NFL Draft: 10 worst No. 1 overall picks
By John Buhler
When a team has the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick, there are no guarantees that selection will pan out. Here are the 10 worst No. 1 NFL Draft picks all time.
Part of why the NFL has had such great parity over the years is that the league rewards its worst teams annually with favorable draft picks. A team that was once the laughing-stock of the NFL can ascend to national prominence in a few short years if the organization uses its superior draft picks wisely.
Sometimes teams that end up with the No. 1 overall pick in an NFL Draft find themselves Hall of Fame talents that they can build a winning culture around. A few of the best first overall picks since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970 include Terry Bradshaw of the Pittsburgh Steelers (1970), Lee Roy Selmon of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976) Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills (1985), and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. Bradshaw, Selmon, and Smith are all enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Manning will certainly make it to Canton as a first-ballot Hall of Famer as soon as he is eligible to be elected.
However, not every team is so lucky to draft a franchise cornerstone with the No. 1 overall draft pick. Some of those players do end up having respectable careers, but ultimately don’t ever live up to the hype of a first-overall selection.
Other players end up busting.
For whatever reason, whether that be situation, competitiveness, scheme fit, injuries, etc., even former No. 1 overall draft picks do end up busting. Since 1970, here are the 10 worst No. 1 overall selections in the NFL Draft.
Next: 10. Jadeveon Clowney, Houston Texans, 2014