No. 1 Drew Bledsoe and No. 2 Rick Mirer / 1993 — It’s pretty obvious which of these two players had the better career, but that wasn’t necessarily easy to predict based solely on their respective rookie campaigns in ’93. It happened to be the only season in Mirer’s career in which he started all 16 games, going 6-10 with the Seahawks and throwing 12 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions. He started 35 games over the next three seasons with Seattle (14 wins) before becoming an NFL journeyman. Bledsoe started in Week One in New England at the age of 21. He suffered an injury in Week Five but returned to action in Week Nine. Bledsoe started the last seven games, which included a four-game win streak to end the season. The four-time Pro Bowler threw 15 TDs and 15 interceptions in 1993 and had a 5-7 record as a starter.

No. 1 Peyton Manning and No. 2 Ryan Leaf / 1998 — Manning will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the game, and Leaf will be remembered as one of the league’s biggest busts — and those respective legacies could have been foreseen after the 1998 season. Manning directed the Colts to a 3-13 record in his 16 starts and led the NFL with 28 interceptions, but he also set rookie records with 3,739 passing yards (since broken by Cam Newton) and 26 passing TDs. The next year, Manning made the first of his 11 Pro Bowls. Leaf had a disastrous rookie season with San Diego, despite starting with back-to-back victories. In his nine starts, Leaf had a 3-6 record and threw only two TD passes and a whopping 15 interceptions. Leaf had a dismal passer rating of 39.0. He was benched after nine games, played only two more seasons in the NFL and is currently facing felony counts of burglary and criminal possession of a dangerous drug.

No. 1 Tim Couch and No. 2 Donovan McNabb / 1999 — Couch and McNabb were the first two in a draft that saw three QBs chosen in the top three and five QBs taken among the first 12 picks of the first round. Couch, who went to the expansion Browns, could’ve filed charges based on the beating he took as a rookie. He was sacked 56 times in 15 games, one of the factors for Cleveland’s 2-14 record that season. McNabb, taken by the Eagles, sat for much of the ’99 season behind Doug Pederson, starting the final six games. He threw eight touchdowns and seven picks during his time on the field and wound up having a far more successful career than Couch. The top pick was out of football in five years, while the player picked second went to six Pro Bowls and five NFC title games.