Fantasy Index

Trivia

Trivia for April 3, 2019

Question

The Broncos selected Paxton Lynch with a first-round pick, and he started only four games for them. Lynch was out of the league last year and is currently trying to win a roster spot with Seattle. Among quarterbacks chosen in the first round in the Super Bowl eara, who are the only two who finished their careers with even fewer career starts? Both of these players are connected to the Bay Area.

Answer

Green Bay selected Rich Campbell (from Cal) with the 6th pick in 1981. He completed 31 of 68 passes in four years with them, with 3 TDs and 9 interceptions, but never started a game. San Francisco chose Jim Druckenmiller (Virginia Tech) with the 26th pick in 1997; he spent two years in the league, with one start. Six other first-rounders who started fewer than 10 games: Todd Marinovich (8), Johnny Manziel (8), Art Schlichter (6), Dan McGwire (5) and Steve Pisarkiewicz (4). In addition to Lynch, the Broncos also used a first-round pick on Tommy Maddox; he also started only four games for them (but went on to start 32 games with other teams).

5 Reader Comments:

Nick Roth

Depoe Bay, OR
2019-04-04T03:50:16Z
At least those teams cut their losses early on, how about the train-wrecks of Ryan Leaf and Jamarcuss Russell, it begs a better question. Who are the most underachieving quarterbacks of all time?

Ian Allan

Seattle, WA
2019-04-04T05:56:32Z
For most underachieving, Leaf and Russell would both have to be very high on the list. They both had the talent to be very good NFL quarterbacks. They just didn't put the work in. But they were both also gone very quickly. Seems like there could be a separate category for longer-term disappointments -- guys who were good enough to stay in the lineup or on the roster for years (perhaps getting additional contracts) but who never got over the hump and turned into good quarterbacks. Let me mull it over. If we're looking for the longest run of futility, I suppose we could start by examining Archie Manning. He piled up a lot of losses with the Saints. But he never had much around him. It would be interesting to swap out elder Manning and Terry Bradshaw and see how those careers played out. I am confident Bradshaw never would have amounted to much if playing on bad teams in New Orleans. But I can't say with full confidence that Manning would have been able to direct the Steelers to a bunch of Super Bowls.

Vin Kmetz

2019-04-04T12:45:13Z
The NYG stuck with Dave Brown for the better part of 4 seasons

Ian Allan

Seattle, WA
2019-04-04T15:21:11Z
I have been thinking about Dave Brown. The have been some reports suggesting the Giants like Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. Brown was the last quarterback from that school chosen with a first-round pick.

Robert Garcia

2019-04-04T17:45:41Z
What about guys like Kerry Collins and Drew Bledsoe who had good careers, but were supposed to have great ones? Matthew Stafford will probably be remembered within this group in a few years.

When it comes down to it, Ryan Leaf will probably always be the most disappointing. JaMarcus was terrible, but anyone who watched him in college knew that he was never going to live up to his draft spot. Leaf was a slam dunk. It was a legit debate between him and Peyton. Ultimately, he will always be juxtaposed with Peyton, so that is why I think Leaf will always hold that belt.
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