31. Blair Thomas – 2nd overall to Jets in 1990:
Thomas arrived in New York with the hype of being the second overall pick following a decorated career at Penn State. He was decent enough as a rookie, leading all first-year running backs with a 5.0 yards-per-carry average. He only scored one touchdown all year, however. He upped his yardage in his second season in 1991, but his yards-per-carry average dipped significantly.
From there, Thomas would go on to suffer several injuries that significantly limited his upside. He never played another full season for New York. He would go on to play three more partial seasons with Dallas, New England, and Carolina, but only played 2, 4, and 7 games in said seasons, respectively. Thomas was out of the NFL by 1995. Thomas ranks as one of the biggest running back busts in NFL draft history because Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, was drafted by the Cowboys with the 17th pick of the same draft.
