With The First Pick
Fansided

What Could’ve Been: 10 NFL draft picks whose careers had so much promise

By Anthony Pastore

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - NOVEMBER 16: Chris Borland #50 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a tackle against the New York Giants in the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium on November 16, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - NOVEMBER 16: Chris Borland #50 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a tackle against the New York Giants in the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium on November 16, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 22: Josh Gordon #12 of the Cleveland Browns carries the football during the first quarter of the game on September 22, 2013 at Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 22: Josh Gordon #12 of the Cleveland Browns carries the football during the first quarter of the game on September 22, 2013 at Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

#1. Josh Gordon: (2012, Browns, Supplemental draft)

In an alternate universe, Josh Gordon is a Hall-of-Famer. He will go down as perhaps the greatest “what could’ve been” of all time.

As a second-round pick of the Browns in the 2012 Supplemental Draft, Gordon always had top-five talent but UDFA level red flags. Talent always wins, however.

After a solid rookie season, Gordon celebrated by getting himself suspended for the first two games of the 2013 season. What happened next will be the reason Gordon will be talked about long after he stops playing. He racked up 1,646 yards in 14 games with back to back games of over 200 yards. This was the best we would see from Flash.

After playing 30 games in his first two NFL seasons, he’s managed only 22 since. In every return from suspension, Gordon comes back and reminds us of just how great he is and how much greater he makes an offense. Gordon possesses talent so immense he could simply just “show up.”

With the 2019 season already shrouded in uncertainty, time is running out. Even for someone as great as Josh Gordon.

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