ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Top 5 Worst Draft Picks- Atlanta Falcons

Updated on May 1, 2021

These guys were brought in to help the team win, but couldn't accomplish anything on the field. Today I rank the top five worst draft picks by the Atlanta Falcons.

5. Joe Profit

Knee injuries shortened his promising career.

While attending Louisiana Monroe, Joe Profit became the first black athlete to play football in the now Sunbelt Conference. He was the Conference's all-time rushing champion with 2,818 yards, 538 carries and he set 10 school records, including most yards in a game.

Profit was the seventh overall pick in 1971 by Atlanta. A knee injury he received in the fourth game of his rookie year caused his career to take a downward spiral. In his rookie season, he rushed three times for 10 yards and a touchdown. The next year, 40 for 132 and no touchdowns. In 1973, 18 times for 55 yards and two touchdowns. In his three year career with Atlanta and New Orleans, he rushed for under 500 yards and three touchdowns.

4. Jimmy Williams

He was brought in to make the defense a powerhouse but instead made them more of an embarrassment.

In four years at Virginia Tech, Jimmy Williams built a reputation as a clutch defensive back. Playing both cornerback and safety, he was a force at intercepting passes and won the Jack Tatum award his senior year.

Williams was drafted in the second round in 2006. He was supposed to be another major piece in improving a defense that gave up 24 or more points seven times in 2005. Instead, Williams started seven games over two seasons, was moved from cornerback to safety and released after showing up to voluntary offseason workouts overweight. He was also suspended his second season for possession of marijuana.

3. Takkarist McKinley

He had a memorable draft day moment, but the same couldn't be said for his Falcons tenure.

Takkarist McKinley originally committed to the California but was ruled a non-qualifier and had to attended Contra Costa College. During his one season there in 2013, he had 33 tackles and 10 sacks. The following year he transferred to UCLA. As a senior in 2016, he finished with 10 sacks and was named first team All-Pac 12.

McKinley was selected 26th overall in 2017 and celebrated on the draft stage with a giant portrait of his late grandmother. Despite concerns about recovering from a torn labrum and a fracture in his shoulder, he played in all 16 games while recording 20 tackles and six sacks, good for fourth in the league among rookies and second on the team. The following year, he finished the season with 22 combined tackles and a team high seven sacks. Things went south for McKinley as he requested to be traded early in 2019 but the Falcons had turned down several trade offers from other teams. He was released by the team late in 2020. He was claimed by Cincinnati and San Francisco but failed physicals with both teams resulting in him landing with Las Vegas. He's currently in Cleveland trying to make the active roster. He had just 17.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in four years in Atlanta.

2. Jamaal Anderson

He was seen as the next great pass rusher, but never accomplished much.

As a sophomore at Arkansas, Jamaal Anderson switched from wide receiver to defensive end. He instantly hit it off at his new position change and recorded 17.5 quarterback sacks during his college career. He chose to forgo his senior season at Arkansas, and entered the NFL Draft.

Anderson was selected eighth overall in 2007. He was a giant bust and amassed only 2.5 sacks in 44 starts with Atlanta before he was released. And to think the Falcons could have picked up future All-Pro's Patrick Willis and Darrelle Revis at eight.

1. Aundray Bruce

He had a long career, but never lived up to expectations.

At Auburn, Aundray Bruce was a force at outside linebacker. He was a two time All-SEC linebacker and was labeled as the next Lawrence Taylor.

Bruce was the first overall pick in 1988. While he flashed some of his next Lawrence Taylor sizzle as he was selected to the All-Rookie team, many were still skeptical of his effort to the game. He vastly under performed only recording 16 sacks in four years with the team. He was also very immature and caused many on and off field incidents with teammates and the public, most notably being slapped with two paternity suits as a rookie and pointing a BB gun on a pizza delivery driver. Jerry Glanville tried to save his Atlanta tenure by converting him to tight end, but ultimately kept him on the defensive line. The main reason he is the biggest bust in Atlanta history was that the Falcons had their pick of Michael Irvin or Randall McDaniel, Tim Brown, Bennie Blades, Neil Smith, Keith Jackson, Sterling Sharpe or Ken Harvey, all future Pro Bowlers and/or Hall of Famers. Bruce spent his final years in Oakland before retiring after 11 years and never lived up to the reputation of being the next L.T.

People's Poll

Which Falcon was the worst draft pick?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)