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Drafting QBs in first round...

M.S. : 1/16/2018 11:27 am
...1998 - 2016 (in which 52 have been selected).

So, I tried to answer the following questions:

(1) What does the past tell us about selecting a QB with the #1 overall pick in the Draft?

(2) What does the past tell us about either staying put at #2, or trading no further down than 3 slots (#5) and selecting a QB?

(3) What does the past tell us about trading down beyond the fifth overall selection?

(Major qualifier: I've subjectively divided these first-round QBs into only one of three categories: Hit, Miss, Hit/Miss. I'm only interested in the percentage of QBs that "Hit."

(1) Out of 14 QBs taken with the #1 overall pick in the draft, 9 have been "Hits" (64% success rate) -- first chart.

(2) Out of 12 QBs taken with the second, third, fourth or fifth picks in Round One, 4 have been "Hits" (33% success rate) -- second chart.

(3) Out of 26 first round QBs that went after the fifth pick, 7 have been "Hits" (27% success rate) -- third chart.

Three observations:

Having the first pick in the Draft greatly increases the odds that you'll end up with a real keeper at QB... after that, the odds shrink considerably.

Moving out of picks 2 - 5 will reduce the odds of getting a "Hit" at QB, but the odds are not that much lower (33% vs 27%).

(Incidentally, there have been 5 QBs taken with the second overall pick... with 2 of them being hits.)

Overall #1 Pick in the Draft (64% "Hit" Rate)

1998 1 Indianapolis Colts Manning, Peyton Hit
2003 1 Cincinnati Bengals Palmer, Carson Hit
2004 1 San Diego Chargers Manning, Eli* Hit
2005 1 San Francisco 49ers Smith, Alex Hit
2009 1 Detroit Lions Stafford, Matthew Hit
2010 1 St. Louis Rams Bradford, Sam Hit
2011 1 Carolina Panthers Newton, Cam Hit
2012 1 Indianapolis Colts Luck, Andrew Hit
2016 1 Los Angeles Rams Goff, Jared Hit
2001 1 Atlanta Falcons Vick, Michael Hit/Miss
2015 1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Winston, Jameis Hit/Miss
1999 1 Cleveland Browns Couch, Tim Miss
2002 1 Houston Texans Carr, David Miss
2007 1 Oakland Raiders Russell, JaMarcus Miss


Taking QB with second thru fifth pick (33% "Hit" Rate)

1999 2 Philadelphia Eagles McNabb, Donovan Hit
2016 2 Philadelphia Eagles Wentz, Carson Hit
2015 2 Tennessee Titans Mariota, Marcus Hit/Miss
1998 2 San Diego Chargers Leaf, Ryan Miss
2012 2 Washington Redskins Griffin III, Robert Miss
2008 3 Atlanta Falcons Ryan, Matt Hit
2014 3 Jacksonville Jaguars Bortles, Blake Hit/Miss
1999 3 Cincinnati Bengals Smith, Akili Miss
2002 3 Detroit Lions Harrington, Joey Miss
2006 3 Tennessee Titans Young, Vince Miss
2004 4 New York Giants Rivers, Philip* Hit
2009 5 New York Jets Sanchez, Mark Hit/Miss


Taking QB in First Round, but after the fifth pick (27% "Hit" Rate)

2003 7 Jacksonville Jaguars Leftwich, Byron Hit/Miss
2012 8 Miami Dolphins Tannehill, Ryan Hit/Miss
2011 8 Tennessee Titans Locker, Jake Miss
2006 10 Arizona Cardinals Leinart, Matt Miss
2011 10 Jacksonville Jaguars Gabbert, Blaine Miss
1999 11 Minnesota Vikings Culpepper, Daunte Hit
2004 11 Pittsburgh Steelers Roethlisberger, Ben Hit
2006 11 Denver Broncos Cutler, Jay Hit
1999 12 Chicago Bears McNown, Cade Hit/Miss
2011 12 Minnesota Vikings Ponder, Christian Miss
2013 16 Buffalo Bills Manuel, EJ Miss
2009 17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Freeman, Josh Miss
2000 18 New York Jets Pennington, Chad Hit
2008 18 Baltimore Ravens Flacco, Joe Hit
2003 19 Baltimore Ravens Boller, Kyle Miss
2003 22 Chicago Bears Grossman, Rex Hit/Miss
2004 22 Buffalo Bills Losman, J.P. Miss
2007 22 Cleveland Browns Quinn, Brady Miss
2012 22 Cleveland Browns Weeden, Brandon Miss
2014 22 Cleveland Browns Manziel, Johnny Miss
2005 24 Green Bay Packers Rodgers, Aaron Hit
2005 25 Washington Redskins Campbell, Jason Hit/Miss
2010 25 Denver Broncos Tebow, Tim Miss
2016 26 Denver Broncos Lynch, Paxton Miss
2014 32 Minnesota Vikings Bridgewater, Teddy Hit
2002 32 Washington Redskins Ramsey, Patrick Miss



Thanks for the analysis.  
Mike from SI : 1/16/2018 11:35 am : link
I find it a little odd that you consider Teddy Bridgewater a hit while Mariotta is a hit/miss.
Be interersting to see how this compares with other positions.  
PatersonPlank : 1/16/2018 11:36 am : link
I am assuming that all positions would follow roughly the same percentages.
Sure there  
ryanmkeane : 1/16/2018 11:39 am : link
are a good amount of great QBs who went #1...but when you think about it, some of the very best QBs in the league (and of all time for that matter) did not go #1...Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Wilson.

It's not an exact science. I do believe taking a QB in the top 5 means you probably have a better chance to succeed with that guy...but it's not a slam dunk by any means.
It feels to me like RBs and WRs have the biggest bust rates...  
Milton : 1/16/2018 11:40 am : link
...these days, but I haven't done the homework.
Hit rate with the #2 pick  
jeff57 : 1/16/2018 11:41 am : link
60%
Think this further illustrates  
lax counsel : 1/16/2018 11:47 am : link
The point that our chances of finding "the guy" drop off substantially after pick 2. Not that the qb can't be found, but it becomes substantially. I also view Rodgers and Ben as aberrational, both were slated to be top 5 picks but fell due to circumstances that were a bit abnormal. We all know the Ben story, he was going to the Giants at 4, but for the deal to get Eli.
RE: Thanks for the analysis.  
M.S. : 1/16/2018 11:55 am : link
In comment 13792168 Mike from SI said:
Quote:
I find it a little odd that you consider Teddy Bridgewater a hit while Mariotta is a hit/miss.

Definitely subjective on my part.
RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
M.S. : 1/16/2018 11:57 am : link
In comment 13792192 jeff57 said:
Quote:
60%

2 / 5 = 40% {:-) But 40% or 60%... maybe too small a sampling. That said, if I can't select a QB at #1, I prefer #2 over any other slots!
Add to the list  
Nomad Crow on the Madison : 1/16/2018 12:00 pm : link
of successful QB's not taken with the 1st overall: Simms, Hostetler, Montana, Young, Brian Sipe, Jim Zorn, Greg Cook, Dan Fouts. There are more, I'm sure.
RE: RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
Kevin in Annapolis : 1/16/2018 12:00 pm : link
In comment 13792235 M.S. said:
Quote:
In comment 13792192 jeff57 said:


Quote:


60%


2 / 5 = 40% {:-) But 40% or 60%... maybe too small a sampling. That said, if I can't select a QB at #1, I prefer #2 over any other slots!


Mariota seems more likely to be a hit than a miss to me. Also, I think it is harsh calling RG3 a miss. More miss managed, never should have played on that knee injury. Robbed him of any potential career.
RE: RE: RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
Kevin in Annapolis : 1/16/2018 12:02 pm : link
In comment 13792242 Kevin in Annapolis said:
Quote:
In comment 13792235 M.S. said: Quote:Mariota seems more likely to be a hit than a miss to me. Also, I think it is harsh calling RG3 a miss. More miss managed, never should have played on that knee injury. Robbed him of any potential career.


That said, good work
Not so sure Vince young and rg3 can  
idiotsavant : 1/16/2018 1:06 pm : link
Be called pure miss.

Vick...

..some of those marginal type QBs could have been at least serviceable in different situations.

It may not be possible to truly apply any singular metric.
The thing that I see about the teams in the playoffs  
Jeever : 1/16/2018 1:27 pm : link
They play great defense, run the ball and tend to not turn it over. This can all be done without a franchise QB. If you lack the rest your franchise QB will not save you.

Here's a way out scenario for you all.

Giants hire Shurmur who brings Case Keenum with him.
Giants trade Eli to Denver for their 2018 1st and 2nd and 2020 1st round picks.
Giants trade 2nd pick to Jets for their 1st and 2nd in 2018.
Giants pick 5th, 6th, 34th, 37th and 40th (5 picks in the first 40).
Giants address 2 OL's, edge rusher, MLB, and RB.

Never gonna happen but it's nice to dream (or hallucinate).
Holy crap!  
idiotsavant : 1/16/2018 1:31 pm : link
Add in the rest of the draft. Field frigging day.
RE: RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
jeff57 : 1/16/2018 1:32 pm : link
In comment 13792235 M.S. said:
Quote:
In comment 13792192 jeff57 said:


Quote:


60%


2 / 5 = 40% {:-) But 40% or 60%... maybe too small a sampling. That said, if I can't select a QB at #1, I prefer #2 over any other slots!


McNabb, Wentz, Mariota.
Maybe trade your 5,6,7 for a third  
idiotsavant : 1/16/2018 1:35 pm : link
So that would be 5 in the first 40, plus 2 in the 3rd?

7 before the 4th. Plus a 4th.

Any one of which could possibly be a Rd one mention.
RE: The thing that I see about the teams in the playoffs  
M.S. : 1/16/2018 1:44 pm : link
In comment 13792532 Jeever said:
Quote:
They play great defense, run the ball and tend to not turn it over. This can all be done without a franchise QB. If you lack the rest your franchise QB will not save you.

Here's a way out scenario for you all.

Giants hire Shurmur who brings Case Keenum with him.
Giants trade Eli to Denver for their 2018 1st and 2nd and 2020 1st round picks.
Giants trade 2nd pick to Jets for their 1st and 2nd in 2018.
Giants pick 5th, 6th, 34th, 37th and 40th (5 picks in the first 40).
Giants address 2 OL's, edge rusher, MLB, and RB.

Never gonna happen but it's nice to dream (or hallucinate).

Not sure Eli could fetch much more than a late 3rd rounder... maybe less.
Great work (as always)!  
STLGiant : 1/16/2018 1:45 pm : link
Question: In your hit/miss, did you factor in if the QB was a runner out of college, or if they were deemed a miss after incurring a higher than average sack rate in the first few years (like Carr's 76 sacks due to a crappy OL)

I only ask that because Steve Young went from miss to hit to Hall of Famer after going to the 49ers... His first two seasons (19/28 games) at Tampa Bay with a horrid OL yielded a TDs-INTs-SACKs of 11-21-68.

IDK, but if you look at Sam Bradford's first 3 years as a Ram 45-34-105, one wonders if he had a decent OL (like Dak had when drafted by the Cowboys 23-4-25 in 2 years) what kind of player Sam might have become, or that Goff is enjoying 33-14-51 in 22 games.

This is why I don't like selecting a QB with the first selection. The Giants OL sucks and you need a VERY savvy NFL Vet QB and a host of very good WRs to make up for the crappy OL. I know it's chicken or the egg...but as good as Steve Young was coming out of college, he was TONs better after leaving Tampa Bay and inheriting a better OL, and he ran the ball a ton as well with the 49ers! Even Eli had a good OL...can you imagine if he didn't?
RE: RE: RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
ajr2456 : 1/16/2018 2:00 pm : link
In comment 13792242 Kevin in Annapolis said:
Quote:
In comment 13792235 M.S. said:


Quote:


In comment 13792192 jeff57 said:


Quote:


60%


2 / 5 = 40% {:-) But 40% or 60%... maybe too small a sampling. That said, if I can't select a QB at #1, I prefer #2 over any other slots!



Mariota seems more likely to be a hit than a miss to me. Also, I think it is harsh calling RG3 a miss. More miss managed, never should have played on that knee injury. Robbed him of any potential career.


Didn’t Mariota throw more picks than TDs this year?
RE: Great work (as always)!  
M.S. : 1/16/2018 4:05 pm : link
In comment 13792597 STLGiant said:
Quote:
Question: In your hit/miss, did you factor in if the QB was a runner out of college, or if they were deemed a miss after incurring a higher than average sack rate in the first few years (like Carr's 76 sacks due to a crappy OL)

I only ask that because Steve Young went from miss to hit to Hall of Famer after going to the 49ers... His first two seasons (19/28 games) at Tampa Bay with a horrid OL yielded a TDs-INTs-SACKs of 11-21-68.

IDK, but if you look at Sam Bradford's first 3 years as a Ram 45-34-105, one wonders if he had a decent OL (like Dak had when drafted by the Cowboys 23-4-25 in 2 years) what kind of player Sam might have become, or that Goff is enjoying 33-14-51 in 22 games.

This is why I don't like selecting a QB with the first selection. The Giants OL sucks and you need a VERY savvy NFL Vet QB and a host of very good WRs to make up for the crappy OL. I know it's chicken or the egg...but as good as Steve Young was coming out of college, he was TONs better after leaving Tampa Bay and inheriting a better OL, and he ran the ball a ton as well with the 49ers! Even Eli had a good OL...can you imagine if he didn't?

Ahhh... you raise some interesting points/questions, especially regarding what sort of offensive line does a brand spanking new QB come into. Also, I didn't factor in running QBs... and I must admit that while there were clear cut "Hits" and clear cut "Misses", I was definitely on shaky ground with some of the in-betweens and didn't really apply any quantitative analyses to decide who fell into the middle category of "Hit/Miss."
RE: RE: RE: RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
jeff57 : 1/16/2018 4:18 pm : link
In comment 13792655 ajr2456 said:
Quote:
In comment 13792242 Kevin in Annapolis said:


Quote:


In comment 13792235 M.S. said:


Quote:


In comment 13792192 jeff57 said:


Quote:


60%


2 / 5 = 40% {:-) But 40% or 60%... maybe too small a sampling. That said, if I can't select a QB at #1, I prefer #2 over any other slots!



Mariota seems more likely to be a hit than a miss to me. Also, I think it is harsh calling RG3 a miss. More miss managed, never should have played on that knee injury. Robbed him of any potential career.



Didn’t Mariota throw more picks than TDs this year?


He was banged up and operating under Mike Malarkey’s conservative offense.
RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Hit rate with the #2 pick  
ajr2456 : 1/16/2018 4:30 pm : link
In comment 13792969 jeff57 said:
Quote:



Didn’t Mariota throw more picks than TDs this year?



He was banged up and operating under Mike Malarkey’s conservative offense.


Wouldn't the conservative offense mean less picks? Not saying he's bad but between the injuries and the turnovers I wouldn't say he's a hit yet.
Now for the analysis  
Archer : 1/16/2018 5:00 pm : link
For the analysis to have value you would need to understand the probibility of a hit or miss in the rest of the first round and then in other rounds

The miss rate on the selection of QBs , beyond the first three picks , goes up dramatically

I have read that the hit rate for the first 2 picks is as high as 50% depending upon the criteria used and the hit rate drops to less than 1% after the third round

The statistics for the success rate also goes up with the first three picks when there are multiple QBs selected in the first round

Therefore if you want a franchise QB there is no guarantee at any point in the draft , however, you have far better odds if you are selecting in the first two picks
Alex smith  
Mr. Nickels : 1/16/2018 8:26 pm : link
and Bradford were misses
RE: Add to the list  
Gatorade Dunk : 1/16/2018 8:50 pm : link
In comment 13792241 Nomad Crow on the Madison said:
Quote:
of successful QB's not taken with the 1st overall: Simms, Hostetler, Montana, Young, Brian Sipe, Jim Zorn, Greg Cook, Dan Fouts. There are more, I'm sure.

Part of that is a function of there being a lot more picks than #1 overall, but there's only one #1 overall pick each year. Run #1 overall against each specific pick if you want to really see the analysis. Otherwise, the argument is basically, "would you rather have the first pick, or the next 255 in the aggregate?"
RE: The thing that I see about the teams in the playoffs  
Gatorade Dunk : 1/16/2018 8:52 pm : link
In comment 13792532 Jeever said:
Quote:
They play great defense, run the ball and tend to not turn it over. This can all be done without a franchise QB. If you lack the rest your franchise QB will not save you.

Here's a way out scenario for you all.

Giants hire Shurmur who brings Case Keenum with him.
Giants trade Eli to Denver for their 2018 1st and 2nd and 2020 1st round picks.
Giants trade 2nd pick to Jets for their 1st and 2nd in 2018.
Giants pick 5th, 6th, 34th, 37th and 40th (5 picks in the first 40).
Giants address 2 OL's, edge rusher, MLB, and RB.

Never gonna happen but it's nice to dream (or hallucinate).

Two firsts and a second for a 37 year old Eli with four consecutive years of declining advanced metrics? Heavy on the hallucinate.
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