Our countdown of the worst Oakland Raiders draft picks since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger continues with defensive end Bob Buczkowski checking in at No. 4…
DE Bob Buczkowski (Pittsburgh, first round, No. 24 overall in 1986)
Who else was available? RB Neal Anderson, LB Pepper Johnson, LB Pat Swilling
Fresh off a 12-4 season, a division title, the No. 1 seed in the AFC and an upset loss to the New England Patriots in the playoffs, the Raiders were getting old. Quick.
With Lyle Alzado retiring, what better position to address than the defensive line? The 6-feet-5, 260-pound Buczkowski was supposed to be a beast on an end, rotating in with the Raiders’ future all-time sack leader in Greg Townsend and future Hall of Famer Howie Long.
Instead, Buczkowski was more of a burden.
He did not appear in a game as a rookie and only played in two the following season, recording the only career sack of his Raiders tenure in the final strike-replacement player game of the 1987 season, getting the San Diego Chargers’ Rick Neuheisel in the first quarter.
Buczkowski resurfaced in 1989 with the then-Phoenix Cardinals, appearing in four games, before playing with the Cleveland Browns in 1990, for whom he had half of one sack in 15 games, three starts.
Years later, he was arrested for running a prostitution ring. And that was it.
Bottom 5 Raiders draft picks since 1970 merger
No. 5: Darrius Heyward-Bey
No. 4: Bob Buczkowski
No. 3: ?
No. 2: ?
No. 1: ?
