Ryan Leaf Continues To Lead List of Worst Ever NFL Quarterbacks

Published on March 16th, 2021 2:14 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Some of the signal callers from the past were in a category of their own. When discussing the worst-ever NFL quarterback, a number of different factors need to be taken into consideration, including the position the player was drafted, expectations, overall performance, etc.

When it comes to all of these different factors, it is hard not to give Ryan Leaf the title of the worst NFL quarterback ever.

Let's be clear - there have been some exceptionally bad quarterbacks over the history of the NFL. JaMarcus Russell. Akili Smith. The list goes on.

Ryan Leaf, however, is in his own category.

To start, Leaf holds the title for the worst ever fantasy football performance in a single game, as he put up a score of -10 (standard scoring) in a September, 1998 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Leaf would go 1-15 for 4 yards in that game. In addition, he threw two INTs and fumbled three times.

Leaf was drafted #2 overall in 1998, and into the lead-up to the draft, there was a good deal of discussion of which QB would be better - Peyton Manning (who was selected #1 overall) or Ryan Leaf. Given the career that Manning had, Leaf's paltry stats look even worse.

Leaf was out of the NFL just four years after being drafted.

Leaf had a career record of 4-17-0 during his time in the NFL. Over the course of his career, he would toss 14 TDs and 36 INTs.

Leaf would complete just 317 passes for 3,666 yards over the course of his career, which is a middling season for some of the NFL's current passers.

Leaf had a career completion percentage of 48.4%.

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JaMarcus Russell is almost certainly second on this list, as the former #1 pick struggled with weight issues and was out of the NFL in just a couple of years as well.

The difference is that Russell's numbers, while bad, were much better than Leaf's, as Russell threw for 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions over the course of his career.

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