Years: 2006-current
Team(s): Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans
Drafted: 1st round, 10th overall (2006)
Career Games Started: 17
Most quarterbacks on this list have one thing in common, they held out for a considerable amount of time before training camp and were forced to learn their new offense on the fly. The same goes for Matt Leinart who held out on the Cardinals and was the last player of the '06 draft to sign a contract. Another "highlight" of Leinart's career was "guiding" the Cardinals to the 20-point collapse against the Bears that sparked the Dennis Green's epic rant. Most people thought that Seattle's Pete Carroll, a coach who likes to sign his former Trojan players, would sign Leinart to his team instead of Tavaris Jackson, but the Seahawks chose to go with Jackson, and Leinart is left holding the clipboard on the sidelines for the Texans.
9. Tim Couch
Years: 1999-2004,2007
Team(s): Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars
Drafted: 1st round, 1st overall (1999)
Career Games Started: 59
Just because a player becomes a Heisman finalist doesn't guarantee them success at the next level word to Joey Harrington. Tim Couch is another player that falls into the Heisman hype then doesn't deliver in the NFL. In Couch's rookie year he led his team to a stellar 2-12 record after sitting out his first game to Ty Detmer. Couch had a breakout season his second to last year leading his Browns to a 9-7 record, only to break his leg in the last game of the season, have his team lose in the first round of the playoffs and never regain the starting spot. Butch Davis made it clear after juggling through quarterbacks that he didn't trust Couch with the ball and after Couch's 3-5 record as a starter his last year in Cleveland he wasn't picked up by any other teams after that, making him not only one of the biggest draft busts in the history of the NFL, but one of the worst quarterbacks as well.
Years: 2001-2007
Team(s): Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers
Drafted: 4th round, 106th overall (2001)
Career Games Started: 20
The Carolina Panthers didn't expect much when they drafted Chris Weinke in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL draft, and they probably would've been better off selecting skinny tie wearing, Bachelor Jesse Palmer. Regardless, Weinke threw the ball all over the place his rookie season both to his teammates and the other team. He finished the year with almost 3,000 yards passing but that's all Weinke can say for his football career. After the 15-loss 2001 season Weinke didn't see the field, losing his starting spot to Jake Delhomme. Weinke ended his career in San Francisco in 2007 in a game the 49ers lost 20-7. Still got that Heisman though!
Years: 1993-2004
Team(s): Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions
Drafted: 1st round, 2nd overall (1993)
Career Games Started: 68
Rick Mirer never had a season record better than 7-6 during his career, which was probably not something the Seattle Seahawks were hoping for when they drafted him second overall in the 1993 NFL draft. Mirer finished his career as a Seahawk with a 20-31 record, then was traded to the Bears for a fourth round pick in '97. As a member of the Bears, Mirer continued to struggle throwing for no touchdowns and six interceptions in the three games that he started. Mirer's last stop was in Oakland (where quarterbacks go to die), where he threw for three touchdowns and five interceptions. Not much to brag about for a highly touted quarterback out of Notre Dame. He probably slayed the ladies with his dreamy eyes, but technically the NFL is a men only league.
Years: 2002-2008
Team(s): Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints
Drafted: 1st round, 3rd overall (2002)
Career Games Started: 76
Joey Harrington finished fourth in the Heisman trophy race, in 2002, had a billboard in Times Square promoting him and his Ducks, and was drafted 3rd overall. And that's about it. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions, where wide receiver happy owner Matt Millen surrounded him with a bunch of bust receivers and a shaky offensive line. Harrington doesn't have truly awful career numbers (how's that for faint praise?), throwing "just" six more interceptions than touchdowns. But his draft position and the general stink of the Lions' Matt Millen years put him high on this list.
5. David Carr
Years: 2002-present
Team(s): Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants
Drafted: 1st round, 1st overall (2002)
Career Games Started: 79
David Carr is still icing his injuries from his rookie season where he was sacked every other play (not literally, but the fact we had to actually tell you that let's you know how often he was on the turf that year). Pair that with an awkward sidearm release that the Texans went to great lengths to improve (setting up ladders for him to throw over) and you have a recipe for some bad quarterback play. As a first overall pick you would think a team would evaluate their soon to be franchise quarterback a little better (such as, "Are we gonna have to go to Home Depot to buy training tools for this kid?") but that's beside the point. Carr lost 14 times as the starter in 2005 and 12 times during his rookie season. Today he's sitting comfortably on the sideline for the New York Giants, paranoid to ever step into the pocket in a meaningful situation again.
4. Akili Smith
Years: 1999-2004
Team(s): Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Drafted: 1st round, 3rd overall (1999)
Career Games Started: 17
The Bengals have been a mess for years, in no small part because once an organization drafts a quarterback, and that signal caller is a bust, it will set a team back three or four years. Akili Smith was drafted third overall and was known as a “combine guy” – great numbers, an exceptional forty time, and a huge arm. Akili Smith didn't amount to his numbers and he was out of the league by 2002. To add insult to injury, the Bengals could've turned his pick into as many as nine picks if they'd partnered with the Saints' Mike Ditka in his "Trade the Draft for Ricky Williams" gambit.
3. Jack Trudeau
Years: 1986-1995
Team(s): Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers
Drafted: 2nd round, 47th overall (1986)
Career Games Started: 49
The Colts were pretty bad back in the day to have to announce Trudeau as their offensive MVP in 1989 for throwing for 15 touchdowns at a thoroughly pedestrian quarterback rating of 71.3 (hey, it beat the 19.0 he'd put up in two starts the year before). Calvin Johnson has around 50 touchdowns this year and the season is only half over. Trudeau's rookie career he started off 0-11, throwing 18 interceptions and 8 TDs. He was able to hang around the league for 9 years but never had the success the Colts were hoping for when they drafted him. He did get arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2007 after hosting a high school graduation party for his daughter. Cool dad, bad quarterback.
2. Ryan Leaf
Years: 1998-2002
Team(s): San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, Seattle Seahawks
Drafted: 1st round, 2nd overall (1998)
Career Games Started: 21
Everybody knows the story of Ryan Leaf blowing up on reporters, most notably in the locker room when he told a reporter to “Knock it off” among other choice words. Leaf was a lock to become an NFL star according to draft analysts and the separation between him and Peyton Manning was thought to be small, so choosing a quarterback in the '98 draft was simple: If a team didn't take Manning they would take Leaf and vice versa. Well the Chargers chose Leaf with their pick and the rest is history. In the third game of the season against the Chiefs, Leaf completed just one pass for four yards with a completion percentage of 6.7%, he also threw two picks and fumbled three times. Ryan Leaf off the field wasn't much better, most recently getting into trouble asking players that he was coaching at West Texas A&M for painkillers. Where would the Colts be today if they drafted Leaf and not Manning? Scary thought.
1. Jamarcus Russell
Years: 2007-2009
Team(s): Oakland Raiders
Drafted: 1st round, 1st overall (2007)
Career Games Started: 25
He was supposed to be the savior of the struggling Raiders, who had seen the likes of Aaron Brooks, Daunte Culpepper and Andrew Walter try to return them to excellence -- an excellence that fans hadn't seen since the Rich Gannon days. Instead Jamarcus Russell accomplished something that many pigskin sages thought would not be possible: He became a bigger draft bust than Ryan Leaf. Turns out Russell was lazy and uncommitted to football (and maybe addicted to syrup), showing up for camp a few times overweight. He was probably doomed from the start, holding out into Week 1 of the regular season his rookie year. Jamarcus started a total of 25 games, putting up 18 touchdowns to 23 interceptions, "good" for a 7-18 record. Russell made his money and was content, a tough pill to swallow for Al Davis, but sad to say Lane Kiffin told you so.
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