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2015 NFL Draft: Being No. 1 Can Be a Good Thing

By Russell S. Baxter

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Will it be Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, or Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston?

Or will it be one or the other.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are officially on the clock on Thursday evening, April 30, in Chicago, Illinois, chances are the name on the card that makes its way to the podium will have the letters “QB” on it somewhere.

Dec 27, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston (L) and Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota (R) pose for a photo with Mickey Mouse (C) at Disney California Adventure. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The majority of those in the know feel it will likely be Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston, the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner and leader of the then-national champions.

Of course, there the other camp that believes that it will be University of Oregon signal-caller Marcus Mariota, the ’14 Heisman winner who along with his Duck teammates dethroned Winston’s Seminoles as national champs before bowing to Ohio State in the National Championship Game.

In any case, it would now be a major surprise if a quarterback wasn’t taken number one overall. To refresh your memories, the last time a quarterback was taken with the top selection in the draft was 2012, when the Indianapolis Colts made Stanford’s Andrew Luck the top pick that year.

But here are a few other items of note when it comes to the top pick in the draft being the man behind center:

Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) throws a pass during the second quarter against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

–In the history of the common draft which dates back to 1967 (the year both the NFL and AFL conducted the same draft), there have been a total of 20 quarterbacks drafted number-one overall – including 12 of the last 17 drafts dating back to 1998 when the Colts made Peyton Manning the first overall selection.

–All told, a quarterback has been chosen with the first selection in the draft 16 times in the last 28 years dating back to 1987, when ironically the Buccaneers opted for University of Miami star Vinny Testaverde. It is worth noting that in the previous 20 years of the common draft (1967-86), quarterbacks were taken with the first pick just for times. That list includes Terry Bradshaw (1970 by the Pittsburgh Steelers), Jim Plunkett (1971 by the Boston Patriots), Steve Bartkowski (1975 by the Atlanta Falcons) and John Elway (1983 by the Baltimore Colts).

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has led the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

–Seven of the 20 quarterbacks drafted first overall would go on to lead teams to the Super Bowl and all but one (New England’s Drew Bledsoe) would go on to capture at least one championship. Along with Bradshaw, Plunkett, Elway and Bledsoe, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning would all start at least one Super Bowl.

-While Bradshaw was 4-0 in the Big Game for the Steelers and Aikman was a perfect 3-0 for the Dallas Cowboys (the teams that drafted them), we saw Plunkett (Raiders), Elway (Broncos) and Eli Manning (Giants) each win a pair of championships for organizations that did not select them. Peyton Manning won a title for the Indianapolis Colts (XLI) but also started Super Bowl XLVIII for the Denver Broncos. He’s one of three quarterbacks to take two different teams to the Big Game, joining Craig Morton (Cowboys and Broncos) and Kurt Warner (Rams and Cardinals).

All together, the seven quarterbacks drafted first overall that took their teams to the Super Bowl were a combined 14-6 on Super Sunday.

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Are we predicting that either Winston or Mariota will eventually be Super Bowl-bound? As we know it takes an entire team to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and not just one man no matter how quarterback driven today’s NFL may be.

As we know, since Eli Manning was the first overall pick in ’04, there have been six more quarterbacks taken first overall since. And only Alex Smith (49ers in 2011) and Andrew Luck (Colts in 2014) have gotten as far as the conference title game.

Yes, being a quarterback and taken first overall in the draft has resulted in a lot of success. That’s something to keep in mind way down the road as the process for one young man begins in roughly two months.

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