SEC QBs drafted No. 1 overall: Good, bad and JaMarcus Russell
By Chris Wright
Published:
Thirty-two quarterbacks have been selected No. 1 overall since the NFL draft began in 1936.
The SEC has supplied eight of them, including six of the past 13.
Were those six worth it? Some much more so than others. Here’s a look at the good, the bad … and JaMarcus Russell.
Gold standard
Peyton Manning, Tennessee, 1998
Skinny: Argue if you’d like about whether Manning is the greatest quarterback of all time. There’s no debate he was the greatest quarterback chosen No. 1 of all time. His only competition comes from his most recent boss, John Elway.
Manning just retired with his second Super Bowl victory. He holds dozens of NFL records, most notably for career yards (71,940) and touchdown passes (539).
Trending toward Canton
Cam Newton, Auburn, 2011
Skinny: Newton is well on his way, adding an MVP trophy to his resume, which already includes three Pro Bowl appearances and five consecutive 3,100-yard passing seasons.
Last season, without his top receiver, no less, Newton threw for a career-high 35 touchdown passes. He’ll be 27 next season.
Eli Manning, Ole Miss, 2004
Skinny: Eli was the first Manning to reach two Super Bowl titles. Jim Plunkett, also a No. 1 overall pick, is the only eligible quarterback with two Super Bowls wins who is not in the Hall of Fame.
Manning has time to hunt a third.
He’s already eighth in NFL history with 294 career touchdown passes and should pass Elway in the first couple of games next season. He likely will finish his career ranked in the top 5 in touchdown passes and just outside of it in passing yards.
Hall of very, very good
Matthew Stafford, Georgia, 2009
Skinny: Stafford already has two of the NFL’s 10 best seasons for passing yards. What he needs are playoff wins.
His yardage total has dropped somewhat just about every year since throwing for 5,038 in 2011. But he already has almost 26,000 yards in six-plus seasons.
The knock is, he’s led the Lions to the playoffs just twice, and lost the first game each time.
Swing and a miss
Tim Couch, Kentucky, 1999
Skinny: It’s easy to understand why Couch went No. 1 overall. He followed Manning’s selection in 1998, and statistically, anyway, was even better in college.
In hindsight, Donovan McNabb should have been the first quarterback — and first player — taken in 1999.
Couch wasn’t terrible. He threw for 3,000 yards once when the number still was a milestone and came close a second time. He did that behind a line that twice allowed him to be sacked 50 times in a season.
His biggest crime was where he was drafted. Had he been a third-rounder, we’d look at his career differently.
Hall of Fame bust
JaMarcus Russell, LSU, 2007
Skinny: Russell started just 25 games in three years and was gone … admission that his selection at No. 1 was one of the worst in league history.
He has kept trying, however. His comeback bid in 2013 ended without an invite to camp. Most recently, he told Sports Illustrated that he’d play for free if given another chance in the NFL.
He turns 31 in August.
It was a different game then …
Billy Wade, Vanderbilt, 1952: Wade twice made the Pro Bowl in a 13-year career and he won a NFL championship in 1963 with the Chicago Bears. He finished with 124 career touchdown passes.
Harry Gilmer, Alabama, 1948: He came in fifth in Heisman voting in 1945 and 1947, but had a relatively marginal NFL career.
Managing Editor
A 30-time APSE award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South.
