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The Worst NFL Quarterback Draft Classes in History: Where Do 2021 and 2022 Rank?

by Scott Kacsmar
written by Scott Kacsmar
NFL Draft

Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, so every draft class starts with looking at the latest crop of signal callers coming from the college game. But sometimes, we get a bad year with no legitimate franchise quarterbacks available. 

Sometimes, it can be a couple of bad years in a row. With free agency this month, we have seen several NFL teams pull the plug on most of the starters from the 2021-22 drafts as Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder and Sam Howell have all been traded before the 2024 season even begins.

Are these among the worst quarterback draft classes ever? We ranked the 10 worst quarterback draft classes in NFL history since the common draft era began in 1967. We did emphasize top picks failing ahead of weak drafts where teams barely used any high picks on the position, so expectations were never really that high those years.

As we prepare to place our NFL bets on this year’s draft, let’s take a look back first. Things are still subject to change since it is only 2024, but let’s just say things are already looking very poor for 2021 and 2022.

Honorable Mentions

Before we get to our top 10 list of the worst quarterback classes, we had a few honorable mentions to point out.

1969 Class: It did not produce a 10,000-yard passer, but a lot of that was because of top quarterback Greg Cook (No. 5 overall pick by Cincinnati) suffered a career-killing shoulder injury after a brilliant rookie season. That gives it a bit of a pass.

1972 Class: Both 1st-round picks (Jerry Tagge and John Reaves) were busts picked outside of the top 10 who threw 20 NFL touchdowns combined. The only passer to do anything in this class was Brian Sipe, the 330th pick in the 13th round by Cleveland who won MVP in 1980 and finished with 23,713 yards and 154 touchdown passes.

1976 Class: Hard to believe, but top pick Richard Todd (No. 6 overall by the Jets) was the only quarterback that year to throw 220 passes or for more than 1,200 yards in their NFL career. He finished with 20,610 yards but never made a Pro Bowl and was not a true successor to Joe Namath.

1991 Class: A special shoutout to 1991, because if we were basing this exclusively on what the quarterback did for the team that drafted him, 1991 might be the worst of all time. Brett Favre was a 3-time MVP and 1st-ballot Hall of Famer, but none of his value came with the Falcons, the team that drafted him. He was traded to Green Bay in 1992 and the rest is history. The only other quarterbacks in this class to throw for 2,500 yards in the NFL never played for the teams that drafted them (Paul Justin and Craig Erickson) in 1991. Just a brutal class with 1st-round busts Dan McGwire and Todd Marinovich, both going ahead of the prolific Favre.

2006 Class: A draft with so much hype, 2006 showed college success still doesn’t always transfer to pro success as Vince Young (Titans) and Matt Leinart (Cardinals) disappointed for their teams, who had to turn to Kerry Collins and Kurt Warner by the 2008 season to make the playoffs. The best pick ended up being Jay Cutler, who went No. 11 to Denver after playing for a losing team at Vanderbilt, but his style of “apathetic gunslinger” made him fall short of a Hall of Fame career despite throwing for 35,133 yards.

Note: Draft picks are listed with the round and overall draft pick in parenthesis behind the player’s name.

10 2015 Draft – The One with Jameis Winston vs. Marcus Mariota

Notable Picks:

  • Jameis Winston (1.1)
  • Marcus Mariota (1.2)
  • Brett Hundley (5.147)
  • Trevor Siemian (7.250)

What a strange draft this was. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were the top 2 picks off the board in what turned out to be a historically bad 1st-round start in 2015 with the likes of Dante Fowler, Kevin White, Ereck Flowers, Trae Waynes and Danny Shelton all going in the top 12 picks.

But after Winston and Mariota, there wasn’t another quarterback taken until Garrett Grayson went 75th overall to the Saints in the 3rd round. He never played in an NFL game. The entire class consisted of just 7 quarterbacks with Sean Mannion (3.89), Bryce Petty (4.103), Brett Hundley (5.147) and Trevor Siemian (7.250) rounding out the class.

Hundley had a few memorable starts in 2017 when Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone again in Green Bay, but he never started games any other season and finished with 9 touchdowns to 13 interceptions in his career.

Trevor Siemian was the 1st to try to replace Peyton Manning in Denver after the team won the Super Bowl in 2015. It was a cheap way to go about that, relying on a 7th-round pick in his second year. The Broncos finished 9-7 behind a good defense, but Siemian was just average, and things only got worse from there as the team tried to replace him with Brock Osweiler in 2017. Siemian is still in the league but should only be considered a backup.

Not Worth the Hype

But we’re ranking 2015 at No. 10 just because it was such a bad draft at the top, and neither Winston nor Mariota was ever terrible enough to be called a bust. However, they also never quite lived up to the hype they gained in college.

Mariota seemed to start figuring things out in Tennessee when he threw 26 touchdowns in 2016. But he didn’t really improve on those numbers in 2017. The team won a few extra close games to get to 9-7 and that was enough for a wild card spot. Derrick Henry carried the Titans to a 21-3 comeback win in Kansas City, a game where Mariota caught his own deflected pass for a touchdown on the most memorable play of his career.

That would be the high point of Mariota’s NFL career. He became a sack merchant in 2018, then was benched for Ryan Tannehill in 2019, and Tannehill took the team to the AFC Championship Game, making Mariota expendable there. He has bounced around to the Raiders, Falcons, Eagles and is set to be with the Commanders in 2024.

Winston’s Situation

As for Winston, it’s fitting that Mariota vs. Winston never was a heated debate going into that 2015 draft like say Peyton Manning vs. Ryan Leaf in 1998 or even Andrew Luck vs. Robert Griffin III in 2012 were. Most were fine with Winston going ahead of Mariota, and given how lackluster their careers both were, it’s no big deal that Winston was the top pick.

Winston, who is backing up Deshaun Watson in Cleveland this year, has some skills as a passer and has been successful at moving the ball in his career. He averages 7.7 yards per attempt and has been good on 3rd down. His problem has always been turning the ball over way too frequently.

In 2019, Winston threw for 5,109 yards to lead the league. He also had 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions, the only 30-30 season in NFL history. But after failing to make the playoffs for the 5th year in a row, the Buccaneers cut ties and went with Tom Brady, who cut down on the turnovers and immediately won a Super Bowl in Bruce Arians’ system.

It really wasn’t injuries or bad situations that prevented Winston and Mariota from reaching star status. They were just the best of a bad bunch that year and never elevated the teams around them. Two guys who peaked in college.

9 2019 Draft – The One with the Short QB

Notable Picks:

  • Kyler Murray (1.1)
  • Daniel Jones (1.6)
  • Dwayne Haskins (1.15)
  • Drew Lock (2.42)
  • Jarrett Stidham (4.133)
  • Gardner Minshew (6.178)

This class is frustrating because the quarterback who arguably has consistently performed the best when given an opportunity has been Gardner Minshew, the 6th-round pick who has done a respectable job for the Jaguars and Colts. He’s with the Raiders now and could even start Week 1 there this year. He has certainly been better than Drew Lock, another 2nd-round bust for the Broncos in their futile attempts to replace Peyton Manning.

But it is hard to call Kyler Murray (Cardinals) and Daniel Jones (Giants) busts since they have scored lucrative 2nd contracts with their teams, and both of those franchises have made the playoffs once with them. Jones even secured a wild card playoff win for the Giants in the 2022 season.

But you could just as easily argue neither deserved a 2nd contract as the progression was just never there. Jones arguably peaked as a rookie when he showed big-play potential that was then neutered by play-calling from Jason Garrett and current coach Brian Daboll. His most famous play was The Giant Stumble when he fell flat on his face after an 80-yard run.

That’s why they call him “Vanilla Vick.” Murray can run very well too, but his size (5’10”) was a concern coming out of the draft. You can see it hinders him at times as he seems to miss linebackers over the middle on interceptions. He’s talented, but it just feels like his game has never truly improved to the next level. His best play came in 2022 when he took 20 seconds to score on a 2-point conversion against the Raiders:

Murray and Jones have each torn their ACL since 2022. They are still on their drafted teams, but it’s hard to trust they’ll be there much longer if we don’t start seeing some real improvement. This is already Year 6, so asking for a true breakout year this late in the process is worrisome.

As for the other 1st-round pick in 2019, Washington’s Dwayne Haskins had leadership flaws and was not good when he played. The team cut him after just 13 starts. Before he even had a chance to redeem himself in Pittsburgh, Haskins was tragically killed in a traffic accident in April 2022. He was just 24 years old.

8 2002 Draft – The One with the Sack Merchant and the YPA Yuck

Notable Picks:

  • David Carr (1.1)
  • Joey Harrington (1.3)
  • Patrick Ramsey (1.32)
  • Josh McCown (3.81)
  • David Garrard (4.108)

The 2002 draft was the last time the NFL had an expansion team with the Houston Texans entering the league. They had the No. 1 pick and used it on Fresno State quarterback David Carr, introducing us to the Carr family. But it was a brutal rookie year as Carr took 76 sacks, which is still a single-season record for a quarterback to take.

But things seemed to be moving in the right direction in 2004 when Carr had a solid connection with receiver Andre Johnson, and despite still taking a league-high 49 sacks, he improved his numbers overall and the team was 7-9. But a year later, Carr was back to taking 68 sacks and the Texans were 2-14. He dinked and dunked his way to a league-high 68.3% completion percentage in 2006, but all that did was bring the sacks down as the team still stunk.

Carr was just a backup after leaving Houston. His penchant for taking sacks seemed to affect his brother Derek so much that the younger Carr is very quick to get rid of the ball, sometimes at the detriment of his offense as he has also struggled to win games in this league despite being a better passer than his brother David.

Joey Harrington

But David Carr goes down as a bust, and so does Joey Harrington in Detroit. The No. 3 pick really didn’t have eye-popping numbers at Oregon either with 52 touchdowns and 7.5 yards per attempt. But he was like the anti-Carr in Detroit where his sack rates were the lowest in the NFL in 2002 and 2003. The problem is he got rid of the ball so quickly that his passes never went anywhere, so Harrington’s 5.8 yards per pass attempt ranks dead last in NFL history (min. 1,500 attempts).

Like Carr, Harrington peaked in the 2004 season, which did see a rule emphasis with officials asked to call illegal contact more that season. Numbers were up around the league, and Carr and Harrington both played a schedule that consisted of defenses from the AFC South and NFC North, which were bad that year. They never improved from that 2004 season.

Other Draft Busts and Surprises

Patrick Ramsey was also a 1st-round pick that year who proved to be a bust for Washington. He couldn’t adapt to Steve Spurrier’s offense, which also wasn’t quite cut out for NFL success from the college game.

Those were huge busts at the top, but the 2002 draft wasn’t a total wasteland for quarterbacks as mid-round picks Josh McCown and David Garrard had long, respectable careers. Garrard even proved to be better than Byron Leftwich, the 1st-round pick by the Jaguars in 2003.

In fact, in ESPN’s QBR stat, Garrard’s 2007 season (80.9) still ranks the 7th-highest season since 2006. McCown’s 2013 season (82.4) would rank as the 5th-highest season if he had enough attempts to qualify for ranking. So, they at least did that for a season in their careers.

7 1997 Draft – The One without Peyton Manning

Notable Picks:

  • Jim Druckenmiller (1.26)
  • Jake Plummer (2.42)
  • Danny Wuerffel (4.99)
  • Koy Detmer (7.207)

We mentioned at the top that sometimes you could have a couple of weak draft classes in a row. We’ll get to 1996 later, but 1997 was greatly weakened when Tennessee superstar quarterback Peyton Manning decided to return for his senior season. Had he declared for the 1997 draft, Bill Parcells and the Jets would have drafted Peyton with the No. 1 pick. Imagine if Manning was coached by Parcells and Bill Belichick was his defensive coordinator instead of his future nemesis. Quite a butterfly effect for NFL history.

Struggles and Missed Opportunities

Instead, the only top 40 pick used on a quarterback was Jim Druckenmiller late in the 1st round, and he proved to be an awful pick and no replacement for Steve Young for the 49ers. He was so bad he completed just 21-of-52 passes in his NFL career. Druckenmiller’s 52 pass attempts are the fewest by any 1st-round quarterback since 1967.

The prize of the draft ended up being Jake Plummer, who went from Arizona State to the Arizona Cardinals. His mobile, gunslinger style led to a lot of comeback wins in college, and that carried over to the NFL too. He led 7 game-winning drives in the 1998 season and even won a playoff game against the Cowboys that year.

But Plummer dug a lot of those holes for comebacks, and his inconsistent play led to a lot of losses in the desert. He only achieved efficient play on a consistent basis when he went to Denver in 2003 and played in Mike Shanahan’s system for the rest of his career. Plummer helped the Broncos to 3 straight playoff appearances, but they lost in the 2005 AFC Championship Game to Pittsburgh, and Plummer was replaced by Jay Cutler in 2006 before retiring early.

The only other 1997 quarterback of note was Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel from Florida. As a 4th-round pick, he only threw 12 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in a forgettable NFL career.

6 2022 Draft – The One Where Mr. Irrelevant Is the Only Relevant QB

Notable Picks:

  • Kenny Pickett (1.20)
  • Desmond Ridder (3.74)
  • Malik Willis (3.86)
  • Bailey Zappe (4.137)
  • Sam Howell (5.144)
  • Skylar Thompson (7.247)
  • Brock Purdy (7.262)

Too soon, you say? One might argue a draft class with 5 passers throwing for 2,000 yards after just 2 seasons might have real potential.

But look what the NFL teams are telling us about this 2022 quarterback class:

  • No one took a quarterback until pick No. 20 when the Steelers thought they’d take the Pitt kid in case he proved to be the next Dan Marino, and they didn’t want to make that mistake again after bypassing Marino in 1983 when Terry Bradshaw was about to retire.
  • When a draft doesn’t have a quarterback go in the top half of the 1st round, that should be a huge red flag about how good that class is.
  • Sure enough, the Steelers already shipped Kenny Pickett, who has the lowest touchdown passing rate (1.8%) in NFL history (min. 500 attempts), to Philadelphia after he was mad they acquired Russell Wilson for 2024.
  • No one took another quarterback until Desmond Ridder with the 74th pick, and Atlanta was already benching him in his 2nd season and gladly traded him away before a 3rd could happen.
  • Malik Willis made throwing for 100 yards look insanely hard to do in Tennessee. They signed Joshua Dobbs off the street in 2022 before starting Willis another game.
  • Bailey Zappe had his chance to be the Tom Brady to Mac Jones’ Drew Bledsoe, and he threw maybe the worst fake spike interception in NFL history against the Colts in Germany last year.
  • Sam Howell was a sack merchant of the highest order, going down 65 times last year, and he’s already been traded to Seattle for 2024.
  • Skylar Thompson shouldn’t have been starting as a 7th-round rookie in a playoff game in Buffalo in 2022, but he did as a 3rd-string emergency quarterback, and he was terrible.

Maybe one of the guys who just got traded rebounds elsewhere down the road and we reconsider this class. But right now, teams showed us during the draft they just weren’t that interested, and teams showed after 2 seasons that enough was enough with these guys.

The only saving grace in this draft is Brock Purdy, who just so happened to be the final pick in the 2022 draft, Mr. Irrelevant. Of course, his success is almost a total fluke as it took the 49ers 2 major quarterback injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo to put Purdy on the field. They didn’t even know he could have been this good.

We’ll see what comes of his career, but he had MVP-caliber numbers last year and was a defensive stop in overtime away from winning the Super Bowl in just his 2nd season. He also became the 1st quarterback in NFL history to lead 3 go-ahead drives in the 4th quarter and overtime of a playoff game and not win.

Purdy’s success can lift this class, but right now, it looks like an embarrassing group of guys who just weren’t cut out to be starters in the NFL.

5 2013 Draft – The One Where Matt Barkley Didn’t Go No. 1 Overall

Notable Picks:

  • EJ Manuel (1.16)
  • Geno Smith (2.39)
  • Mike Glennon (3.73)
  • Matt Barkley (4.98)
  • Ryan Nassib (4.110)
  • Landry Jones (4.115)

This had a chance to be the worst of the worst if not for this late-career resurgence from Geno Smith in Seattle. But take it from someone who covered the pre-draft hype that year, this class was rotten.

Reasons this was a foreseen stinker of epic proportions:

  • Before the 2012 college football season, many thought USC quarterback Matt Barkley would be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. He went 98th to the Eagles and never amounted to anything as a pro.
  • Before free agency, I did an article asking if the Chiefs should trade a high pick for Alex Smith, or if they should use the No. 1 pick on Geno Smith. Needless to say, Andy Reid probably knew better than I did on that one.
  • As late as draft week, rumors had Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib going No. 8 to the Buffalo Bills. He went 110th to the Giants and threw 10 passes in his career.
  • Mike Glennon’s most notable trait was he had a really long neck.

The final death blow was when EJ Manuel was the 1st quarterback off the board at No. 16 to Buffalo. Again, if your top quarterback doesn’t go in the top 15 picks, that whole class is likely going to underwhelm. Manuel was a bust in Buffalo and never got better elsewhere.

Geno Smith’s Rollercoaster Journey

To Geno Smith’s credit, he was the best of a bad bunch early on with the Jets. But after a teammate broke his jaw in a preseason scuffle in 2015, he lost his starting job and the locker room. From there, Geno was stuck as the backup to quarterbacks who never got hurt like Philip Rivers (Chargers), Eli Manning (Giants) and Russell Wilson (Seahawks).

But as fate would have it, Wilson was injured in 2021 and Smith got some valuable reps in as the starter. The Seahawks traded Wilson in 2022 and Smith got his true shot at a 3rd season as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He made it count by completing a league-high 69.8% of his passes, throwing 30 touchdowns, making the Pro Bowl legitimately, and leading the Seahawks to the playoffs.

Smith is still Seattle’s starter for 2024, but we’ll see how much longer he holds the job after the team traded for Sam Howell last week. But his late-career surge is the only thing keeping this from being a disastrous class.

And remember, people thought Barkley and Nassib were going to be top 8 picks that year. No one knew anything, which is how you end up with Eric Fisher going No. 1 overall to Kansas City.

4 2021 Draft – The One with So Much Regret

Notable Picks:

  • Trevor Lawrence (1.1)
  • Zach Wilson (1.2)
  • Trey Lance (1.3)
  • Justin Fields (1.11)
  • Mac Jones (1.15)
  • Davis Mills (3.67)
  • Ian Book (4.133)
  • Sam Ehlinger (6.218)

Well, at least Jacksonville got the top pick right with Trevor Lawrence. But what a disastrous start for the other 4 quarterbacks who went in the top 15 picks that year. Remember, most great quarterbacks in NFL history prove they can do the job in 1-to-2 years. Sometimes you need 3 seasons like Josh Allen, and rarely ever do you need 4 or more.

So, it is not too soon after their 3rd season in the league to decide if these players have it or not. What makes this class so bad is these are high picks that have bombed spectacularly.

Zach Wilson has been an absolute nightmare for the Jets. He runs around with the ball forever and rarely creates anything good from it. They already tried replacing him with Aaron Rodgers last year, but that lasted 4 snaps. The Jets would have already traded Wilson this month if anyone actually wanted him.

The 49ers never should have traded up for Trey Lance as it was a huge gamble for a supposed QB guru in Kyle Shanahan to trade so much draft capital for a 1-year wonder who rarely threw the ball against second-rate college competition. Lance may not have gotten a fair shake in San Francisco with injury ending his tenure, but he also never looked the part of a franchise quarterback. He was traded to Dallas a year ago.

Justin Fields was just traded to Pittsburgh over the weekend as 3 years of not winning or succeeding was plenty enough for a Chicago team that will move on with USC rookie Caleb Williams. For the people who say Fields is a great quarterback, know that great quarterbacks don’t go 10-28 and throw interceptions and take sacks at the high rates that Fields does. He’s also one of the worst quarterbacks in history with the game on the line. He may get a chance in Pittsburgh, but he’s behind Russell Wilson to start 2024.

Mac Jones’ Rise and Fall

Mac Jones had a solid rookie year with the Patriots, who brought back the 2001 gameplan when Bill Belichick eased Tom Brady into the job. But Belichick made a crucial error in 2022 when he brought in former lackies to be his new offensive coordinator after Josh McDaniels left, and he also did a poor job putting talent around Jones, who only continued to regress. He was benched for Bailey Zappe multiple times, which was a clear sign his time was over. The Patriots traded him to Jacksonville last week.

Davis Mills had that Mike Glennon thing going where his massive neck outshined his actual play on the field, but he was just a stop-gap as Houston transitioned from Deshaun Watson to C.J. Stroud. Mills can be a backup for many years to come in this league, but he is not starting material.

Unlike the 2022 class with Brock Purdy, 2021 doesn’t appear to have any late-round gems. Ian Book started one game for the Saints in 2021 that was so bad (QBR was 2.2) he may never see another chance. Sam Ehlinger was so bad for the Colts in 2022 that they fired coach Frank Reich and replaced him with TV analyst Jeff Saturday.

Lawrence’s Path Forward

Maybe one of those busts rebounds with a new team, but the last man standing here is Lawrence, and the reason we are still ranking this No. 4 is because he has more to prove in Jacksonville. Remember, the Jaguars were 3-7 in 2022 and only made the playoffs because the Titans imploded with a 7-game losing streak. They only beat the Titans at home in Week 18 after Lawrence’s defense returned a Josh Dobbs’ fumble for a touchdown. They beat the Chargers with a 27-point comeback in the playoffs after Lawrence threw 4 interceptions before he threw a touchdown.

Lawrence didn’t elevate his game with the addition of Calvin Ridley last year, and he lost his last 5 starts after he was injured against the Bengals. He is the best of a bad bunch and deserved to be No. 1, but to say he’s an elite quarterback after these 3 seasons would be heresy.

We need to see much more from Lawrence.

3 2010 Draft – The One with the Guys Who Peaked in College

Notable Picks:

  • Sam Bradford (1.1)
  • Tim Tebow (1.25)
  • Jimmy Clausen (2.48)
  • Colt McCoy (3.85)
  • Joe Webb (6.199)

The 2010 draft was the last gold mine for rookies before the new CBA in 2011 brought in a rookie wage scale so that top draft picks were no longer instantly among the highest-paid players in the league.

Sam Bradford was the last No. 1 overall pick to get a huge contract worth $78 million with $50 million guaranteed, and the Oklahoma quarterback never came close to living up to it with the Rams or any of the other teams he later fleeced. He was injury-prone, slow, and not effective at leading offenses to points.

Maybe Bradford would have had the magical season Case Keenum had in his place with the 2017 Vikings before injury ended his year after 2 games. We’ll never know, but that 2016-17 stretch when Bradford was completing 71.8% of his passes was the best it ever got for him in the NFL. He never started a playoff game.

Bradford lost a college national championship game to Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators, and the Heisman winner was another hyped prospect in the 2010 draft. He eventually went to the Broncos with the 25th pick, and the 2011 season was when we got to see some of that Tebow Magic with insane comeback wins that did need things like recovered onside kicks, 59-yard field goals, and many other improbable plays to get him the victories.

It all culminated in the playoffs when he threw for 316 yards on 10 completions against the Steelers, walking things off just a snap into the 1st ever modified overtime game in NFL history. But Tebow was embarrassed a week later by the Patriots, and that was a good excuse for Denver to move on with Peyton Manning in 2012. Tebowmania was over just like that. He never started another NFL game at quarterback and failed to catch on with the Jets, Patriots and Eagles.

Tebow was the only quarterback in this draft to win a playoff game, but he wasn’t the only to start one. Joe Webb got a surprise start for the 2012 Vikings after starter Christian Ponder was injured in Week 17, but that didn’t go well at all for the mobile Webb who never could get passing down in the NFL.

Failed Starts

Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen couldn’t get anything right in the NFL, and his 2010 season with Carolina was so abysmal that the team happily moved on with Cam Newton with the No. 1 pick in 2011. Clausen’s 13.8 QBR in 2010 ranks dead last among the 551 ranked quarterback seasons since 2006, and he is the only player under 22.0.

Finally, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy had a long career in the NFL, but he never put things together as a starter. McCoy was 0-22 in his career as a starter when his team allowed at least 20 points.

The 2010 class is one of the clearest cases of quarterbacks who excelled on very good college teams and couldn’t carry that success over to the NFL.

2 1996 Draft – The One Where Tony Banks Was the Headliner

Notable Picks:

  • Tony Banks (2.42)
  • Bobby Hoying (3.85)
  • Jeff Lewis (4.100)
  • Danny Kanell (4.130)

We gave the 1997 draft a bit of a pass for getting dodged by Peyton Manning and at least producing Jake Plummer. But 1996 was even worse, and it’s not like 1992-95 were overly strong drafts with teams missing on David Klingler, Tommy Maddox, Rick Mirer, Heath Shuler and Trent Dilfer. This was just not a good period for quarterbacks coming out of college.

But 1996 was truly a wasteland. A total of 8 quarterbacks were drafted, and half of them never played a game (all the late-round picks).

  • Denver’s Jeff Lewis saw the field but threw just 54 passes in 12 career games with no starts.
  • Bobby Hoying was abysmal for the Eagles, throwing 0 touchdowns and 9 interceptions in the 1998 season, which led to the team hiring Andy Reid as its next head coach.
  • Danny Kanell was so bad and defense-dependent for the Giants that he somehow played in a 7-7 overtime tie in 1997 and still started a playoff game that year, which was a loss. His 5.4 yards per attempt is the lowest in NFL history (min. 600 passes).

You know a quarterback class never had a shot when Tony Banks was the first quarterback off the board with the 42nd pick by the Rams. Banks had 3 underwhelming years with the Rams before he went to the Ravens in 1999. Things initially looked better there, but in 2000, he was wasting a legendary Baltimore defense. Banks threw 5 touchdowns in Week 2 against Jacksonville, then led the Ravens to 4 straight games without an offensive touchdown.

Banks was benched for Trent Dilfer, who finished the job as the Ravens won the Super Bowl thanks to that defense led by Ray Lewis. When many consider Dilfer the worst quarterback to win a Super Bowl, remember that Banks was benched for him that year.

His career never rebounded, and Banks finished with 15,315 yards and 77 touchdown passes. He was 35-43 as a starter and never started a playoff game.

Not surprisingly, the only Hall of Fame quarterback to enter the NFL between 1990 and 1997 was Brett Favre. A lot of bad drafts, but 1996 was the barest the cupboard ever got.

1 2007 Draft: The One with JaMarcus Russell

Notable Picks:

  • JaMarcus Russell (1.1)
  • Brady Quinn (1.22)
  • Kevin Kolb (2.36)
  • John Beck (2.40)
  • Drew Stanton (2.43)
  • Trent Edwards (3.92)
  • Troy Smith (5.174)
  • Jordan Palmer (6.205)
  • Tyler Thigpen (7.217)

While Sam Bradford and the 2010 draft was the end of the line for rookie contracts being outrageous, the inspiration for making sure they were signed at scale may have been JaMarcus Russell in the 2007 draft.

Russell was such a colossal bust for the Raiders that it made people see the financial burden taken on with a No. 1 pick can really hamper a team for years as you almost have to keep playing them to justify the move and money. But Russell’s play was so bad – his QBR was under 30.0 in all 3 seasons he played – that the Raiders cut him after his 3rd season in 2009.

The most infamous Russell story was when the team gave him a blank DVD to practice plays for the upcoming gameplan. After asking Russell if he liked the plays and which ones he wanted to use, Russell said he liked them all and they could run whatever. But the DVD was blank, and that’s how the Raiders knew they had no hope at quarterback.

Usually, a No. 1 overall pick will get numerous chances to play in the NFL even if that 1st chance went sour. But Russell is unique in that he never signed another NFL contract as no one wanted to touch him. This is why he is widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NFL history, if not the biggest given the financial burden he put on the Raiders.

Disappointments Across the Board

That already put the 2007 class in bad shape, but things didn’t get much better. Brady Quinn was another Notre Dame bust, unable to prove his turnaround under Charlie Weis could translate to the pros with Cleveland. His only memorable NFL game was a 2009 shootout against Matthew Stafford and the Lions, which Detroit won.

Kevin Kolb was supposed to be Andy Reid’s next quarterback after Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia, but a quick injury in 2010 led to Michael Vick taking that role. Kolb never recovered and did anything with his NFL career.

John Beck was one of many quarterback mistakes the Dolphins made in this decade after they declined to sign free agent Drew Brees in 2006. Beck was another bust.

Buffalo’s Trent Edwards was worse than 2004 bust J.P. Losman as he earned the nickname “Captain Checkdown” for his love of short passes that didn’t move the offense.

Late-Round Picks

The late-round picks didn’t shine either. Troy Smith added to the stigma that Ohio State quarterbacks don’t translate to the NFL, though C.J. Stroud is currently trying to fix that. Jordan Palmer was Carson Palmer’s brother, but he didn’t share the same talent.

Shockingly, you could argue that 7th-round pick Tyler Thigpen had a better season in 2008 with Kansas City than Russell or Quinn or anyone else in this draft class ever had in the NFL. Thigpen threw 18 touchdowns that year and ranked 21st in QBR, ahead of Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger (24th).

That’s how low the bar is for 2007 that we are hyping up a Tyler Thigpen season where he was still 1-10 as a starter on a bad Kansas City team. That’s why 2007 is the worst quarterback draft class in NFL history, led by its biggest fraud at the No. 1 pick.

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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