NFL Draft: 10 worst No. 1 overall picks
By John Buhler
Atlanta Falcons. Aundray Bruce. 6. player. 44. . Outside Linebacker
Often times, when a team is picking high in the draft they’ll gravitate towards taking a local star that thrived at a nearby collegiate institution. In 1988, the Atlanta Falcons fell for Columbus, Georgia native and Auburn Tigers outside linebacker Aundray Bruce hook, line, and sinker, taking Bruce No. 1 overall in the 1988 NFL Draft.
As a glorified pass rusher, it appeared very early that Bruce was not going to thrive in Atlanta’s defensive alignment. While Bruce played in 151 games in 11 NFL seasons between the Falcons and the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, he only started 12 times after his first two seasons in the NFL.
Bruce only had 32.0 quarterback sacks split between the Falcons and the Raiders in 11 seasons. The shame in it all was that he rarely missed games in his NFL career, playing in at least 14 games in his first nine NFL seasons.
Perhaps the necessary motor of a transcendent pass rushing talent was never there for Bruce? Given that the bulk of his career came as a rotational player with the Raiders in the 1990s instead of the franchise pass rusher the Falcons drafted at No. 1 overall in 1988, Bruce goes down as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.
In fact, he’s arguably the biggest No. 1 overall draft pick that busted in the NFC. Running back Bo Jackson may have spurned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he starred for the Raiders before destroying his hip versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Bruce was largely the most overhyped No. 1 pick in the 1980s and arguably the worst draft pick Atlanta has ever made in 50+ years of existence.
Next: 5. Steve Emtman, Indianapolis Colts, 1992