A little background first. With the merger on the field on the horizon and the first Super Bowl in the books, the National Football League and American Football League finally combined to select the same players after conducting their own drafts from 1960-66. So in 1967, the Baltimore Colts chose Michigan State defensive tackle first overall. Hence the start of the NFL’s Common Draft.
Dating back to 1967, there have been 54 first overall selections made and nearly half have been quarterbacks. All told, there have been 25 signal-callers, followed by 14 defensive linemen, seven running backs, four offensive linemen (all tackles), two linebackers and a pair of wide receivers. After Bubba Smith, there was tackle Ron Yary (Vikings) in 1968 and running back O.J. Simpson (Bills) in 1969.
The first quarterback taken first overall in the common draft era was Terry Bradshaw by the Steelers in 1970. Then the Patriots took Jim Plunkett in 1971, the Falcons opting for Steve Bartkowski in 1975, the Baltimore Colts taking John Elway in 1983, Tampa Bay grabbing Vinny Testaverde in 1987, Dallas selecting Troy Aikman in 1989, the Indianapolis Colts going for strong-armed Jeff George in 1990 and the Patriots tabbing Drew Bledsoe in 1993. All told, that’s eight quarterbacks in a 24-year span.
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The next four years the draft went in a different direction. The Bengals opted for Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson in 1994, Cincinnati went back-to-back with Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter, the New York Jets made the damn pick in 1996 and for only the second time in the common draft took a wide receiver in USC’s Keyshawn Johnson and the Rams took Ohio State tackle and future Hall of Famer Orlando Pace.
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The next quarterback to go first overall was Peyton Manning by the Colts in 1998. It was the start of a stretch that has seen a player at this position taken number one 17 times in the last 23 years. And if Trevor Lawrence is indeed the top pick on April 29, make it 18 quarterbacks in the last 24 drafts.
Just an interesting history lesson as professional football continues to evolve. Obviously, the last three first overall picks have been quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield (Browns), Kyler Murray (Cardinals) and Joe Burrow (Bengals). A fourth straight appears to be in the cards – not that any news is being broken here.