By Cooper Girolamo
Some NFL general managers hit it out of the park when it comes to drafting players in April. Others completely flop and is a large reason as to why their teams have not had much success over the last decade.
Let’s look at the three teams who have done the worst at drafting talent to their roster over the last 10 years.
1. Las Vegas Raiders
In my opinion, the worst culprit of the last decade is the Raiders. They have had a few years with multiple first round selections and many years with top picks in the draft, but a majority of those picks were busts or are succeeding on a different team. Diving deeper, from 2017-2020 they drafted Gareon Conley, Clelin Ferrell, Johnathan Abram, Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette, in the first round. All of which were reaches, busts or had such big off-the-field issues that they are in jail or no longer in the league anymore.
DAMN: The #Raiders drafted 6 players in the first round from 2019-2021…. NOT ONE OF THOSE PLAYERS signed a long-term deal with Las Vegas.
Some terrible drafting from the old LVR regime
😳
(Via AP) pic.twitter.com/BrcsIiYHn4
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 6, 2024
In what should have been rebuilding years, it set the Raiders back many years from being competitive. They followed that up by taking Alex Leatherwood in 2021 and Tyree Wilson in 2023 in the first round. Both of whom, so far, have been massive busts in the league. They may finally be turning it around though taking after taking Brock Bowers last year and Ashton Jeanty this year. Both look like they will be studs in this league for years to come. Outside of that, the Raiders selections have been very disappointing, and they look to right the ship in the years to come.
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2. New York Jets
My second team should come as no surprise—the New York Jets. Most notably, taking two “franchise” quarterbacks with top three picks in a five-year span. Those being Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson. While Darnold has resurrected his career with the Minnesota Vikings and now the Seattle Seahawks, Wilson is a backup for the Miami Dolphins, but both were utter busts for the Jets. Mekhi Becton and Denzel Mims, two early round selections over the last five years, were below par selections for this team and contributed very little. While they haven’t had many busts outside of Darnold and Wilson, hitting on a QB is the biggest thing to bring your organization success.
19. New York Jets
The Jets have used the 2nd most draft capital of any team during this period and haven’t maximized it.
Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, and Armand Membou stand out as great adds, but the Zach Wilson miss defines this run of drafting.
Win % (2020-2024): 29.8% —… pic.twitter.com/iV9DCqD89W
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) May 26, 2025
The Jets had two chances to do so and failed terribly on both of them. While their other top picks throughout the last decade haven’t been terrible and have been able to contribute. While there has been a few Pro Bowlers and All Pro-level players, the Jets desperately need more. Hopefully their drafting prowess picks up soon, otherwise their continued position at the bottom of the league won’t change anytime soon.
3. Cleveland Browns
The last team that has done a horrendous job drafting over the last decade, again, is no surprise. Over the last few years, the Browns have not had a first round pick because of the really bad Deshaun Watson trade. With the first round picks they have had, they have gotten a few stars like Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome. They have also whiffed badly on quite a few picks such as Jabrill Peppers, Corey Coleman and Danny Shelton, all of whom haven’t had successful NFL careers.
Browns 1st rounders, 2012-2016:
Trent Richardson: traded in 1 yr
Brandon Weeden: cut in 2 yrs
Barkevious Mingo: traded in 3 yrs
Justin Gilbert: traded in 2 yrs
Johnny Manziel: cut in 2 yrs
Danny Shelton: traded in 3 yrs
Cam Erving: traded in 2 yrs
Corey Coleman: traded in 2 yrs— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 6, 2018
Even just looking at their draft class in 2024 where they didn’t have a first round pick, they took Michael Hall Jr., Zak Zinter and Jamarri Thrash as their first three picks and nobody notable after that. All players who are not well-known or even really known at all outside of the Browns super fandom. So, while they have gotten better at drafting in the first round as of late, their overall draft success has been limited, and if they want to get out of the gutter of the NFL, they need to improve that drastically.
If these three teams—along with others,—can improve their drafting, maybe they can finally move out from the bottom of the NFL standings. Until then its going to be a long road forward.
