The 10 biggest FSU football NFL Draft busts of all time
FSU football has long produced some of the most exciting NFL players in the history of the sport — with pro football’s lore being impossible to share without mentioning the likes of “Prime Time” Deion Sanders, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Anquan Boldin, and Super Bowl XXXV quarterback Brad Johnson.
Even the NBA benefitted from the talent factory that FSU football has been — with 1993 Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward going on to have an 11-year career in the highest league professional basketball has to offer.
Still, it’s hard not to also point out that there have been several NFL misfires drafted out of Tallahassee in Florida State’s storied history. Several star Seminoles didn’t produce at the next level, collapsing under the weight of massive expectations.
These are the 10 biggest FSU football NFL Draft busts of all time
87. . WR. Carolina Panthers. Kelvin Benjamin. 10. player
No. 10 biggest FSU football NFL Draft bust of all time: Kelvin Benjamin
2014 NFL Draft: Round 1, Pick 28
Carolina Panthers, 2014-2017
Buffalo Bills, 2017-2018
Kansas City Chiefs, 2018
New York Giants, 2021 (Did not make roster)
Kelvin Benjamin had one of the most significant catches in the history of the Seminoles’ football program with a game-winning touchdown catch off a pass from 2013 Heisman winner Jameis Winston that sealed the deal against Auburn during the 2014 BCS National Championship.
Unfortunately, he never did anything as significant at the NFL level.
Following his No. 28 selection in the NFL 2014 draft by the Panthers, Benjamin had a stellar rookie season, but an ACL tear wiped out his entire 2015 season — one that ended in a Super Bowl appearance for Carolina.
Benjamin returned in 2016 and led the Panthers in touchdown catches, but following a trade to the Buffalo Bills in 2017, the wideout would be injury-prone and largely ineffective for the next two years until he retired in 2019. Benjamin made a comeback attempt with the New York Giants during the 2021 training camp that went so poorly, he’d later refer to it as a hoax. The receiver has stayed retired since.