Chicago Bears: Top 10 draft busts of the 21st century

2. Running Back Cedric Benson, Texas

In the category of college players who had unbelievable careers before entering the NFL and would end up busting big time as a pro, Cedric Benson is in the conversation for the top spot.

At the University of Texas, Benson topped 1,000 yards in all four seasons, totaling 1,834 yards in his final year as a Longhorn. Benson ended his Texas career with 5,540 rushing yards and 64 rushing touchdowns. He would also top 600 receiving yards to go along with three receiving touchdowns.

In his final season at Texas, he was a Consensus All-American and presented with the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back. Benson also received ESPN’s All-American Player of the Year honors.

The Bears would select Benson at no. 4 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.

In three seasons with Chicago, Benson would never play 16 games and fail to top 1,000 yards in each of them. He went on to play a rather important role with the Cincinnati Bengals, rushing for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons.

When all was said and done, though, Benson finished his professional career with half the amount of touchdowns he scored in college, but in twice the amount of time. In only three seasons as a pro, Benson finished with over 4.0 yards per carry — the standard for running backs at the time.

I didn’t even get into all of the legal trouble Benson found himself in, but when you take that into consideration along with his lackluster pro career, Benson was one of the most disappointing picks the Bears have ever had.