This list of quarterbacks selected in the first round of NFL Drafts since 1987 is sorted by Round, Pick in that Round, Name of Player, Position, College and NFL Team that Drafted the Player. 20141 3 Blake Bortles QB Central Florida Jacksonville Jaguars 1 22 Johnny Manziel QB Texas A&M Cleveland Browns 1 32 Teddy Bridgewater QB Louisville Minnesota Vikings 20131 16 EJ Manuel QB Florida State Buffalo Bills 20121 1 Andrew Luck QB Stanford Indianapolis Colts 1 2 Robert Griffin QB Baylor Washington Redskins 1 8 Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M Miami Dolphins 1 22 Brandon Weeden QB Oklahoma State Cleveland Browns 20111 1 Cam Newton QB Auburn Carolina Panthers 1 8 Jake Locker QB Washington Tennessee Titans 1 10 Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri Jacksonville Jaguars 1 12 Christian Ponder QB Florida State Minnesota Vikings 20101 1 Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma St. Louis Rams 1 25 Tim Tebow QB Florida Denver Broncos 20091 1 Matthew Stafford QB Georgia Detroit Lions 1 5 Mark Sanchez QB USC New York Jets 1 17 Josh Freeman QB Kansas State Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20081 3 Matt Ryan QB Boston College Atlanta Falcons 1 18 Joe Flacco QB Delaware Baltimore Ravens 20071 1 JaMarcus Russell QB Louisiana State Oakland Raiders 1 22 Brady Quinn QB Notre Dame Cleveland Browns 20061 3 Vince Young QB Texas Tennessee Titans 1 10 Matt Leinart QB USC Arizona Cardinals 1 11 Jay Cutler QB Vanderbilt Denver Broncos 20051 1 Alex Smith QB Utah San Francisco 49ers 1 24 Aaron Rodgers QB California Green Bay Packers 1 25 Jason Campbell QB Auburn Washington Redskins 20041 1 Eli Manning QB Mississippi San Diego Chargers 1 4 Philip Rivers QB North Carolina State New York Giants 1 11 Ben Roethlisberger QB Miami (Ohio) Pittsburgh Steelers 1 22 J.P. Losman QB Tulane Buffalo Bills 20031 1 Carson Palmer QB USC Cincinnati Bengals 1 7 Byron Leftwich QB Marshall Jacksonville Jaguars 1 19 Kyle Boller QB California Baltimore Ravens 1 22 Rex Grossman QB Florida Chicago Bears 20021 1 David Carr QB Fresno State Houston Texans 1 3 Joey Harrington QB Oregon Detroit Lions 1 32 Patrick Ramsey QB Tulane Washington Redskins 20011 1 Michael Vick QB Virginia Tech Atlanta Falcons 20001 18 Chad Pennington QB Marshall New York Jets 19991 1 Tim Couch QB Kentucky Cleveland Browns 1 2 Donovan McNabb QB Syracuse Philadelphia Eagles 1 3 Akili Smith QB Oregon Cincinnati Bengals 1 11 Daunte Culpepper QB Central Florida Minnesota Vikings 1 12 Cade McNown QB UCLA Chicago Bears 19981 1 Peyton Manning QB Tennessee Indianapolis Colts 1 2 Ryan Leaf QB Washington State San Diego Chargers 19971 26 Jim Druckenmiller QB Virginia Tech San Francisco 49ers 1996None19951 3 Steve McNair QB Alcorn State Houston Oilers 1 5 Kerry Collins QB Penn State Carolina Panthers 19941 3 Heath Shuler QB Tennessee Washington Redskins 1 6 Trent Dilfer QB Fresno State Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19931 1 Drew Bledsoe QB Washington State New England Patriots 1 2 Rick Mirer QB Notre Dame Seattle Seahawks 19921 6 David Klingler QB Houston Cincinnati Bengals 1 25 Tommy Maddox QB UCLA Denver Broncos 19911 16 Dan McGwire QB San Diego State Seattle Seahawks 1 24 Todd Marinovich QB USC Los Angeles Raiders 19901 1 Jeff George QB Illinois Indianapolis Colts 1 7 Andre Ware QB Houston Detroit Lions 19891 1 Troy Aikman QB UCLA Dallas Cowboys 1988None19871 1 Vinny Testaverde QB Miami (Fla.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 6 Kelly Stouffer QB Colorado State St. Louis Cardinals 1 13 Chris Miller QB Oregon Atlanta Falcons 1 26 Jim Harbaugh QB Michigan Chicago Bears A lot of us is engaged in debating which QB should be our No. 1 overall pick -- J. Winston or M. Mariota. It's a very heated and passionate debate. We can all agree that they had great college careers en route to winning Heisman Trophies, but NFL draft history suggests both QB's stand a better chance of failing then they do succeeding at the pro level. I knew there are a lot of first-round QB busts, but I didn't realize how many there were until I looked this up. I went back to 1987, figuring it would make sense to go back to the last year the Bucs had the first overall pick in the draft, and took a QB. Man, there are more busts on this list than on Clearwater Beach on a sunny July afternoon. If you're a glass is half full type of guy, I suppose you could look at the fact that there have been 16 QB's taken No. 1 overall since 1987, Vinny Testerverde included. Less than half (five) of those QB's (Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, Alex Smith and Drew Bledsoe) went to Super Bowls while four of them (all but Alex Smith) won a Lombardi Trophy. Eli Manning and Troy Aikman won multiple Super Bowls. Peyton Manning has been to multiple Super Bowls. But two of those QB's -- Alex Smith and Drew Bledsoe -- did not play for their teams in the Super Bowl (I believe Smith and Bledsoe lost their jobs to injury those years). Since 2005, a total of 27 QB's have been drafted in the first round. About half of them (13) are not starting in the NFL. Six more (Manziel, Griffin III, Locker, Bradford and Cutler) are on the verge of losing their starting jobs. And seven of them, including Josh Freeman, aren't even in the league anymore. Yo, if I were a scout and was interviewing Winston and Mariota, I would flat out give them this list, let 'em digest it and then ask point blank why they are going to be the exception and not the norm when it comes to failed first round QB's in the NFL. And what are they going to do to ensure that they are successful? Man, let's hope that we get this pick right. Otherwise, we will be destined for several more years of losing like a lot of the teams on this list that got their pick wrong.
