Trubisky was considered the most ready of his class as was Eli in 05,as was Eason once Elway was off board in 82. Remember Rick Mirer??Alex Smith?!
trubisky was yes. eli was not. he was only 1st overall because his name. Ben was actually considered the best QB in that class and most ready. The thing is the chargers preferred eli and rivers.eli refused to play for them so giants took rivers to trade to the chargers. Giants would have taken ben 3rd overall had eli stayed a charger. pitt had no interest in rivers and was said they wouldn't take a QB if ben and eli were gone. Alex smith and aaron rodgers were considered equal talents. smith got the nod becuase interviews. everyone loved him and still does in the NFL. they thought rodgers was arrogant and cocky. basically rodgers fell for the same reason baker rose. the draft is funny that way.
I think you're dead wrong. You have to know that Accorsi. He resigned from the Colts when he wanted to draft Elway after Elway said he wouldn't play for them. Accorsi wanted to draft him anyway and the owner made him trade him to Denver. He resigned over that. The Giants would have taken Ben but Accorsi loved Eli not because of his family because he scouted him the year before when they thought he might come out as a Junior. Accorsi could have taken Ben with the 4th pick. He liked Eli enough to give up Rivers and a 3rd plus their 1st and 5th the following year. That is serious infatuation based only on name. Ernie Accorsi didn't take Eli for his name. Accorsi really liked Ben but at the end of the day after he scouted him he gave up a ton of draft capital to take Eli instead of Ben. GM's don't do that based on a name. The interesting thing about Rivers, Eli and Ben is all three teams locked in on the guy they wanted, scouted them and got them. It was a very rare NFL GM trifecta. Of course the Chargers dumped the guy who turned out to be better than all 3 of them.
um you didn't read my post correctly at all. how would accorsi take eli 3rd overall if eli already went 1st overall. I said he would have taken ben over rivers and rivers would had slid as pitt didn't like him and would had passed on a QB. Also the rumor about the chargers which u agree on is that they never wanted eli anyway and the giants knew that so wouldn't trade up so they took eli knowing accorsi loved him and would give up more to get him and they would still get the QB they wanted in rivers. it was a smart move by the chargers GM.
In all fairness, I don't think Brees would have played as well for the Chargers as he has for the Saints. Payton is a much better offensive mind than the coaches the Chargers have had.
You said Eli went first because of his name. Wrong. He went first because he was the consensus 1st pick and was taken first. As much as the Chargers liked Rivers, Eli was a more valuable asset and they took him. It was only a smart move because of Eli's value as the first pick in the draft.
lol no. he was the consensus #1 pick but based on his name. many people had rivers or ben as the number 1 QB. It was a very split class. the chargers preferred rivers and didn't actually want eli. they know the giants wanted him badly. Eli wanted the giants badly. He didn't want to be a charger. giants knew the chargers wanted rivers and that eli wouldn't play for them so figured they wouldn't draft him so wouldn't give them anything in a trade for the 1st overall pick. chargers drafted eli to pull off a trade and waited it out so they giants had to draft rivers 1st and had them by the balls leverage wise. The steelers didn't even like rivers at all and had ben as their number 1 QB. Realistically the chargers only drafted eli to use him for extra picks and leverage over the giants it was a risky move but a smart move that paid off.
Eli didn't want the Chargers. He told them he didn't want to play for them. Shocking I know but it's not inconceivable that Rivers was actually their 2nd choice? I suspect the Giants drafted Rivers the deal was already pretty much done.
Well he did and his dad. his dad basically hated the chargers and said it was an awful run organization and that it would ruin eli's career going there. Archie played his careeer for the saints who wre awful at the time and went through that and didn't want to see lie go through it. So eli listened and told them he refused to play for them. The giants didn't have a deal worked out yet but were on the clock and knew if they wanted eli they would have to take rivers because that's who the chargers wanted which is why they took rivers. then the chargers had more leverage. they had the player the giants wanted and a player they would be ok with. the giants drafted someone they didn't want just for trade bait. The point with eli was nothing he did in college, none of his film or anything stood out. he was very medicore which is funny because even in the NFL he was medicore and never fixed any of his issues. But he was a manning. his dad was a pro bowl QB in the 70s. his brother was a perennial MVP teams love the football bloodlines. they seem less risky. It was more the allure that he would be like his brother that made him a top pick not what he did.
Eli finished 3rd in the Heisman voting in 2003. He was a three year starter with 10,000 yards passing and an 81-35 touchdown to interception ratio along with a Cotton Bowl victory along with a ten win season at a school that hasn't had one since 1971. I'd hardly say he was 'mediocre.'
eli played poor competition in college. was never tested really. none of his stats are anything stand out. they are good not great and against low competition. IIRC one game 5 of his TDs all came i OT where college has funky OT and they start from 35 and both teams had bad defenses and both Qbs went back and forth throwing TDs. like you said he finished 3rd in the hiesman voting. typically a 1st overall pick QB should be winning the hiesman. He lost it to another QB jason white who threw 40TDs to 10Int where eli threw 29TD to 10 Int. college stats are pretty meaningless though
He beat 3 ranked teams and lost to eventual #1 LSU 17-14. You're such a big "stats are meaningless" guy whenever it disproves what you're saying.
college stats man. it's too unbalanced. top 5 college QBs all time (yards) case keenum - servicable NFL backup timmy chang - undrafted, bounced around NFL never did anything landry jones - 4th round pick bust. currently signed with the XFL for it's relaunch next year Graham Harrell - undrafted. couldn't land a team, went to CFL, came back for stints with the packers and jets Ty Detmer - 9th round pick journeyman backup QB Top 10 passing TDs all time Keenum Moore Harrell Colt Brennan Rakeem Cato Baker Mayfield Landry Jones Ty Detmer Aaron Murray Luke Falk (lol) So if college stats mater, all of those players were better prospects then eli
That just has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. I said Eli was better than mediocre and had a good college career. Not he was the greatest passer in college football history. Nor did I say college stats are a direct correlation between passing yards and GOAT. He played at program in a power 5 conference, he had a very good senior year and was productive for three years. Your name doesn't get you to be a top 5 pick because you're a Manning. Why didn't Chad Kelly get picked higher than the 7th round then?
I didn't say it was name alone. But there were 3 similar QB prospects in rivers, eli, and ben. everyone was split on who was the top 1 and had different favorites. eli wasn't the far and above the top QB of his class like peyton was. his name gave him an edge over the other 2 as far as teams wanting him. If his name was eli smith he might have been drafted behind ben and rivers