The 8 biggest Heisman Trophy busts from this century
Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor (2011)
Everyone in the college football landscape was expecting Robert Griffin III to have a breakout season in 2009 as a sophomore for the Baylor Bears following a promising freshman campaign. However, an injury limited him to just three games that year. But when he returned for his redshirt sophomore season, he came back with a vengeance. It wasn’t until his junior campaign, however, that he did enough to earn himself the Heisman Trophy.
In that 2010 season, Griffin was wholly dominant for the Bears. He threw for 4,293 yards while completing an incredible 72.4 percent of his passes, throwing 37 touchdowns to just six interceptions. For good measure, the dual-threat quarterback rushed for 699 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year as well. That performance narrowly put him over Andrew Luck to win the award.
Luck, however, edged out Griffin to be the top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, but he was selected second by the Washington Redskins as they traded a king’s ransom to move up for him. As a rookie, RG3 was great, leading the Redskins to 9-6 and the playoffs, throwing for 20 touchdowns, 3,200 yards and rushing for seven scores.
After an injury took him out in the playoffs, though, Griffin’s career was never the same. After going 3-10 as a starter in his second season, the Redskins seemingly did everything possible to give up on him, but for good reason. He’s been lackluster at every turn since and is now a backup for the Baltimore Ravens. It’s clear he was never destined to be the player he was at Baylor.