Power ranking: The 13 biggest running back busts of all-time
By Robert Judin
6. Alonzo Highsmith
Close your eyes. Picture a 6-foot-1, 234-pound running back from the University of Miami. And we’re not talking about today’s version of Miami Hurricanes football. This is from when Jimmy Johnson was in charge, and the Hurricanes did what they wanted, when they wanted … because they won.
Now what if that running back rushed for 1,195 yards and seven touchdowns? Sounds like a pretty good season. Yeah, except that was Alonzo Highsmith’s entire six-year career.
The Houston Oilers thought they had their running back of the future – as all these teams did – when they drafted Highsmith with the third-overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft.
It was instantly recognized as a mistake. Highsmith rushed for 106 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries in his rookie season.
To Highsmith’s credit, in his second season, he more than quadrupled his rushing yards (466) and doubled his rushing touchdowns. That’s still progress (looks awkwardly to the side). Although, he did fumble the ball seven times on 94 carries.
Highsmith tacked on another 511 rushing yards and four touchdowns – along with six more fumbles – in his third season, but Houston had enough and parted ways with him. He chose to stay in Texas with the Dallas Cowboys in 1990, but that last just longer than a season as Highsmith was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two games into the 1991 season.
He only played in five games with the Buccaneers in 1992 and tallied only eight carries for 23 yards. Highsmith’s career was over only five years after it began.
Next: D.J. Dozier