15 biggest Minnesota Vikings draft busts of all-time

4. Erasmus James – DE

First Round (18th overall) – 2005

For the Vikings, their selections from the 2005 NFL Draft turned out to be some of the worst in franchise history. Picking James was among Minnesota’s bad decisions that year.

After an impressive college career at Wisconsin, the Vikings figured the young pass rusher could continue his success as a member of their roster. James actually showed a bit of promise during his rookie season as he racked up a total of 28 tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble.

However, that year would turn out to be the most productive of his professional football career.

During his next two seasons with Minnesota, James appeared in just eight of a possible 32 games due to knee injuries. He suffered a torn ACL in 2006 and in 2007, he injured the same knee.

After the second knee injury, the Vikings decided to cut their losses and they waived James during the 2008 offseason. He went from a top 20 pick in the NFL Draft to a guy on the waiver wire in the span of just three years.