Next week’s NFL Draft in Chicago will mark the league’s 80th annual amateur draft. In its first 79 years there were _ quarterbacks taken with the No. 1 overall pick, eight of which hailed from SEC programs.

Of those eight SEC quarterbacks taken No. 1 in the draft, six have been drafted in the last 20 years. Those eight signal callers varied in success at the NFL level, but none were forgotten. After all, they were top picks, an immortalizing achievement in the realm of professional football.

In honor of Quarterbacks Week at SDS and the upcoming 2015 draft, we take a look back at the SEC’s No. 1 quarterbacks in something we’re calling The Good, the Blah and the Ugly.

THE GOOD

Peyton Manning (1998): Manning was the 1997 Heisman Trophy runner-up as a senior for the Tennessee Volunteers, and months later he was taken with the No. 1 overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts. The rest is history. Manning is now the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards in a single season, touchdowns in a single season and touchdowns in a career. He’s appeared in three Super Bowls and won his lone ring at the end of the 2006 season. He’s also won five league MVP awards, two more than any other player in NFL history. Many consider him the greatest quarterback in history, although his playoff failures compared to the likes of Tom Brady and Joe Montana have always worked against him. Nevertheless, he’s absolutely the greatest SEC quarterback in NFL history, and he lived up to the hype as the top overall pick.

Eli Manning (2004): Peyton’s younger brother and Archie’s youngest son, Eli Manning left Ole Miss facing some high expectations at the pro level. He was taken No. 1 overall by the San Diego Chargers, but was dealt to the New York Giants after requesting a change of scenery before ever taking an NFL snap. Again, this raised the level of expectations for a kid many saw as a can’t-miss prospect. He was just that, earning the starting job before the end of his rookie season. In his 10 years as a starter his Giants have won three NFC East titles, but more importantly they’ve won two Super Bowls as a wild card team with Manning at the helm. His most famous achievement was thwarting the 2007 New England Patriots’ run at perfection in the Super Bowl, leading a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes of play to earn his first career championship.

Cam Newton (2011): Newton was the No. 1 overall pick just months after leading Auburn to a 14-0 record and a BCS national championship in his only full season as a starting quarterback (he also won the Heisman that year). In four years with the Carolina Panthers he’s led his team to two straight division titles, although he’s only posted one winning season in four years as a starter and is 1-2 in his postseason career. Still, he’s averaged 3,600 yards and 20 touchdowns per season in his brief NFL career, and he’s rushed for 642 yards and eight touchdowns per year to boot. His Rookie of the Year award and pair of Pro Bowl invites indicate his individual success, but his teams have had far less success than the Manning brothers.

Matthew Stafford (2009): Stafford has one of the biggest arms in the NFL, which falls in line with his scouting report when he declared for the draft as a Georgia Bulldog. Much of his NFL success is credited to his tandem with Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, but Stafford’s numbers reach far beyond his connection with the game’s best wideout. He’s one of five quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for at least 5,000 yards; the others are Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. That’s not a bad list to find yourself on. Unfortunately, his teams have lacked playoff success much like Newton in Carolina. In five years as a starter in Detroit he’s 0-2 in two postseason appearances, but those two playoff runs in a three-year span actually top the zero playoff appearances Detroit made from 2000-2011. Much of that success can be linked to Stafford, who appears on the cusp of leading a team deep into the playoffs.

Bill Wade (1952): Relatively unknown by most casual NFL fans, Wade is a Vanderbilt legend and a former SEC Most Valuable Player honoree. He was taken first overall in 1952 and is best known as the quarterback of the NFL champion Chicago Bears in 1963. In 13 years as an NFL quarterback he was a two-time All-Pro, and while his name doesn’t have the same reach as Peyton or Eli Manning, he was an above-average starter in the NFL for more than a decade, which is pretty darn impressive.

THE BLAH

Harry Gilmer (1948): Gilmer was a consistent quarterback during his nine-year NFL career, but he was never a league-wide superstar, especially considering how much less the quarterback position meant to team success in those days. The former SEC Player of the Year and All-American honoree was Alabama’s first and only quarterback ever taken No. 1 overall (not even Bart Starr or Joe Namath achieved the feat), and in nine years he was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Washington Redskins. However, he only threw for 3,786 yards for his entire career (remember, two people on this list threw for more than 5,000 yards in a single season), and threw 23 touchdowns against 45 interceptions, which doesn’t quite stack up to the players listed above.

THE UGLY

Tim Couch (1999): Couch was taken No. 1 overall one year after Peyton Manning achieved the feat, and their careers could not have gone much different. While Manning ascended to legendary stardom, Couch, a former Kentucky Wildcat All-American and SEC Player of the Year, spent five years getting pounded as a Cleveland Brown with very little protection in front of him. He completed 60 percent of his passes for his career, but threw 64 touchdowns against 67 interceptions and constantly battled injuries throughout his career due to the inexperienced line in front of him. He led Cleveland to the playoffs one time, but missed the playoff game after suffering an injury in the season finale. Couch and the player listed below are the only players on this list to never appear in a Pro Bowl, and many consider the former UK star one of the biggest draft busts of all-time. However, the next guy on the list took bust to a new extreme.

Jamarcus Russell (2007): As far as most NFL experts and fans are concerned, there has never been a No. 1 pick so egregiously off base than Russell, who was taken first by the Oakland Raiders after one strong season at LSU. He brought the promise of a strong arm, SEC experience and the coaching of LSU’s budding NFL factory, but like so many other Raiders draft picks never lived up to the hype. His cannon of an arm could never compensate for poor decision-making, poor athleticism and poor accuracy, which is why he was out of the NFL three years after serving as a potential future face of one of its proudest franchises. He threw 18 touchdowns against 23 interceptions and only amassed a little less than 4,100 yards in 31 career games, and in those three seasons the Raiders were an abysmal 14-34. He attempted making an NFL comeback, but could never work his way back onto an NFL roster.