Since being drafted to the Arizona Cardinals in 2019, Kyler Murray has shown that when he is playing his best football, he is hard to contain. He can win through the air with his arm and can cause damage with his legs scrambling out of the pocket. Let’s face it, Murray should not have been a Cardinal. The year before, the Cardinals traded up into the top ten of the 2018 NFL Draft to draft quarterback Josh Rosen who was supposed to be the face of the franchise. That time together was a forgettable experience as the Cardinals were the worst team in 2018 and earned the first overall pick.
Being the first overall pick in the NFL Draft is one of the biggest accomplishments but it comes with a lot of pressure. If a team is willing to spend the most amount of money on a player, then there needs to be results almost immediately.
We take a look back at the last number one overall draft picks in the last ten drafts (not including this past April). The ranking starts out at #10 as the worst number one overall pick and goes up to #1. Where does Kyler Murray land on this list? Let’s find out.
#10: QB Jameis Winston, 2015
It was tough to decide who was at the bottom of this list, but Jameis Winston has the best case. Drafted out of Florida State by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Winston only had one winning season as a starter and only played three full seasons with the Bucs. He barely reached over 4,000 yards in his first two seasons and then had a major drop in production the next two years. In 2019, his final year in Tampa Bay, Winston threw for 5,109 yards, 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. Winston turned the ball over a lot and was eventually replaced by Tom Brady in the 2020 offseason.
#9: DE Jadeveon Clowney, 2014
The Houston Texans opted to draft Jadeveon Clowney number one overall in 2014 out of South Carolina. His career got off to a rough start by playing only four games due to injury. Clowney started to slowly improve his game but was still missing games because of injury. In his last three years, Clowney became a Pro Bowl player and had a career high in sacks with 9.5. The Texans franchise tagged Clowney at the end of his rookie contract but was then traded to the Seattle Seahawks. Since then, Clowney has played with the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. This past offseason, Clowney signed with the Carolina Panthers.