The Buffalo Bills officially parted ways with 2009 first-round pick Aaron Maybin on Monday. Unanimously considered a huge bust, Maybin joins the list as one of the team's worst draft picks ever. Today, you decide which is the worst of the worst. Here are the candidates; the poll is after the jump.
DE/OLB Aaron Maybin - 2009 NFL Draft, No. 11 overall
Maybin had one start in two seasons with the Bills and didn't even make it through his third training camp. His one strong year at Penn State was enough, though, for the Bills to draft him. He had 24 tackles and one forced fumble in his 26 NFL games, was a healthy scratch in six games, and likely would have been inactive for more without major injuries to the linebacker corps.
DL John McCargo - 2006 NFL Draft, No. 26 overall
Perhaps McCargo is too low of a pick to be on this list, but the Bills traded second- and third-round picks to move up and get the lineman. He spent five years in Buffalo, somehow surviving roster cut after roster cut, and tallied 47 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 40 games. He is currently a free agent after his contract expired at the end of last season.
OL Mike Williams - 2002 NFL Draft, No. 4 overall
Williams was penciled in as the starting offensive tackle for the next decade when he was drafted in 2002. Instead, the former Texas Longhorn ate his way out of football. He started 47 games for the Bills at various positions on the line, but was released following the 2005 season. His 360-pound frame showed his lack of desire to fulfill his talent. When he re-surfaced in 2009 with the Washington Redskins, he had grown to over 400 pounds. He is once again out of football.
DE Erik Flowers - 2000 NFL Draft, No. 26 overall
While not as high a pick as the two most recent busts, Flowers was almost as bad as Maybin at rushing the passer. He played in 31 games over two seasons and had four sacks. He started the first five games of his second season, but was benched for being ineffective. Like Maybin, he was released during his third training camp. He had an interception, forced fumble, and 26 tackles in his two seasons.
TE Tony Hunter - 1983 NFL Draft, No. 12 overall
Jim Kelly was the second of Buffalo's two first-round picks in 1983. Few remember the team's top choice that year was TE Tony Hunter from Notre Dame. Hunter started 12 games for the Bills, playing in 24 total, and caught 69 passes for 733 yards and five touchdowns while Kelly was slinging it in the USFL. During the 1985 offseason, Hunter was traded to the St. Louis Rams for Vince Ferragamo. By 1987, he was out of football.
WR Perry Tuttle - 1982 NFL Draft, No. 19 overall
Tuttle had a great career with the Clemson Tigers, but it didn't translate to the NFL. He played 16 games in two seasons with Buffalo, starting four, and caught 24 balls for 368 yards and three touchdowns. In 1984 he spent three games on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster without notching a catch, and finished that season - his last in the NFL -with the Atlanta Falcons, where he had one reception.
LB Tom Cousineau - 1980 NFL Draft, No. 1 overall
If you want to see why the Bills were so bad in the early and mid-'80s, look at the last three names on the list. They whiffed on pick after pick, but none worse than first overall selection Tom Cousineau. Cousineau was a college football Hall of Famer while with Ohio State. After the Bills picked him, the team promptly decided it didn't want to pay him what the CFL's Montreal Alouettes were willing to part with, and he went to Canada. He eventually returned to the NFL, where the Bills traded his rights to the Cleveland Browns, leading to the selection of Jim Kelly.
RB Terry Miller - 1978 NFL Draft, No. 5 overall
Miller acquitted the Bills nicely in his rookie season, topping 1,000 yards and compiling seven touchdowns on the ground. Then he fell off the map. He had 484 yards in 1979 after losing his job to Joe Cribbs, and in 1980 he rushed for 35 yards. He was traded prior to the 1981 season, but details are sketchy. He ended up on the Seahawks for one season where he played one game.
DL Phil Dokes - 1976 NFL Draft, No. 12 overall
Dokes was stellar at Oklahoma State and the Bills took him No. 12 overall in 1976. He played two seasons for the Bills before finding himself out of football. As several Bills fans pointed out earlier this year, Dokes didn't succumb to injury; he was just that bad.
LB Tom Ruud - 1975 NFL Draft, No. 19 overall
Ruud played three seasons in Buffalo, suiting up 36 times. He held out of training camp and never really did anything. And that's pretty much all you need to know.
DE Walt Patulski - 1972 NFL Draft, No. 1 overall
Putalski appeared in 56 games for the Bills after a stellar career at Notre Dame. A local player from Syracuse, NY, Patulski led the Bills in sacks with five in his rookie year. He spent four years on the Bills and contributed more sacks. He's on this list not because he didn't contribute, but because he spent only four years on the team and was the top choice in the '72 draft.
DL Al Cowlings - 1970 NFL Draft, No. 5 overall
O.J. Simpson's best friend at USC, the Bills took Cowlings one year after Simpson in the first round. Simpson was a Hall of Famer, while Cowlings spent only three seasons in Buffalo.