2004: Robert Gallery, LT, Oakland Raiders
There are a handful of teams who show up more than others on this list. As you might have guessed, the Oakland Raiders are one of them. Offensive lineman Robert Gallery is evidence that there is no such thing as a “can’t-miss-prospect.” Coming out of Iowa, every general manager and draft analyst labeled Gallery as the best prospect to come along in a decade. Boy were they wrong…
Gallery was selected with the #2 overall pick in the 2004 draft (after Eli Manning) and he quickly became one of the worst left tackles in the NFL. He was so bad, the Raiders were forced to move him to guard, where he was at least half decent.
In every season of his 8-year NFL career, Gallery was a league leader in terms of sacks given up. But here’s where it REALLY gets ugly for the Raiders. The players selected shortly after Gallery; Larry Fitzgerald, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger. Because they’re the Raiders, the whole Gallery fiasco somehow doesn’t even crack the Top 3 of their all-time worst draft selections.