The QB Bust List

[Attyla]

12. Alex Smith. Taken first overall, Smith was benched, injured, sacked, interecepted and basically destroyed in his first years in the league. The tough part for Smith is coming from the QB College of San Francisco, where anything but top flight QB's are unacceptable. Ranks at #12 currently because he is working on getting rid of the tag of "bust" but the jury is still in on his body of work thus far.

11. Tim Couch, #1 overall. As the new face of the reformed franchise, he was expected to regroup the team and bring back talent like they had under Bernie Kosar (although the term talent is used sparingly here). Couch did get the Browns to the playoffs, and was also benched in favor of career journeyman Kelly Holcomb.

10. Joey Harrington #3 overall. Sometimes your back up plan is better than you primary plan. Harrington should have gone with the back up and become a pianist. As a QB, he spent more time on his back than is legal in 49 states. And when Harrington was on his feet, he was throwing the ball to a cast of underperformers many of whom are now out of football.

9. David Carr #1 overall. 68 sacks in a season, and a terrible line, coupled with one of the slowest releases in recent history put David squarely on the list, even though he is still playing. that's what happens when you average almost 3 sacks a game that you have started. You almost have to feel sorry for the guy, but defensive linemen who lined up against him didn't.

8. Art Schlichter #4 overall. He played a total of 12 games, had three TD's and got sacked 28 times. He threw 11 picks. On paper this is a bad, but not terrible rookie year. Unfortunately, Art was also a gambler, and while those stats are the span of three seasons, they were his only NFL games. Jail, banishment and more jail ended the career. He would be higher, but there are more deserving candidates for the top spots.

7. Andre Ware #7 overall. He was supposed to make Barry Sanders an annual attendee to the playoffs. Instead, he played for basically a whistle stop in the NFL, couldn't cover it in Canada, and was out of football before the ink was dry on his last overpaid contract.

6. David Klingler #6 overall. David was supposed to return the Bengals to the days when Boomer was the most popular guy in Cinci. Instead, David proved over and over again that college talent does not always move you into the NFL, even when you can throw 11 touchdowns in one game. He won 4 games as a starter in the NFL before backing up other QB's for a couple years before hanging up the pads.

5. Akili Smith #3 overall. Proving the Bengals were cursed, Smith again tried to recover the pride of Cincinatti. But proving that college talent is not the same as pro talent is something the Bengals apparently were trying to solidify. After throwing only 5 TD's for the Bengals in 22 games, he makes the top 5

4. Rick Mirer taken #2. Mirer spent his rookie season breaking and setting records...and then vanished. His forgettable sophmore year was terrible, and then after stints with the Jets, Raiders and 49ers, Rick was no more. The potential shown as a rookie never did translate into the career he thought he would have.

3. Heath Shuler taken #3 overall. Shuler was put on stage in one of the biggest fan bases in all of football. A year later, those same fans were screaming to replace him with career journeyman and draft class mate Gus Ferrotte. Ferrotte's only other claim to fame was head butting the wall in in Detroit, knocking HIMSELF out of the game. Shuler just wishes it had been him that did that.

#2 JaMarcus Russell. I know, I know, he is still in the league and still has a chance, but a straw poll taken among NFL GM's reveals that Russell may not wear another colorful jersey in a NFL city after he gets released by the Raiders. With reports of excessive weight fluctuation, and reports of clinical lethergy, as well as other issues both on and off the field, it is doubtful this talented but unmotivated player will recover.

and

#1. Ryan Leaf taken #2 overall. Leaf was hoping he would surrender the crown, but while the other QB's on the list were bad, Leaf was epically bad with an epically bad attitude. When your team mates throw you under the bus and then ask the driver to back up and go forward repeatedly, you get the top spot. Leaf's famous blow ups against reporters are living legends. And his now very public issues with drugs are just continuing stories for Charger fans to cringe over.

Congrats Ryan, your still #1

[Swoosh23]

heck you can throw Marinovich and Wilson on there too..

[Attyla]

Oh there were others, these werre just the dirty dozen

[South Shield]

Good list. I would only say move Akili Smith to number 3. Rick Mirer at least stuck around the league.

[Attyla]

Smith was terrible, but Shuler to me is the perfect example of a big game college guy who never lived up the the hype. At least Smith was taken after mcnabb and couch

[Raider Raul]

Brady Quinn might be on the "bust" list if he doesn't step it up in Denver and Matt Leinert too in Arizona.

[MWR]

Jamarcus has climbed the "bust" ladder so fast he's scorched the rungs.

[FLORIDARAYDAH]

Originally Posted by MWR

Jamarcus has climbed the "bust" ladder so fast he's scorched the rungs.

If he was climbing a ladder there were sweets at the top.Russell is still in the running for #1,dont count him out

[Attyla]

as long as Leaf continues his marinovichian behavior, Leaf is still #1

marinovichian....i just invented a word that Raider fans will totally understand

[code707]

This a list based on their 'draft' rankings? and how well they translated in the NFL?