When it comes to the NFL Draft, few developments are more stunning than seeing a super-highly-touted quarterback slide way down the draft board. The QB is only the most important position in the game, after all.
While some QBs fared well for themselves after going much later than expected, others wound up proving that they slipped for a reason. With that, let’s dive into the 10 worst quarterback draft slides in NFL history.
Which famous QBs slipped badly in the NFL Draft?
Aaron Rodgers
It was about to become a dream come true for Rodgers. He was widely projected to be the No. 1 pick of the 2005 NFL Draft, and it was none other than his childhood team, the San Francisco 49ers, who owned the top selection.
But in a mild surprise, the 49ers decided to take Utah quarterback Alex Smith with the top selection instead. Okay, but surely Rodgers wouldn’t have to wait much longer to be selected, right?
Nope. Slowly but surely, Rodgers’ name continued to drop further and further as other QB-needy teams surprisingly passed on the future Hall of Famer. Cameras focused on Rodgers throughout the draft, and it was hard not to feel sorry for him as he looked visibly distraught and confused.
Finally, in a big-time stunner, the Green Bay Packers selected Rodgers with the No. 24 selection. They already had Brett Favre behind center, and the Packer legend still had plenty of football left entering his age-36 season.
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In an all-time memorable soundbite, Rodgers was asked how “disappointed” he was about the 49ers taking Smith over him. Rodgers said he wasn’t “as disappointed as” his boyhood team would be. And bingo was his name-oh.
Rodgers was Favre’s backup for three years before taking over as the starter in 2008. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Smith had a couple of good years in San Fran, but Rodgers was another form of special during his run in Green Bay: Four MVPs, 10 Pro Bowls, a Super Bowl 45 championship, and a proud member of the 60K passing and 500-passing TD clubs.
Moral of the story: It’s not how you start, but how you finish.
Shedeur Sanders
Man, where to start here?
It wasn’t just Mel Kiper suffering from Shedeur Sanders fever. Just about everybody projected Deion Sanders’ kid to be an early first-round pick in 2025 after two excellent seasons with the Colorado Buffaloes.
Some early 2025 mock drafts had Sanders going first overall, or at the very least in the top 10. Miami quarterback Cam Ward pulled himself away from Sanders and went first overall to the Tennessee Titans, of course, but Sanders still felt poised to go early in round one. Especially seeing how many teams needed a QB.
The New York Giants, long linked to Sanders, passed on him at No. 3. They traded up via the Houston Texans to get a QB at No. 25…but it was Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss. The Raiders at No. 6, the New Orleans Saints at No 9 and the Pittsburgh Steelers at 21 were among the other logical landing spots that passed on Shedeur.
It was front-page news when Sanders went undrafted in round one, but things were about to get even crazier. The Browns passed on him with the No. 33 and No. 36 picks. The Saints took Louisville QB Tyler Shough at No. 40 instead of Sanders. The Steelers never wanted Sanders…and so the wait dragged on to day three of the draft.
FINALLY and mercilessly, the wait ended when the Browns took Sanders with the No. 144 pick in round five. And even that selection was a bit surprising, since Cleveland used the No. 94 pick on Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel.
Leading up to the NFL draft, there were all those reports about Sanders performing badly in team interviews and coming across as arrogant. Still, how did a guy go from projected top-10 pick to the fifth round? Trust us, you won’t see a QB draft slide as monumental as this one ever again.
Brett Favre
The 1991 NFL Draft was considered weak for quarterbacks. San Diego State product Dan McGwire and USC’s Todd Marinovich were the only ones taken in the first round, and they didn’t go until 16th and 24th overall, respectively.
Southern Mississippi’s Brett Favre was also a highly-touted QB, but his draft stock fell because of a hip injury. Doctors compared it to the one that cut Bo Jackson’s career short. Then-Falcons GM Ken Herock recounted to ESPN that doctors doubted Favre would play more than six years in the NFL.
The Falcons wound up selecting Favre in round two at No. 33 overall. But after hardly seeing the field in his rookie year, Favre was traded to the Packers in 1992 for a first-round pick.
Like we said on the Rodgers entry: The rest is history.
Favre won three MVPs and led the Packers to two NFC Championship banners and a Lombardi Trophy in the 1996 season. He retired as the all-time passing yards and passing touchdowns leader in 2011.
Jimmy Clausen
The first round of the 2010 NFL Draft had two shocking quarterback-related developments: The first was the Denver Broncos’ reach for Tim Tebow, and the second was Jimmy Clausen falling out of round one.
Sam Bradford went first overall to the St. Louis Rams, and Clausen was expected to go to one of the many QB-needy teams soon after. The Broncos moved up for Tim Tebow at No. 25 overall, and it would be a while until another QB was taken.
The next QB taken would be Clausen, who went to the Carolina Panthers at No. 48 overall. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper also infamously stated, “If Jimmy Clausen is not a successful quarterback in the NFL, I’m done. That’s it. I’m out.”
Well, Kiper never actually left. But we now see why Clausen fell into the second round: He lost 13 of 14 NFL starts and had seven touchdowns against 14 interceptions. Whoop Dee Doo Basil!
Chad Pennington
The 2000 NFL Draft was defined by Tom Brady, a little-known Michigan QB who fell to the New England Patriots in round six at No. 199 overall. Brady, of course, went on to become the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Pennington, a star QB from Marshall, was the consensus top signal-caller entering the draft. Even though there were plenty of quarterback-needy teams, Pennington didn’t go until 18th overall to the New York Jets.
The fall was one of the many stunners of the 2000 Draft. Now, he was no Tom Brady, but Pennington carved out a stellar career nonetheless. He won two Comeback Player of the Year Awards in a three-year span — with the New York Jets in ‘06 and the Miami Dolphins in ‘08.
Penning also helped the Jets to three playoff appearances and the Dolphins to a surprise AFC East division crown.
Geno Smith
There’s a case to be made that the 2013 NFL draft is the worst ever for quarterbacks. That said, West Virginia QB Geno Smith was the consensus top quarterback and widely expected to be a first-round pick.
Surprisingly, Florida State product EJ Manuel was the only QB to go in round one at No. 16 to the Buffalo Bills. Smith wouldn’t be taken until round two at No. 39 overall by the New York Jets, who were on their last thread with Mark Sanchez.
Smith showed some potential as a rookie in 2013, but was unable to build off that success. He spent 2015 to 2021 as a backup QB, only to be thrust into the Seattle Seahawks’ starting role after the Russell Wilson blockbuster trade.
Smith, of course, found his home in Seattle and led them to a surprise playoff appearance en route to Comeback Player of the Year honors. Smith guided Seattle to three straight winning seasons before getting traded to the Raiders in 2025, reuniting with head coach Pete Carroll.
Will Levis
Entering the 2023 NFL Draft, Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud were considered the two best quarterback prospects. Most agreed that Florida’s Anthony Richardson was No. 3, but that Kentucky’s Will Levis wasn’t far behind in terms of talent and NFL readiness.
As most expected, Young and Stroud went first and second overall to the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans, respectively. The Indianapolis Colts took Richardson third overall…and Levis presumably wouldn’t be far behind. Right? Right?!
Many thought the Las Vegas Raiders would take Levis in the seventh spot, but they took Texas Tech defensive end Tyree Wilson instead. What about the Tennessee Titans at 11? Nope…Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski.
Will Levis to the Washington Commanders at 16? Somebody else trade up for a QB? Anybody? Hello? Nope. In a big-time stunner, Levis went unselected in round one.
One of the more memorable moments of the 2023 draft broadcast was the shot of a confused Levis sitting with his then-girlfriend, Gia Duddy, waiting all night for his name to be called…to no avail. Finally, the Titans drafted him 33rd overall after trading up via the Arizona Cardinals.
Of course, the NFL teams who passed on Levis wound up being right. He had two lackluster seasons behind center in Music City, prompting the Titans to use the No. 1 pick of 2025 on Cam Ward.
Brady Quinn
Similar to Shedeur Sanders, Quinn was expected to be an early first-round pick with an outside shot of going No. 1 overall to the Oakland Raiders. In a franchise-killing move, though, the Raiders drafted future bust JaMarcus Russell with that pick.
The Browns ended Quinn’s surprising wait and fall when he went 22nd overall. But like Johnny Manziel, Tim Couch, and Brandon Weeden, Quinn’s career was destroyed early on a dysfunctional Browns franchise.
Derek Anderson, a memorable NFL one-hit wonder, had a career year in 2007 and kept Quinn on the sidelines. Quinn would make just 12 starts in Cleveland over three seasons, going 3-and-9 with 10 touchdowns and nine picks.
Quinn got one last chance to revive his career with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012, but to no avail. He was out of the league for good soon after.
The first round alone produced future Hall of Famers Joe Thomas, Darrelle Revis, Calvin Johnson, Patrick Willis, and future Canton member Adrian Peterson. Incredibly, though, the 2007 Draft Class didn’t produce a single quality NFL quarterback, thanks largely to Russell and Quinn going down as mega busts.
Boomer Esiason
AS expected, Esiason was the first quarterback taken in the 1984 NFL Draft. But the catch? He didn’t go until the second round at No. 38 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s correct…not a single quarterback was selected in round one.
Esiason was openly upset and distraught about waiting so late to be picked. The Washington Post quoted him as calling it “a slap in the face”, too. The good news is that he used his draft slide as motivation to carve out a stellar career for himself.
Esiason went on to earn four Pro Bowl selections and won MVP honors in 1988. He led the Bengals to their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history that year, but they fell to Joe Montana’s San Francisco 49ers in the big game.
One of the best quarterbacks ever NOT in the Hall of Fame, Esiason silenced his critics with 37,920 career passing yards and 247 touchdowns. Second-round pick? PFFFF.
Dan Marino
1983 set the golden standard for NFL quarterback draft classes. Six signal-callers were taken on day-one, and three of them went on to become Hall of Famers: John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.
As hard as it is to believe now, Marino was the last of the six quarterbacks taken in round one. It’s been suggested that Marino slipped because of rumors that he used recreational drugs, but the Miami Dolphins nonetheless took the chance and selected him 27th overall.
Marino stuck it to the teams that passed on him, though. If you take Super Bowl rings out of the equation, he was by far the best and most decorated quarterback of his era — no disrespect to Joe Montana, John Elway or Jim Kelly.
Marino earned nine Pro Bowl selections and led the NFL in passing yards five times. In his 1984 MVP-winning campaign, “Dan the Man” became the first quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season. That mark wouldn’t be achieved again for another 27 years.
Marino retired as the all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, though multiple quarterbacks have jumped ahead of him on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, a large part of his legacy is “the greatest QB who never won the Super Bowl.”
But for a guy who had to watch five QBs go ahead of him in round one, the Hall of Famer did pretty darn well…wouldn’t you say?
