Manuel.
Sadly, he was a reserve during his fourth season.
Later, he was acquired by the Oakland Raiders for the 2017 campaign.
He had a respectable season in 2017.
He was not given the opportunity to play in the 2018 or 2019 seasons, though.
In 2019, he finally retired.
He is currently employed as an analyst.
6. Paxton Lynch
Paxton Lynch is the last quarterback on our list.
He was chosen in the first round in 2016.
He was the 26th pick overall in terms of order of selection.
His poorer performance has a worse pick as its main cause.
Only five games were played during his four-year season.
He was sacked numerous times, even in his first season.
He switched teams four times throughout his four-year career.
He did, however, play with the Seattle Seahawks in the off-season.
He was among the finest in his generation for college games.
He participated in collegiate football for Memphis University.
Sadly, he was unable to apply that to his NFL performance.
His shoulder became injured during his second season.
Not even his first team had much faith in him.
The Denver Broncos’ decision to hold onto their first-round pick is puzzling.
Even the second time, he was not utilized.
He was removed from the final roster by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He was nevertheless listed on the active roster.
5. Trent Richardson
One of the top ten NFL busts in the previous ten years was the running back for the Cleveland Browns.
He was selected third overall.
Trent Richardson was regarded as the top prospect prior to the NFL draft.
He was widely predicted to be the first choice.
He was recognized as a Unanimous All-American before his NFL debut.
In addition, he received the Doak Walker honor.
He was expected to become one of the best running backs in the future.
Sadly, he fell short of his potential.
In 2002, he was chosen with the first pick for the last time.
He had a lot of expectations as a result, of course.
He had a successful season, in contrast to other prospects.
However, the Browns dealt him to the Colts of Indianapolis.
After that, he experienced a sharp drop each season.
4. Dee Milliner
Dee Milliner, a cornerback, debuted in the NFL in 2013.
He was selected by the New York Jets in the first round.
He was selected ninth overall in 2013.
He played in the NFL for just three seasons.
He played just twenty-one games in three seasons.
His brief career was primarily due to injuries.
He encountered several challenges when his rookie season got underway.
His performance wasn’t particularly good at first.
He was then left on the bench.
However, as the season progressed, his performance got better.
He had completed 56 tackles by the end of the first season.
Sadly, everything went awry for destiny in the next season.
Even before the season started, he had an ankle sprain.
He missed several weeks of the game because of this.
He sustained another injury in Week 6.
Additional tests later revealed that his Achilles tendon was ruptured.
Due to an injury, he missed the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
3. Justin Gilbert
Another cornerback on the top 10 NFL busts of the previous ten years is Justin Gilbert.
Gilbert was selected in the first round by the Cleveland Browns.
He was selected tenth overall in 2014.
He was unable to live up to the team’s expectations, though.
He was regarded as one of the top cornerback prospects based on his college play.
Due to an injury, Justin was unable to participate in the first two games.
He thus only participated in fourteen games throughout the first season.
He appeared in just nine games in the second season.
He not only performed poorly, but he also had drug misuse issues.
But even before he started doing drugs, no one on the team picked him up.
2. Kevin White
One of the biggest busts in the NFL over the past ten years is also regarded as Kevin White.
White was selected in the first round by the Chicago Bears.
He was selected as the seventh overall pick.
Kevin represented Lackawant College in college football.
Similar to other athletes, the injury had a big impact on his career.
White needed surgery because of a stress fracture.
He, therefore, missed all of the games during his rookie campaign.
Unfortunately, injuries persisted into the second season as well.
With the exception of 2018, he missed a season due to injury.
Finally, after his fourth season, the Bears released him.
Even though he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals in 2019, it was only for exhibition games.
In 2020, White signed on with the San Francisco 49ers.
He is now playing for the New Orleans Saints.
1. Dion Jordan
Dion Jordan is the biggest bust in the NFL during the past ten years.
The Miami Dolphins’ defensive end made his professional debut.
Jordan was chosen as the third overall choice in the first round.
Jordan represented the University of Oregon in collegiate football.
He only participated in sixteen games during his debut season.
In 2014 and 2015, he was adjudicated guilty of substance misuse.
For using drugs, Jordan received a season-long ban in 2015.
He later signed up with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017.
He was found guilty of using Adderall even on his new team.
He later switched from the Oakland Raiders to the San Francisco 49ers.
But he wasn’t signed by a team for the 2021 campaign.
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Conclusion
These tales should serve as a warning.
Players occasionally abuse opportunities, while others lose because of unforeseen circumstances.
