Power ranking: The 13 biggest running back busts of all-time
By Robert Judin
10. Terry Miller
We’re going old school once again with Terry Miller. Miller was the No. 5 overall draft pick by the Buffalo Bills out of Oklahoma State in the 1978 NFL Draft.
In all seriousness, Miller’s rookie season was not bad at all. In fact, it was damn near great for a rookie. He rushed for 1,060 yards and seven touchdowns in 1978 with a 60-yard scoot to the house for his longest run of the season.
In his second season, though, Miller saw his carries drop from 238 in his first season to 139 carries in 1979. Miller lost carries to a third-round fullback named Curtis Brown.
Miller rushed for 484 yards and only one touchdown in 1979, and the Bills went 7-9 – better than their 5-11 record the year before. So, maybe the Bills figured out that handing the ball off to Miller was actually not a good thing. They cut his carries by about 100 and won two more games.
He wouldn’t score another touchdown for the rest of his career.
In 1980, Miller was relegated to kick returner, and rookie running back Joe Cribbs was given the workload and never gave it back. The second-round pick out of Auburn ran for 1,185 yards and 11 touchdowns while Miller had just 12 carries for 35 yards.
Talk about chopped liver, huh?
In 1981, Miller tried to catch on with the Seattle Seahawks, but a piece of Double Bubble lasted longer than Miller’s time in Seattle. He only played in one game and had a pair of two-yard runs.
Next: Tim Worley