Isaiah Wilson Cut By Dolphins, Solidifying Status as One of the Worst First-Round Picks Ever

The Miami Dolphins announced they cut 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson today. Wilson was drafted by the Tennessee Titans but was traded to Miami less than a year later after an absolute disaster of a rookie season. I summed up the events in a previous article, but in short Wilson showed little to no interest in actually playing football and appeared in exactly one game while building up a lengthy list of off-the-field problems the Titans had to deal with.

He was traded to the Dolphins for a seventh-round pick three days ago after Mike Vrabel and Jon Robinson gave up on him. Wilson apparently just didn't show up to the voluntary workouts he committed to in Miami after showing up late to both his physical and his team orientation. Instead, he was doing... whatever this is.

Wilson will not play another snap in the NFL unless he has an incredible Come to Jesus moment and realizes the errors of his ways. Which could certainly happen. There was no indication that Wilson had these kind of off-field issues at Georgia. But even if he does, he'll be hard-pressed to get a team to take a chance on him. He has no film at the professional level that suggests he is an NFL-caliber player because he couldn't get on the field when he wasn't either suspended or on the COVID list last season.

It makes Wilson, selected at No. 29 in the draft, easily the worst first-round pick in the modern-day NFL. Even the biggest busts we can think of, like Kevin White, managed to get on the field for some period of time and do something of note. The closest bust to Wilson's status would probably be Malik McDowell, who managed to hurt himself on an ATV before his rookie season began and never played a down in the league. But he was a second-round pick, not nearly as big a resource wasted as a first.

In fact, in NFL history there is probably only one player who can be considered on the same level of Wilson in the bust factor. Dimitrius Underwood was taken in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft, went to one day of training camp, and promptly retired. He unretired later in the summer but was released and didn't take the field until 2000, when he appeared in 15 games for the Dallas Cowboys.

NFL teams are always willing to take a chance on physically talented players. Wilson's career isn't over if he doesn't want it to be. But to this point, he has shown very little interest in a football career. He will be remembered only as one of the biggest busts ever.