With the 2009 NFL draft a mere two weeks away, all a football fan can do is look ahead at some questionable draft day predictions. Today we’ll take a history lesson of past draft day busts that still haunt franchises to this day.

This year’s draft should be somewhat interesting. The funny part of the draft is you think having the #1 overall pick is a good thing, right? Eh, I don’t know. This year’s stud QB, Matt Stafford, and the Detroit Lions seem to be a match made in heaven right? I don’t see how. I mean, he is an overall good, talented QB, but for the money these top picks get paid, in most cases I’d love to just trade the #1 pick away for a few quality veterans who you know are good NFL talents and don’t demand mega contracts with no proof of NFL level talent. These top picks are rarely the great players that their salaries and draft status would lead you to believe. This list of busted #1 pick QBs is alarming to me. Look at this:

• 2007, JaMarcus Russell, Oakland Raiders. This kid hasn’t amounted to anything thus far. I am a little lenient on this one though; he did get thrown into one of the worst NFL franchises, run by a lunatic who is so out of touch with today’s game that he is just not competent enough to run his team. This guy was a bust before he ever suited up. No way he was going to make it as a Raider. He is young, there is still hope for him, his career could outlast Al Davis and he may just have a chance. But I’m not counting on it.

• 2005, Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers. There just weren’t any big time QBs in this draft class. The next QBs went with the 24th and 25th picks in Aaron Rogers and Jason Campbell. Both in hindsight would have been much wiser choices for the #1 pick, but neither are a real star player deserving of the #1 pick and the cash that comes with it.
• 2002, David Carr, Houston Texans. And the #3 pick Joey Harrington, Detroit Lions. Again, hindsight is 20/20, but jeez, these guys are awful. This class had no QB talent in it also, after these two bums the other first round QB was Patrick Ramsey to the Redskins which turned out pretty similar to the rest of the QBs named on this list, but a much cheaper hit to the pocket.
• 1999, Tim Couch, Cleveland Browns. This draft was a tricky one. We saw 3 straight QBs at the top and 5 QBs in the top 12 picks. The two noteworthy QBs out of this class were Donovan McNabb and Donte Culpepper, both having great careers. Tim Couch only lasted 5 seasons in the NFL, but did take the Browns to the Playoffs in 2002. He broke his leg in the final game and didn’t play in the playoffs. Tim Couch had a severely short, injury-plagued career and I think could have been a good QB. He set all sorts of college passing records and put Kentucky football on the map, he was just a little soft for the NFL. Another good story from this draft is the #3 pick. The Saints and Mike Ditka tried desperately to trade for the #3 spot in order to draft RB Ricky Williams. The Bengals were dead set on keeping their spot and drafting Oregon’s QB Akili Smith. The Bengals were offered 9 draft picks for the spot, but decided to take Smith instead of trade down. As it turns out the Saints still got their man Williams at the #5 pick. I’m sure the Bengals regret that one as Smith was also a huge draft day bummer. Of everyone on this list Couch probably had the best, albeit shortest, career. And he is married to former playmate of the month Heather Kousar. So let’s not feel too bad for this guy.

1990, Jeff George, Indianapolis Colts. In the first 57 picks, only 2 QBs. I grew up a Colts fan. My stepdad is from Indianapolis, and I remember when Jeff George was drafted. Oh man, he was supposed to take this team and make Indy a football town. Indianapolis had just gotten a football team 6 years earlier and it just hadn’t caught on yet. They traded up for the #1 pick, they saw a huge opportunity to get the city behind this team, this guy was going to do just that. Jeff George was a local boy, born and raised in Indy. My uncle went to high school with him, and he played college ball just down the road in Purdue (he later transferred to Illinois). He was a high profile college star from Indianapolis, a guy the new fans could get behind and finally have a player of their own to cheer for. He was supposed to bring a fan base to the new Colts of Indianapolis… Well, that one didn’t work out so well. He lasted 4 seasons in Indianapolis, was boo’d off the field, gave the crowd the finger, and held out for 36 days demanding a trade. He was traded to Atlanta and bounced around the league for a while as a starter/back up. His career was forgettable for most, but not at all to a Colts fan.

Now, it isn’t all bad for a team seeking a franchise QB with the #1 spot. Eli Manning, Carson Palmer, Michael Vick, and Peyton Manning, all #1 picks in the past 10 years. They earned every penny, and all lead successful careers on the field. But the point of this list is to illustrate that if there is not a hall of fame type talent atop the draft board, don’t go crazy, trade your pick to the next sucker in line. For the most part #1 QBs are failed. I’m sure it’s very hard to evaluate the young talent coming up. They play a different game in college. Different talent pool, different arrangements. It’s easy to get caught up in ballooned stats and numbers when these guys were playing against sub par talent in college. The NFL is a different ball game. Just because you starred at USC does not mean you will even start for an NFL team. Some teams and coaches have become known for their great drafting and talent evaluation, but these teams and coaches are few and far between. Most of them end up in the same boat as their future QBs, unemployed.