Penn State football: 5 great Nittany Lions who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

Research any list of historic NFL Draft busts and you’re likely to find Ki-Jana Carter at least mentioned somewhere along the way. The biggest part of that is undoubtedly due to where he was selected. But there’s also no denying that, while suiting up for Penn State football in college, he made many people believe that he was destined for great things at the next level.

Carter didn’t see the field all that often as a freshman in the 1992 season, getting only 42 carries for the season — though he did take those touches for 264 yards and four touchdowns. However, he gave the Nittany Lions faithful a tasted of his explosive talent as a sophomore when he rushed for 1,026 yards and six touchdowns in the 1993 campaign, capping it off with 93 yards and two touchdowns in the Citrus Bowl against Tennessee.

Without question, Carter’s coup de grace came as a junior. In the regular season, he helped pave the way for a 12-0 Penn State season as he put forth a monster season, rushing for 1,539 yards and 14 touchdowns on 198 carries. He finished second in the Heisman voting before dominating Oregon in the Rose Bowl, rushing for 156 yards and three touchdowns, including an 83-yard touchdown to begin the game.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Carter with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft with hopes he could be the face of the franchise. Instead, injuries ultimately derailed his career. He missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury and other ailments followed. Carter was in the league for seven seasons but played in only 59 games (only 14 as a starter) and had just 1,144 career rushing yards on 319 attempts, though he did manage 20 touchdowns.