First quarterback chosen in every NFL draft in the Super Bowl era
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The dream is to grab a franchise quarterback in the NFL draft. What if there isn’t one? Teams still reach and try to select someone they think will lead them to championships. What QBs were the first selected in each NFL draft of the Super Bowl era? Let’s take a look…
1967: Steve Spurrier
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The Heisman Trophy winner from Florida, Steve Spurrier, went third overall to the San Francisco 49ers.
1968: Greg Landry
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Now this one would be a shocker in a game of NFL trivia. How about the Detroit Lions selecting Greg Landry with the 11th pick of out of… the University of Massachusetts?
1969: Greg Cook
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The Cincinnati Bengals went with the hometown guy and selected Greg Cook fifth overall out of the University of Cincinnati. Cook’s career was shortened due to injury.
1970: Terry Bradshaw
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The Pittsburgh Steelers dipped into Louisiana Tech with the top pick and grabbed Terry Bradshaw. All he did was win four Super Bowls for them.
1971: Jim Plunkett
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The Patriots took Jim Plunkett from Stanford with the first pick in a draft that saw quarterbacks go 1-2-3. Plunkett was unsuccessful with the Pats but went on to Super Bowl glory with the Raiders.
1972: Jerry Tagge
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The Packers had the seventh and 11th pick in the first round. They took a DB, Willie Buchanon, from San Diego State at No. 7, and selected Nebraska’s Jerry Tagge with their second first-round choice. Tagge did not pan out.
1973: Bert Jones
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The Colts went second overall and drafted Bert Jones out of LSU. He had a solid career but not a spectacular one.
1974: Danny White
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Talk about a year the scouts were not sold on quarterbacks. In 1974, it took until the 53rd pick before Dallas went for Danny White out of Arizona State.
1975: Steve Bartkowski
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Normalcy returned when the Atlanta Falcons grabbed Cal’s Steve Bartkowski with the first overall pick in 1975.
1976: Mike Kruczek
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The class was thin this year, per the scouts, and teams waited until the 47th pick when the Steelers drafted Boston College’s Mike Kruczek.
1977: Steve Pisarkiewicz
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With the 19th pick in 1977, the then-St. Louis Cardinals stayed in-state and drafted Missouri’s Steve Pisarkiewicz.
1978: Doug Williams
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the 17th pick in the 1978 draft and chose Grambling State’s Doug Williams. He went on to have a historic Super Bowl with another franchise, of course.
1979: Jack Thompson
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The Cincinnati Bengals went third and selected the Throwin’ Samoan, Jack Thompson, out of Washington State.
1980: Marc Wilson
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The Raiders selected BYU’s Marc Wilson with the 15th choice in 1980.
1981: Rich Campbell
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The Green Bay Packers went fifth and they took Rich Campbell out of Cal. He did not provide the same results as another first-round pick out of Cal by Green Bay.
1982: Art Schlichter
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The Colts went third and took Ohio State’s Art Schlichter with the pick. All you need to know about how this backfired is the Colts used their first pick the next year on another QB.
1983: John Elway
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Out of Stanford with the first pick, the Colts chose John Elway. He never played a down for them.
1984: Boomer Esiason
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The Bengals make the list, again. This time they went lefty and drafted Boomer Esiason out of Maryland.
1985: Randall Cunningham
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The Philadelphia Eagles went for UNLV quarterback Randall Cunningham, who provided many thrills for the City of Brotherly Love. Cunningham went 37th overall.
1986: Jim EVerett
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The Houston Oilers had the third overall choice and grabbed Jim Everett out of Purdue. Unable to work out a contract agreement with Everett, the Oilers traded his rights to the Rams.
1987: Vinny Testaverde
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were back at it and had the top pick, staying in-state and choosing Miami QB Vinny Testaverde.
1988: Tom Tupa
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Another thin quarterback class. The first QB picked was by the Cardinals at No. 68: Tom Tupa went on to a long NFL career … as a punter.
1989: Troy Aikman
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The Dallas Cowboys grabbed UCLA QB Troy Aikman with the first pick in 1989 and were rewarded with three Super Bowl rings.
1990: Jeff George
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Jeff George had an interesting college career at multiple schools. Still, the Colts liked what they saw and drafted the QB from Illinois No. 1.
1991: Dan McGwire
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The Seattle Seahawks went big at No. 16 and wound up with a big bust after drafting Dan McGwire out of San Diego State.
1992: David Klingler
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The Cincinnati Bengals loved the pinball-machine numbers David Klingler put up at Houston. They grabbed him at six. Another first-chosen QB who didn’t work out.
1993: Drew Bledsoe
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The New England Patriots went first and selected Washington State QB Drew Bledsoe.
1994: Heath Shuler
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Washington had the third pick in 1994 and drafted Heath Shuler out of Tennessee. He did not have a memorable pro career.
1995: Steve McNair
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The Oilers went third and grabbed Alcon State QB Steve McNair, who had some spectacular seasons for the club.
1996: Tony Banks
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The picks flew by before the Rams decided to dip into the quarterback pool and take Michigan State’s Tony Banks.
1997: Jim Druckenmiller
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At No. 26, the San Francisco 49ers chose Virginia Tech QB Jim Druckenmiller. Another choice that went awry.
1998: Peyton Manning
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The first overall pick out of Tennesee, Peyton Manning, turned out pretty well for Indy, don’t ya think?
1999: Tim Couch
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Kentucky’s Tim Couch had the misfortune of being the choice of the newly revived Cleveland Browns franchise. As an expansion team QB, he never had a chance.
2000: Chad Pennington
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The New York Jets went 18th and chose Marshall QB Chad Pennington, who had a nice NFL career for Gang Green and Miami. Many teams missed on the 199th overall selection this year, one Tom Brady.
2001: Michael Vick
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The Atlanta Falcons chose Michael Vick out of Virginia Tech with the first pick in the 2001 overall draft.
2002: David Carr
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The Houston Texans had the first pick in the draft and went with David Carr out of Fresno State.
2003: Carson Palmer
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The Cincinnati Bengals drafted the Heisman Trophy winner from USC, Carson Palmer.
2004: Eli Manning
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The San Diego Chargers drafted Eli Manning with the first overall pick and that didn’t go over well. They wound up trading Manning’s rights to the Giants for Philip Rivers, who was the fourth overall pick.
2005: Alex Smith
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The San Francisco 49ers went to the University of Utah and grabbed Alex Smith, who had a long career and made a fascinating comeback after suffering a gruesome leg injury with Washington.
2006: Vince Young
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The Tennessee Titans loved what they saw out of Vince Young at Texas and drafted the quarterback. He did not pan out in any way, just another mishap with drafting quarterbacks.
2007: JaMarcus Russell
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The Oakland Raiders went to LSU for the first pick in the draft and chose JaMarcus Russell. This started out bad and got worse. Russell is one of the biggest busts in draft history.
2008: Matt Ryan
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The Atlanta Falcons made a strong pick in 2008, landing Matt Ryan from Boston College. He turned into the franchise quarterback they hoped… until recently being dealt to the Indianapolis Colts.
2009: Matthew Stafford
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The Detroit Lions drafted Matthew Stafford out of Georgia in 2009. They didn’t have any success with him in the postseason, but he did OK for himself in his first year with the Rams.
2010: Sam Bradford
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The then-St. Louis Rams moved heaven and earth to grab Sam Bradford from Oklahoma. Unfortunately, injuries took their toll on Bradford and he wound up bouncing from team to team.
2011: Cam Newton
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Cam Newton went from Auburn to the Carolina Panthers as the first pick in the 2011 draft. He never won a Super Bowl but he was an MVP.
2012: Andrew Luck
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The Colts didn’t get a Super Bowl victory out of Andrew Luck but he was one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL before he retired after playing six years and missing one full season.
2013: E.J. Manuel
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The Bills were still searching for a quarterback to lead them back to the Super Bowl when they drafted E.J. Manuel out of Florida State with the 16th pick in 2013.
2014: Blake Bortles
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The Jacksonville Jaguars stayed in-state with the third pick in the draft and grabbed UCF star Blake Bortles. With the exception of one season, this was another big swing and a miss.
2015: Jameis Winston
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were at it again, looking for a QB through the draft. They chose Heisman winner Jameis Winston out of Florida State. He wound up more well known for his 30 TD/30 INT season with the Bucs than much of anything else.
2016: Jared Goff
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The then-St. Louis Rams drafted Jared Goff out of Cal with the first pick in the 2016 process. He did lead them to a Super Bowl—a loss—and was part of the trade that brought Matthew Stafford to LA from the Lions—a win.
2017: Mitchell Trubisky
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The Chicago Bears wheeled and deal’d to get UNC star Mitchell Trubisky. He is now on his third team, signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
2018: Baker Mayfield
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Baker Mayfield won the Heisman at Oklahoma and was drafted first overall by a struggling Cleveland Browns franchise. He led the team’s revival and to a playoff win. The situation has fallen apart, though, and Cleveland is now pondering what the next move is with Mayfield.
2019: Kyler Murray
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Another Heisman winner out of Oklahoma, Kyler Murray, went first to the Arizona Cardinals. He has helped lead a turnaround from a basement team to a playoff squad.
2020: Joe Burrow
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The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Joe Burrow out of LSU. After a rookie season cut short by a knee injury, Burrow led the Bengals to a stunning run that wound up as AFC representative in the Super Bowl.
2021: Trevor Lawrence
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The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their way into the first pick in the 2021 draft and chose Trevor Lawrence of Clemson. The first year was a bust as the hiring of Urban Meyer proved disastrous. Lawrence now gets Doug Pederson, who will try to get him on the right track.
