Worst QB decision by NFL franchise.

[MTM]

How are the Chargers graded for Leaf? There was a legit Manning or Leaf debate, but should teams have known Leaf's make up?

 

[Batman]

The Chargers has got to be Ryan Leaf. I think even the GM who took him admitted it set the franchise back five years (although, ironically, it probably set them up to bottom out for the 2001 draft when they got Tomlinson and Brees with their first two picks).
That's an even stranger misfire considering, more often than not, the Chargers have had some pretty solid QB play for most of the past 50 years, from Fouts to Stan Humphries, and then the Brees and Rivers eras. There have been some gaps in there, but they never went more than a few seasons before they found the next guy who could be their QB for the next decade. Looks like they've done it again, now, with the Rivers to Herbert transition.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Jake Locker proved that when you are asking pre-draft questions, one of them should be "Do you actually like football?"

I never, ever understood the fascination with Jake Locker. I thought he sucked in college.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Athleticism and whiteness. If he were Black they'd have tried to convert him into a WR.

 

[Batman]

How are the Chargers graded for Leaf? There was a legit Manning or Leaf debate, but should teams have known Leaf's make up?

The Chargers never had a chance at Manning, though. The Colts picked No. 1 and took Manning, and the Chargers had the No. 2 pick and took Leaf.
The biggest sin with taking Leaf -- besides trading up to get him; they traded Nos. 3 and 33, plus a first-rounder in 1999 to move up one spot -- might have been all of the players at other positions that the Chargers passed up.
Ten of the first 13 players in the 1998 draft had what could be called really good careers in that they all started at least 97 games and were productive starters at worst. Leaf, Andre Wadsworth (No. 3 to the Cardinals) and Curtis Enis (No. 5 to the Bears) were the only true busts. Going a bit deeper, 27 of the first 39 picks also fell into that category, so it was a deep draft with ample opportunity for them to get a really good player rather than an all-time bust.

Moreover, after Manning and Leaf went 1-2, the next QB picked was Charlie Batch at No. 60. Who knows how far Leaf would have fallen if the Chargers passed him over, or if he would have still been there at No. 3. But in theory they could have taken another really good player at No. 3 and possibly still gotten Leaf at No. 33 or used that pick to make the same trade they did with Arizona to move up and take him later on, assuming he fell late into the first round.
And for the record, the Cardinals turned the Leaf trade into Andre Wadsworth (bust), Corey Chavous (an 11-year CB whose best years came after he left the Cardinals), WR David Boston (had a few good seasons before getting busted for PEDs, IIRC; he wound up playing a season with the Chargers anyway), and a couple of players who didn't last long with the team.

 

[Tighthead]

Leaf was fun to watch in college. I was really rooting for him to outshine Manning. I was disavowed of that in short order.

For Dallas in the post Aikman era I would say Quincy Carter. Bad pick and they didn't do much to help him succeed. Hope is not a plan.

 

[qtlaw]

Niners traded 3! Firsts for Plunkett when he was washed up.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Lions
Chuck Long
Andre Ware
Joey Harrington.

Scott Mitchell would like a word
Lions could have signed Warren Moon but ...
THAT's why they're the Lions
Lions also had a lot of situations where they couldn't decide who was No 1 and it hurt both QBs
Milt Plum and Earl Morrall
Greg Landry and Bill Munson
Rodney Peete and Erik Kramer

 

[heyabbott]

Does taking Kellen Winslow instead of Ben Roethlisberger in the 2004 draft count for the Browns?

Giants traded the draft choice that became Randy White for Craig Morton, before Orange Crush

 

[micropolitan guy]

The Bills kept an aging Jack Kemp and traded Daryl Lamonica to Oakland for Tom Flores.

 

[maumann]

The Chargers has got to be Ryan Leaf. I think even the GM who took him admitted it set the franchise back five years (although, ironically, it probably set them up to bottom out for the 2001 draft when they got Tomlinson and Brees with their first two picks).
That's an even stranger misfire considering, more often than not, the Chargers have had some pretty solid QB play for most of the past 50 years, from Fouts to Stan Humphries, and then the Brees and Rivers eras. There have been some gaps in there, but they never went more than a few seasons before they found the next guy who could be their QB for the next decade. Looks like they've done it again, now, with the Rivers to Herbert transition.

And John Hadl before Fouts.

 

[DanOregon]

Niners traded 3! Firsts for Plunkett when he was washed up.

Well, he wasn't washed up - won two Super Bowls for the Raiders. I was thinking the drafting of Jeff Druckenmiller in the first round in '97 to replace Young. Even the Niners' lean years had some decent qbs. Garcia, DeBerg etc.