1983 NFL Draft

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The 1983 NFL Draft is also frequently known as the Quarterback class of 1983, because of the six quarterbacks taken in the first round. Of these quarterbacks, four played in the Super Bowl, and three made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Overall, four players from the first round of this draft have, to date, made the Hall of Fame (John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino).

The next highest number of quarterbacks taken in the first round was five, in the 1999 NFL Draft (with Donovan McNabb having the most success.)

What is of interesting note is that all six quarterbacks were drafted by AFC teams. In the sixteen years following the draft, 11 times the AFC was represented in the Super Bowl by a team led by a quarterback taken in the first round: the Denver Broncos by Elway, the Miami Dolphins by Marino, the Buffalo Bills by Kelly, or the New England Patriots by Tony Eason.

[edit] Round one

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
1	Baltimore Colts	John Elway	QB	Stanford
2	Los Angeles Rams	Eric Dickerson	RB	SMU
3	Seattle Seahawks	Curt Warner	RB	Penn State
4	Denver Broncos	Chris Hinton	OL	Northwestern
5	San Diego Chargers	Billy Ray Smith	LB	Arkansas
6	Chicago Bears	Jim Covert	OL	Pittsburgh
7	Kansas City Chiefs	Todd Blackledge	QB	Penn State
8	Philadelphia Eagles	Michael Haddix	RB	Mississippi State
9	Houston Oilers	Bruce Matthews	OL	USC
10	New York Giants	Terry Kinard	DB	Clemson
11	Green Bay Packers	Tim Lewis	CB	Pittsburgh
12	Buffalo Bills	Tony Hunter	TE	Notre Dame
13	Detroit Lions	James Jones	FB	Florida
14	Buffalo Bills	Jim Kelly	QB	Miami (FL)
15	New England Patriots	Tony Eason	QB	Illinois
16	Atlanta Falcons	Mike Pitts	DE	Alabama
17	St. Louis Cardinals	Leonard Smith	CB	McNeese State
18	Chicago Bears	Willie Gault	WR	Tennessee
19	Minnesota Vikings	Joey Browner	DB	USC
20	San Diego Chargers	Gary Anderson	RB	Arkansas
21	Pittsburgh Steelers	Gabriel Rivera	DT	Texas Tech
22	San Diego Chargers	Gill Byrd	CB	San Jose State
23	Dallas Cowboys	Jim Jeffcoat	DE	Arizona State
24	New York Jets	Ken O'Brien	QB	UC Davis
25	Cincinnati Bengals	Dave Rimington	C	Nebraska
26	Los Angeles Raiders	Don Mosebar	OL	USC
27	Miami Dolphins	Dan Marino	QB	Pittsburgh
28	Washington Redskins	Darrell Green	CB	Texas A&M-Kingsville