Power ranking: The 13 biggest running back busts of all-time
By Robert Judin
8. Tommy Vardell
It’s safe to say we’ll be discussing the Cleveland Browns a little more, but for now we’ll mention Tommy Vardell.
The Browns made Vardell the ninth-overall pick out of Stanford in the 1992 NFL Draft, and it was for good reason.
While at Stanford, Vardell had a slow start in his first two seasons. He had 264 rushing yards and three touchdowns at the end of his sophomore year. But in 1990, Vardell exploded for 14 rushing touchdowns but with just 441 rushing yards.
In 1991, Vardell added the substance to the style with 1,188 rushing yards on 247 carries for an average of 4.8 yards per attempt. The eye-popping number, though, was his NCAA-leading 22 rushing touchdowns.
Yeah, it’s hard to blame the Browns for falling in love with Vardell. But they still would have gone in a different direction had they known he’d only rush for 1,070 yards and three touchdowns in four seasons as a Brown.
Vardell tacked on another 357 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in four more seasons split between the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions.
Wasting a top-10 pick on Vardell must have scared the Browns off from running backs altogether. It took them 10 years to pick another back in the first round – William Green out of Boston College at No. 16 overall in the 2002 NFL Draft.
In Vardell’s case, his collegiate stats were inflated during his last two seasons. So it begs the question: Would you rather have extreme numbers in a short amount of time or consistently solid numbers during an entire collegiate career?
Next: Ron Dayne