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Draftback: 80's Quarterbacks

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Took a different rout with the next Draftback by just focusing on the top quarterbacks to come out of each draft with brief comments on each class.

 

1980

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Good depth but not one star came out of this class. Marc Wilson only had one year as a starter that he threw more touchdowns than interceptions. Mark Malone had to follow Terry Bradshaw and he was just awful. David Woodley had his 15 minutes of fame when he started Super Bowl XVII but he was not a good quarterback and only lasted until 1985, although as an 8th round pick you’d have to consider him a good value pick. Gary Hogeboom now of course now best know for being a contestant on Survivor.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Marc Wilson, 15th overall by L.A. Raiders, BYU, 14391 yards

2. Erik Hipple, 85th overall by Detroit, Utah State, 10711 yards

3. Mark Malone, 28th overall by Pittsburgh, Arizona State, 10175 yards

4. Gary Hogeboom, 133rd overall by Dallas, Central Michigan, 9436 yards

5. David Woodley, 214th pick by Miami, LSU, 8558 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Gene Bradley, 37th overall by Buffalo, Arkansas State

 

1981

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Very little depth although did produce two pretty good quarterbacks from small schools in Neil Lomax and Wade Wilson. Rich Campbell was selected 6th overall by the Packers in one of the all-time draft blunders as he threw just 68 passes in the NFL. They passed on Ronnie Lott to pick Campbell. Whoops!

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Neil Lomax, 33rd overall by St. Louis, Portland State, 22771 yards

2. Wade Wilson, 210th overall by Minnesota, East Texas State, 17283 yards

3. Dave Wilson, Supplemental pick by New Orleans, Illinois, 6987 yards

4. Mark Herrmann, 98th overall by Denver, Purdue, 4015 yards

5. Bob Gagliano, 319th overall by Kansas City, Utah State, 3431 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Brad Wright, 96th overall by Miami, New Mexico

 

1982

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Basically just Jim McMahon and a whole lot of nothing. Mike Pagel hung around for a long time as a back up. Does feature one of the greatest busts in sports history as the Colts drafted Art Schlichter as the 4th pick overall who’s career would derail very quickly due to the fact that he was a degenerate gambler.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Jim McMahon, 5th overall by Chicago, BYU, 18148 yards

2. Mike Pagel, 84th overall by Baltimore, Arizona State, 9414 yards

3. Oliver Luck, 44th overall by Houston, West Virginia, 2544 yards

4. Matt Kofler, 48th overall by Buffalo, San Diego State, 1156 yards

5. Art Schlichter, 4th overall by Baltimore, Ohio State, 1006 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Mike Kelley, 149th overall by Atlanta, Georgia Tech

 

1983

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This draft doesn’t need introduction as it produced three Hall of Famers. Todd Blackledge was the one true bust of this famous 1st round and it’s amazing that he went so high. Bad luck back-to-back years for the Colts as we all know Elway was drafted #1 by them but whined his way into a trade.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Dan Marino, 27th overall by Miami, Pittsburgh, 61361 yards

2. John Elway, 1st overall by Baltimore, Stanford, 51475 yards

3. Jim Kelly, 14th overall by Buffalo, Miami, 35467 yards

4. Ken O’Brien, 24th overall by N.Y. Jets, UC Davis, 25094 yards

5. Tony Eason, 15th overall by New England, Illinois, 11142 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Jeff Christensen, 137th overall by Cincinnati, Eastern Illinois

 

1984

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No first round quarterback in this draft but it did produce decent depth with one standout in Boomer Esiason and a Super Bowl winner in Jeff Hostetler. I don’t know how Jay Schroeder ended up with 20,000+ yards passing.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Boomer Esiason, 38th overall by Cincinnati, Maryland, 37920 yards

2. Jay Schroeder, 83rd overall by Washington, UCLA, 20063 yards

3. Jeff Hostetler, 59th overall by N.Y. Giants, West Virginia, 16430 yards

4. Randy Wright, 153rd overall by Green Bay, Wisconsin, 7106 yards

5. Steve Pelluer, 113th overall by Dallas, Washington, 6870 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Rick McIvor, 80th overall by St. Louis, Texas

 

1984 Supplemental

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The ’84 Supplemental Draft was different from any other as it was to draft the rights to USFL players (those who NFL teams didn’t own the rights to already) and a handful of CFL players. The draft was three rounds with 84 picks. Steve Young was #1 overall and was only one of two quarterbacks from the draft to throw a pass in the NFL. Young had already signed with the Los Angeles Express so he wasn’t eligible for the regular draft.

 

1. Steve Young, 1st overall by Tampa Bay, BYU, 33124 yards

2. Frank Seurer, 76th overall by Seattle, Kansas, 340 yards

 

1985

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In terms of overall depth there was very little as there was no quarterback picked in the first round and only 11 quarterbacks selected overall, but a very good group of quarterbacks did come out of this draft all with very different career paths. Due to quirk the in the draft rules at the time because he wasn’t a senior Bernie Kosar was able to declare himself eligible after the regular draft and be taken in the supplemental draft so he could play for his hometown Browns.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Randall Cunningham, 37th overall by Philadelphia, UNLV, 29979 yards

2. Bernie Kosar, Supplemental pick by Cleveland, Miami, 23301 yards

3. Doug Flutie, 285th overall by L.A. Rams, Boston College, 14715 yards

4. Steve Bono, 142nd overall by Minnesota, UCLA, 10439 yards

5. Frank Reich, 57th overall by Buffalo, Maryland, 6075 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Scott Barry, 168th overall by San Francisco, UC Davis

 

1986

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Lots of quarterbacks drafted in the first few rounds but some what of an underwhelming group led by Jim Everett and Mary Rypien. Featured a pretty big bust in Chuck Long. I always hated Bubby Brister. Come on his name was Bubby!

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Jim Everett, 3rd overall by Houston, Purdue, 34837 yards

2. Mark Rypien, 146th overall by Washington, Washington State, 18473 yards

3. Bubby Brister, 67th overall by Pittsburgh, NE Louisiana, 14445 yards

4. Jack Trudeau, 47th overall by Indianapolis, Illinos, 10243 yards

5. Hugh Millen, 71st overall by L.A. Rams, Washington, 6440 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Robbie Bosco, 72nd overall by Green Bay, BYU

 

1987

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Doesn’t the have star power of the ’83 Draft but this was a very deep quarterback class with four first round picks. Just outside the Top 5 in passing yards was Packers quarterback Don Majkowski who had one great season in 1989 but injuries derailed his career. Draft does feature a huge bust in Kelly Stouffer who the Cardinals picked 6th overall. A first round bust by the Cardinals? Go figure.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Vinny Testaverde, 1st overall by Tampa Bay, Miami, 45252 yards

2. Rich Gannon, 98th overall by New England, Delaware, 28743 yards

3. Jim Harbaugh, 26th overall by Chicago, Michigan, 26288 yards

4. Steve Beurlein, 110th overall by L.A. Raiders, Notre Dame, 24046 yards

5. Chris Miller, 13th overall by Atlanta, Oregon, 19320 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Doug Hudson, 186th overall by Kansas City, Nicholls State

 

1988

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Although it did produce two quarterbacks who started Super Bowls, this was an incredibly weak class with zero depth. No quarterback was taken until the 3rd round when the Cardinals picked Tom Tupa who’s long term future ended being as a punter. Of the 13 qb’s selected, only five threw a pass in the NFL. Did feature two CFL standouts in Danny McManus and Kerwin Bell.

 

Top 5 Passing Yards

 

1. Chris Chandler, 76th overall by Indianapolis, Washington, 28484 yards

2. Stan Humphries, 159th overall by Washington, NE Louisiana, 17191 yards

3. Tom Tupa, 68th overall by Phoenix, Ohio State, 3430 yards

4. Scott Secules, 151st overall by Dallas, Virginia, 1311 yards

5. Kerwin Bell, 180th overall by Miami, Florida, 75 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Don McPherson, 149th overall by Philadelphia, Syracuse

 

1989

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Pretty much the Troy Aikman class although I suppose Rodney Peete had his moments. Cowboys picked Aikman #1 overall and then took Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft. Many thought Walsh would be better than Aikman. Many of us don’t know anything.

 

1. Troy Aikman, 1st overall by Dallas, UCLA, 32942 yards

2. Rodney Peete, 141st overall by Detroit, USC, 16338 yards

3. Billy Joe Tolliver, 51st overall by San Diego, Texas Tech, 10760 yards

4. Steve Walsh, Supplemental Pick by Dallas, 7875 yards

5. Timm Rosenbach, Supplemental Pick by Phoenix, Washington State, 3676 yards

 

Highest Pick Not to Throw a Pass: Jeff Graham, 87th overall by Green Bay, Long Beach State

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Good ol' Bubby. During his time with the Steelers he signed a contract that paid him more than Bradshaw ever got, and the media/fans made a big deal out of it. Of course Bubby was going to make more money than Terry -- most starting QBs for a football team in the late-80s did when compared to the starting QBs for that same team team in the '70s.

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So was there in out cry in Pittsburgh when Kevin Young was making more money than Honus Wagner made in his whole lifetime?

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Is that why Terry is pissed at the Steelers? Or at least was pissed for a long time.

 

What happened to Tony Eason? He was only a starter for four years. Two really nice years, two not so good seasons.

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Terry was pissed because Steeler fans are dumber than him.

 

Actually, if memory serves, Bradshaw got hurt during his final days and the fans didn't take too kindly to that sort of thing.

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What happened to Tony Eason? He was only a starter for four years. Two really nice years, two not so good seasons.

I believe he had some nagging injuries. The problem with Eason was he was easily rattled by pressure. In the playoffs following the 1986 season the Patriots were at Denver and late in the game Eason crumbled to the ground in the endzone for a safety...before he even got hit. It pretty much put the game away for the Broncos and his reputation was basically cemented from there. He took a lot shit for that play and mentally I don't think he recovered from it.

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