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For those of us who were not alive to see it, how did the class of '83 look out of the gate?


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7 minutes ago, no name said:

check back on this question in about 3 seasons.

1) I was probably too stoned to remember 

 

2) what no name said. 

 

 

7 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

Why anyone is so anxious to entertain this question in week 4 of these rookie QB's seasons is beyond me. Mayfield and Rosen haven't even started their respective 1st games. 

 

There is no credible way to answer.

Why you ask.  It’s simple.  

 

This is a discussion that happens almost every season.  

 

Remind us again of what you have said about Jimmy Garappolo before he won even 5 games. 

 

The next Tom Brady maybe

(and better looking). 

 

Ok. I added that last part for chuckles.  

 

Edited by ShadyBillsFan
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1 hour ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Don’t know yet.  Mixed bag from Darnold and Allen.  Baker Mayfield has played one good game.  Rosen played 4 minutes and looked okay.  LJ is at best a gadget player at this point.  We’ll see.  ‘83 was a pretty good class.

I think Mayfield,  Darnold and Allen will be top 15 franchise guys but not top 5 elite. Rosen will shine for awhile then the injuries will start piling up. Lamar is a gadget guy only. 

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57 minutes ago, Whites Bay said:

I remember Elway really stumbling in his first year.  But I also remember him throwing INCREDIBLY hard, fast passes.  He was known for breaking fingers.

 

Marino went to a Super Bowl in his second year, and everyone thought it would be the first of many.  The kid was amazing.  Very, very quick release.

 

Eason went in 1985 and got so shell-shocked that he never recovered.

 

Allen reminds me of Elway.  I don't know why.

 

Allen has the legs of Elway, the arm of Marino and the heart of Kelly.

 

Blackledge was considered a bust in KC lasting only 5 years and 2 with Pitt.

 

O'Brien had a decent career (2 pro bowls) with the Jets but only got them to the playoffs 3 years and lost each in the first round.

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Elway was definitely very good right out of the gate.

 

Marino was better

 

Kelly took off for a few years but he was killing it in the USFL

 

I don't know how this class compares to that one we won't know for 10 years probably.  

 

Better question is how does this class compare to 2004?    Manning/Rivers/Roethlisburger/bagof*icks.....

Which one will be that last one?  Hopefully not Allen

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1 hour ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Don’t know yet.  Mixed bag from Darnold and Allen.  Baker Mayfield has played one good game.  Rosen played 4 minutes and looked okay.  LJ is at best a gadget player at this point.  We’ll see.  ‘83 was a pretty good class.

 

 

Agreed, tough to beat the class of 83.  You had 3 first ballot HOFers & you also had Ken Obrien, who had a pretty dam good career but doesn't get the credit since he is always compared to the other 3.  Blackledge & Eason sucked imo.

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1 hour ago, RobbRiddick said:

Will take years to know and will take a hell of an effort to beat 85, or even the year of Big Ben, Eli and Rivers.

 

I assume everyone here has watched the 30 for 30 show 'Elway to Marino'. If you haven't, do it right now. Fantastic documentary. That entire first round was special. So many great players like Dickerson and  Matthews etc. and so many great stories behind the scenes. Fascinating that the Cowboys were desperately trying to get Elway, and for a time Bill Walsh considered trading Montana so he could go after Elway.

 

Even Tony Eason got his team to a Super Bowl despite having a poor career. Ken o Brien was no slouch (25,000 yards over an 11 year career).

 

 

The other factoid of useless trivia associated with the QB greats of that era (I will also include Montana even though he was already in the league before '83) that I find interesting as I'm from there originally, is that most of them came up in the steel mill geography of western PA--nicknamed the Cradle of Quarterbacks because it literally churned out so many good ones--Marino, Kelly, Montana, Hostetler, and before that, Unitas, Namath, just to name a few...good article about that here:

 

 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-01-30-9401300392-story.html

 

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Marino played in 11 games, starting 9 of them in his rookie season. Threw for 2200 yards, 20 TDs to 6 INTs, 7-2 record as a starter.

 

The following season he blew up, throwing for 5084 yards and 48 TDs.

 

He fell to the bottom of the first round because his senior season at Pitt wasn't great and there was a lot of rumors that he was a party hound and wouldn't take the job seriously. The Rooney's, to this day, still lament not taking Marino. They took Gabe Rivera, a nose tackle who drove drunk about six weeks into his rookie season, crashed his car at high speeds and ended up paralyzed as a result. Art Rooney, Jr. is on record saying that his dad, even toward the end of his life, would still often say, "We should've taken Marino." 

 

Not only was that draft incredible for QBs, producing three Hall of Famers, it also produced Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson (2nd overall), Bruce Matthews (9th overall) and Darrell Green (28th overall). 

24 minutes ago, Soda Popinski said:

Elway was definitely very good right out of the gate.

 

Marino was better

 

Kelly took off for a few years but he was killing it in the USFL

 

I don't know how this class compares to that one we won't know for 10 years probably.  

 

Better question is how does this class compare to 2004?    Manning/Rivers/Roethlisburger/bagof*icks.....

Which one will be that last one?  Hopefully not Allen

 

When Losman and Edwards were on this team, I used to say, "I wish we could take Edwards' brains and field-reading ability and merge it with Losman's athletic ability." Probably would've had a decent QB. But, Trent played scared while Losman played dumb.

Edited by blacklabel
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12 minutes ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

The other factoid of useless trivia associated with the QB greats of that era (I will also include Montana even though he was already in the league before '83) that I find interesting as I'm from there originally, is that most of them came up in the steel mill geography of western PA--nicknamed the Cradle of Quarterbacks because it literally churned out so many good ones--Marino, Kelly, Montana, Hostetler, and before that, Unitas, Namath, just to name a few...good article about that here:

 

 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-01-30-9401300392-story.html

 

I love reading and watching stuff about the old days. The 30 for 30 shows and A Football Life are great. I watch the NFL still, but for me it's just not the same game I grew up loving. I know I sound like an old fart, but all the rule changes have hurt the sport IMO. Some were necessary but the league is so obsessed with high scoring games, and so many of the younger fans are so obsessed with fantasy that it's watered the whole thing down. 

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I remember the QB who was under the most scrutiny was Elway because of how he forced the trade from the Baltimore Colts. He struggled with short passes early because he lacked proper touch....he learned as the season went on.

 

Marino was a stud when he took over, his first pro start was against the Bills in the old Orange Bowl, a game the Bills won in OT, their first win there since the 60s. He was out dueled by Joe Ferguson that day, but you could tell he was going to be something special.

 

Ken O'Brien rode the bench that year behind Richard Todd with the Jets and managed to get in some trouble during the season with a nightclub incident. 

 

We know that Kelly wasn't here for 3 years.

 

For some reason I have almost zero memories of Todd Blackledge, no shock considering he was the bust of that draft.

 

As someone else mentioned, Tony Eason didn't start right away either, but around 85-88 he and Boomer was among the top QBs in the AFC. I remember he was considered a reach at the time of the draft.

 

 

 

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Kelly's story is just fantastic. I love the stuff about him saying he "sure as hell" didn't want to play in Buffalo. And then the interview when he played in the USFL and said, "would you rather be in Houston or Buffalo?" before laughing with the interviewer. 

 

Bills fans, especially those living in Buffalo, must have just hated him then. And then he finally agrees to play, plays brilliantly, falls in love with the city, goes to 4 Super Bowls and raises his family there. 

 

It's just great.

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2 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Don’t know yet.  Mixed bag from Darnold and Allen.  Baker Mayfield has played one good game.  Rosen played 4 minutes and looked okay.  LJ is at best a gadget player at this point.  We’ll see.  ‘83 was a pretty good class.

I agree overall, but Rosen didn't look okay. He's got a REALLY weak arm. He was the guy I wanted out of this class so I'd love to see him fail.

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This thread got me interested so I've just looked up first round QBs by year since 83 (since this is my era). There were no first rounders in 84 or 85 so let's start with 86:

 

Jim (or Chris...) Everett

Chuck Long (I remember this guy - had no idea he was picked 12th overall)

 

87

Kelly Stouffer

Chris Miller

Jim Harbaugh (had no idea he was taken in the first, either)

 

88

None

 

89

Troy Aikmen

 

90

Jeff George

Andre Ware

 

91

Dan McGwire

Todd Marinovich

 

92

David Klingler

Tommy Maddox

 

93

Drew Bledsoe

Rick Mirer

 

94

Heath Shuler

Trent Dilfer

 

95

Steve McNair

Kerry Collins

 

96

None

 

97

Jim Drunkenmiller

 

98

Peyton Manning

Ryan Leaf

 

99

Tim Couch

Donovan McNabb

Akili Smith

Daunte Culpepper

Cade McNown

 

2000

Chad Pennington

 

 

01

Michael Vick

 

02

David Carr

Joey Harrington

Patrick Ramsey

 

03

Carson Palmer

Byron Leftwich

Kyle Boller

Rex Grossman

 

04

Manning

Rivers

Big Ben

JP Losman (ouch!)

 

05

Alex Smith

Aaron Rodgers

Jason Campbell

 

06

Vince Young

Matt leinart

Jay Cutler

 

07

Jamarcus Russell

Brady Quinn

 

 

08

Matt Ryan

Joe Flacco

 

09

Matt Stafford

Mark Sanchez

 

 

10

Sam Bradford

Tim Tebow

 

11

Cam Newton

Jake Locker

Blaine Gabbert

Christian Ponder

 

12

Andrew Luck

Robert Griffin

Ryan Tannehill

Brandon Weedon

 

13

EJ Manuel (OOOOOUUUUCH!)

 

14

Blake Bortles

Johnny Manziel

Teddy Bridgewater

 

15

Jameis Winston

Marcus Mariota

 

16

Jared Goff

Carson Wentz

Paxton lynch

 

17

Mitchell Trubisky

Patrick Mahomes

Deshaun Watson

 

 

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2 hours ago, Skins Malone said:

Well it certainly could turn into something special.  I still wonder about Rosen.  Idk why really but he is the one a wonder about the most.  I just dont see any fire.  He has that Jay Cutler type demeanor to me.  But he could be great who knows.

 

If it does turned into something truly special the Bill's were part of it again...just like we were in the Kelly draft.

 

There was an interesting observation made on NFL Primetime this week by one of their crew:  when Baker Mayfield entered their last game, his teammates and the crowd were fired up.  When Rosen entered the Arizona game, meh.

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6 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Kelly was in the USFL for 3 years and lit it up.

 

Actually, Kelly spent his first TWO seasons in the USFL. It folded before it's 3rd season. That's when Kelly joined the Bills. Kelly's 1st couple years with the Bills were nothing special either actually. Statistically, Kelly's best two back to back seasons here were in 1990 and 1991. He always seemed to throw a lot of Int's. That's where it helped having Thurman Thomas running the ball! But they did go to the 4 straight Super Bowls... Marino was very good and could almost beat you single handedly. Buffalo had the better overall team though. Bruce Smith was always the big difference on defense. The Bills always had some of their best games playing against the Dolphins.

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24 minutes ago, DefenseWins said:

 

Actually, Kelly spent his first TWO seasons in the USFL. It folded before it's 3rd season. That's when Kelly joined the Bills. Kelly's 1st couple years with the Bills were nothing special either actually. Statistically, Kelly's best two back to back seasons here were in 1990 and 1991. He always seemed to throw a lot of Int's. That's where it helped having Thurman Thomas running the ball! But they did go to the 4 straight Super Bowls... Marino was very good and could almost beat you single handedly. Buffalo had the better overall team though. Bruce Smith was always the big difference on defense. The Bills always had some of their best games playing against the Dolphins.

Kelly played really well in the USFL as well, he and Steve Young played what anyone who ever watched it claims to be the best game of football ever played. 

 

The best game never seen, I think they called it. Kelly eeked our the win in the end. 

 

EDIT: “greatest game no one saw.” 

Edited by Bobby Hooks
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6 hours ago, Gordio said:

 

 

Agreed, tough to beat the class of 83.  You had 3 first ballot HOFers & you also had Ken Obrien, who had a pretty dam good career but doesn't get the credit since he is always compared to the other 3.  Blackledge & Eason sucked imo.

 

Eason was never the same after facing the '85 Bears in the Super Bowl.

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