As football fans across the globe cast their longing eyes in the direction of the April draft, I decided that now might be a good time to reflect on draft classes of the last 10 years.
Too often in this business, we rush ahead to the next big event without taking pause to evaluate the past and learn from it. In a way, this study will still be a celebration of the coming 2009 draft as I believe it will shed some light on certain overlooked trends that no one ever stops to consider.
I will begin with a class by class showdown of sorts at the quarterback position over the last 10 drafts. This is part II in the series:
A) 11 quarterbacks selected in the draft/only one in the first round (the stain of 1999 continues?).
B) Of those 11 quarterbacks, only four are currently still in the league.
C) Of those four still in the league, one merits a level five rating (franchise quarterback), two merit a level three (solid backup), and one merits a level two (risky backup).
D) Here is the quarterback class of 2001:
1. Michael Vick—Selected first overall out of Virginia Tech. His career has been well-documented. Incredible athlete who gave Atlanta Falcons six years of above-average play before being incarcerated for his involvement in dog fighting. How the final chapter of his career will be played out remains to be seen.
2. Drew Brees—Selected in the second round out of Purdue. Despite being traded by his original team, Brees is clearly a franchise player in New Orleans. Last season, he came within a single pass completion of breaking Dan Marino’s all-time season record for passing yards. Has never been to a Super Bowl, but he still has a lot of years ahead of him.
3. Quincy Carter—Selected in the second round out of Georgia. No longer in league. Was a mediocre starter in Dallas before his off-field behavior got him kicked off the team. Every subsequent attempt at a comeback has been thwarted by these same troubles. Played his last season in 2004.
4. Marques Tuiasosopo—Selected in the second round out of Washington. A career backup with limited playing time.
5. Chris Weinke—Selected in the fourth round out of Florida State. No longer in league. Played his last season in 2007.
6. Sage Rosenfels—Selected in the fourth round out of Iowa State. Long considered one of the more reliable backups in the league. Recently traded to Minnesota, where he may have an opportunity to compete for the starting job.
7. Jesse Palmer—Selected in the fourth round out of Florida. No longer in league. Biggest claim to fame is appearing in “The Bachelor” TV series. Now a TV sports host. Played his last season in 2003.
8. Mike McMahon—Selected in the fifth round out of Rutgers. No longer in league. Played his last season in 2005.
9. A.J. Feeley—Selected in the fifth round out of Oregon. A solid backup who plays well in spot duty.
10. Josh Booty—Selected in the sixth round out of LSU. No longer in league. Cut before 2001 season.
11. Josh Heupel—Selected in the sixth round out of Oklahoma. No longer in league. Cut before 2001 season.
E) Overall analysis: Another relatively weak draft that produced only one starter. This is the draft that gave us Drew Brees, a couple decent backups, and the storied career of Michael Vick. No Super Bowl appearances out of this bunch yet.
F) Grade: C-
A) 15 quarterbacks selected in the draft/three in the first round.
B) Of those 15 selected, six are still in the league.
C) Of those six still in the league, one merits a level four rating (starter), one merits a level three (solid backup), and four merit a level two (risky backup).
D) Here is the quarterback list of 2002:
1. David Carr—Selected first overall out of Fresno State. Huge bust, although some of that may be owing to the fact that he was thrown to the dogs so early in his career with nobody blocking for him. Houston finally gave up on him, and he has since bounced around the league in backup duty. Currently with the Giants.
2. Joey Harrington—Selected third overall out of Oregon. Another huge bust, although he too was brought into a situation early in his career where there was very little chance to succeed. Detroit eventually pulled the plug, and he has since bounced around like Carr in back-up positions. Currently with the Saints.
3. Patrick Ramsey—Selected 32nd overall out of Tulane. Another bust—albeit on a slightly lesser scale than his two predecessors. Wasn’t franchise material in Washington, and he’s now a solid backup option (when healthy) in Denver.
4. Josh McCown—Selected in the third round out of Sam Houston State. A career backup with limited experience.
5. David Garrard—Selected in the fourth round out of East Carolina. Was generally considered the best backup in the league before he beat out Byron Leftwich for the starting position in Jacksonville. Played at a high level in his first year as a starter, but struggled some in his second behind a depleted offensive line.
6. Rohan Davey—Selected in the fourth round out of LSU. No longer in league. Played his last season in 2004.
7. Randy Fasani—Selected in the fifth round out of Stanford. No longer in league. Was cut after the 2002 season.
8. Kurt Kittner—Selected in the fifth round out of Illinois. No longer in league. Played his last season in 2003.
9. Brandon Doman—Selected in the fifth round out of BYU. No longer in league. Was cut before the 2002 season.
10. Craig Nall—Selected in the fifth round out of Northwest State (LA). No longer in league. Played his last season in 2007.
11. J.T. O’Sullivan—Selected in the sixth round out of Cal-Davis. Journeyman quarterback before Mike Martz handed him the starting job in San Francisco at the start of the 2008 season. Had some ups but mostly downs in the form of turnovers. Relegated to backup duty.
12. Steve Bellisari—Selected in the sixth round out of Ohio State. No longer in league. Cut before 2002 season.
13. Seth Burford—Selected in the seventh round out of Cal Poly. No longer in league. Cut before 2002 season.
14. Jeff Kelly—Selected in the seventh round out of Southern Miss. No longer in league. Played his last season in 2002.
15. Wes Pate—Selected in the seventh round out of Stephen F. Austin. No longer in league. Cut before 2002 season.
E) Overall analysis: The vast majority of this quarterback draft class was taken in the later rounds. The first three to come off the board (all in the first round) were enormous flops, and none of them is currently with his original team. David Garrard is the only player of any real significance on this list. Another terrible year.
F) Grade: D
III. ADVANTAGE: 2001 (though it isn’t much of a victory)
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