RANKING THE TOP 5 QB CLASSES IN NFL DRAFT HISTORY

The 1983 NFL Draft is known for its star-studded quarterback class, and it started right at the top. After John Elway was taken with the No. 1 overall pick, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino also heard their names called in the first round.

Simply put, it was a quarterback draft like no other, one that saw six quarterbacks selected within the first 27 picks. The three mentioned above all became NFL superstars and eventual Hall of Famers, and the others had solid careers as well.

The '83 draft is far and away the best when it comes to producing quality signal-callers. But it's not as if it was the only one to produce a strong QB class.

With that in mind, we took a long look at NFL draft history to determine the top five quarterback classes of all time.

1983

Quarterbacks dominated the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft

It all began when the Baltimore Colts went against Elway's wishes.

An outstanding football and baseball player at Stanford, Elway warned the Colts that he didn't want to play for them and threatened to go the baseball route if Baltimore selected him with the first pick in the 1983 NFL Draft.

But Baltimore wasn't fazed, at least not initially. The Colts selected Elway anyway but eventually acquiesced and traded him to the Denver Broncos, where he rose to NFL stardom. Elway won a pair of Super Bowls in Denver and made five overall appearances in the Big Game. He was named NFL MVP in 1987 and made the Pro Bowl nine times.

After Elway was taken, the Kansas City Chiefs took Todd Blackledge at No. 7 for the second QB selection. While not nearly as big a name as Elway, Blackledge had a solid NFL career, playing five years with the Chiefs and two more with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At No. 14, the Buffalo Bills took Jim Kelly, who began his pro career in the USFL before joining the Bills in 1986. Kelly took Buffalo to four straight Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993, made five Pro Bowls, and earned a pair of All-Pro selections.

After Kelly was selected, the New England Patriots took Tony Eason, who, like Blackledge, had a solid career and took the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1985.

After the New York Jets took Ken O'Brien, another formidable NFL starter and a two-time Pro Bowler, at No. 24, the Miami Dolphins selected Marino at No. 27.

The first five years of Marino's career were Pro Bowl seasons, and he ultimately tallied nine. He was also named an All-Pro six times. Marino also took MVP honors in his second NFL season after leading the league in touchdown passes (48) and passing yardage (5,084), both of which were league records at the time.

Marino played all 17 seasons with the Dolphins and finished with 420 touchdown passes and 61,361 passing yards.

2004

The 2004 NFL draft had some similarities to 1983

While the talent wasn't quite the same, the 2004 NFL Draft went down a similar path as the one in 1983.

As Elway did with the Colts, Eli Manning made it clear he didn't want to play for the San Diego Chargers, who held the top pick in the draft. Like the Colts did with Elway, the Chargers selected an unhappy Manning and then traded him to the New York Giants.

Manning was the first of four quarterbacks taken in the first round in 2004. Three are future Hall of Famers, and the other is J.P. Losman.

With the fourth overall pick, the Giants selected Philip Rivers and then made a deal with the Chargers to swap Rivers for Manning. Both had outstanding careers, with Manning earning two Super Bowl championships and Rivers racking up 63,440 passing yards and 421 touchdown passes in a stellar career that lasted 17 seasons.

At No. 11, the Pittsburgh Steelers took Ben Roethlisberger, who won Rookie of the Year and guided the Steelers to a pair of Super Bowl titles. Big Ben played 18 years, had six Pro Bowl seasons, and finished his career with 64,088 yards and 418 touchdown passes.

The Buffalo Bills were the lone team to swing and miss with their first-round quarterback pick in 2004. They selected Losman at No. 22. He never had a winning season and went 10-23 in his 33 starts.

Another QB of note from the '04 class was Matt Schaub, who was taken 90th overall. While he served as a backup for the majority of his career, he made a pair of Pro Bowls with the Houston Texans and led the league in passing yards in 2009 with 4,770 to go along with a career-high 29 touchdowns.

1971

Teams hit on the first three picks — all QBs — in 1971

The 1971 NFL Draft opened with three straight quarterbacks being selected. Amazingly, all three had outstanding NFL careers. There was also a gem drafted in the fourth round.

The draft opened with the New England Patriots selecting Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett. While Plunkett didn't fare all that well in New England, he thrived later in his career with the Oakland Raiders.

Plunkett played five years with the Patriots, two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, and then closed his career by playing eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders, with whom he went 38-19 and won two titles, taking Super Bowl MVP honors in the first.

With the second pick, the New Orleans Saints selected Archie Manning, who was an outstanding quarterback on some very bad Saints teams. He did string together Pro Bowl seasons in 1978 and 1979 and racked up more than 23,000 passing yards during his career.

At No. 3, the Houston Oilers went with Dan Pastorini, who played nine seasons with the franchise. He had a Pro Bowl year in 1975 when he went 10-4 and threw for 2,053 yards and 14 touchdowns. Pastorini played 12 seasons in the NFL.

The best of the group, however, was a find in the fourth round. With the 99th overall pick, the Miami Dolphins took Notre Dame's Joe Theismann. After failing to reach an agreement with the Dolphins, Theismann took his talents to the Canadian Football League. In 1974, Washington obtained his rights from Miami, and he turned into one of the game's best.

Theismann was named NFL MVP in 1983 and went 77-47 in 12 seasons in Washington, where he also won a Super Bowl.

Not to be forgotten, the '71 draft also produced the often underrated Ken Anderson, who was a four-time Pro Bowler, a two-time All-Pro, and an NFL MVP during his 16-year career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

1957

The 1957 draft had a future HOF quarterback drafted in Round 4

The 1957 NFL Draft produced a pair of future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, but neither was the first QB off the board.

The San Francisco 49ers took John Brodie with the third overall pick in 1957 after running backs Paul Hornung and Jon Arnett were selected. Brodie, a Stanford product, was a first-round talent. He spent all 17 years of his NFL career with the 49ers and got better as his career rolled along.

Brodie had two Pro Bowl seasons, the first coming in 1965, when he led the league in touchdown passes (30), passing yards (3,112), and completion percentage (61.9%). The second came in 1970 when he went 10-3-1 and threw for an NFL-best 2,941 yards and 24 touchdown passes.

Two picks after Brodie, the Pittsburgh Steelers grabbed Len Dawson, who went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Kansas City Chiefs. Dawson struggled in Pittsburgh and was traded to the Cleveland Browns, who released him after the 1961 season. Dawson then signed with the AFL's Dallas Texans, who moved to Kansas City to become the Chiefs.

In 1962, his first year in Dallas, he had an All-Pro season, going 11-3 and leading the league with 29 TD passes. That was the first of seven Pro Bowl seasons he had with the Chiefs, where he went 93-56-8 as a starter. He led KC to a victory in Super Bowl 4, winning MVP, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Sonny Jurgensen was a fourth-round pick in 1957, taken by the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 43 overall. He spent seven seasons with the Eagles, with whom he won an NFL Championship, and had an All-Pro season in 1961 when he led the league with 3,723 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes.

Jurgensen then went on to play 11 years in Washington, where he had four Pro Bowl seasons, earned three All-Pro selections, and led the league in passing three times. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.

The '57 draft also produced Jack Kemp, who was taken in the 17th round with the 203rd overall pick by the Detroit Lions. After bouncing around the league for several seasons, he moved to the AFL and found success with the Bills, leading the team to two AFL titles.

The future member of the U.S. House of Representatives and vice presidential nominee was also a seven-time AFL All-Star, a five-time First-Team All-AFL selection, and the 1965 AFL MVP.

1973

The San Diego Chargers struck gold in the third round

While Bert Jones, the second overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft, had a solid NFL career, the biggest QB find came in the third round.

The Baltimore Colts selected Jones at No. 2, and he certainly produced, earning MVP honors in 1976 when he led the league with 3,104 passing yards, also tossing 24 touchdown passes. Jones went on to play 10 NFL seasons, nine with the Colts, going 46-46 as a starter.

In the second round, the Los Angeles Rams took Ron Jaworski, who played three years in LA before blossoming in Philadelphia. With the Eagles, Jaworski had his lone Pro Bowl season in 1980 when he guided Philly to a 12-4 mark by throwing for a career-high 3,529 passing yards and a career-best 27 touchdowns.

The biggest QB find of the draft was at pick No. 64 when the San Diego Chargers selected Dan Fouts, who went on to play 15 seasons with the Chargers and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993.

From 1979 to 1982, Fouts led the NFL in passing yardage and also led the league in touchdown passes in the final two years of that stretch. He was named to the Pro Bowl six times and also earned four All-Pro selections.

Also drafted in the third round was Joe Ferguson, who was snagged by the Bills at No. 57. He played 17 years in the NFL, the first 12 with the Bills, and threw for 29,817 yards and 196 touchdowns during his career.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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