NFL DRAFT History Class: #1 Picks - Packers, Patriots, Cowboys
By George Somerville
Around this time of year I turn my attention to the NFL Draft. But unlike the vast majority of interested parties, I’m not looking forward – I’m looking back. Why? Because NFL Draft history is not only fascinating, it could also be a guide to what happens in the future!
Which means here we are with another series of History class. So, if y’all are ready, class is in session!
So we are getting close to the big day with the 2023 NFL Draft just around the corner. Rightly or wrongly the focus in the run up will be about those first round picks. Which makes our review of the teams #1 picks in NFL Draft pretty interesting when it comes to the chatter in the lead up to Thursday.
So far we have looked at how the Bears, Colts, Rams, Broncos, Seahawks and Ravens have fared in the first round. As we have seen they have had very mixed results so far.
So lets have a further look across the remaining teams. Not them all because we just don’t have time, but a selection of teams who have an interesting draft history. So let’s take a nosey at the Packers, Patriots and the Cowboys. The blue bloods of the NFL if you will.
Go Pack Go
Packers fans can be a fickle or patient bunch depending on where you sit in NFL fandom. I compare Packers fans to Jets fans during the Draft. Their expectations are always high but they know fine well come the end of the first round, those expectations have been dashed.
The Packers and Patriots are kinda similar when it comes to draft strategy. They typically, in recent years anyway, don’t swing for the fence in the first round.
In fact the Packers have only had two #1 draft picks in their 102 year history. And those two first picks were only two years apart. The first of those picks came in 1957 when Green Bay selected Notre Dame’s very talented Half Back, Paul Hornung.
Green Bay wouldn’t know in 1957 but this first #1 pick was a slam dunk, setting the tone for a franchise and the Packers Super Bowl winning era under Vince Lombardi. After an incredibly successful football career, Paul Hornung was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
In 1959, the Packers held again the #1 pick, selecting a quarterback from Iowa. Randy Duncan had come second in Heisman voting in 1958 as well as BIG10 MVP and All American Honors.
However that was the highlight of Duncan’s football career. Despite being selected with the overall #1 pick, the Packers new superstar never played for them . In 1959 the league was very different to the multi billion dollar industry that we know today. So when the Canadian football league – yes the Canadians, came to Duncan with a better offer he ended up playing his football in British Columbia. The Packers went with Bart Starr at quarterback and the rest, they say in history.
You win some, you lose some.
The Patriots Way
When it comes to the Draft the Patriots are an interesting bunch. Under Bill Belichick the Patriots draft strategy is not especially clear. Except that Belichick appears focused on getting much value as possible for that first round pick. And if that means trading out of the first round so be it. Which is what the Patriots have done in recent times.
Of course, under Bill the Patriots haven’t had a low first round pick for quite some time which happens when you win a Superbowl consistently.
However before the Belichick era, the Patriots did not have the same level of success and as a result the Pats secured the first pick in the draft a lofty six times between their inaugural year in the league in 1960 and in 1993 when they last had the #1 selection.
Prior to the Brady era it will come as no surprise that the Patriots suffered the same frustrations finding their franchise quarterback as all the other NFL teams. Which means that the Pats used three of their six #1 pick on a quarterback.
However as history has shown us the run game dominated in the early part of the NFL, so no huge surprise that the then Boston Patriots selected a running back with their very first pick in the NFL. Ron Burton had starred for the Northwestern Wildcats in an illustrious college football career. This made him the stand out choice for a NFL team looking to make their mark in the first year in the league. Ron Burton broke a number of rushing records for the Patriots, some of which still stand today. However he will be forever remembered as the first player ever to be drafted by the Pats.
Quarterback woes
Just four years later, the Patriots – still in Boston – decided a Quarterback should be their selection with the #1 pick. To do so they stayed in the Boston area to select Jack Concannon from Boston College. Like so many players I have written about Concannon had a choice of where to play. While he had been drafted by the Patriots who then played in the AFL, he had also been selected by the Eagles who were in the NFL. The Eagles offered him a whopping $50,000 to play in Philadelphia and so the Pats didn’t get their quarterback.
However, in 1971 the Patriots did get a quarterback when they selected Stanford’s Heisman winner, Jim Plunkett with the first overall selection in that year’s draft. Plunkett had been a superstar in the PAC10 for the Cardinal and was the unanimous choice as the best quarterback in the draft.
Coming from the West Coast, Plunkett’s throwing style was a revelation in the NFL and he finished his debut season in the league second in passing stats. Plunkett continued to wow in the league until 1975 when he suffered a shoulder separation which kept him out of action. He was replaced by a familiar name to Pats fans, Steve Grogan who would remain Patriots quarterback for sixteen seasons as the Pats moved to a run heavy offense. Plunkett was traded back to the West Coast to play for the 49ers before moving to the Oakland Raiders. Plunkett did not play a game for the Raiders in his first two seasons in Oakland and was considered 3rd string quarterback however fate changed all of this when he found himself the starting QB after Dan Pastorini broke his leg in 1980. With the back up QB not considered to have sufficient experience, Plunkett was promoted to QB1 and was simply sensational for the Raiders taking them through the play offs to Superbowl XV which they won. Plunkett was voted MVP of that game and goes down in Raiders history, not the Patriots.
The Bledsoe era
The third and final quarterback that the Patriots selected with their #1 pick was Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
In the modern era Drew Bledsoe is known as the player who brought the Patriots back to prominence. While a terrible injury to Bledsoe would herald the start of the Brady era in New England, Bledsoe guided the Pats back to playoff football culminating in an appearance at Superbowl XXI.
Bledsoe remains hugely popular in the New England era and remains the youngest player to ever play in the Pro Bowl/ All Star game.
The Cowboys
Love them or loathe them the Dallas Cowboys remain one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. Prior to Jerry Jones stewardship the Cowboys held the #1 pick only once, selecting the multi talented Ed “Too Tall” Jones in 1974. Ed Jones was pivotal in helping the Cowboys win Superbowl XII. Jones who went on to have a successful boxing career was a talented sportsman excelling in football, boxing, basketball and baseball. Jones was the first player from a HBCU school to be selected with the first overall pick in the draft.
In 1989, there was high drama within the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones had come in as new owner and his first act as owner was to fire legendary and Superbowl winning head coach, Tom Landry. Prior to his sacking, Landry had already drafted UCLA’s Troy Aikman who had set school and NCAA records and won the Davy O’Brien award whilst in Los Angeles.
Drafting Aikman was Landry’s final act as Cowboys head coach with Jones taking over the franchise shortly thereafter. Jones decided Jimmie Johnson was to be Landry’s replacement, recruiting Jimmie from the University of Miami. In what could have been a huge, franchise defining moment once in situ Johnson decided to draft QB Steve Walsh in the NFL supplemental draft in that same year. Johnson had coached Walsh at the University of Miami and had a good relationship with the young QB believing Walsh to be the future face of the franchise. Thankfully for the Cowboys, Aikman won the starting job and never looked back, winning three Superbowls with the Cowboys. Troy Aikman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
All in for the rocket
In 1991, the consensus best player in the draft was wide receiver Raghib “Rocket” Ismail. The New England Patriots held the #1 pick and had tried to persuade Ismail to sign with them without success. The Cowboys then traded up to secure the #1 pick in the expectation that Ismail would want to play his football in Dallas. This bold move backfired for Jones and the Cowboys as Ismail signed with the Toronto Argonauts to play in the Canadian football league. However Ismail did return to play in the NFL to play for the Raiders, Panthers and then finally the Cowboys got their man in 1999 when they signed him as a free agent.
However that first pick in 1991? The Cowboys selected defensive tackle, Russell Maryland from the University of Maryland. While Maryland might not be one of the first names which comes to mind when talking about the great Cowboys teams of the 1990’s, Maryland did not lose his starting position in the Dallas defense from the day he started meaning he was a cornerstone of the team which won three Superbowl trophies. Russell Maryland was inducted into the College football hall of fame in 2011.
