1992 NFL Draft: The Worst of All-Time ?

I remember exactly where I watched the 1992 NFL Draft- I was in the Bahamas for Passover and ESPN was on a big screen in my hotel lobby. I remember being puzzled by 2 things:

1. Why the Colts had the first 2 picks in the Draft.

2. Why anyone would pass over the amazing Desmond Howard.

There was almost certainly never a draft as terrible from top-t0-bottom as 1992.


Let's take a look at all of the drafts from the 1990's to understand just how atrocious the '92 Draft truly was.


1990

Hall of Famers- 3. Emmitt Smith, Shannon Sharpe (probably), and the still- active Junior Seau.

This draft may have started ignominiously with Jeff George and Blair Thomas going 1-2, but it picked up quickly. DT Cortez Kennedy went 3rd to Seattle and he went on make 7 Pro Bowls, as did Richmond Webb who went 9 to the Dolphins. Frankly, this is not a particularly good first round, but the later rounds found such gems as LeRoy Butler and Bryce Paup.

1991
You knew this would be a bizarre draft, when certain first pick Rocket Ismail, spurned the Cowboys to sign with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts (seriously kids, that actually happened) on the night before the Draft. It may also be the only Draft ever where the 2nd round turned out to be better than the 1st.

The best players from Round 1 were DT's; Russell Maryland, Ted Washington, and Eric Swann along with WR Herman Moore. It featured spectacular busts like QB's Todd Marinovich and Mark McGwire's bother Dan.

Round 2 featured Ricky Watters who dominated a Super Bowl and made 5 straight Pro Bowls, solid defensive players like Roman Phifer, Phil Hansen, and Darryll Lewis. Oh, and Brett Favre.

The later rounds featured tons of talent as well, including Aeneas Williams, Mo Lewis, Keith Traylor, Bryan Cox, Ben Coates and Keenan McCardell.

We will skip 1992 and go back to it, to get a feel for how atrocious it was.

1993

Hall of Famers: Michael Strahan is a lock. Guard Will Shields has made 12 Pro Bowls and should be a lock. Jerome Bettis will probably make it. Tackle Willie Roaf, who made 11 Pro Bowls has a good shot. John Lynch is considered the best safety of his era and should make it as well.

'93 Was absolutely loaded with talent. In addition to the likely 5 Hall of Famers, there were quality linemen like Lincoln Kennedy, Brad Hopkins, Dana Stubblefield, solid RB's like Garrison Hearst and Robert Smith, and late round QB finds Trent Green and Mark Brunell.

1994

Hall of Famers: Marshall Faulk and Larry Allen.

There might only be 2 players going to Canton but there are tons of A- players. Rodney Harrison, Willie McGinest, Sam Adams, Bryant Young on defense. Offensively, there were Isaac Bruce, Dorsey Levens, Jamal Anderson, plus Pro Bowl stalwarts at Center, Tom Nalen and Kevin Mawae.

1995

Hall of Famers: Curtis Martin will be in. Derrick Brooks is pretty close to a lock. Warren Sapp has a better than 50-50 shot as well.

Injuries probably ruined the HOF chances for Tony Boselli and Terrell Davis. Ki Janan Carter got the draft off to a miserable start but Steve McNair went 4th and that turned out well. Hugh Douglas, Ty Law, and Bobby Taylor had fantastic careers as well.

1996

Hall of Famers: Marvin Harrison, Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden (in all likelihood.) Terrell Owens has a shot, though 2 more years like 2007 would put him in.

Mike Alstott was the best FB of his era. Eddie George had a great career. Joe Horn, Marco Rivera, and Stephen Davis went late. On defense, Zach Thomas, Tedy Bruschi, Lawyer Milloy and Brian Dawkins went after the first round as well.

1997

Hall of Famers: Tony Gonzalez is a lock. Tackles Orlando Pace and Walter Jones both have shots, though Jones is still going strong while Pace's career seems to be winding down. You could make a case for both Barber twins as well, and Jason Taylor is probbaly the #2 DE of his era after Strahan.

Tons of good players: James Farrior, Mike Vrabel and Peter Boulware at LB. Corey Dillon and Warrick Dunn at RB. Sam Madison and Darren Sharper in the secondary.

1998

Hall of Famers: Peyton Manning, Randy Moss. Hines Ward has an outside shot as well.

This is not a particularly deep draft. After Manning came Ryan Leaf, Curtis Enis and a number of other busts. There were some good linemen, like Alan Faneca and Flozell Adams, plus Matt Hasselback went late.

I had planned on doing 1999 but it's too early to judge many of these players. Champ Bailey, Donovan McNabb, and Torry Holt are the starts of the draft though.

Back to 1992.....

It was a bloodbath of mediocrity in the first round. After the Colts infamous duo, there were terrible QB's (David Klinger, XFL MVP Tommy Maddux) ,a fullback picked 9th, the Giants and the Jets even picked matching bust TE's in the top 15 with Derek Brown and Johnny Mitchell. Jimmy Smith, Brad Johnson, and Levon Kirkland are the best of the bunch picked late.

To emphasize the point let's see who would have gone top 2 if they re-drafted knowing what we know today.

1990 1. Emmitt Smith 2. Junior Seau

1991 1. Brett Favre 2. Aeneas Williams

1992 1. Troy Vincent 2. Jimmy Smith

1993 1. Michael Strahan 2. Willie Roaf

1994 1. Larry Allen 2. Marshall Faulk

1995 1. Curtis Martin 2. Warren Sapp

1996 1. Jonathan Ogden 2. Ray Lewis

1997 1. Orlando Pace 2. Walter Jones

1998 1. Peyton Manning 2. Randy Moss

Every single player here is somewhere between a lock and a 50-50 shot to be in Canton, except for both '92 picks, who wouldn't have made most years' top 10 lists.