Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

74_75_78_79_ wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:

I wonder if it was that very Fiesta Bowl, coupled with the previous year’s schlacking at the hands of Tennessee, that hurt his confidence as a pro. As great a coach Jimmy was, I think he overused him.

Those two bowl games should have been bigger red flags to NFL scouts. However, it was stupid TB and Hugh Culvercheap that had the #1 pick that year, so it's no surprise that Vinny went first.

Funny, but being in the ‘Leaf will do better than Peyton’ camp going into the ’98 Draft, my ‘logic’ was Peyton’s inability to beat Florida as well as getting decimated by Nebraska as Leaf and his underdog WSU team played well vs the other co-champ, Michigan. Very, very wrong was I although it did take #18 a bit to win a playoff game along with losing some other big games even after getting over the hump against NE (his pro version of Florida, at first) and winning his first SB.

I do remember concerns about Leaf's maturity at WSU, but that was in a different era, and just didn't receive the attention it should have. Back then, incidents of immaturity were easier to fly underneath the radar, so to speak. ESPN ran a feature on Leaf the other day, and he really thought success in the NFL would be easy, and that 1-14 game against KC destroyed his confidence as a player.

7DnBrnc53 wrote:
Those two bowl games should have been bigger red flags to NFL scouts. However, it was stupid TB and Hugh Culvercheap that had the #1 pick that year, so it's no surprise that Vinny went first.

So the team that had been seeking a quarterback since letting Doug Williams go after the 1982 season had the first pick and took the Heisman-Trophy winning quarterback and that was "stupid?" Okay, Captain Hindsight.

Chris Miller (picked 13th) ended up with the best QB career out of that draft (though Jim Harbaugh had a pretty good career, too)...and raise your hand if you expected that in early 1987.

And Culverhouse was cheap, but the six-year, $8.2 million contract he signed Testaverde to April 1987 was the richest for a rookie in NFL history at that time.

It didn't work out, obviously. They should have kept Steve Young, obviously. But that draft's only first-round QBs were Testaverde, Kelly Stouffer, Miller and Harbaugh.

Testaverde was going to be the first QB taken. If the Colts (whose incumbents were Jack Trudeau and Gary Hogeboom) or Packers (Randy Wright) didn't take him, the Cardinals surely would have at six.

Testaverde had the longest mediocre career in NFL history. But if you knew that in 1987 based on two bowl games, again, raise your hand.

Throwin_Samoan wrote:

7DnBrnc53 wrote:
Those two bowl games should have been bigger red flags to NFL scouts. However, it was stupid TB and Hugh Culvercheap that had the #1 pick that year, so it's no surprise that Vinny went first.

So the team that had been seeking a quarterback since letting Doug Williams go after the 1982 season had the first pick and took the Heisman-Trophy winning quarterback and that was "stupid?" Okay, Captain Hindsight.

Chris Miller (picked 13th) ended up with the best QB career out of that draft (though Jim Harbaugh had a pretty good career, too)...and raise your hand if you expected that in early 1987.

And Culverhouse was cheap, but the six-year, $8.2 million contract he signed Testaverde to April 1987 was the richest for a rookie in NFL history at that time.

It didn't work out, obviously. They should have kept Steve Young, obviously. But that draft's only first-round QBs were Testaverde, Kelly Stouffer, Miller and Harbaugh.

Testaverde was going to be the first QB taken. If the Colts (whose incumbents were Jack Trudeau and Gary Hogeboom) or Packers (Randy Wright) didn't take him, the Cardinals surely would have at six.

Testaverde had the longest mediocre career in NFL history. But if you knew that in 1987 based on two bowl games, again, raise your hand.

They had quarterbacks. They had Young and DeBerg. Testaverde was a stupid pick because the Bucs needed a lot of talent, and putting all the pressure on a young QB isn't a sound way to go. They should have held on to one of those two and put talent around them.

My vote goes to 1989.

Played a tough schedule, lost plenty of close games. Mark Carrier was a Pro Bowler.

Started 3-2. I think if they don’t lose that Detroit game in week 6, they might have snapped the double digit loss season streak a few years early.