As you may have heard, the Giants are in the market for a quarterback. Eli Manning isn’t getting any younger, isn’t getting any better and the team has just one playoff appearance since winning Super Bowl XLVI. With the sixth overall pick in last week’s draft, New York appeared to find its heir apparent to Eli by taking Duke quarterback Daniel Jones. Let’s just say the move was… controversial… amongst fans and pundits.
Jones is far from the first draft pick that’s been booed on draft night. But just because fans dislike a pick in the immediate aftermath, it doesn’t mean that player is set to stink. In some cases, in fact, it’s just the opposite. Here are some notable former first-rounders who, despite being cast aside by fans, turned out to be home run selections, which is what the Giants are hoping to get with Jones.
Travis Frederick:
The pundits didn’t like it, the fans didn’t like it and yet the Cowboys “reached” by taking the Wisconsin offensive lineman with the 31st pick in 2013. He shut up the critics quickly, though, having started all 80 games thus far in his career at center, making four Pro Bowls and being named an All-Pro in 2016. But he’s not even the least-liked draft-night selection on the Cowboys O-line…
Zack Martin:
A year after selecting Frederick in the first round, Dallas fans everywhere were infatuated with Johnny Manziel. Convinced they were taking the Texas A&M product as the quarterback of the future, instead they were alerted that, for the second year in a row, the team was drafting an offensive lineman.
It did not go over well.
What did go well, though, was the aftermath. Johnny Football’s saga is well-documented. Martin, meanwhile, is a three-time All-Pro and arguably the best guard in the league, anchoring one of the best offensive lines in football when healthy.
Eli Manning:
This one isn’t so much about the player’s ability as it is the situation. Eli Manning went first overall to the Chargers in the 2004 draft, and the booed rained down on him. That’s not because the fans didn’t want him… it’s that he didn’t want them. In the weeks leading up to the draft Manning made it clear he would not play for San Diego. His time with the franchise was short-lived, as a few picks later the Giants nabbed Philip Rivers, the two teams made a trade, and the rest is history.
Donovan McNabb:
He has a bit of a love-hate relationship with the city, but it was all hate when the quarterback was selected second overall in 1999 by Philly. How did McNabb respond? He became the Eagles’ all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, completions and wins. He led them to four straight NFC title games, plus a Super Bowl appearance. Folks criticize him for not getting over the hump, but six Pro Bowls and eight playoff appearances over the course of a decade should be enough to show those draft-night booes were misguided.
Mitch Trubisky:
The jury is still out on whether Trubisky will have been worth the No. 2 overall selection in 2017, but the return so far is promising. The draft-night reaction when he was selected was fine, but the next night at the Bulls game wasn’t as warm of a welcome for the UNC product.
Still, from Year 1 to Year 2 the Bears’ record went from 5-11 to 12-4 and a first-place finish in the NFC North. Trubisky jumped from seven touchdowns as a rookie to 24 last season, and improved his completion percentage from 59.4 to 66.6 percent.
JJ Watt:
The boos were so loud that Watt still keeps the video of his draft selection on his phone. The 11th overall pick in 2011 by the Texans, fans hated the pick for the guy who was once a walk-on at Wisconsin. They certainly can’t hate him now as he’s won three Defensive Player of the Year awards, been named an All-Pro five times, helped heal the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and is making a case as one of the most feared defensive players of all-time.
