3. Darrell Russell: 2nd overall in the 1997 NFL Draft
Darrell Russell’s story is one of great tragedy as a player that had the potential to not be just one of the greatest Raiders of all time, but one of the best defensive players in the history of the NFL could not outrun his own demons. Selected second overall in 1997 out of USC, Russell was yet another “sure thing” that turned out to be anything but.
Russell’s career started off well as he put together a solid rookie season but he exploded in his sophomore season with 10 sacks and 64 tackles. For his efforts he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time and was named to the NFL’s All Pro team in 1998. The success continued in 1999 as he was named to another Pro Bowl but that is when the cracks began to show as he failed his first drug test.
As the failed tests began to pile up Russell’s play declined and he ended up missing the entire 2002 season and half of the 2003 season. After leaving the Raiders he played eight games with Washington in 2003 but continued to run afoul of the NFL’s substance abuse policies and never played another down of football before passing away in a car accident in 2005.
Much like many of the players in the list of worst draft picks in Raiders history, Russell’s failure’s had more to do with his own inability to stay out of trouble than his ability to play football. In his brief spell with the Raiders he still played in 75 games, recording 28.5 sacks, and became just the third pure defensive tackle in Raiders history to be named as a First-Team All Pro. Had things gone differently for Russell off the field he could have easily topped this list but unfortunately that is not the case.