#54. Ethan Horton, 1985. #15 pick.
Wow. Just wow. I remembered he was a bust, but ... wow.
Drafted by the Chiefs. Runs for 146 yards his rookie year at a 3.0 ypc, and catches 28 passes. Slow start for a rookie.
He then got cut in training camp his second year.
Cut.
In.
Training.
Camp.
What on earth happened to cut a 1st round pick in training camp his second year?
The guy's out of football for year, then the Raiders pick him up in 1987 as a strike scab running back and cut him 8 games later. They bring him back for training camp the next year and cut him, and he's out of football again for another full year.
Then in 1989 the Raiders bring him in, bulk him up, and put him at tight end where he plays for six years and even makes a pro bowl. He ended up having an 8-year NFL career that's not terrible with about 2,400 yards receiving, but what happened those first few years? He clearly wasn't a running back with less than 300 yards rushing at a 3.1 ypc,
Here's an NY Times article about him from 1991:
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/15/sp...-a-raider.html.
Seems like a decent enough guy. He felt like KC didn't give him a fair chance, bringing him into a passing-oriented offense and not giving him many carries. But he busted as a running back with the Raiders, too.
I remember being very skeptical when he was drafted that a 6-4 running back could thrive in the NFL. He was a pick that I wasn't a big fan of.