10 biggest NFL draft busts in Oklahoma football history
By Josh Yourish
Joe Washington, RB. 3. Joe Washington. player. . Joe Washington, RB. . 1976. No. 4 overall. 13
Compared to Elvis Peacock, Joe Washington had a widely successful NFL career, but compared to other fourth-overall draft picks, Washington's career underwhelmed. He was forced to miss his entire rookie season because of a knee injury, and then in Year 2 he only carried the ball 62 times across 13 games and finished with 217 yards.
The San Diego Chargers cut bait after 1977 and traded Washington to the Baltimore Colts along with a fifth-round pick for three-time Pro Bowler Lydell Mitchell. Mitchell played just two years with the Chargers and three more in the NFL while Washington went on to play for eight more years.
Over those eight seasons, Washington never broke 1,000 yards on the ground, though he did come close twice and was a Pro Bowler in 1979 when he caught 82 passes for 750 yards and finished with 1,634 yards from scrimmage. He won a Super Bowl with Washington in 1982, but only carried the ball four times in the playoffs.
Washington put together a long and somewhat successful career after his knee injury, with one peak season in ‘79, but I’m including him as a draft bust because none of that success came with the team that drafted him.