Over the next couple weeks, we’ll evaluate the best and worst top 10 picks in a 10-year span from 1999-2008. We capped this at 2008 because it’s unfair to judge first- or second-year players. Today, the pick five bust.
NFL Draft successes and busts 10-year evaluation: 5th overall bust
Pick: Five overall
The player: Cadillac Williams | Running back | Tampa Bay (2005)
This was a hard pick because there weren't really any terrible picks at No. 5 in this time frame. There were some pretty average ones like Levi Brown (Arizona, 2007), AJ Hawk (Green Bay, 2006) and maybe Ricky Williams (New Orleans, 1999). Still, none have been awful. Brown and Hawk have been decent enough starters. Williams, minus much off-field weirdness, has been solid as well.
The issues for Cadillac Williams have been based on injuries. After a good rookie season, injuries wrecked the next three years. He was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2009, a testament to his work ethic and character. Still, last season he lost carries to undrafted free agent LeGarrette Blount.
It was a difficult choice to put Williams here, but someone had to be the pick. Who would you have gone with?
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