This year’s NFL Draft will be heavy with quarterbacks who excelled in college and are extremely talented. There have only been two drafts since 1970 that have included more than five quarterbacks taken in the first round: 1983 and 1999. 2014 could have five quarterbacks being taken like Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, Derek Carr, Blake Bortles, Tom Savage, Zach Mettenberger, Jimmy Garoppolo, and A.J. McCarron amongst the choices.
Having that much potential talent means that there is also a good chance that there will be at least one who comes up short in their NFL career. In 1983 their were six quarterbacks taken in the first round including: John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Todd Blackledge, and Ken O’Brien. The first three were unbelievably successful and found themselves in the Hall of Fame. The other three had spotty careers and didn’t amount to much of anything in the league. For the most part you can say the 1983 draft allowed a 50% success rate.
In 1999 five quarterbacks were taken in the first round including: Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith, Daunte Culpepper and Cade McNown. Only one of those quarterbacks had a possible Hall of Fame career, Donovan McNabb. So looking at the only two times it has happened before, the odds are not exactly in a team’s favor when picking a quarterback in the first round when it is a quarterback heavy draft. The reality that whether there are five quarterbacks worth taking in the first round or one there is always a chance they end up as a bust.
In a recent CBS Sports article they created a list of the of the most notable quarterback busts in the NFL since 2000.
- Jamarcus Russell (1st overall to the Raiders)
- Joey Harrington (3rd overall to the Lions)
- Matt Leinart (10th overall to Cardinals)
- Brandon Weeden (22nd overall to the Browns)
- Blaine Gabbert (10th overall to the Jaguars)
- Brady Quinn (22nd overall to the Browns)
- J.P. Losman (22nd overall to the Bills)
- Christian Ponder (12th overall to the Vikings)
- Kyle Boller (19th overall to the Ravens)
- Vince Young (3rd overall to the Titans)
Click the link above to find out which years the quarterbacks were drafted as well as why they are placed where they are.
For more info about Tim Green, please visit his main website.