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Weakest NFL Draft Classes of All Time 

by Scott Kacsmar
written by Scott Kacsmar

The NFL draft brings hope to fans each year. However, we know statistically that most teams are not going to come away with a franchise-changing haul of new players. They may be lucky to get 2-3 quality contributors for the next several years.

Still, what happens when it’s just a weak draft class in general? We have seen cases where some of the strongest NFL draft classes have occurred in consecutive years like 1995-96 and 2011-12. But what usually happens is regression to the mean, and a very weak class follows those after the talent has dried up from the college game. Wait for the next group to develop in the NCAA and be draft-eligible down the road.

We decided to look at the 10 weakest NFL draft classes of all time. This was the criteria used:

  • Only considered drafts in the common draft era (since 1967).
  • Undrafted players from that year were not considered in the evaluation of the class.
  • Did not put much emphasis on 2019-23 since it is too early to rank them historically.

A lack of Hall of Fame (HOF) and All-Pro players, egregious 1st-round busts and a lack of greatness at key positions (quarterbacks, offensive tackles, edge rushers, corners) makes a draft class weaker in our eyes.

For each draft, we’ve noted who the best players were with their Weighted Career Approximate Value from Pro Football Reference in parenthesis.

Let’s count down the 10 weakest NFL draft classes of all time before heading to the NFL betting sites for this year’s draft.

10. The 2005 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • QB Aaron Rodgers (163)
  • G Logan Mankins (102)
  • OLB DeMarcus Ware (100, HOF)
  • QB Alex Smith (98)
  • RB Frank Gore (94)
  • WR Roddy White (88)
  • LB Thomas Davis (80)
  • LB Derrick Johnson (80)
  • QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (78)
  • WR Vincent Jackson (77)
  • DE Trent Cole (68)
  • DE Justin Tuck (65)
  • G Richie Incognito (62)
  • RB Darren Sproles (62)
  • TE Heath Miller (45)
  • OLB Shawne Merriman (40)

You might say a draft with 4-time MVP Aaron Rodgers and HOF pass rusher DeMarcus Ware can’t possibly be one of the worst in history. However, from a positional value standpoint, and as a live viewer of it on TV, yes, it belongs here.

For starters, a draft where Alex Smith tricked enough people in an Urban Meyer offense at Utah to get drafted No. 1 over Rodgers was ridiculous. Smith needed forever and a day to break out in San Francisco under Jim Harbaugh in 2011, then he didn’t have a truly great season until 2017 with Andy Reid in Kansas City. He had a long career and wasn’t a bust, but he was not a legitimate franchise quarterback.

Alex Smith

With Smith going No. 1, we waited to see where California quarterback Aaron Rodgers would go. Despite several teams needing a quarterback, we kept watching running backs get drafted. Ronnie Brown (No. 2 to Miami), Cedric Benson (No. 4 to Chicago) and Cadillac Williams (No. 5 to Tampa Bay) all went in the top 5 picks, a preposterous idea now.

None of them really worked out that well for those teams either save for the usage of Brown in the Wildcat formation in the 2008 season. Those were bad picks. Wide receiver Braylon Edwards was also the No. 3 pick to the Browns and he never lived up to the hype.

At least he was better than Troy Williamson, who went No. 7 to the Vikings and was one of the biggest busts in history with 1,131 career receiving yards. Imagine replacing Randy Moss with that.

Speaking of busts, the Lions drafted a wide receiver in the 1st round for the 3rd year in a row, and big Mike Williams was the worst pick yet as he only had 1,526 career receiving yards as the No. 10 pick.

That top 10 was beyond embarrassing, and at least the draft picked up afterwards with pass rushers DeMarcus Ware (Cowboys) and Shawne Merriman (Chargers) going off the board.

Still, the wait for Rodgers grew, and so did the busts.

Teams were loading up on off-ball linebackers, including David Pollack of the Bengals, who suffered a career-ending neck injury after 16 games. The Vikings also embarrassed themselves again with Erasmus James, who only played 28 games in the NFL.

The Jaguars used the 21st pick on Matt Jones, the Arkansas quarterback who was converted to wide receiver at the next level.

With the No. 23 pick, maybe the Raiders, who had struggling veteran Kerry Collins at quarterback, would take Rodgers. But nope, they opted for the speed of corner Fabian Washington, who ran himself out of the league before his 28th birthday.

Finally, with the No. 24 pick, the Green Bay Packers ended Rodgers’ nightmare and took him despite still having Brett Favre and coming off a playoff season. Could you imagine how tough that was for Rodgers to spend hours in the green room – with his family – with the cameras constantly on him while teams were drafting Alex Smith, multiple running backs in the top 5, a whole group of off-ball linebackers and a bunch of busts at wide receiver?

And the funny part is this draft still peaked in that 1st round with 7-of-8 top players in approximate value coming in the 1st round. Someone like Ryan Fitzpatrick was a 7th-round pick (from Harvard, mind you) who threw for 34,990 yards in the NFL, but he also managed to never play on a team that made the postseason for 17 years. His career should be studied for the ridiculous number of opportunities he had.

Still, there weren’t a lot of late-round steals outside of Trent Cole (5th-round edge rusher for the Eagles) and Darren Sproles (4th-round gadget back for the Chargers).

Also, despite all those running backs going in the top 5, it was 3rd-round pick Frank Gore who outlasted everyone with 16,000 career rushing yards. He played forever, and while some think he belongs in the Hall of Fame for that, I’m not sure he will get in any time soon.

New England guard Logan Mankins could end up being a 3rd HOFer for this class after Ware and Rodgers. He made 7 Pro Bowls and is on the 2010s All-Decade team, though he was on the Patriots teams that didn’t win any rings (2005-13), so he could get lost in the shuffle.

Roddy White was the 5th wide receiver drafted in the 1st round and the only one who didn’t disappoint from that group.

The 2005 NFL draft happened 19 years ago, and we still think of it as the one where Aaron Rodgers was the center of attention. Guess some things never change.

9. The 1987 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • CB Rod Woodson (142, HOF)
  • QB Vinny Testaverde (97)
  • QB Rich Gannon (97)
  • LB Hardy Nickerson (97)
  • LB Cornelius Bennett (91)
  • LB Greg Lloyd (88)
  • OT Bruce Armstrong (82)
  • OT Harris Barton (79)
  • QB Jim Harbaugh (79)
  • DB Tim McDonald (75)
  • QB Steve Beuerlein (69)
  • WR Mark Carrier (61)
  • QB Chris Miller (51)
  • DT Jerome Brown (51)
  • WR Haywood Jeffires (50)
  • QB Don Majkowski (39)
  • FB Christian Okoye (34)
  • RB Bo Jackson (22)

The 1987 NFL draft was a great one for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted the year’s only HOFer, all-time great corner Rod Woodson, and found a very good 6th-round linebacker in Greg Lloyd.

Rod Woodson

However, for the rest of the NFL, this was a rough draft, especially at the top:

  • No. 1 overall pick Vinny Testaverde was a stud college quarterback at Miami, but he was a pick machine in Tampa Bay.
  • The Oilers (Alonzo Highsmith) and Packers (Brent Fullwood) used the No. 3 and No. 4 picks on running backs who never even reached 1,800 career rushing yards.
  • The Browns used the No. 5 pick on a linebacker (Mike Junkin) who played in 20 career games.
  • The Cardinals used the No. 6 pick on quarterback Kelly Stouffer, who never played for the team, then had a horrible career with the Seahawks (7 TD, 19 INT).

But the reason this is only No. 9 is because we want to point out there were a lot of good players in this draft. The problem is so many of them either took forever to have a breakout year with a team that didn’t draft them, or they had a very short-lived peak for various reasons.

For instance, this draft produced 6 quarterbacks who made a Pro Bowl, which sounds incredible. Then you look at the names and circumstances, and it starts to make sense:

  • The aforementioned Testaverde did not have a quality season until many years later with the Ravens (1996) and Jets (1998).
  • Rich Gannon was a 4th-round pick that a team like the Patriots wanted to play safety, but he did not excel as a starting quarterback until he joined the Raiders and had a strong 4-year run in 1999-2002, culminating in the 2002 NFL MVP award.
  • Jim Harbaugh was not a great 1st-round pick by the Bears, but he shined for that one magical season with the 1995 Colts when he was “Captain Comeback” and was a Hail Mary short of reaching the Super Bowl.
  • The Raiders drafted Steve Beuerlein in 1987, but he didn’t have his only impressive season until 1999 with the Carolina Panthers.
  • Atlanta used the No. 13 pick on Chris Miller, who made the Pro Bowl once in 1991 when he threw a career-high 26 touchdown passes and won his only playoff game.
  • Don Majkowski is known as the quarterback that Brett Favre replaced in Green Bay in 1992, but his legacy is all built on that “Majik Man” 1989 season when he led the NFL with 4,318 yards and led 7 game-winning drives.

Fun stuff for a year in most cases. There were some other short-lived wonders we wanted to highlight from this draft too.


Kansas City fullback Christian Okoye, the Nigerian Nightmare, led this class with just 4,897 rushing yards, but his story is fascinating as he didn’t play football until he was 23 years old. The Chiefs used the 35th pick in the draft on a player who was going to be a 26-year-old rookie fullback, but in 1989, he was an All-Pro and led the league in carries (370) and yards (1,480). Injuries ended his career prematurely.

Speaking of injuries, Bo Jackson was a 7th-round pick by the Raiders in this class, a year after he spurred the Buccaneers who took him No. 1 in 1986. The multi-sport legend could have been a great running back and had touchdown runs of 88, 91 and 92 yards in his career. Unfortunately, he dislocated his hip in a playoff game, and that ended his career.

Finally, Philadelphia’s Jerome Brown was a 2-time All-Pro defensive tackle in 1990-91. Before he could complete a great career, he died in a car crash in July 1992. He was just 27 years old.

There were some gems in this draft. The problem is many were hidden for so long or didn’t shine that bright for more than a year.

8. The 1984 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • QB Boomer Esiason (106)
  • LB Wilber Marshall (99)
  • WR Irving Fryar (80)
  • RB Earnest Byner (80)
  • G Guy McIntyre (76)
  • LB Carl Banks (68)
  • T John Alt (68)
  • DT Keith Millard (59)
  • QB Jeff Hostetler (56)
  • LB Fredd Young (52)

We had the 1983 and 1985 NFL drafts among the strongest classes of all time, so it’s not that surprising to see a dip in quality in between those years. However, this one is a little misleading, as there was a special 1984 supplemental draft for players going to the USFL and CFL.

That would change things if we included those players as HOFers Steve Young, Reggie White and Gary Zimmerman were all taken in that supplemental draft. So was Gary Clark, a 4-time Pro Bowl wideout for the Redskins who had 10,856 yards and 65 touchdowns.

Gary Clark

Alas, we are not considering the supplemental draft from 1984. Instead, we are looking at a class that has yet to put anyone in the HOF, and that may not change any time soon. This class had only a couple of multi-time All-Pros in defenders Wilber Marshall and Keith Millard. No one made more than 5 Pro Bowls.

You know a draft class might be in trouble if the 1st quarterback does not go until the 38th pick. Boomer Esiason was the 1988 MVP for the Bengals, but his career peaked there and ended with a bad performance in a Super Bowl loss to the 49ers.

The only running back to reach 5,000 rushing yards in this class was 10th-round pick Earnest Byner, who is best known for The Fumble in the 1987 AFC Championship Game in Denver.


Irving Fryar was the top wideout with 12,785 yards and 84 touchdowns in a very nice career. He was just the 2nd wide receiver to ever get drafted No. 1 overall. A very good career, but no one ever thinks of Fryar as one of the all-time greats at his position.

Still, Fryar was the right pick at No. 1 in what was not a strong draft with the USFL temporarily stealing some of the best talent in football at the time in Steve Young and Reggie White.

7. The 2013 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • TE Travis Kelce (86)
  • OT David Bakhtiari (85)
  • WR DeAndre Hopkins (80)
  • OT Lane Johnson (79)
  • WR Keenan Allen (74)
  • OT Terron Armstead (64)
  • S Tyrann Mathieu (63)
  • OT Eric Fisher (62)
  • CB Darius Slay (62)
  • RB Le’Veon Bell (61)
  • C Travis Frederick (60)
  • TE Zach Ertz (50)
  • WR/RB/ST Cordarrelle Patterson (41)
  • FB Kyle Juszczyk (19)

Before the Taylor Swift fans get angry, Travis Kelce is easily the best player in this 2013 draft, and he should be the only lock for a 1st-ballot HOF selection after he retires. He is not the issue here.

It’s the rest of the draft, which got off to such a slow start when the Chiefs used their No. 1 overall pick on Eric Fisher. He is arguably the most unheralded No. 1 pick in the 21st century, or at least until Travon Walker happened in 2022 with Jacksonville.

Eric Fisher

It’s not that Fisher had a bad career. He just wasn’t ever an elite tackle like Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden or Willie Roaf. At least he was better than some of the other linemen that bombed in this draft’s top 12, including Luke Joeckel (No. 2 pick to Jaguars), Jonathan Cooper (No. 7 pick to Cardinals) and D.J. Fluker (No. 11 to Chargers).

We should have known this draft was trouble when no one took a quarterback until Buffalo drafted EJ Manuel (bust) with the No. 16 pick. Geno Smith is the only quarterback in the 2013 draft to pass for 10,000 yards, and he still hasn’t hit 15,000 yards going into 2024. Brutal quarterback class as this was the year people were saying days before the draft that Ryan Nassib was going No. 8 to Buffalo when he actually went No. 110 to the Giants.

This draft was a nightmare for edge rushers. Dion Jordan went No. 3 to Miami and was a massive bust, including an entire season suspension in 2015 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Ezekiel Ansah went No. 5 to the Lions, had a couple of solid seasons and his 50.5 sacks lead the entire underwhelming class.

This was the draft where Tavon Austin, a gimmick receiver in college, went No. 8 to the Rams. No surprise, that didn’t work out for them. Meanwhile, DeAndre Hopkins slid to Houston at No. 27. He might be the 2nd HOFer in this class after Kelce, but that’s far from a lock. Wide receiver is a tough position to break for Canton, and Hopkins is likely on the decline for the rest of his career.

We’re definitely not sending Green Bay tackle David Bakhtiari to Canton, though he was a very good player before the injuries in recent years. He also was just a 4th-round pick (109th overall), making those early picks like Joeckel, Fluker and even Fisher at No. 1 look sillier.

Lane Johnson was a legitimate No. 5 pick by the Eagles. He’ll have a shot at Canton with 5 Pro Bowls, 2 All-Pro teams and a ring in 2017. He is easily one of the best right tackles of his era.

Le’Veon Bell was the best running back in this class, though he ruined any shot at greatness by leaving the Steelers in 2018 over a contract dispute and sitting out an entire year in his prime. When he came back in 2019 with the Jets, he was never the same.

Otherwise, this draft is only great for niche players like return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson and fullback Kyle Juszczyk. The latter has gone to 8 Pro Bowls because he’s one of the only fullbacks left in the game, and one of the only fullbacks people can name. But asking them to spell his name correctly is a different story.

6. The 1986 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • LB Pat Swilling (98)
  • DE Leslie O’Neal (89)
  • DE Clyde Simmons (89)
  • QB Jim Everett (87)
  • LB Seth Joyner (84)
  • DE Charles Haley (81, HOF)
  • LB Pepper Johnson (79)
  • G Tom Newberry (69)
  • FB John Williams (65)
  • WR Ernest Givins (64)
  • RB Neal Anderson (61)
  • QB Mark Rypien (54)

After a strong 1985 draft with the likes of Jerry Rice and Bruce Smith, teams found less success the following year. To date, edge rusher Charles Haley is the only player from the 1986 NFL draft to make the HOF.

You might think a player with 5 rings and 100.5 sacks for the 49ers and Cowboys would have cruised into Canton, but voters actually made Haley, who was a difficult teammate, wait a solid decade before inducting him in 2015.

Charles Haley

Still, this was a rough draft, especially for offense. It got off to a rocky start when the Buccaneers used the No. 1 overall pick on running back sensation Bo Jackson. However, by not clearing a meeting with Jackson with the NCAA a month before the draft, they ruined Jackson’s senior season of college baseball by making him ineligible. This angered him and he vowed to never play a down for the Buccaneers, which is exactly what happened.

Jim Everett was the top quarterback drafted with the No. 3 pick by the Oilers, who already had Warren Moon. The thought was the Oilers drafted Everett just so the Colts wouldn’t get him, which sounds like the kind of pettiness you could never get away with in the NFL today. Everett was traded to the Rams where he had some big seasons, but he could never step out of the shadow Joe Montana and the 49ers cast over his division and the league as a whole.

The only quarterback in this class to win a Super Bowl was Mark Rypien on a loaded 1991 team in Washington, but that always felt like an outlier year for him. He did not do much of anything after that season.


Pass rusher Leslie O’Neal had 132 sacks and made 6 Pro Bowls, the only player in 1986 with more than 5 Pro Bowls. He’s also the only player among the top 25 picks in this draft to make at least 4 Pro Bowls.

It’s hard to say what the worst part of this draft was. Was it Tampa using a No. 1 pick on a vengeful player who told them it’d be a waste to do so, 5 guards going in the top 23 picks, or that the Cardinals used the No. 32 pick on a kicker (John Lee) who finished 8-of-13 on field goals in his career after he lost his confidence because his kickoffs were so short.

5. The 2006 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • G Jahri Evans (114)
  • DT Haloti Ngata (100)
  • OT Andrew Whitworth (100)
  • QB Jay Cutler (86)
  • WR Brandon Marshall (83)
  • DE Mario Williams (79)
  • DT Kyle Williams (79)
  • OLB Tamba Hali (75)
  • RB Maurice Jones-Drew (74)
  • C Nick Mangold (73)
  • WR Marques Colston (72)
  • CB Antonio Cromartie (66)
  • WR Greg Jennings (66)
  • DE Elvis Dumervil (63)
  • S Antoine Bethea (63)
  • RB Reggie Bush (61)
  • TE Vernon Davis (51)
  • WR/ST Devin Hester (47, HOF)

The 2006 NFL draft came on the heels of what many, myself included, would call the greatest game in college football history. That would be the 2006 Rose Bowl when Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns came back to beat Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and the 2006 USC Trojans in a 41-38 final.


College football was a lot of fun at that time, back before the dominance of Nick Saban in Alabama and the explosion of the transfer portal and NIL. Still, that Rose Bowl set up a lot of the storylines for the 2006 NFL draft.

Where would Leinart, Young and Bush go in the draft? Somehow, they all went into the top 10, and none of them ever lived up to the hype. Both of the quarterbacks threw more interceptions than touchdowns and had relatively short careers (especially Leinart in Arizona). Bush had a long career after starting out with New Orleans, but he was never the highlight machine he was in college. His highest touchdown count in any season was 8.

Throw in Mario Williams, the No. 1 overall pick by Houston, not having a HOF-type career either with 97.5 sacks, and it’s just a draft where it feels like the expected stars peaked in college.

The best quarterback ended up being Vanderbilt’s Jay Culter, and nope, he still doesn’t care. The best receiver was also a Denver pick in Brandon Marshall, who finished with 12,351 yards, but it’s hard to see him going into the HOF. If he was that good, why did he play for 6 teams? He also somehow never played in a playoff game, so there’s a real layer of hollowness to his career stats.

The most memorable “play” by a wide receiver in the 2006 draft wasn’t Santonio Holmes’ game-winning touchdown for Pittsburgh against Arizona in Super Bowl 43. It is clearly a Madden video game highlight when Greg Jennings (Packers) put the team on his back.

In all seriousness, you know this class is in trouble when the only HOFer so far is Devin Hester, who was the greatest punt returner ever. But it’s hard to justify putting such a part-time player in Canton over so many other deserving candidates. Like, how did Hester make it into Canton over Antonio Gates this year? That is criminal.

There is a chance guard Jahri Evans (Saints), center Nick Mangold (Jets) and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (Ravens) join Hester in Canton someday. But that’s also telling of how weak this class was when the potential HOFers are interior linemen and a return specialist.

4. The 2009 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • QB Matthew Stafford (121)
  • C Alex Mack (86)
  • RB LeSean McCoy (83)
  • OLB Clay Matthews (77)
  • C Max Unger (69)
  • DB Malcolm Jenkins (68)
  • OT T.J. Lang (61)
  • WR Julian Edelman (61)
  • LB Brian Orakpo (58)
  • WR Mike Wallace (57)
  • TE Jared Cook (48)

It’s a good thing Matthew Stafford was the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft because he has proven to be by far the most valuable player from it. In fact, everyone is retired going into 2024 except for Stafford and punter Thomas Morstead. Stafford’s lead in the approximate value of 35 over the next-closest player (Alex Mack) is pretty significant for a class.

Matthew Stafford

In fact, there’s a chance the upcoming Stafford HOF debate determines if this class has any HOFers, because right now it does not look promising if people don’t go for Stafford.

Mack was a good center, but he was never voted All-Pro. While 7 Pro Bowls is very good, that distinction has become meaningless in today’s game with how many alternates they award each year as people decline.

Running back LeSean McCoy is the only 2-time All-Pro from this draft. He had a good career, but it won’t be enough for the HOF.

Clay Matthews had a very good career for the Packers, including that huge forced fumble of Rashard Mendenhall in Super Bowl XLV. However, a lack of production down the stretch of his career may keep him out of Canton as he finished with 91.5 sacks.


New England fans are going to try arguing for Julian Edelman for Canton, but that’s a tough sell when he only had 6,822 receiving yards in the regular season. He’d be the Lynn Swann of this generation, getting in for his postseason highlights in winning 3 rings.

But this draft did disappoint in so many ways.

Michael Crabtree (No. 10 pick to the 49ers) was thought to be the next elite wide receiver, but his most memorable play in the NFL is not getting a penalty call on 4th-and-goal at the end of Super Bowl 47 against the Ravens.

This was another draft where teams needlessly loaded up on 1st-round running backs with Knowshon Moreno (Broncos), Donald Brown (Colts) and Beanie Wells (Cardinals) not living up to the picks.

Offensive tackle Jason Smith (Rams) is one of the worst No. 2 picks in NFL history. He was supposed to be a sure thing and ended up playing 45 games. Other tackles that went high that year also did not live up to franchise tackle status, including Andre Smith (Bengals) and Eugene Monroe (Jaguars).

Things weren’t much better with the defense. Tyson Jackson went No. 3 as the top edge rusher to the Chiefs, and he retired with 9 sacks. Linebacker Aaron Curry was the No. 4 pick by the Seahawks, and many thought he was going to be a stud. He only played in 48 games.

Also, Stafford wasn’t the only 1st-round quarterback. Mark Sanchez went No. 5 to the Jets and we know him best for the Butt Fumble. The Buccaneers drafted Josh Freeman with the No. 17 pick, and after showing promise in 2010, his career fell apart in a hurry and he was out of the league by 2016.

With respect to Stafford winning a Super Bowl with the Rams and McCoy winning a rushing title in Chip Kelly’s offense in 2013, this draft is one of the worst ever at producing players who were ever considered the best at their position, even if for a year.

Hell, Colts punter Pat McAfee might have the best claim to being the best at what he did from this draft class for any period of time. We’re not putting a punter in Canton any time soon either.

Some may not even want to put Stafford in, depending on how his career wraps up as the last man standing from the 2009 draft.

3. The 1972 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • RB Franco Harris (103, HOF)
  • RB Lydell Mitchell (89)
  • WR Cliff Branch (87, HOF)
  • RB Lawrence McCutcheon (77)
  • QB Brian Sipe (74)
  • DT Larry Brooks (71)
  • WR Ahmad Rashad (56)
  • TE Riley Odoms (54)

Unless you love running backs, the 1972 NFL draft is among the weakest in history. Franco Harris, the star of The Immaculate Reception, is the only player to reach the HOF while he was still alive. Oakland wide receiver Cliff Branch joined him in 2022 after he passed away as a senior nominee. They are the only 2 HOFers in this class, which is unlikely to add any more.


Remember, this was a 17-round draft with 442 players selected, so that gave it a lot more chances to find some hidden gems, but it just did not produce many good players.

Quarterback Brian Sipe was a 13th-round pick by the Browns who managed to win the NFL’s MVP award in 1980 in an outlier performance. However, he is also best known for Red-Right 88, the play call where he threw a game-ending interception in the end zone against the Raiders in the playoffs. It was a 14-12 loss when the team was in field goal position, albeit in bad weather conditions.

Statistically, the 1972 draft has the worst 1st round in the common draft era with the average player having a Weighted Career Approximate Value of just 30.0. That’s less than half of the famed 1983 class (61.0), our No. 1 strongest draft class in history.


Defensive end Walt Patulski was the No. 1 pick by the Bills, but he only made 21.5 sacks in 4 seasons with Buffalo, then was out of the NFL by the time he was 28 years old. The 1972 draft also had 2 of the worst 1st-round quarterbacks in NFL history in Jerry Tagge (3 TD, 17 INT in his career) and John Reaves (4-13 as a starter).

2. The 2015 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • WR Stefon Diggs (83)
  • WR Amari Cooper (64)
  • CB Marcus Peters (64)
  • WR Tyler Lockett (64)
  • DE Danielle Hunter (62)
  • QB Jameis Winston (60)
  • ILB Eric Kendricks (60)
  • G Brandon Scherff (58)
  • QB Marcus Mariota (54)
  • RB Todd Gurley (54)
  • NT Grady Jarrett (51)
  • RB Melvin Gordon (51)
  • S Quandre Diggs (41)

The 2015 NFL draft started with the quarterback debate between Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston. It turned out neither was the right answer. While not exactly busts, neither lived up to the hype of a franchise quarterback, and it looks very unlikely that they’ll ever have a special season where everything clicked for them.

I’d call this a good draft for wide receivers, but that depends on how you look at it. Stefon Diggs has proven to be the best player in this entire draft, and the Vikings found him in the 5th round. Tyler Lockett is also a top 3 receiver in this class, a great 3rd-round pick by Seattle.

Amari Cooper was the consensus-best wideout in this class, which is why he went No. 4 to the Raiders. But there were so many busts and disappointments between Cooper at No. 4 and Lockett at No. 69:

  • Kevin White (1.7): Epic bust who couldn’t stay healthy and didn’t produce when he did for the Bears (28 catches in 30 career games)
  • DeVante Parker (1.14): Still going with a decent career, but he’s annually the worst wide receiver at creating separation from defenders.
  • Nelson Agholor (1.20): He’s had some good moments, but he’s known best as a meme for dropping the ball in Philadelphia.
  • Breshad Perriman (1.26): His dad’s genes didn’t rub off well as he only lasted 2 seasons in Baltimore and averaged 29.3 receiving yards per game in his career.
  • Philip Dorsett (1.29): He was supposed to be a big target for Andrew Luck in Indy, but it never worked out.
  • Devin Smith (2.37): This was before Ohio State wide receivers worked out well as he only caught 15 passes as a bust for the Jets.
  • Dorial Green-Beckham (2.40): He played just 31 games in the NFL with the Titans and Eagles.

Yikes, 7 times over. There is some concern this draft won’t produce a single HOFer, and oddly enough, the 2024 Texans may play a role in determining that. Two of the team’s biggest moves were signing pass rusher Danielle Hunter in free agency and trading for Stefon Diggs from the Bills. The Texans are trying to win it all in C.J. Stroud’s 2nd season while he’s still on a rookie deal.

A ring for Diggs would certainly elevate his HOF chances, but he’s going to a team that has Nico Collins in that No. 1 receiver role, and Diggs had a serious 2nd-half decline last season and will be 31 years old in 2024. So, is he on the decline? We’ll find out, but the chances of him taking over as WR1 in Houston are not good.

As for Hunter, he has 87.5 sacks and will be 30 this season. Maybe a few more big years, a ring in Houston and finishing with about 130 sacks could get him in the conversation. However, with 4 Pro Bowls and no All-Pro seasons or awards, he’s not someone that’s thought of as highly as J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett or Nick Bosa.

Amari Cooper is a very good receiver, but he also disappears a lot and is inconsistent like that. He’s not on any serious HOF projection at this point.

Corner Marcus Peters is a very good ball magnet, a 2015 Defensive Rookie of the Year, but he is also a free agent right now. He has a reputation as someone who will gamble for picks and give up big plays in the process. He’s not a HOF corner. He’s not Richard Sherman, Darrelle Revis or Jalen Ramsey.

Todd Gurley was the only other 2-time All-Pro in this class besides Peters. He had a short-lived run with the Rams where he led the league in touchdown runs in 2017-18. Still, he was on the decline in 2019, and by 2021, his career was over.


This was just a rough draft class with few winners.

  • People thought Dante Fowler might be good for the Jaguars, but he was injured his rookie year, so they moved the No. 3 pick in 2018.
  • The Jaguars also wasted the No. 36 pick on T.J. Yeldon, who averaged just 36.7 rushing yards per game for the team.
  • Offensive tackle Ereck Flowers was a horrible pick at No. 9 for the Giants.
  • The Vikings were big winners in this draft with Diggs, Hunter, and Eric Kendricks, but they got off on the wrong foot when they used the No. 11 pick on corner Trae Waynes, who never really delivered.
  • The Broncos thought Shane Ray (No. 23) could help Von Miller with the pass rush, but he was a non-factor.

We’ll see what happens with Diggs and Hunter in Houston, but this has the makings of an all-time bad NFL draft class that will not produce a HOF player.

1. The 1992 NFL Draft

Notable players:

  • WR Jimmy Smith (94)
  • DB Troy Vincent (90)
  • S Darren Woodson (81)
  • LB Levon Kirkland (80)
  • DT Chester McGlockton (79)
  • QB Brad Johnson (76)
  • QB Jeff Blake (69)
  • CB Dale Carter (67)
  • DE Robert Porcher (66)
  • WR Carl Pickens (56)

Despite 1992 being the last NFL draft with 12 rounds, it still has not produced a single HOFer, something only the 1943 and 1984 classes have done among eligible classes.

Now, we could argue Dallas safety Darren Woodson should be in the HOF and he has been close in the process before. He was a 5-time Pro Bowler, 3-time All-Pro and won 3 rings.

Darren Woodson

However, Woodson is the only player in this draft to make multiple All-Pro teams. No one made it to more than 5 Pro Bowls either.

This draft was so bad that the Colts had the top 2 picks and only came away with defensive end Steve Emtman and linebacker Quentin Corvatt. Neither was anywhere close to successful in the NFL.

It’s hard to even bash the Colts, because who did they really miss on at the top? Defensive tackle Sean Gilbert was nothing special for the Rams at No. 3, Desmond Howard was not a good enough wide receiver to go No. 4 and David Klingler (No. 6 to Cincinnati) was one of the worst quarterbacks to lead a draft class in NFL history.

This was a draft where the Broncos used a 1st-round pick on Tommy Maddox when they still had John Elway. That didn’t work for them. The only Super Bowl-winning quarterback in this draft was Brad Johnson, a 9th-round pick by Minnesota who later won in 2002 with that great Tampa Bay defense.

brad johnson

Edgar Bennett led all runners with 3,992 rushing yards in a very poor running back class that saw Tommy Vardell go No. 9 to the Browns and rush for 1,427 yards in his career.

Jimmy Smith and Carl Pickens were by far the best wideouts in this class. Smith was the 36th pick by Dallas in the 2nd round, but he was not part of that great Dallas dynasty. He had off-field issues and later landed with the expansion Jaguars where he became a star. Very good receiver, but he’s probably never going to get the call from Canton.

The pass rushers were nothing to write home about either. At least Detroit’s Robert Porcher, the 26th overall pick, was a 3-time Pro Bowler with 95.5 sacks.

But with so many failures at the top and the best player a Woodson not named Rod or Charles, we feel content with calling the 1992 draft the worst in NFL history.

scotty kacsmar author todays lines

Scott Kacsmar's bread and butter is NFL football picks. He has published work at many sports websites and blogs including NBC Sports, ESPN Insider, FiveThirtyEight, Bookmakers Review and of course Today's Lines. Scott hails from Pittsburgh and has a love-hate relationship with the Pirates.

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