Image via Getty/Ezra Shaw
The Cleveland Browns are on the clock, and they’re determined to avoid repeating history.
That the Browns have had trouble drafting over the last few years (or decades) is no secret. After all, we’re talking about a franchise that has had 28 starting quarterbacks over the last 19 seasons, wasted top-five selections on guys like Gerard Warren and Trent Richardson, and traded out of the draft picks that eventually became Julio Jones and Carson Wentz. Any pick the Browns make will immediately be met with skepticism because of their track record.
Nowadays, many teams get into a race-to-the-bottom to tank for that coveted No. 1 overall draft pick. But as the Browns have proved time and time again, high draft picks are no exact science: This will be the fourth time the Browns have picked first overall since 1999, and they’ve already struck out twice with the genius selections of Tim Couch and Courtney Brown. Drafting first overall can catapult a franchise to relevance if done right, but it can also set it back years if it misses. Just ask the Raiders after the JaMarcus Russell debacle.
Thursday night’s draft will come with the hopes things will be different for the Browns. That the next quarterback that they draft won’t just be another name on that infamous jersey, but rather the franchise quarterback Cleveland has lacked since Bernie Kosar in the late 80s—which also happens to be the last time the Browns were consistent contenders.
Of course, the Browns’ mere presence at the top of the draft is going to prompt memories of the team’s prior draft debacles, and of draft debacles in general. So in honor of that, here are the worst first overall picks in professional sports since 2000.
15. Andrea Bargnani, 2006
Bargnani was a good NBA player—some might even say very good: His career averages of 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game made him one of the better centers of his day.
But you don’t draft someone No. 1 overall in the hopes of simply getting a solid starter; you want a franchise-altering talent. And Bargnani clearly wasn’t that. He lasted seven seasons for the Raptors, in which they made the playoffs just twice and never won a playoff series. After leaving Toronto, he had a pair of forgettable and injury-plagued stints in New York with the Knicks and the Nets. His NBA career was over by 2016.
Bargnani was often compared to Dirk Nowitzki at the time he was drafted. But considering Dirk is still in the NBA and Bargnani isn't, it’s safe to say those comparisons didn’t suffice—especially since Dirk is seven years older.
14. Andrew Bogut, 2005
Andrew Bogut might be the most “meh” first overall pick in NBA history. He wasn’t the franchise player the Bucks hoped they’d get, but he was a solid starter for many years. He averaged 12.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game in seven years with Milwaukee, and even led the NBA in blocks per game in 2010-11.
The Bucks, however, made the playoffs just once with Bogut there. Milwaukee also passed on future stars Chris Paul and Deron Williams to take Bogut, who clearly wasn’t as dominant as either of them. A CP3-Michael Redd backcourt could have done some major damage in the East.
13. Sam Bradford, 2010
It’s certainly not an understatement to call Sam Bradford the most overpaid athlete in the history of professional sports. After this season, Bradford will have made at least $129 million since coming to the NFL in 2010. This despite a 34-45-1 career record and zero playoff appearances. Not including this year, when he went 2-0 for the Vikings, he has never posted a winning season.
While Bradford has flashed potential at times, he has not lived up to his No. 1 overall status,or the millions he has subsequently been paid. Considering that the next six players drafted after Bradford all went on to become All-Pro players, it’s safe to say the Rams feel like he didn’t live up to the hype, either.
12. Tim Beckham, 2008
The Rays took Beckham No. 1 overall in 2008, ahead of the likes of Eric Hosmer, Buster Posey, and Yonder Alonso. While Hosmer and Posey were establishing themselves as stars and World Series champions, Beckham had yet to even prove himself worthy of a spot in the major leagues: He didn’t make his MLB debut until 2013, and wasn’t a consistent MLB fixture until 2015. Even then, Beckham was only a backup infielder on one of the worst teams in the American League.
Last season, it looked as though the 27-year-old Beckham may have finally turned a corner: He batted .278 with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs for the Rays and Orioles. That’s hardly an elite season, but it’s far better than anything Beckham has done professionally so far.
And it only took him nine years to do it.
11. Eric Fisher, 2013
Eric Fisher is obviously not an ideal No. 1 overall selection. But in the Chiefs’ defense, the 2013 NFL Draft was one of the weakest classes in league history—only three players drafted in the top 17 have become Pro Bowlers. Unsurprisingly, Fisher wasn’t one of them: The tackle has played adequately for the Chiefs, but has hardly been the next Orlando Pace.
10. Courtney Brown, 2000
It initially looked as though Courtney Brown would be the star defensive end the Browns had in mind when they drafted him out of Penn State. He recorded 69 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a rookie in 2000, and posted 4.5 sacks in the first five games of the 2001 season.
Then, that good ol’ Browns luck set in.
A knee injury cost Brown the remaining 11 games of the 2001 season, after which he was never the same. Brown had just 41 tackles and two sacks in 11 games in 2002, and after a somewhat-improved 2003 season, played just two games in 2004 due to injuries. Overall, Brown played in only 31 games from 2001-2004.
As bad as this pick was, it might not even crack the Browns’ top-five Draft blunders since they came back to the NFL in 1999. They’ll hope to avoid another Courtney Brown situation with this year’s No. 1 overall pick.
9. Luke Hochevar, 2006
If you were looking for a pitcher at the top of the 2006 MLB Draft, you had your choice between Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Andrew Miller, Tim Lincecum, and Luke Hochevar.
The Royals had that choice. And they took Hochevar.
Hochevar was a fixture in Kansas City’s rotation from 2008-2012, where he proved consistently awful: He went 38-58 with a 5.45 ERA over that timeframe. Thankfully, Hochevar somewhat redeemed himself after moving to the bullpen in 2013; he posted a 2.96 ERA in relief from 2013-2016. He was also a pivotal part of the Royals’ 2015 World Series championship, as he did not allow a single run in nine playoff appearances that postseason.
8. David Carr, 2002
David Carr was thrust into as tough a situation as you could throw a rookie quarterback into: In his first year of play, he was dubbed the franchise quarterback of a Texans team in its inaugural season. This left Carr with little organizational support or surrounding talent to maximize his potential. In a different situation, perhaps Carr could have thrived in the NFL—much like his brother Derek is with the Raiders right now.
That said, the final returns on Carr’s Texans career are not good.
Carr went 22-53 in five years with Houston, and threw for more than 3,000 yards just once. He also struggled to avoid the pass rush—he owns two of the three most-sacked seasons in NFL history (although this is due in large part to Houston’s awful offensive line). The Texans cut him after the 2006 season, and he spent most of the next six seasons as a backup.
7. Kwame Brown, 2001
In drafting Kwame Brown No. 1 overall, Michael Jordan proved that he definitely isn’t the GOAT of basketball executives.
Jordan became President of Basketball Operations for the Wizards in 2000, after he retired for the second time. His legacy as an executive would be largely defined by his decision to draft Kwame Brown in 2001. While Brown was the consensus best high school player that year, he flopped big-time in the NBA. He never averaged more than 11 points or seven rebounds per game in any season, and was traded away after just four years with the Wizards.
Jordan took a huge gamble by taking a high school player first overall—which had never been done up to that point—and it didn’t play off. The move looks especially bad when you consider that four future NBA stars went in the top ten: Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Jason Richardson, and Joe Johnson.
6. Matt Bush, 2004
Matt Bush was sent to prison before he made the major leagues, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about him.
The Padres drafted the third baseman No. 1 overall in 2004, though he was actually the team’s third choice: They had wanted to draft Stephen Drew or Jered Weaver ahead of Bush, but each had salary demands deemed too high.
In hindsight, either would have made a far better choice than Bush.
Disciplinary issues and poor play kept Bush in the minors until 2007, when the Padres converted him to a pitcher. After stints in the Blue Jays and Rays organizations, Bush spent 39 months in prison after running over a 72-year-old motorcyclist while intoxicated in 2012. This was the third time he had been arrested for driving drunk.
After being released from prison, Bush eventually made it to the majors with the Rangers in 2016. And he has actually pitched quite well in relief: He’s got a 3.13 career big-league ERA.
While he has redeemed himself somewhat, he’ll still go down as one of the biggest busts in sports history—I mean, we’re talking about a guy who was drafted ahead of Justin Verlander.
5. Anthony Bennett, 2013
Bennett might have the least impressive stat line of any No.1 overall pick in NBA History: The power forward averaged just 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game over four NBA seasons, and started a grand total of four NBA games in his career.
He lasted just one season with the Cavs, who cut their losses quickly by sending him to the Timberwolves in the Kevin Love trade. But he continued his struggles there, and later with the Nets. After a stint in Turkey, Bennett currently plays on the Celtics’ G-League team.
Bennett is still only 25 years old, so perhaps there’s time for him to turn things around. But the clock is ticking.
4. Bryan Bullington, 2002
The Pirates’ streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons from 1993-2012 was abetted in part by their selection of Bryan Bullington. Bullington pitched in a grand total of six games for Pittsburgh’s big-league team, and was taken ahead of B.J. Upton, Zack Greinke, and Prince Fielder.
This was a peak Pirates move.
By 2008, the Pirates had put Bullington on waivers, essentially signaling they had given up on him. After his time in Pittsburgh came to an unceremonious end, Bullington would go on to have forgettable stints with the Indians, Blue Jays, and Royals. He finished his MLB career 1-9 with a 5.62 career ERA in just 26 appearances.
On a positive note for Bullington, he did find some success in Japan after his major-league exile. He was a Japanese All-Star in 2011, and posted a 3.25 ERA in five years there.
3. Greg Oden, 2007
The two consensus best players in the 2007 NBA Draft were Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. The Blazers—who had already drafted Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in 1984—had the first overall pick, and were determined to not repeat history.
But they did.
Oden was seen by many as the next great big man, a Shaq 2.0. He was coming off of a year at Ohio State in which he helped take the team to the national championship game, its first since 1962. Oden had the potential to be a once-in-a-generation center with the ability to score, rebound, and defend, which is why the Blazers took him first overall.
Unfortunately for Oden, his knees didn’t hold up: He missed the entirety of his rookie season with a knee injury. And after playing 61 games in 2008-09, Oden was limited to just 21 games in 2009-10 after another knee injury. Injuries would keep Oden sidelined through 2012, when the Blazers waived him. He briefly resurfaced with the Heat in 2014, but by then his fate as a bust had been sealed.
Kevin Durant’s career has gone just a little bit better than Oden’s, in case you were wondering.
2. Mark Appel, 2013
If you’ve never heard of Mark Appel, that’s probably because he’s never played in the major leagues.
The Astros drafted Appel first overall in 2013 — one spot ahead of Kris Bryant — and he was pretty much a bust from the get-go. He posted a 6.91 ERA in his first full minor league season in 2014, and was actually demoted to Single-A that year, which is rare for a top prospect.
Houston eventually cut its losses by sending Appel to the Phillies as part of the Ken Giles trade. And surely enough, Appel continued his struggles in the Phillies organization. He never reached higher than Triple-A, and stepped away from baseball this offseason with a 5.06 career minor league ERA. Not including recent selections, Appel is one of just three No. 1 overall picks to not make the majors, joining the Mets’ Steve Chilcott in 1966 and the Yankees’ Brien Taylor in 1991.
As good as the Astros are now, imagine how much better they’d be if they had drafted Kris Bryant instead.
1. JaMarcus Russell, 2007
There are busts, and then there’s JaMarcus Russell.
The late Raiders owner Al Davis compared Russell to John Elway prior to selecting him No. 1 overall, as did ESPN’s Mel Kiper. Russell was one of the most physically-gifted quarterbacks to ever come out of college; he possessed the 6’6” frame and could throw 60 yards from his knees.
Despite being blessed with the tools and athleticism rarely seen in an NFL quarterback, Russell failed to translate his physical prowess to NFL success. He went just 7-18 in 25 career starts, and posted a 65.2 career quarterback rating and a 52.1 completion percentage along the way. It was pretty clear from the get-go that the Elway comparisons wouldn’t last for long.
It was also clear that Russell never took his NFL career very seriously: His weight ballooned to over 300 pounds following the 2009 offseason, and he was often criticized for his lack of effort. It took just three seasons for the Raiders to bail on Russell, a time frame usually unheard of for any first-rounder, let alone the first overall pick and a potential franchise quarterback.
What’s particularly telling about Russell is that not one team gave him a second chance. Not one. It took Russell just three seasons to go from future of the league to one of its biggest laughing stocks, a title that he will likely hold for decades to come.
Russell’s poor play, conditioning, and effort are a huge part of what makes him the worst No. 1 overall pick in sports this millennium, and perhaps the worst in professional sports history. But that’s only part of it: The Raiders passed on Hall of Famers Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, and Darrelle Revis in drafting Russell. I bet they wish they could do that one over.