What are Montana and Wilson's hit rate?
Funny enough, both picks were owned by the Seahawks. We traded the Niners that pick as part of a trade up for a linebacker named Michael Jackson. I think we might have gotten it originally from Dallas though.
Anyway, in the 33 years from when Montana was drafted until Wilson was drafted, 38 quarterbacks were taken in the third round. Two of those were 38 were drafted by the Seahawks: Brock Huard in 1999 and David Greene in 2005. Another one of those QBs, Charlie Whitehurst, had taken just two snaps (both kneel downs) before the Seahawks traded for him.
According to Pro-Football-Reference's career AV (for reference, Russ' career AV is 179), the best five of those QBs were:
1. Chris Chandler (1998) - 103
The #1 by far, but just ten of those 103 AV points came with the team that drafted him. He got off to a decent start with the Colts, but after a knee injury cut his second season short, they drafted Jeff George and then sent Chandler to the Bucs for a first round pick. That pick ended up being very high (#2 overall) at least partially because Chandler was so bad. The Bucs cut him after he went 0-6 over two seasons, throwing 5 TDs to 14 INTs. He played for seven teams over 17 seasons, and made two Pro Bowls. His best season, by far, was in 1998 where he led the Falcons to the Super Bowl and compiled a 13-1 record. However, he had a winning record in just two of 17 seasons, and finished with a career mark of 67-85.
2. Matt Schaub (2005) - 79
Never won a game for the team that drafted him (Falcons), but showed enough in mop-up duty for Mike Vick to get traded to the Texans for two second-round picks. In 16 NFL seasons, he went 47-46 as a starter and made two Pro Bowls. Won more than seven games in a season just twice. He made the playoffs just once, going 1-1 for the Texans in 2012.
3. Neil O'Donnell (1991) - 73
Had a 55-45 record over 13 seasons, making the Pro Bowl once. Led the Steelers to the Super Bowl in 1995, throwing 3 INTs in a 27-17 loss to the Cowboys. Was a backup for the Titans on their 1999 Super Bowl team that finished one yard short, but he did not play in any of their four playoff games.
4. Jay Schroeder (1985) - 71
Very good career record at 61-38, although those Redskins teams he spent his first three seasons with were stacked. Got benched for Doug Williams and became known as a bit of a locker room cancer. Had a 3-2 career playoff record but completed just 45% of his passes in those five games, throwing 5 TDs to 8 INTs and never reaching 200 yards in any of them. Made one Pro Bowl.
5. Jeff Hostetler (1985) - 65
Interestingly, in the ten seasons where he had at least one start, he had a winning record in all of them, although it was a difference of more than two in just eight of those, and he hit double digits just once, going 10-5 for the 1993 Raiders. The only Super Bowl winner on this list, he replaced an injured Phil Simms in 1990 and led the Giants to a championship win over the Bills in the "wide-right" game. Hostetler was not asked to do a lot in the playoffs, throwing for 112, 176, and 222 yards respectively with just three TDs, but did not throw any INTs. Another one-time Pro Bowler, he threw for more than 14 TDs just twice, with a high of 23 for the 1996 Raiders.
Other Notables: Bubby Brister, Brian Griese, Frank Reich, Colt McCoy, Josh McCown, Hugh Millen
Looks like there was not a single All-Pro season among those 38 quarterbacks. There was one Super Bowl victory, with two others making it and losing.
Tough round to find a franchise starter.
