1st Overall Draft Picks - NFL

[DougW]

Who was the best ?
&/or
Who was the biggest bust ?

Here's a nice link that shows them all, with some colors showing pro-bowlers and Hall of Famers.
List of first overall National Football League draft picks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


I've got John Elway & JaMarcus Russell.

[Breeze]

Wow...lots of busts from late 80s through early 2000s...

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

pre-elway was before my time so...

the 01 draft was interesting. san diego trades out of 1 and gets tomlinson and brees

[Suburban Rhythm]

I was 12 in 1988.

I remember Aundray Bruce, but do not recall how hyped he was.
The most ridiculous thing is I do not remember him playing that long (11 years).

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Suburban Rhythm

I was 12 in 1988.

I remember Aundray Bruce, but do not recall how hyped he was.
The most ridiculous thing is I do not remember him playing that long (11 years).

I was hoping to never hear his name again.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

ki-jana carter becoming the 'never take a rb 1st overall' rule

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by DougW

Who was the best ?
&/or
Who was the biggest bust ?

Here's a nice link that shows them all, with some colors showing pro-bowlers and Hall of Famers.
[url"]List of first overall National Football League draft picks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url]


I've got John Elway & JaMarcus Russell.

Sorry Doug...

Didn't mean to hijack the thread. I think this is more what you were looking for...

Best: Peyton
Worst: Russell (I did consider Emtmann because his career was so short...and can Berwanger be considered a bust if he never played...or is that just a bad pick)

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

yeah, there's no debate there. no one flamed out as gloriously as jamarcus

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Sorry Doug...

Didn't mean to hijack the thread. I think this is more what you were looking for...

Best: Peyton
Worst: Russell (I did consider Emtmann because his career was so short...and can Berwanger be considered a bust if he never played...or is that just a bad pick)

haha, please ... Hijack away.

I was watching the NFL Network, and they were discussing the Best QB drafted #1 overall, and then I stumbled upon that page. I found it interesting to think about how all these players have done. All of them came out of school being something special .. some were, some weren't much at all. So, I created a general topic about it. I wasn't necessarily looking for an answer, just thought it may spark an interesting conversation.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

yeah, there's no debate there. no one flamed out as gloriously as jamarcus

Is Russell the only one who was never able to latch on to another team?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by BillJasper

Is Russell the only one who was never able to latch on to another team?

Not enough Stick-Em on the planet...

[JPhillips]

Lots of interesting stuff there.

I noticed the Boston Yanks picked a QB 1-1 in 44 and then another QB 1-1 in 46. Imagine the fan outrage if that happened today.

Stanford has four 1-1 QBs. Three look like great picks, and the story of Bobby Garrett is fascinating.

Alabama has only one player selected 1-1 and that was 1948.

Eight teams have picked 1-1 four times, but none five times. Who will be the first to five?

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

i think the skins gave him a looksee. shockingly he didn't catch on.

i still remember mayock after his pro day saying he was the best physical specimen he's ever seen @qb

[stevew]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

ki-jana carter becoming the 'never take a rb 1st overall' rule

amazing that he only got 1100 total yards. I didn't realize he actually played in 7 seasons.

Bo Jackson...never played for tampa

Aundray Bruce, only started 42 games over 11 years.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Logan

Not enough Purple Drank on the planet...

FTFY

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by stevew

Aundray Bruce, only started 42 games over 11 years.

And most of those were early in his career while Atlanta was still realizing the guy couldn't play.

I think the Raiders made him a TE for a while...

It was funny to look back on this pick. It was a bad year for the draft...he had great stats and measurables. Everybody was looking for the next LT, and some felt Bruce might be the guy. When you watched his film there were numerous clips of him sacking people while at Auburn. But at the time, I remembered saying...he gets a lot of uncontested sacks. There were like 5 videos of him sacking people where no one blocked him, and I thought...anyone can look good as a pass rusher if noone is going block...

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

is 'the brown couch era' a thing in cleveland? it should be. that franchise is a shakespearian tragedy

[Lathum]

Best- Eli

[albionmoonlight]

Didn't realize that Dan Wilkinson actually put up halfway decent numbers for the first part of his career. Not first-overall-pick worth numbers. But not quite as much of a bust as I recall.

And I think that Elway as the best and Russell as the worst is a pretty solid choice--with the caveat that I know nothing about the players pre-1970 or so.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

is 'the brown couch era' a thing in cleveland? it should be. that franchise is a shakespearian tragedy

Not just the Browns - the city is cursed off ALL their sport teams. I have come to terms of that

[britrock88]

I'll submit Terry Bradshaw for best. (Won four SBs, after all.)

Worst? Any non-QB who didn't make a Pro Bowl is a decent heuristic.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Eight teams have picked 1-1 four times, but none five times. Who will be the first to five?

Gotta factor in relocation. The Colts have picked first 7 times (3 times while in Baltimore), and the Rams 6 (3 times in LA and once while in Cleveland).

[M GO BLUE!!!]

If your career is worse than someone who never played a down, you're pretty bad.

[RedKingGold]

Pretty sure Jay Berwanger is the all-time bust. Of course, I bet he got his name on a nice plaque in the Chicago rubber factory Hall of Fame.

[Sun Tzu]

I'd say Elway is the clear-cut #1 there. You can make an argument for several people at #2...including:

Peyton Manning
Paul Hornung
Earl Campbell
Chuck Bednarik
O.J. Simpson
Lee Roy Selmon
Bruce Smith
Troy Aikman
Charley Trippi

[RendeR]

I still Miss Earl Campbell. That man was amazing.

[larrymcg421]

Manning > Elway for sure.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

I'd say Elway is the clear-cut #1 there. You can make an argument for several people at #2...including:

Peyton Manning
Paul Hornung
Earl Campbell
Chuck Bednarik
O.J. Simpson
Lee Roy Selmon
Bruce Smith
Troy Aikman
Charley Trippi

I agree with Elway, but, I don't agree with clear-cut. Specifically Manning & OJ gave me a lot of trouble deciding.

Originally Posted by RendeR

I still Miss Earl Campbell. That man was amazing.

My favorite non-Lion. He was fun to watch.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Pretty sure Jay Berwanger is the all-time bust. Of course, I bet he got his name on a nice plaque in the Chicago rubber factory Hall of Fame.

Had never heard of him before today. Pretty interesting story. From what I read, he'd have been a pretty successful pro (then again, what #1 pick - Heisman winner wasn't predicted as such). Not sure if I can give him "bust" status for not playing. I guess maybe the teams should have done their research before drafting him, and realized what type of money he was going to demand, but I don't even think in that case.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Sun Tzu

I'd say Elway is the clear-cut #1 there. You can make an argument for several people at #2...including:

Peyton Manning
Paul Hornung
Earl Campbell
Chuck Bednarik
O.J. Simpson
Lee Roy Selmon
Bruce Smith
Troy Aikman
Charley Trippi

I'll argue for Aikman at #1
3 rings vs 2...

Not really passionately argue that mind you, but it could be argued much more than "clear cut"

[RendeR]

Aikman did not single-handedly resurrect his franchise.

Elway Did
Manning Did. And Manning did it without a top 20 defense early on.


Aikman != consideration

[Danny]

Troy Aikman 3 rings
John Elway 2 rings
Peyton Manning 1 ring

Robert Horry 7 rings.

Horry >>>>> all

[larrymcg421]

It's odd because it seems like people have accepted sabremetrics in baseball and rejected most of the dumb arguments against them. So why in football do people still cling to this "rings" crap?

[kcchief19]

Since NFL.com also recognizes AFL No. 1 draft picks, can I be a homer and pick Buck Buchannan?

I personally favor Manning over Elway but I think the real choice might be Bruce Smith or Paul Hornung. Both dominated their positions.

I vote for Jay Berwanger since he never played. It's hard to argue with Jamarcus Russell based on pure performance, but I have a hard time blaming Russell since he never had a chance with that black hole of a team, and he had no business being the No. 1 pick. Anybody who thought Russell was worthy of being the No. 1 pick has no business running an NFL team.

To me, Tim Couch was a bigger bust. All the tools and loads of talent. Just went nowhere.

However, I would like to take Jeff George as the biggest bust. What a tool that guy is. You realize he's not actually retired ... he's still trying to get somebody to sign him!

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

It's odd because it seems like people have accepted sabremetrics in baseball and rejected most of the dumb arguments against them. So why in football do people still cling to this "rings" crap?

I think two reasons -- one is that football has changed so dramatically in its history that it is absolutely impossible to compare eras as well as you can in baseball; two is that a lot of positions have no or poorly defined objective statistics to back up greatness.

I'm with you, I think rings are a weak argument. Anybody who thinks a ring makes you great is crazy.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Since NFL.com also recognizes AFL No. 1 draft picks, can I be a homer and pick Buck Buchannan?

I personally favor Manning over Elway but I think the real choice might be Bruce Smith or Paul Hornung. Both dominated their positions.

I vote for Jay Berwanger since he never played. It's hard to argue with Jamarcus Russell based on pure performance, but I have a hard time blaming Russell since he never had a chance with that black hole of a team, and he had no business being the No. 1 pick. Anybody who thought Russell was worthy of being the No. 1 pick has no business running an NFL team.

To me, Tim Couch was a bigger bust. All the tools and loads of talent. Just went nowhere.

However, I would like to take Jeff George as the biggest bust. What a tool that guy is. You realize he's not actually retired ... he's still trying to get somebody to sign him!

Yeah, but as far as George goes, Tool != bust. He didn't live up to the hype, but he did have some good years. More than can be said about David Carr.

[molson]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

I think two reasons -- one is that football has changed so dramatically in its history that it is absolutely impossible to compare eras as well as you can in baseball; two is that a lot of positions have no or poorly defined objective statistics to back up greatness.

Ya, I would never try to make a serious argument that a player is better than another because of rings, but I'm content to rely on rings when just causally talking or thinking about great players from the past - I'm sure there were some great offensive lineman on some bad teams from past decades that have been overlooked, but thems' the breaks. The stories of sports are more interestingly told through the great teams.

[OldGiants]

As someone who can remember football before John Elway (and still hates the bastard for not playing in Baltimore--cunt!) I can't go with Berwanger at all. Many players skipped the NFL to pursue other careers in Berwanger's day. If you go with Berwanger, how do you overlook picking a guy dying of leukemia?

My choice is Terry Baker who was acknowledged as a terrible #1 pick from the moment he was chosen. As a kid, I could not understand how anyone could pick a left-handed QB from a bad team. I would not quibble with Randy Duncan though.

[JPhillips]

I'm going with Bobby Garrett.

Robert Driscoll "Bobby" Garrett (born August 16, 1932 in Los Angeles, California) was an American football quarterback who played one season in the National Football League.

Garrett was an All-American quarterback at Stanford University, where he also starred as a defensive back. In 1953, he became the third person to receive the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast. After being was named most valuable player of the Hula Bowl, he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as the first overall selection in the 1954 NFL Draft. The Browns had needed someone to take over for the veteran Otto Graham, but they soon discovered that Garrett had a liability as a quarterback: he stuttered, which made calling plays difficult.[1]

Garrett never played a game for the Browns, who traded him along with halfback Don Miller and linemen Johnny Bauer and Chet Gierula to the Green Bay Packers for quarterback Babe Parilli and offensive tackle Bob Fleck. The Packers wanted a backup for veteran Tobin Rote, but did not learn of Garrett's stuttering problem before making the trade. Garrett played just nine games in the NFL.

Not his fault, but an incredible disaster of a pick.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Best- Eli

Snicker.

[kcchief19]

Randy Duncan was drafted by the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League with the first pick of the first round of the 1959 NFL Draft. He never played for the Packers, however. Duncan instead went to the Canadian Football League and signed with the British Columbia Lions. He later explained, "That was Green Bay before Vince Lombardi, and Canada offered a lot more dough."^[5]

I also missed the Bobby Garrett story. That's pretty bad.

Ernie Davis I knew about but it's hard to say that guy was a bust.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by General Mike

Yeah, but as far as George goes, Tool != bust. He didn't live up to the hype, but he did have some good years. More than can be said about David Carr.

Agreed. But Jeff George may have been the dumbest player in NFL history. And that's saying a lot -- I think Vinny Testaverde scored 120 on his SATs and spelled his name with a 6.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Agreed. But Jeff George may have been the dumbest player in NFL history. And that's saying a lot -- I think Vinny Testaverde scored 120 on his SATs and spelled his name with a 6.

Ryan Leaf strongly disagrees.