Michael82
03-21-2004, 11:13 AM
The matinee idol, the collegiate stud muffin, isn't always the answer. Just because a quarterback looks good in airports and hotel lobbies doesn't mean he's going to turn heads in Super Bowls. Valentinos are fine, in the cinema.
For those Chargers fans pining for their little team to select sexy Eli Manning or heartthrob Ben Roethlisberger with the first choice in the draft, I offer a few fun facts.
Since Super Bowl I was played in 1967, 13 quarterbacks have been drafted first overall – Terry Bradshaw, Jim Plunkett, Steve Bartkowski, John Elway, Vinny Testaverde, Troy Aikman, Jeff George, Drew Bledsoe, Peyton Manning, Tim Couch, Michael Vick, David Carr and Carson Palmer.
Among them, four have quarterbacked Super Bowl champions – Bradshaw (4), Plunkett (2), Elway (2) and Aikman (3). In case you're wondering, Joe Namath was taken fifth overall by the Jets in the 1965 AFL draft. Steve Young was a supplemental No. 1 by the Bucs in 1984.
George became a top pick because he threw the ball pretty – he could throw a tight spiral for you, all right – during individual workouts, which of course have nothing to do with real football, but coaches, scouts and general managers love them anyway.
Among these top choices, since Elway was taken in 1983, only he and Aikman have been behind center for a Super Bowl winner (Bledsoe quarterbacked a loser).
So, drafting a quarterback that high obviously does not equate with trips to the jewelry store. It is, by far, the most difficult position in football – in all of sports – to properly evaluate. The NFL game is so much faster, so much more complex, than college ball.
It also is a terribly expensive proposition, as the Chargers discovered when they drafted Ryan Leaf second overall in 1998. Leaf's pricey failure no doubt led to the team's decision to pass on Vick and trade the No. 1 pick. In a way, it's difficult to blame them.
And yet it appears, cloudy or sunny, a quarterback, probably Manning, will go No. 1 this year, be he taken by the Chargers or another club through trade. The past three No. 1 choices have been quarterbacks, five of the last six.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article... (http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/canepa/20040125-9999_1s25canepa.html)
For those Chargers fans pining for their little team to select sexy Eli Manning or heartthrob Ben Roethlisberger with the first choice in the draft, I offer a few fun facts.
Since Super Bowl I was played in 1967, 13 quarterbacks have been drafted first overall – Terry Bradshaw, Jim Plunkett, Steve Bartkowski, John Elway, Vinny Testaverde, Troy Aikman, Jeff George, Drew Bledsoe, Peyton Manning, Tim Couch, Michael Vick, David Carr and Carson Palmer.
Among them, four have quarterbacked Super Bowl champions – Bradshaw (4), Plunkett (2), Elway (2) and Aikman (3). In case you're wondering, Joe Namath was taken fifth overall by the Jets in the 1965 AFL draft. Steve Young was a supplemental No. 1 by the Bucs in 1984.
George became a top pick because he threw the ball pretty – he could throw a tight spiral for you, all right – during individual workouts, which of course have nothing to do with real football, but coaches, scouts and general managers love them anyway.
Among these top choices, since Elway was taken in 1983, only he and Aikman have been behind center for a Super Bowl winner (Bledsoe quarterbacked a loser).
So, drafting a quarterback that high obviously does not equate with trips to the jewelry store. It is, by far, the most difficult position in football – in all of sports – to properly evaluate. The NFL game is so much faster, so much more complex, than college ball.
It also is a terribly expensive proposition, as the Chargers discovered when they drafted Ryan Leaf second overall in 1998. Leaf's pricey failure no doubt led to the team's decision to pass on Vick and trade the No. 1 pick. In a way, it's difficult to blame them.
And yet it appears, cloudy or sunny, a quarterback, probably Manning, will go No. 1 this year, be he taken by the Chargers or another club through trade. The past three No. 1 choices have been quarterbacks, five of the last six.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article... (http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/canepa/20040125-9999_1s25canepa.html)