Has it occured to anyone else that the 12 draft is looking a hell of a lot like the 83 draft - the year of the quarterback - in which three SB qbs were taken? Marino, Elway and Jim Kelly.

Yep. The national sports mediots have been talking that for the past six weeks or so.

You just fall off the turnip truck?

Yup.

Lords of Scythia wrote:Has it occured to anyone else that the 12 draft is looking a hell of a lot like the 83 draft - the year of the quarterback - in which three SB qbs were taken? Marino, Elway and Jim Kelly.

I was too young to have watched those three play but of course i'm familiar with their names, except that last guy.

Of those three. Who was the Luck, RG3, and Wilson of 83. JW.

Hawk-A-Loogie wrote:
I was too young to have watched those three play but of course i'm familiar with their names, except that last guy.

Of those three. Who was the Luck, RG3, and Wilson of 83. JW.

You would want Wilson to be Elway but probably RG3 is Elway. Luck can be Kelly but doubt Wilson is Marino. Only Elway won a Superbowl of the 3 though all 3 made it to the party, with Kelly making 4 straight.

There also was Tony Eason, Todd Blackridge and a Jet QB that is slipping my mind. Eason made it to the death march that was the 85 Superbowl against the Bears.

EDIT: Maybe Luck would compare to Marino?

drdiags wrote:

Hawk-A-Loogie wrote:
I was too young to have watched those three play but of course i'm familiar with their names, except that last guy.

Of those three. Who was the Luck, RG3, and Wilson of 83. JW.

You would want Wilson to be Elway but probably RG3 is Elway. Luck can be Kelly but doubt Wilson is Marino. Only Elway won a Superbowl of the 3 though all 3 made it to the party, with Kelly making 4 straight.

There also was Tony Eason, Todd Blackridge and a Jet QB that is slipping my mind. Eason made it to the death march that was the 85 Superbowl against the Bears.

EDIT: Maybe Luck would compare to Marino?

Wilson would be closer to Elway....he's a better downfield passer than RGIII. RGIII is more efficient but doesn't do it as much.

Luck maybe = Marino, but but Luck is much more mobile and athletic.

Not sure who would be Jim Kelly, he was a slighty more athletic, slight less accurate Dan Marino. Both guys had lighting quick releases....freakin Marino looked like he was throwing darts back there, not footballs.

Luck would equal Marino since they were both top overall picks, both Stanford guys, and both were the super athletic QB that could scramble.

Wilson would compare to Marino, because a lot of people didn't think he was going to be that good. To many, Marino was a one trick pony (his quick release) and he just kept dropping and dropping in the draft.

RG3 and Wilson are also both comparable to Elway, who was seen as a great athlete. Wilson compares to Elway in that he also played pro baseball. But there were not any doubts that I remember being thrown around about any part of Elway's game. The only doubts you heard were about his attitude because of his flat-out refusal to play for Baltimore and forcing the trade to Denver. He was labeled as a whiner and painted very much in the same way as Eli Manning was on draft day when he threw his little fit. Jack Elway stepped up and worked as his son's spokesman just like Archie Manning did for Eli. You didn't see Andrew Luck's dad making too much noise about where he wanted to play in the run-up to the draft. He was busy doing his own job as the AD at West Virginia, but Oliver Luck and Jack Elway were both well known guys who had sons that played as All Americans at Stanford and were seen as the first overall pick from about day one of their last college season (if not earlier).

The era when all of those QB's came in 83 was much different. QB's weren't normally scramblers (this is what set Elway apart... he wasn't Michael Vick, but he could run out of trouble and was a tremendous athlete). Elway had a pretty wretched rookie season in a lot of ways. Luck's rookie season if compared to anybody's would be compared to Marino's. The USFL was around too, which made things even more weird, and Jim Kelly didn't end up playing in the NFL until 1986 I believe. There were a few good QB's that went to the USFL, along with some good running backs (Craig James, Mike Rozier, etc.). Times were just different, and QB's were used differently then. It's really hard to connect the lines and make direct comparisons. I think Andrew Luck has been compared to Elway since he was in high school though.

SharkHawk wrote:Luck would equal Marino since they were both top overall picks, both Stanford guys, and both were the super athletic QB that could scramble.

Wilson would compare to Marino, because a lot of people didn't think he was going to be that good. To many, Marino was a one trick pony (his quick release) and he just kept dropping and dropping in the draft.

RG3 and Wilson are also both comparable to Elway, who was seen as a great athlete. Wilson compares to Elway in that he also played pro baseball. But there were not any doubts that I remember being thrown around about any part of Elway's game. The only doubts you heard were about his attitude because of his flat-out refusal to play for Baltimore and forcing the trade to Denver. He was labeled as a whiner and painted very much in the same way as Eli Manning was on draft day when he threw his little fit. Jack Elway stepped up and worked as his son's spokesman just like Archie Manning did for Eli. You didn't see Andrew Luck's dad making too much noise about where he wanted to play in the run-up to the draft. He was busy doing his own job as the AD at West Virginia, but Oliver Luck and Jack Elway were both well known guys who had sons that played as All Americans at Stanford and were seen as the first overall pick from about day one of their last college season (if not earlier).

The era when all of those QB's came in 83 was much different. QB's weren't normally scramblers (this is what set Elway apart... he wasn't Michael Vick, but he could run out of trouble and was a tremendous athlete). Elway had a pretty wretched rookie season in a lot of ways. Luck's rookie season if compared to anybody's would be compared to Marino's. The USFL was around too, which made things even more weird, and Jim Kelly didn't end up playing in the NFL until 1986 I believe. There were a few good QB's that went to the USFL, along with some good running backs (Craig James, Mike Rozier, etc.). Times were just different, and QB's were used differently then. It's really hard to connect the lines and make direct comparisons. I think Andrew Luck has been compared to Elway since he was in high school though.

Thanks for the write up!

Oops, I put Luck would equal Marino in my first line. That should say Luck would equal Elway. My bad. I was thinking Marino because in the success comparison Luck and Marino are good comparos. But Marino wasn't that highly thought of on draft day, but just went out and ripped it up and got better and better seemingly week to week and was considered an elite level QB within a year. Sorry about the typo. Hopefully it still made sense. I have to plead the "I'm sick" card.

Funny all the people talking about matching up to SB QBs

Lets remember Dan Marino never won a SB. In fact did he ever get to one? Yes I see he was in one, got doubled up by Joe Montana's Niners

And Jim Kelly as good as he was got to 4 but never won.

And someone just as good? Matt Hasselbeck got to one.

SharkHawk wrote:Luck would equal Marino since they were both top overall picks, both Stanford guys, and both were the super athletic QB that could scramble.

That would be Elway... not Marino.

to be fair, Kelly had to go up against the Cowboys in their prime. i liked the bills when i was young., what a rough childhood.

Wilson=Elway, not as strong arm, both can extend plays,both got ice runnin thru veins, but russ will win SBs with Hawks and not have to wait ten plus years to do so.
And Russ is not the fugliest SOB on Gods Green Earth.

onanygivensunday wrote:

SharkHawk wrote:Luck would equal Marino since they were both top overall picks, both Stanford guys, and both were the super athletic QB that could scramble.

That would be Elway... not Marino.

Yes, I caught that and explained it two posts above yours. My apologies.

I just don't remember Elway and Kelly coming out with serious success in their rookie years. Now Marino was a stud immediately, in 84 he was already doing big name commercials and all that. It didn't take Kelly and Elway long, but I actually think this class is better outside of the Marino play. Man he was fun to watch back them.

This class could potentially have more than 3 great qbs. I think Tannehill might very well be the real deal too. he could be like the Bernie Kozar (i know bernie wasn't the same class, but he's the same era).

largenutz wrote:Wilson=Elway, not as strong arm, both can extend plays,both got ice runnin thru veins, but russ will win SBs with Hawks and not have to wait ten plus years to do so.
And Russ is not the fugliest SOB on Gods Green Earth.

lol hell ya.

The clutch factor runs the strongest in Russ by far.

loafoftatupu wrote:I just don't remember Elway and Kelly coming out with serious success in their rookie years. Now Marino was a stud immediately, in 84 he was already doing big name commercials and all that. It didn't take Kelly and Elway long, but I actually think this class is better outside of the Marino play. Man he was fun to watch back them.

Kelly was in the USFL. That was part of the reason nobody saw him doing much of anything. He came to the NFL when the USFL folded and players were dispersed.

Elway wasn't the starter from the get-go in Denver, and they planned to work him in slowly. He showed flashes of brilliance, but was also prone to turnovers. His rookie year would compare really closely if you were to look at the stats with I'm betting Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning. Both had a rough go of it, but everybody who watched them knew they were going to be good. Elway had the rocket arm, and could move out of the pocket, which was not real common in that era (the post Tarkenton/Archie Manning/Ken Stabler era).

I think that is why Marino had success immediately. He had such a wicked fast release, and they used him just about the same way that Don Coryell used Dan Fouts and his receivers in San Diego because Marino had a lot of the same qualities that Fouts had. It was a wise move by Shula and he got a lot out of Marino in short order. He had 3 good receivers and made the most of it. Notice the Broncos followed and quickly put together their "3 amigos" to try to get Elway to that elite level? Elway was a guy that would do things like RW does now, and that is what hurt. He'd be stuck in a 3rd and long and we'd have a guy hanging off of his shoulder pads and he'd somehow give him the slip and run 8 or 9 yards and barely squeak past the sticks for another first down. It was so maddening. But Marino definitely showed the most promise early.

Jim Kelly, Steve Young, and Bobby Hebert were all playing in the USFL and doing well there, and it wasn't until I believe the 86 season when all of those guys made it into the NFL and started to make their mark with their NFL teams.