Eli is Really Just Middle of the Pack

If you are a resident anywhere near New York City then you are accustomed to hearing the Eli Manning is a bum talk. After this weeks single handed loss to the Vikings, if you listened to the talk radio stations you just might think it was the end of the world. Hell you would certainly think he was one of the worst #1 draft picks in the history of the NFL. But when you actually take a solid look at the history of Quarterbacks drafted with the top overall pick, Eli once again slides right into the upper middle of the pack.

Here is my rankings or groupings of the NFL quarterbacks taken with the overall top selection. The majority of what is taken to account is their efforts with the team that drafted them and only slightly more on the entirety of their career.

MEGA BUSTS

1954: Bobby Garrett, Cleveland - Never played a down for the Browns as quoting from Wikipedia "The Browns had needed someone to take over for the veteran Otto Graham, but they soon discovered that Garrett had a liability as a quarterback: he stuttered, which made calling plays difficult." He lasted one season with the Packers.

1959: Randy Duncan, Green Bay - Decided against playing for the Packers and went instead to the CFL in British Columbia before moving to the Dallas Texans of the AFL after two season.

1944: Angelo Bertelli, Boston Yanks - Left for the Marines and wound up playing in the AAFC and not the NFL.

1956: Gary Glick, Pittsburgh - Glick was immediately converted to a Dback where he lasted for 4 seasons with the Steelers.

PLAIN OLD BUSTS

1958: King Hill, Chicago Cardinals - Was the starting quarterback for the Cardinals for only one of the three seasons he played with the team before being traded to the Eagles.

1955: George Shaw, Baltimore - Broke his leg his rookie season and was replaced by fellow rookie Johnny Unitas. Shaw was then traded to the Giants where he sporadically played.

1946: Frank Dancewicz, Boston Yanks - Only Lasted 3 seasons in the NFL. Finished his career with 12 tds and 29 ints.

1999: Tim Couch, Cleveland - Spent 5 poor seasons with the Browns until he finally lost his job to Kelly Holcomb and has since not stuck on a roster for an entire season.

2002: David Carr, Houston - Spent 5 seasons as the Texans QB never leading them to a .500 or better record. Some of which was blamed on the poor offensive line but subsequent play with the Panthers this season leads most to believe he just sucks.

SUCKED WITH THE DRAFT TEAM

1987: Vinny Testaverde, Tampa Bay - In 6 years with the Bucs Testaverde never threw more touchdowns than interceptions, during which the Bucs never one more than six games. Is still kicking as the oldest QB in pro football, but his only smell of the Superbowl was denied when his Jets lost to the Elway led Broncos.

1990: Jeff George, Indianapolis - After receiving the richest rookie contract of his time George had 4 mediocre years in Indianapolis with one winning season amongst them. George then wore out his welcome, as he typically does, and was traded to the Falcons. George continues to want to play in the NFL however due to the fact that everyone generally considers him a cocky douche and old, no one signs him.

WON TITLES ELSEWHERE

1971: Jim Plunkett, Boston - Plunkett came into the NFL with a bang having his best season for the Pats his rookie year. His numbers then faltered until he was traded to the 49ers in 1975. Plunkett eventually took over the starting job at Oakland and proceeded to win two Superbowls with the team.

1952: Billy Wade, LA Rams - Made two pro bowls during his career but finished with 124 tds to 134 ints. Never had a season with the Rams where he threw 2 or more tds than ints. His best season was a 12 td 11 int effort in a 4-7-1 season. To rub salt in the wound he won a NFL Championship for the Chicago Bears in 1963 after being traded to them following his 7 mediocre seasons with the Rams.

TO BE DETERMINED

2005: Alex Smith, San Francisco - Only his third year in the league but the 49ers are again one of the worst teams in the league and have not come close to the playoffs during his 3 years. I'll give him a slight benefit of the doubt and leave him in the TBD list. But he's speeding towards bust status right now.

2007: JaMarcus Russel, Oakland - Russel has yet to take a snap in the NFL. So who really knows.

MAKING THE PLAYOFFS ONE UNIMPRESSIVE PASS AT A TIME

2001: Michael Vick, Atlanta - Was initially thought of as the evolution of the Quarterback position and was good enough to make several Pro Bowls and win a lot of games. Vick never reached a Superbowl and has subsequently embarrassed the entire city of Atlanta and left the Falcons in shambles. Because of this he should go down as a worse pick than Manning. Atleast the Joey Harrington days for the Giants are no where in site.

2004: Eli Manning, San Diego traded to New York - After 3 1/2 seasons as a starting quarterback Manning has established himself as a middle of the pack QB and barring a major collapse this season will have led the Giants to back to back to back playoff appearances. In his 3 1/2 seasons Manning has thrown 70 touchdowns to 59 interceptions at a moderately inaccurate 55% completion clip.

PRO BOWLERS BUT NOT BIG GAME WINNERS

1975: Steve Bartkowski, Atlanta - Bartkowski played all but one year of his 12 year career with the Falcons, spent most time as the starter and even made the Pro Bowl twice. However, the Falcons never sniffed the Superbowl.

2003: Carson Palmer, Cincinnati - Would generally be taken by fans around the country over Eli and has put up better offensive numbers. However, in Palmers career with one additional season under his belt he has one less playoff appearance going on two less.

1993: Drew Bledsoe, New England - Had decent success for the Patriots during his tenure and led them to one Superbowl loss, however the best thing he ended up doing for the franchise was getting injured and handing the helm over to the Golden Boy.

IMMORTALS

1983: John Elway, Baltimore traded to Denver - Won two superbowls and was inducted into the Hall of Fame and is considered one of the best Quarterbacks of all time. And most similarly to Manning refused to play for the team with the #1 pick.

1998: Peyton Manning, Indianapolis - Eli's true curse is his older brother. He is the constant unfair comparison, is a shoe-in for the Hall when he retires and got over his playoff jitters last year.

1989: Troy Aikman, Dallas - Part of the Jimmy Johnson masterminded triplets. Helped lead the Cowboys to three Superbowls.

1970: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh - Won 4 Superbowl titles for the Steelers, played his entire career for the organization and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

QUICK CONCLUSION

When you take a look at where Eli sits amongst the overall #1s Giants fans should be relatively happy. Since Eli's brother was drafted at #1 the majority of his peers have been draft busts. After about 3 1/2 seasons Eli's numbers are good but not great, his record is good but not great and he should in no way be considered a bust. Sorry you New Yorkers didn't end up with an Immortal but quit your bitching.