Ki-Jana Carter: What Might Have Been

There are many what ifs in the Cincinnati Bengals “lost decade” of the 90s. Ki-Jana Carter is one of the biggest.

The Bengals were coming off their third 13 loss season in four years heading into the 1995 NFL Draft. However, when they traded up four spots to make Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter the top overall pick. There was reason for optimism.

Carter was one of those rare prospects that simply looked better than everybody else on a college football field. Those are the kind that rarely miss in the NFL. The 83-yard touchdown run in the 1995 Rose Bowl drives this point home. You can watch it below thanks to the vslice02 YouTube channel. He posted over 2500 total rushing yards as well…