No. 9 Bengals draft bust of all-time: Peter Warrick

In our continuing quest to document Cincinnati's best draft picks and busts, we're not categorically calling Peter Warrick a bust, much like the David Pollack selection. Yet there is disappointment. Then again, as bust definitions go, obviously subjective to the reader, one could easily make that argument. During his tenure at Florida State, Warrick was on a Seminoles squad that appeared in the National Championship game in back-to-back seasons, and was awarded the MVP during the 2000 Sugar Bowl. In the Sugar Bowl, he recorded 160 yards receiving and posted three touchdowns. Here is a list of his accomplishments in college.

• Two-time First Team All-American
• Three-time First Team All-ACC
• Two-time Biletnikoff finalist
• Sugar Bowl MVP
• 207 career receptions
• 32 touchdown receptions (school record)
• 937 return yards

Stud doesn't even come close to describing Warrick's collegiate career. Therefore with the fourth overall selection, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Warrick in the 2000 NFL Draft.

There's no doubt that Warrick had a productive career with the Cincinnati Bengals, recording 18 touchdowns receiving and posting nearly 3,000 yards receiving. When the Bengals made the transition in 2003 as a team competitive enough that fans postponed home lawn care until after the game -- instead of "around half-time" -- Warrick put together a career-year with 79 receptions, 819 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. One of my most memorable moments in 2003 is Warrick's punt return for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs, who were undefeated at the time. Boy, the Chiefs were awfully pouty too.

But the truth is, Warrick never really blossomed as a fourth overall selection during his stay in Cincinnati, especially considering the stakes for disappointing top-five picks often run so deep. In 66 career games, Warrick posted only three 100-yard games -- his first coming during his 31st career game. During 13 of his first 16 career games in his NFL career, Warrick failed to reach more than 50 yards receiving. Chad Johnson, selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, quickly jumped Warrick as the team's primary receiver the following season. 

There's also no doubt that Warrick played for seriously bad squads before the 2003 season. Akili Smith was his quarterback in 2000 along with Scott Mitchell. Jon Kitna took over in 2001 with sparse contributions from Smith and Gus Frerotte.

But unfortunately for Warrick, an injured knee that never healed prevented him from taking part of an explosive offense that was led by Carson Palmer, Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry. Warrick signed with Seattle in 2005 and played his final 13 games with the Seahawks.