Fansided

Every NFL team’s biggest draft whiff of all time

By Brad Rowland

SAN DIEGO - DECEMBER 24: Ryan Leaf
SAN DIEGO - DECEMBER 24: Ryan Leaf /
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CINCINNATI – SEPTEMBER 29: Quarterback Akili Smith #11 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs with the ball during the NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 29, 2002 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Buccaneers won 35-7. (Photo by Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI – SEPTEMBER 29: Quarterback Akili Smith #11 of the Cincinnati Bengals runs with the ball during the NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 29, 2002 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Buccaneers won 35-7. (Photo by Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati Bengals – Akili Smith (No. 3 pick, 1999)

The saddest part about watching Akili Smith’s NFL career flame out was that everyone saw it coming. Smith was extremely talented from a physical standpoint, but he basically came out of nowhere in a stellar final season at Oregon. If you polled everyone in the NFL world prior to the QB-heavy 1999 draft, he almost assuredly would have gone down as the most likely bust.

Still, the Bengals like what they saw from Smith in that final season in Oregon, and that was that.

It took Cincinnati a long time to recover from the damage done by picking Smith in the top three. His numbers were jarringly inept: Smith completed only 46.6 percent of his passes over four years (3-14 record over 17 starts), and he ended his short career with more than twice as many interceptions as touchdowns.

Things began in perilous fashion with a holdout as a rookie, and that probably did not aid in his development. With Smith, the Bengals somehow topped their pick of Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter (number one overall in the 1995 draft) when it comes to draft whiffs. That is almost impressive.

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