Top 10 NFL players who've never scored a touchdown
theScore's NFL Top 10 is a two-week series in which editors take a look at football's best, worst, and most interesting players, highlighting everything from the overpaid to the most versatile and marketable.
Top 10 NFL Series | |
---|---|
Journeymen | Under 6-feet tall |
Versatile | Never scored TD |
Overpaid | Ringless vets |
Born outside U.S. | Small-school |
Undrafted | Marketable |
Scoring a touchdown in the NFL is next to impossible, but many players cross the plane at least once in their career due to sheer luck or circumstance.
Some veterans have yet to put their teams on the board, however. Below, we rank the top 10 players who have never scored a touchdown.
10. Keith Smith, FB, Raiders
In a league full of specialists, Smith excels as a blocking back with limited utility as a running back; he has rushed just twice in the NFL entering his fifth season. Smith is a converted linebacker who switched to fullback to improve his odds of sticking in the league, and he's an underrated component of the offense, tasked with making room for Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott during the 2017 season. After signing a two-year deal with the Raiders, it's on him to continue to prove his worth.
9. Jurrell Casey, DT, Titans
Casey has played all but two games - starting all but three - over a seven-year career. A third-round pick in the 2011 draft, he has made the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons. He's recorded 39 sacks but has forced just five fumbles with a single recovery. Both a strong pass-rusher and great run-stopper, it's surprising the 6-foot-1, 305-pound Casey is yet to stumble on a loose ball near the goal line.
8. Damon Harrison, DT, Giants
Harrison, best known to his teammates and opponents as "Snacks," has eaten up his competition in recent years, serving as the NFL's premier run-stopping tackle. Although he's a bonafide star, he hasn't been able to rumble into the end zone, despite his reputation for blowing up ball-carriers at the line of scrimmage. There's always something to aspire to, and perhaps the Giants could use the 6-foot-4, 350-pound tackle in red-zone formations in 2018.
7. D.J. Swearinger, S, Redskins
Swearinger has picked off 10 passes over his first five years in the NFL, recording his longest return to date in 2017 at 32 yards. He has also totaled 29 passes defensed and three fumble recoveries, and has the speed to break for the end zone whenever he happens upon a loose ball, running a 4.67 in the 40 at his rookie combine.
6. Ronald Darby, CB, Eagles
Darby is on the cusp of stardom and played a major role for the Eagles in their Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in February. Although he's still approaching his prime, it's shocking that the lockdown cornerback hasn't scored in his career. A former track star, Darby has the speed to burn his opposition en route to the end zone. It's only a matter of time.
5. Prince Amukamara, CB, Bears
Amukamara's hands may be the main reason he's been kept out of the end zone through seven seasons. The 6-foot corner has 58 passes defensed, but he's grabbed control of just seven interceptions over 83 games. He has focused largely on coverage and didn't play even a single pass-rush snap last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
4. Cameron Wake, DE, Dolphins
Since joining the NFL in 2009, Wake has been one of the NFL's most disruptive talents, earning five Pro Bowl selections while wreaking havoc on tackles and quarterbacks everywhere. With 92 sacks, 21 forced fumbles, and an interception during nine seasons with the Dolphins, he has yet to convert any of these opportunities into touchdowns. It merely seems like Wake has yet to benefit from the law of averages.
3. Matthew Slater, WR, Patriots
The Patriots' special teams specialist, Slater has won two Super Bowls and has been named to seven Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team over a 10-year career. He has caught just one pass off eight career targets for 46 yards and rushed twice for 11 yards in sparse offensive usage. He's returned a total of 35 kickoffs in 141 career games, but he hasn't returned 10 or more in a single season since 2009. The 32-year-old was signed to a two-year contract by the Patriots earlier this offseason and seems the perfect candidate to be used in a trick-play situation near an opponent's goal line.
2. Darius Slay, CB, Lions
Slay earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career during the 2017 season and has been a top-tier cornerback since entering the league in 2013. With 14 career interceptions - including a league-best eight in 2017 - it's shocking that Slay has never taken the ball all the way to the house. Entering his sixth season, he's probably frothing at the chance to shut down his opponent and put points on the board.
1. Derek Carr, QB, Raiders
Quarterbacks technically need to either carry the ball over the goal line or catch a pass in the end zone to be credited with a touchdown scored, something that's happened with surprising frequency for many of the league's certified starters. While Carr has thrown for 103 career touchdowns and rushed 124 times for 366 yards over 62 games, he remains without an official score. We'll need to wait and see if new head coach Jon Gruden will be able to change that early in the 2018 season.
Top 10 NFL Series | |
---|---|
Journeymen | Under 6-feet tall |
Versatile | Never scored TD |
Overpaid | Ringless vets |
Born outside U.S. | Small-school |
Undrafted | Marketable |
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)