Las Vegas Raiders: 3 biggest quarterback busts in team history

Las Vegas Raiders: 3 biggest quarterback busts in team history

2. Todd Marinovich

With the No. 24 overall selection in the 1991 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Raiders selected USC star quarterback Todd Marinovich. As a youth, Marinovich was considered a can’t-miss prospect, and a California superstar, but he had a career with the Trojans that was marred by off-the-field issues.

Those issues would follow him to the NFL, but despite the worries, the Raiders still saw enough of him to pick him in the first round. During his rookie season, he would take over late in the year, and even started a playoff game, a game that saw him throw four interceptions against division rival Kansas City.

After the team started out 0-2 in 1992, he became the starter, and actually looked pretty good early on, throwing for nearly 400 yards against Cleveland in his first start, but had three interceptions. From there, after a loss to Kansas City to fall to 0-4, the Raiders beat the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, and Seattle Seahawks in consecutive weeks, but he would lose his starting job after a three-interception performance again Philly in Week 10.

Marinovich’s NFL career would end with that start, and drug use would really be the story of his time in the league. He was supposed to be the California kid that led this franchise back to the mountaintop, but instead, he became one of the bigger busts at the position in NFL history.