The First Round QB
 

OK, everyone knows it is beyond ridiculous that the Chiefs haven't drafted a QB in round 1 since Todd Blackledge in 1983. As much as I love Derrick Johnson, I can't look at him without thinking of Aaron Rodgers. That got me thinking, how many first round QB's have the other teams taken in that time span? Has every other team taken multiple first round QBs since 1983? Well, here is the breakdown:

Patriots: Drew Bledsoe (93)
Bills: JP Losman (04), EJ Manuel (13)
Jets: Chad Pennington (00), Mark Sanchez (09)
Dolphins: Ryan Tannehill (12)

Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger (04)
Bengals: David Klingler (92), Akili Smith (99), Carson Palmer (03)
Old Browns/Ravens: Kyle Boller (03), Joe Flacco (08)
New Browns: Tim Couch (99), Brady Quinn (07), Branden Weeden (12), Johnny Manziel (14)

Texans: David Carr (02)
Oilers/Titans: Jim Everett (86), Steve McNair (94), Vince Young (06), Jake Locker (11), Marcus Mariota (15)
Jaguars: Byron Leftwich (03), Blaine Gabbert (11), Blake Bortles (14)
Colts: Jeff George (90), Peyton Manning (98), Andrew Luck (12)

Broncos: Tommy Maddox (92), Jay Cutler (06), Tim Tebow (10), Paxton Lynch (16)
Raiders: Todd Marinovich (91), Jamarcus Russell (07)
Chargers: Ryan Leaf (98), Philip Rivers (04)

Cowboys: Troy Aikman (89)
Eagles: Donovan McNabb (99), Carson Wentz (16)
Giants: Eli Manning (04)
Redskins: Heath Shuler (94), Patrick Ramsey (02), Jason Campbell (05), Robert Griffin III (12)

Packers: Aaron Rodgers (05)
Bears: Jim Harbaugh (87), Cade McNown (99), Rex Grossman (03)
Vikings: Daunte Culpepper (99), Christian Ponder (11), Teddy Bridgewater (14)
Lions: Chuck Long (86), Andre Ware (90), Joey Harrington (02), Matt Stafford (09)

Panthers: Kerry Collins (94), Cam Newton (11)
Bucs: Vinny Testaverde (87), Trent Dilfer (94), Josh Freeman (09), Jameis Winston (15)
Saints: None
Falcons: Chris Miller (87), Michael Vick (01), Matt Ryan (08)

49ers: Jim Druckenmiller (97), Alex Smith (05)
Seahawks: Dan McGwire (91), Rick Mirer (93)
Rams: Sam Bradford (10), Jared Goff (16)
Cardinals: Kelly Stouffer (87), Matt Leinart (06)

Notes:
The Saints are the only other team to not draft a first round QB in that time (although they have had a franchise QB for a decade plus so they haven't really needed one)

The teams that have only drafted one QB in that time frame have all had a franchise QB for an extended period (except the Texans and they are a new team)

Embarassing

KC locals, feel free to print thousands of copies of this post and scatter them throughout the Chiefs front office parking lot and buildings

Jim Everett played for the Rams, not the Oilers/Titans...

He was drafted by Houston

Of that long list only seven first round QBs have won a SB. While several have set franchises back for years.

So where do you suggest we get a QB? Should we keep doing what we've been doing? That sure seems to be working...

Carl?

Notice some of the worst teams have drafted the most?

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk

No, I believe his point is that drafting a GOOD QB is more important than drafting a 1st round QB just to look cool.

I'm all for drafting the best QB we can possibly get our hands on. If that means trading up, trade down or whatever it takes. I'm more concerned about the Chiefs seeming lack of desire to search for a stud QB instead of settling for an ok quarterback.

The round is making less and less difference in the NFL all the time.

[QUOTE=splatbass;12695828]Notice some of the worst teams have drafted the most?

Sent from my K88 using Tapatalk[/QUOT

Because they picked bad ones?

if we pick one and he's a bust, so be it. People are fine with DL busts like Tyson Jackson or Ryan Sims. That didn't stop us from drafting DL.

Did not know that but that said Eli Manning was drafted by the Chargers and Rivers by the NYG...

Most SB winning QB's were drafted by their team!

Maybe because Eli and Rivers were traded for each other at the draft? Not sure. Oh well, swap Eli and Rivers. Doesn't change much

The saints way


First round qb way too risky

Omaha Omaha

Eli was a spoiled brat crybaby and Rivers manned up.

It'd be interesting to see it taken through 3 rounds. I think the focus is a little too intent on the first round. If you're taking a guy in the second you're still looking for him to start at some point. Third round is more borderline, but you're probably still not thinking 'career backup at best' at that range. Forth and later, I'd say you're not really spending much at that point in either picks or money, so I don't consider it enough effort that it's actively trying.

And that's the issue here: for nearly 35 years we haven't been trying. At all. One retread after another, with the occasional low draft pick thrown at somebody who isn't likely to ever do anything.

I just want to try something else. For all the talk about how mising on high picks have hurt teams and how, occasionally, somebody Dilfer's their way to a title, the fact is that we've tried the 'safe' route through three different GM's and a handful of head coaches and netted exactly zero conference championships, much less Superbowls.

It. Hasn't. Worked.

So, seriously, what do we lose by trying something else for a bit? Is the franchise going to be set back in some way? Set back how, exactly? The'll miss out on the dynasty they haven't had anyway?

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...

Just silly.

It's not even risky to draft a QB in the 1st round anymore. Why do idiots keep saying this crap? It used to be risky when teams had to pay 50 million dollars to a 1st round QB.

Now drafting a QB in the 1st round isn't much different than any other position.

We will draft a QB in the 1st round as soon as Andy Reid considers the QB position to be a high enough need for the team to warrant a 1st round pick.

Right now I see no indication that Reid isn't happy with Alex Smith.

That's has nothing to do with risk.

And the results were excellent for San Diego.

They no longer have a team, have repeatedly landed in 4th place and will play in a soccer stadium that seats 30,000 for two years, at least.

Eli won.

On the other hand, there is a counterargument here that many of the teams that have taken tons of first round QB's and haven't amounted to jack shit.

The Saints way ? Hell, that's the Chiefs way. The Saints just got lucky when the opportunity to sign D.B. came along.

What's the risk ? Ending up with a QB that doesn't take you through the playoffs to the Super Bowl ?
Passing up on other 1st round talent that could help the team ? Help the team what ? Be almost good enough to make it through the playoffs to the Super Bowl ?

Reminds me of the old saying " I would rather try and fail than never have tried at all".

You can say that about almost any position regarding first round picks, with the exception of punters and kickers.

For example; why draft a LT in the first round since Trezell Jenkins was a bust, have to wait for the next Orlando Pace to come around before you draft one in the first round.

Given the current rookie salary cap that is less of argument then it was just a few years back.

3 of the 4 teams that are playing this weekend have quarterbacks that were drafted in the first round.

And all 4 are starting QBs that they drafted themselves. Must be some sort of fluke, like all 1 seeds making it to the Final Four, it's so rare.

That can't be right. It's too risky for teams to draft a QB in the 1st round. I read that on Chiefs Planet several times so it must be true.

I'm counting 72 quarterbacks taken by 31 teams (more or less), which amounts to 2.3 quarterbacks taken on average. So we're missing essentially two quarterbacks who should've been on our roster.

Of those 72, if I work backwards through time and pick the 24th and 48th as our two (assuming that we drafted at even time intervals throughout that period, those two quarterbacks would be Joe Flacco and Akili Smith. The Akili era would've been challenging, but I wouldn't mind having Joe Flacco, I guess.

We need to start asking the question. "Where is our Flacco?"

Who was fine with them?

The Chiefs have decided signing a Flacid is a better way to go than drafting a Flacco.

Here you go...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cVikZ8Oe_XA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Oh, you said Flacco, not Falco...my mistake.

One of the teams that was eliminated last weekend has a QB that was drafted 1.1.

And said team has never, in its history, ever drafted and developed their own starting QB. And said team has a consistent history of being one and done in the playoffs.

Correlation & Causation?

Three teams playing this weekend have drafted first-round quarterbacks since 2004. However, 21 of the teams that have been eliminated have drafted first-round quarterbacks since 2004. Obviously from these figures, drafting a first-round quarterback hurts your chances.

The Chiefs have four playoff wins since 1970.

Since 1970, there have been 19 quarterbacks taken in the first round with either more playoff wins than the Chiefs, or a Super Bowl.

Those 19 quarterbacks have accounted for 25 of the last 46 Super Bowl wins.

Please, Chiefs. Please.

It isn't about drafting a 1st Round QB, it is about drafting the RIGHT QB for your team. Whatever round that is in. You shouldn't draft a QB just because it is the 1st round. Let's not forget in 2014 Johnny Manziel was drafted in the 1st and Derek Carr was drafted in the 2nd. This fixation on the 1st round is ridiculous.

well, we havent won shit in that time so we have been set back what is it now 24 years? I mean, what's worse then that?

/my life]

Thread after thread after thread of anti-Alex Smith crybabies?

We have teams that are bad at quarterback. We have teams that are good at quarterback. Two conclusions are abundantly obvious:

1) The Chiefs are really bad at quarterback.
2) Don't be bad at quarterback.

I'm talking to you, Clarke.

Chiefs suck.

What an incompetent franchise. I don't think they understand the positive correlational relationship between a great quarterback and a championship.

3 of the 4 that are alive have quarterbacks that were drafted by their team in the first round.

Hard to argue against this.
KC needs some ballers & game changers at the receiver position. Along with a Q/B with a big arm.

I wonder what this list would look like if it included QBs taken in the first 2 rounds.

Then again, maybe it's best we don't look and see. Grown men logged on to a website about football should not be weeping.

OK I LOL'd

We've drafted one second round qb in that time frame

You know what else sets franchises back years? Elvis Grbac and Matt Cassel

Chiefs playoff wins since Carl and Marty took over: 4

QBs drafted in the first two rounds with more playoff wins since then: 12

Total playoff wins by those QBs: 90

Total SB wins: 14 of the last 28

So...what odds do you want to play going forward?

Exactly, why go out of your way to make things harder on yourself

:clap::clap::clap:

If I get time I will add second rounders to the OP. Names you will see include Brett Favre, Drew Breese, Derek Carr, and Pat Barnes

Mike Elkins, Matt Blundin.

I got blundin and Barnes confused

barnes was a fourth rounder, IIRC, who was tony gonzalez' college QB.

The unfortunate reality is that you need to get lucky to get a great QB, and nowadays the NFL -- due to various rules changes -- have made it VERY hard to be in contention for winning the SB if you DON'T have a great QB.

Lucky in that either someone NOBODY thinks is going to be all that slides to you (Brady, Rodgers, Wilson), or in that you are the worst team in the NFL **AND** an elite QB is available at the top of the draft that year (Peyton, Luck (?) etc.).

The NFL has made it harder to win with defense, and harder to win with special teams, which narrows the focus to winning via offense, which invariably means through the QB. The 1980s NFC East dominated but not through exceptional QB play. Simms and those nobodies that Gibbs won with after Thiesman weren't anyone's idea of Montana or Marino.

There has also been a decline in the quality of coaching, IMHO. Bedard wrote a long piece on this for MMQB a while back. In the 80s you had guys like Walsh, Gibbs, Shula, Parcells, Bud Grant, Landry and others butting heads. Now there isn't a single person on the planet that doesn't think Belichick is far and away #1. How many other HOF coaches are roaming hte sidelines right now? Pete Carroll maybe. Who else? Sean Payton's star has dimmed. Does anyone think Mike McCarthy is really that awesome? I think highly of John Harbaugh and Bruce Arians, but are they Hall-bound? Bottom line, it's ALOT thinner than the 80s.

So once again, the difference-maker is at the QB position. Just unfortunate, I think, that the importance of the quarterback position has now come to dominate everything in the NFL.

Though I agree on the coaches thing, I've heard some suggestions that a lot of the issue these days is that recent CBAs have severely limited how much time teams can demand of players in practice, so it's much harder to coach guys up.

I could also buy that the game has simply matured to the point that most reasonable ideas have all been tried, so it's hard to be innovative and catch the league off guard anymore.

Blundin was the one who never did anything at all for us.

Or was that Barnes?

Correct on both counts.

I think alot of it is the power shifting to the players due to increased salary. Very few teams have what the Patriots have -- players that fear their head coach. Usually, if it's between the players and the coach, the coach is the one that will get bounced. Too many high priced contracts, etc. This is a bigger problem in baseball and basketball, due to the guaranteed contracts, but most coaches aren't immune to it even in football.

But in New England, all the players know (1) he ain't leaving until he retires, and (2) if you don't perform, you get your ass shipped to Cleveland. Literally. They also believe and buy into the system due to the SBs he won.

The other thing Belichick does, better than anyone else, is play players based purely on merit. If the undrafted FA is outplaying the 1st round pick, then the undrafted FA gets the playing time. He is immune to media or fans screaming that he wasted a draft pick or whatever. Most GMs/coaches either can't afford the criticism or don't like to hear it, so they give in and play/keep the guy they drafted.

Belichick is very lucky in many ways. Kraft is a hands-off owner, and he bought himself so much goodwill by winning a few SBs early that he became immune to criticism. Without those SBs, he could act exactly the same but might've been bounced.

I agree with your second point and would contend that he answered the issue of why there aren't more HoF coaches now by his first point, which is that QBs are everything. Free agency and other factors limit how long you could ever hold a unit together outside of the qb position that is so good that you could run off multiple Super Bowls. Without a good QB there will certainly be down years, and you will almost certainly be fired.

I think we're the only team in NFL history to draft two Stanford QB's (Steve Stenstrom, Round 4, Kevin Hogan, Round 5) and never see them on the sideline for the franchise...

Raiders: Todd Marinovich (91), Jamarcus Russell (07)

Damn those are two monumental busts!

i put the qb's the chiefs could have drafted in my sig. from the chiefs first pick of each draft that were available afterwards. even left out the likes of randall cunningham, jim harbaugh, andy dalton, etc... all these qb's played in a super bowl since blackledge.

Looking at your list I have to point out that while we didn't draft him Gannon was actually on our team and probably would have won the playoff game if Marty hadnt started Grbac. He should be on the list of other teams cast offs instead of at least in addition.

The Chiefs don't need a GREAT QB.

They just need a good one. Hell, even an AVERAGE one would probably send this fan base into a tizzy.

Our passing yards per game rank the last 10 years:

19th
30th
29th
24th
32nd
25th
30th
25th
20th
20th


YPC

25th
19th
27th
31st
29th
27th
17th (Thanks Bowe)
26th
23rd
27th

Passing TDs

24th
27th
28th
17th
32nd
30th
10th (thanks Bowe)
22nd
10th (thanks Tony)
24th


That's pathetically inept over the long haul.

When you can't even hit LEAGUE AVERAGE passing marks in the last 10 years (save two seasons for passing TDs), you don't need a GREAT quarterback.

You just need an AVERAGE ONE.

Just think if we would have had the 49ers 05 pick. Oh wait.

Stop blaming Alex he had guys dropped 3 TD passes. That not his fault. You're hoping for luck and we might end up with leaf. Stop blaming him. If we did draft a 1st rounder and he failed would you admit your mistake.

yeah, im aware, but he was still available in the draft. :D

i have no problem drafting a qb in the sixth round, its just time the kc scouts see things others have. i know there is a lot of luck involved too, not saying that. just as i listed the qb's the chiefs could have drafted there are hundreds more they didn't and shouldn't have :D

I was joking around

With rookie deal caps drafting the most important and expensive positions like QB is more beneficial than ever.

Alex Smith is an above average QB. He is a good QB. He is not a great QB, but as you said all we need is a good one. The truth is that if Kelse catches that long pass we win. If Houston isn't covering Brown on the long completion we win. If Reid calls more runs we probably win. If Fisher doesn't hold we might have won. And true, if Smith sees Hill running free we win. But Smith played well enough to win. There are a lot of reasons besides Alex Smith that we lost.

Blaming the QB when so many on the team failed is simplistic.

alex is risk averse and doesn't keep his eyes on the field while scrambling. he scrambles to avoid the sack, not extend the play. :D

If the Chiefs had just drafted the next QB taken with their first 1st round pick every year for the last 15 years they would have had:

Drew Brees (traded pick for Green instad)
Matt Schaub (Junior Siavii)
Aaron Rodgers (Derrick Johnson)
Joe Flacco (Glenn Dorsey)
Andy Dalton (Jon Baldwin)
Teddy Bridgewater (Dee Ford)

If you don't have a QB...just take one..just do it...do it...you won't regret it.

There is truth in this. I do think he looks down field when he runs, but I think his first focus is on not getting hit so he misses a lot of open receivers.

Moronic.

I believe Derek Carr would have also been an option instead of Dee Ford.

Every year he has been here - EVERY SINGLE YEAR - the offense has been BELOW AVERAGE in total yards, passing yards, yards per completion, third down conversation percentage, passing first downs and touchdown passes.

This season, you can add red zone TD percentage and offensive points per game to that list.

He is a below average QB. The only thing that makes people think he isn't is the lack of turnovers.

That just makes him a scared QB. Not a good one, and not above average.

He's a below average QB who is getting worse.

That's not good for this franchise. He is a ticking time bomb.

Hind sight is 20/20. All 32 teams decided he wasn't worth a 1st round pick, so it is hard to blame the Chiefs for passing him up in the 1st.

So? There are lots of reasons for those stats, they don't show the whole picture. I am certain that most NFL FOs consider him better than average. Only simpletons like you (draft ANY QB in the 1st regardless of whether they are good or not? WTF?) see it otherwise, so I'm pretty confident in my viewpoint.