The draft bust series is back for part five and in this edition we will be covering the AFC North. The AFC North has featured players like Ray Lewis and Troy Polamalu in the past. Nowadays the division has players like Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.
While the AFC North has had many good players past and present, there are also many busts that have once called the AFC North their division. One team in the division however has had more busts than any of the other three teams and that one team would be the Cleveland Browns.
Since 1999 the Browns have had the number one pick four times more than any other team in that time span. It won’t be easy choosing which Browns draft bust is the biggest of them all.
Read about more draft busts.
Baltimore Ravens: Kyle Boller
The Baltimore Ravens selected quarterback Kyle Boller with the 19th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft out of California. The Ravens were looking for their new franchise quarterback after saying goodbye to Jeff Blake the Ravens went all in on Boller.
From 2003-2007 Boller played with the Ravens and most of the time spent Baltimore was also spent on the injured reserve list. Boller did manage to start 53 games but had a negative touchdown-interception ratio and a below par QBR.
Boller left Baltimore and joined the Rams in 2008 but did not find much success there either.
Cincinnati Bengals: Akili Smith
The Cincinnati Bengals selected quarterback Akili Smith with the third overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft out of Oregon. Smith played in Cincinnati for four seasons and only started 17 games going 3-14.
Smith also had a 3-14 touchdown-interception ratio and was not the star Cincinnati thought he would be. Edgerrin James, Torry Holt and Champ Bailey were selected soon after Smith making the Bengals bad choice sting even more.
Cleveland Browns: Johnny Manziel
The Cleveland Browns selected quarterback Johnny Manziel with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. Here it is, the Browns biggest draft bust is the man once known as Johnny Football.
In college Manziel was the man, winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman. When anziel left Texas A&M to enter the 2014 NFL Draft the hype was immeasurable. The Browns bought the hype and drafted Manziel after he fell quite a bit in the draft after being a projected top 10 pick.
Manziel made his first NFL start in Cleveland on December 14, 2014. Long story short Manziel was awful in his first start throwing two interceptions and going 10 of 18 for zero touchdowns and getting sacked four times. It was a 30-0 shutout loss against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Manziel only lasted two seasons in Cleveland and was released and no other team wanted to take a chance on him so he fizzled out of the NFL at the age of 24.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Troy Edwards
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected wide receiver Troy Edwards with the 13th overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft out of Louisiana Tech. Edwards only played three seasons with the Steelers and only started seven games.
Edwards only scored five touchdowns in those three seasons and was out of Pittsburgh by the end of 2001. Edwards would go on to play four more seasons with three different teams.
