Every NFL team’s biggest draft whiff of all time
By Brad Rowland
Los Angeles Rams – Lawrence Phillips (No. 6 pick, 1996)
Boy, this did not end well.
We don’t have nearly the column space to chronicle all the off-field issues Lawrence Phillips had, and the former NFL running back tragically died in prison earlier in 2016. The Rams took Phillips with a top ten pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, and to be frank, off-field concerns were a big part of the reason he was still available.
The Rams elected to ignore them, and the rest is history.
Phillips appeared in only 25 games (over less than two seasons) with the Rams before being shipped out of town, and he was completely out of the league by 1999 with a career yards per carry average of only 3.4. To pour salt in the wound, the organization could have selected Eddie George, Marvin Harrison or even Ray Lewis later in the 1996 draft, and a lot of people saw this type of flame-out coming from a distance.
There is no use in poking fun at the Rams for this pick amid the circumstances, but there isn’t a ton of competition (Jason Smith? Gaston Green? Trung Candidate?) for this unfortunate choice.
Next: Miami Dolphins