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The Worst Quarterback of the Past 20 Years: Leaf vs. Smith
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Round 5
The Final Two
It's finally come down to our final two, former Chargers and Cowboys Quarterback Ryan Leaf vs. former Bengals Quarterback Akili Smith
Both still remain in recent memory as major draft busts, probably giving them an advantage of number one seed Stan Gelbaugh, who as a quarterback was statistically the worst. Randy Wright by far had the most vocal supporters but a matchup with Ryan Leaf ultimately did him in, especially considering Leaf was unintentionally added late into the tournament due to extensive support.
Leaf played more extensively than Smith, recording 3,666 Passing Yards, 14 Touchdowns and 36 Interceptions to Smith's 2,212 Passing Yards, 5 Touchdowns and 13 Interceptions. Scott Mitchell's 50.8 Passer Rating with Cincinnati in 2000 vs. Jim Harbaugh's 74.6 Passer Rating with San Diego in 2000 suggest that between two very similar rated quarterbacks (Both between 75 and 78 career), Ryan Leaf should have had a better statistical year. This was obviously not the case. Leaf's Chargers also went 1-15 as opposed to Smith's 4-12 Bengals.
It seems almost every argument points in Leaf's favor but one that could be taken into consideration would not. Leaf put zero effort into training camp and maintained a high and mighty attitude around teammates that seemed to doom him from the start. If he had maintained a strong work ethic and tried to work as a team player would he have found success? This argument suggests that Smith tried hard but still sucked despite everything while Leaf chose his path into the cellar of NFL History.
To see past rounds here are the links:
http://www.armchairgm.com/Article:Worst_Quarterbacks_of_the_Past_20_Years_Tournament
http://www.armchairgm.com/Article:Worst_Quarterbacks_of_the_Past_20_Years_Tournament_ROUND_2
It's been fun... well see who the worst in the past 20 years is soon... maybe of all-time a little later
