Drafting any position in the NFL is never an exact science and the true talent of a player usually is not revealed for a year or two of experience in the NFL. However, some teams constantly misjudge players at one position and over time their track record indicates that exact reality.

Over the last decade (or longer), it appears clear which teams have been unable to first identify a running back prospect and develop that particular player into one worthy of starting and being successful in the NFL. Below are some of the worst teams in the NFL that draft running backs.

Who Drafts The Worst RB’s In The NFL?

New England Patriots – Considering the amount of success the Patriots have achieved under Bill Belichick, one thing lacking on his impressive resume is drafting running backs. Perusing the list of the four Super Bowls the team won under Belichick, none of the starting running backs originally were drafted by the Patriots. The list includes Antowain Smith (Buffalo Bills), Corey Dillon (Cincinnati Bengals) and LeGarrette Blount (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

Since Belichick has taken over as head coach in New England (2000) the Patriots have drafted nine running backs. Only two of those running backs have ever led the team in rushing over the course of Belichick’s 15 years as head coach. The short list includes Laurence Maroney (2007 & 2009) and Steven Ridley (2012-13) who combined the lead the team four times in the category.

The team was successful finding undrafted talent BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who led the team in rushing (2010-11) before signing with the Cincinnati Bengals. New England also pays close attention to detail concerning division opponents. Two of their leading rushers in the Belichick-era arrived via the AFC East and the Miami Dolphins which include Sammie Morris (2008) and Jonas Gray (2014). Another AFC East player to mention is third-down back Danny Woodhead, who began his career with the New York Jets.

For as successful as they have been, you’d think over the course of Belichick’s career in New England they would have landed a monster via the NFL Draft at running back. They have not done that, but have shown an incredible ability to pluck lesser (often unwanted talent) from other team’s rosters.

Detroit Lions – They do deserve credit for drafting arguably the greatest running back ever in Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (1989, Oklahoma State). Since his retirement the Lions have failed miserably trying to find a replacement.

Sanders called it quits in 1998 after leading the team in rushing for 10 straight seasons. In each of those years Sanders rushed for over 1,000-yards. The Lions have drafted only three running backs to accomplish the same feat four times since the days when Sanders roamed the turf in the Pontiac Silverdome.

After his retirement, the aftermath of production by the incoming group of drafted Lions’ running backs has been dismal at best. Nine different running backs have led the team in rushing since Sanders last game. Of those nine running backs only four were actually drafted by Detroit.

Sanders’ averaged 1,526.9 rushing yards per season over his 10-year career.

The average single-season rusher since then for the Lions has been 777 yards per year, a whopping 749 yards less than Sanders. The great Barry Sanders nearly doubled the production of the nine different running backs that finished first in rushing for Detroit since No. 20 decided to walk away from the game.

In all fairness, injuries played a role in some of the less than favorable outcomes by some of the running backs drafted by the Lions over the years. The list includes Kevin Jones, Kevin Smith, Jahvid Best and Mikel Leshoure.

Their first real investment at the position came in 2004 after the Lions selected Kevin Jones with the 30^th overall pick in the NFL Draft. It marked the first of six different times Detroit elected to draft a running back in the top three rounds of the NFL Draft. The team spent a first-round pick on both Kevin Jones and Jahvid Best (2010). A second- round selection was used on rookie Ameer Abdullah in the 2015 NFL Draft and also in 2011 when the team drafted Mikel Leshoure. The last two running backs on the list where acquired in the third round that include Brian Calhoun (2006) and Kevin Smith (2008).

The real slap in the face for the franchise is the fact that they have drafted eight running backs (not including two 2015 picks) since 2004 and their leading rushers over the last two years were Reggie Bush and Joique Bell. Bush signed as a free agent after spending five years with the New Orleans Saints and two with the Miami Dolphins.

Bell, undrafted out of Wayne State, bounced around the league before settling in with the Lions. His first NFL camp was with the Buffalo Bills and he then had stops with the Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints.

Cleveland Browns – In 2002, the Cleveland Browns selected William Green with the 16^th overall selection in the NFL Draft. The former Boston College star played four years in Cleveland amassing 2,109 total rushing yards. He was the first of five draft picks spent on the running back position that flopped for the Browns. The list includes Green, Jerome Harrison (fifth-round, 2006), James Davis (sixth-round, 2009), Montario Hardesty (second-round, 2010) and Trent Richardson (first-round, 2012). The Browns drafted Terrance West (third-round, 2014) and Duke Johnson (third-round, 2015) but it is too early to know if they are going to be busts like the others before them.

Minus Duke Johnson, the previous six running backs drafted by Cleveland accumulated a combined total of 6,761 rushing yards. The team’s all-time leader in rushing, Jim Brown played nine seasons in the NFL amassing 12,312 rushing yards. Brown by himself has out rushed every drafted running back by Cleveland since 2002 by 4,449 yards.

Cleveland did catch a couple lucky breaks even with their lousy track record of drafting running backs.

First was Hardesty who was always nagged by injuries at Tennessee and a reason why he likely was not a first-round pick. Cleveland used the 59^th overall selection on Hardesty in the 2010 NFL Draft and his college history of injuries followed him into his rookie season. He suffered a torn left ACL in his first pre-season game ending his rookie season before it ever began.

However, Cleveland traded for an unheralded running back named Peyton Hillis from the Denver Broncos that same year. He became the Browns starting running back by default. Chew on this stat for a moment. Hillis played four years at Arkansas and carried the football 203 times, and 81 times with the Broncos before being traded to Cleveland in 2010. That season after Hardesty got hurt, Hillis stepped in and carried the football 270 times, which is just 14 less than his previous six-year total between college and professional football. Hillis quickly came back to reality but in the short term it gave Cleveland some positive exposure and landed Hillis on the cover of Madden.

The second positive was identifying early on that Richardson was a complete bust.

Cleveland looked foolish immediately after trading Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts after rushing for 950 yards his rookie season, but in the end they made the right call. Richardson, in my opinion was about as sure as a prospect looked leaving college and preparing for a career in the NFL. Obviously that was not the case for a sluggish runner unable to extend a play after first contact and showing no ability to flash the skills that made him the third overall choice in the 2012 NFL Draft.

Find out – Who Drafts the Best RB’s in the NFL?