The 5 biggest NFL Draft busts in Arizona Football history

Singleton's name likely won't conjure up many images for people under the age of 35, but he was a force to be reckoned with. The two-time All-Pac-10 linebacker (1988-89) registered 95 tackles — 21 for a loss — with 10 sacks and five pass deflections in his senior year. His accolades earned him invites to both the 1990 Senior Bowl and Hula Bowl, but he was recovering from a four-hour-long operation to donate bone marrow to his twin brother and teammate, Kevin, who was stricken with leukemia.

Singleton posted impressive measurables, clocking in at 6-foot-2, 252 pounds, and running a 4.7-second 40-yard dash, and he was deemed a "can't miss" prospect. The Patriots took an early swing on the high-character 'backer with the eighth overall pick in the 1990 draft. Singleton faced a litany of challenges: three head coaches, a major position switch, and various nagging injuries. He never started more than 11 games and logged 189 tackles and four sacks throughout entire his Patriots career. Bill Parcells never became fond of Singleton and straight-up released him midseason in 1993.

The Dolphins picked him up, and he won the starting left inside linebacker job, logging 11 starts in 1994 with 58 tackles, two sacks, and recovered two fumbles before a broken fibula ended his season. 1995 was his best showing by far: he started a career-high 15 games, posted a career-high 82 tackles, logged a sack, forced and recovered two fumbles, and hauled in the second interception of his career. After an underwhelming 1996 season, the Dolphins waived Singleton and he never signed with another NFL club.

Singleton isn't a bust because he was bad; he proved to be very serviceable in a handful of seasons. However, he didn't have a single season in the pros that even sniffed his final year of college production at Arizona despite his justifiably top-flight billing. Singleton was an athletic freak, extremely productive on the field, and an extremely high-character individual; he simply couldn't live up to the impossibly lofty expectations set by being taken so early in the draft. 341 career tackles and seven sacks over eight seasons and two teams while only starting 65 of a possible 90 games is not the production a player of his capital should register over a career, and Singleton remains one of the bigger 'what could have been?'s in Arizona Football alum history.

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