The 2021 NFL Draft is quickly approaching and the excitement is building for the three-day event. Fans and pundits will be in bliss as this year’s rookie class finds out where they’ll begin their careers. But every team has a slew of bad picks they’d love to have back. It’s not a knock on anyone. Drafting is hard and not every first-round pick is going to work out. It’s math.
Sometimes a pick doesn’t work out due to poor scheme or culture fit and a player does well elsewhere. Other times it’s about reaching for an individual over another, and seeing the other player blossom while their own pick flounders. Rarely are any two situations the exact same and it’s easy to second-guess with hindsight.
We’ve found the worst first-round draft pick for every team along with the runner-up since the 2011 draft class. Even the best franchises miss because the draft is a gamble and football isn’t easy to project.
Arizona Cardinals - Robert Nkemdiche (2016)
Atlanta Falcons - Takkarist McKinley (2017)
Baltimore Ravens - Breshad Perriman (2015)
Buffalo Bills - EJ Manuel (2013)
Carolina Panthers - Vernon Butler (2016)
Chicago Bears - Mitchell Trubisky (2017)
Cincinnati Bengals - John Ross (2017)
Cleveland Browns - Johnny Manziel (2014)
Dallas Cowboys - Bruce Carter (2011)
Denver Broncos - Paxton Lynch (2016)
Detroit Lions - Jarrad Davis (2017)
Green Bay Packers - Jordan Love (2020)
Houston Texans - Kevin Johnson (2015)
Indianapolis Colts - Bjoern Werner (2013)
Jacksonville Jaguars - Blake Bortles (2014)
Kansas City Chiefs - Jonathan Baldwin (2011)
Las Vegas Raiders - Gareon Conley (2017)
Los Angeles Chargers - D.J. Fluker (2013)
Los Angeles Rams - Greg Robinson (2014)
Miami Dolphins - Dion Jordan (2013)
Minnesota Vikings - Christian Ponder (2011)
New England Patriots - N'Keal Harry (2019)
New Orleans Saints - Stephone Anthony (2015)
New York Giants - Deandre Baker (2019)
New York Jets - Dee Milliner (2013)
Philadelphia Eagles - Danny Watkins (2011)
Pittsburgh Steelers - Jarvis Jones (2013)
Runner-Up: Artie Burns (2016)
The 2013 class was one of the worst in recent memory and the Steelers were another team to fall victim to overdrafting a bad player. Jones was a stiff, linear edge-rusher who never had a chance at being more than a rotational piece in the NFL. His production at Georgia clearly came from physicality and scheme, yet the Steelers still selected him 17th overall over Kyle Long, Desmond Trufant, and Xavier Rhodes.
The Steelers switched their strategy to get more athletic players shortly after the Jones debacle, but their 2016 pick of Artie Burns was misguided. Burns wasn’t twitched-up enough in short-area, and was burned as a limited cornerback who could only run downhill fast. He quickly washed out as a depth piece.