What Happened To Every #1 Pick From The 2000's

Today we are on a mission to find out exactly

what

happened

to

every

number one NFL draft

pick

of the

2000

s. Now

every

year it becomes clearer that any draft

pick

can be that diamond in the rough that a team is looking for. While in basketball the number one pick has a much better chance of becoming the best player, that is not always the case in football as there are many more rounds to go, stick around because I guarantee we are going to bring some memories. In this video that you completely forgot about, we are going to start with the 20th NFL draft that the Cleveland Browns had on the clock after finishing the 1999 season with a 2-4 record, this team needed help in almost every league positions.

This time I'll be honest with you, the only names you'll probably recognize from that list are Tim Couch because how are you going to forget a guy whose name is a piece of furniture and Phil Dawson was a kicker and for some reason? That's the name I remember most with the Browns. The first to take Courtney Brown in an attempt to bolster his defense, as they gave up 27.3 points per game the year before he left Penn State, he had all the skills that Scouts typically have. Look, he was pretty fast for a defensive end, stood at 6'4 tall and 285 pounds, and proved throughout his college career that he could perform well by being named the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in the 1999 season.

In addition to being a consensus All-American, he started out looking very promising during his rookie season, but after that, things began to decline rapidly for him, for some reason Brown simply couldn't stay healthy from his second season with knee and ankle injuries. He began to take a toll on her and his performance. Sometimes things like that happen in the NFL. One of the most physically demanding sports in the world is played every week. Some players get hurt a lot more than others, which has been unfortunate since 2002. Through 2004, Brown was only able to be on the field for 26 total games and recorded just eight sacks during that time.

Once it became clear that he was not going to be able to recover sufficiently, the Browns decided to cut their losses and release him during the 2005 offseason, Brown decided to sign with the Broncos, where he also did not perform up to their standards and was cut after the season ended, ultimately ending his NFL career since his retirement. Brown certainly hasn't spent much time in the spotlight. It's very difficult for me to understand

what

he's really been doing these days. I saw something that said he had been doing missionary work in the Dominican Republic but I can't confirm 100% if that's true or not as he doesn't have any social media now 2001 was quite a different story, this was a complete rollercoaster of a draft pick.

The Falcons needed a piece that could turn this entire franchise around, so what better option than a quarterback. They had three quarterbacks on their roster during the

2000

season. Chris Chandler Danny Canel and Doug Johnson Some of you watching may not have heard of any of those guys, but Chandler led them to a 14-2 season in 1998, in addition to leading them to the Super Bowl before losing to the Broncos. 34 to 9, the problem was he was now in his mid 30s and most seasons didn't go the same way for Chandler, it was kind of a one season deal where they were really good and then not so good, so the Falcons decided Go with Virginia Tech's Michael Vic, this guy, when healthy, was nothing less than a video game character for the way he handled the football and, in my opinion, had the potential to be a top 10 player in terms of of the best players of all time. career backing up Chris Chandler in the 2001 season, but after a mediocre 7-9 season, the Falcons decided to give him the keys to the Cadillac.

Once he got those keys in 2002, it was like a whole new engine was unlocked for that car Vic drove. For 777 yards in the year he led the league with an average of 6.9 yards per attempt and a total of 24 touchdowns in the season, leading the Falcons to a 96 and 1 record before losing to the Eagles in the divisional round after an unfortunate injury in which he broke his leg. In a meaningless preseason game, Vic picked up right where he left off in 2004, leading the Falcons to a record of 11 and 5 rushing for 902 yards and once again leading the league in yards per attempt with 7.5, continuing that level of game during the 2006 season, where he became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, but just when everything was going well for him, Vic made the worst decision of his entire career that it would ultimately ruin his image. 2007 Vic was suspended indefinitely after pleading guilty. to a dogfighting scheme where bets were placed on who would win, as you can imagine, this disgusting behavior received a hefty suspension for 2 years, but many people believe that he should never have played football again once he returned with the Eagles.

He took a chance on him and you know who his coach was at the time, good old Andy Reed, so if you like the Chiefs you can't complain too much about this one. You know Coach Reed is a good guy at heart. Vic finished. Reliving his career somewhat in Philadelphia for just two seasons in 2010 and 2011, including being selected to the Pro Bowl in 2010 and winning the Comeback Player of the Year award once his time with the Eagles ended, although his career was all but over In 2014 he ended up on the Jets without doing much with them and then on the Steelers in 2015 only playing in five games because Ben Essberger was injured during that time.

Honestly, things could have been very different for Vic if he had never gotten involved in it. Quite a dogfighting mess, but bad decisions like that will come back to haunt you in ways you could never imagine. By the end of his career, Vic had four appearances under his name since he retired from football in 2016. Vic has done a lot of different things. In particular, he has been doing valuable commentary for Fox Sports as an NFL analyst. Since 2002, the Texans decided to go a similar route by selecting a quarterback with the number one pick, except this didn't work out the same for them.

It would be fair for the Falcons to be fair, although of all the quarterbacks in this draft class, none of them really amounted to much, so there was no perfect pick. Houston took David Carr in hopes that he could turn this team around and lead them to some success that didn't happen, of course, blame All Fall on a quarterback in a situation like this, but their offensive line didn't do him any good either. favor in his Five Seasons with the car of the team that led the league in being fired. three of them, meaning either those guys weren't doing their job well enough or Carr was simply holding the ball too long.

It seemed to me that it was a combination of both. The best of his time with Houston was in 2006 when he surprisingly led the league in completion percentage, but that didn't really help the team much and after that he went to Carolina with the Panthers. He only played in six games total and finished with an initial record of 1 and 3 during his time. There, after his career with the Panthers, Carr never started a single game again in his career, he played in games here and there, but for the most part the teams he went to already had their starting quarterbacks instead.

Carr ended up getting it himself. However, a ring as part of the New York Giants after they defeated the Patriots in the 2012 Super Bowl after retiring, Car joined NFL Network as an analyst, but some of his opinions are a bit exaggerated, to say the least. At least, what he did recently. I say Jaylen Herdz should be benched for Marcus Mariota last season. I don't know if I agree with that since in 2003 the Bengals were on the clock after a 2nd and 4 season in which John Kitna Achill Smith and Gus Verat were quarterbacks on the roster clearly that situation was not working out too well, so they drafted the best quarterback on the board in Carson Palmer, unlike most number one picks, Palmer didn't actually play at all during his rookie season, instead learning the ropes. of the position at the NFL level during games and in practice, once he was given a chance in 2004, he was a little shaky with Palmer throwing as many interceptions as touchdowns, but that seemed to be exactly what he needed because in the season 2005 everything turned around Palmer led the Bengals to a record of 11 and 5 in addition to leading the league in touchdowns and completion percentage.

This was enough to earn the first non-Pro Bowl of his career and the Bengals truly had a chance to make the playoffs their wild card. That year's game was against the Pittsburgh Steelers and unfortunately, disaster struck at Cincinnati's second center with Palmer tearing his ACL. Now the Bengals lost that game, but the franchise still had a lot of hope for their future. He made some noise during His comeback season he once again made the Pro Bowl, but things started to go downhill for him after 2006, in 2007, Palmer threw for over 4,000 yards, which might seem good, but also He led the league in interceptions thrown and then was injured once again in 2008 after starting the season 0 and 4 for the rest of his time in Cincinnati they were unable to make it past the wild card game and Palmer ended up being traded to the Raiders in 2011.

The The same type of play continued while he was with Oakland until he ended up with the Cardinals in 2013, then something magical

happened

, his career completely changed, even though they didn't make the playoffs in his first year as the Cardinals quarterback, it led them to a 10-6 record which was a big turnaround from the previous season where they finished just 5-11 now Palmer had some much needed star power to help him along the way with the names of Larry Fitzgerald Prime Patrick Peterson at that time on defense and a couple others, but if the quarterback play is bad, then the whole team is just dysfunctional and nothing is going to work, so Palmer did his job very well the next season when the Week 10 around Palmer and the Cardinals were cruising along with a 7-1 record until once again Eric Iona's chances were destroyed when Palmer tore his ACL against the Rams in the fourth quarter, however, he was a fighter and He returned just one season later to lead them to a 13 and 3 record, leading the league in qbr as well as leading the league in winning drives, he was decisive, he was everything. that Cardinals fans wanted him to go that year and they looked great, but something was wrong at the end of that season, they slipped away from the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs and then were knocked off by the Panthers in the game of NFC championship.

Once again, Palmer was dealing with an injury that was downplayed and later confirmed by Larry Fitzgerald. A dislocation of his right index finger would be the cause of the Cardinals' downfall that season, which pretty much sums up Palmer's entire career right there, when he was completely healthy, he could hang. with the best of them and be a great quarterback, but the injuries took a huge toll on his body and at the end of the day the job was never fully completed after losing in the playoffs to the Panthers in that 2015 season 16. Palmer played only two. more years with the Cardinals before retiring from the league, ending with three Pro Bowl appearances and plenty of trouble for Cincinnati and Arizona fans today.

Palmer spends his time being a busy father to his children in Sun Valley, Idaho. He likes to spend his time fishing and hunting. He also partnered with an Idaho campaign dedicated to curing children diagnosed with cancer called Camp Rainbow. Gold. Since 2004, there would have to be some comment from this quarterback's fan base by the time his career was over. Eli Manning was chosen first overall. for the Chargers, but he was traded on draft night to the New York Giants because he refused to play for San Diego because he was concerned about their organization at the time.

Now Manning started his career a little slow, but that's pretty normal for rookies to drop his level. feet in the water before fully diving in and playing well in Year 2. Eli looked much more comfortable on offense and things started to fall into place and they finished 11 and 5, although the Panthers and Giants beat them in the first round of the playoffs. The future looked bright and that was confirmed when they defeated the Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl. This was a complete miracle for the Giants. Eli finished the regular season with the most interceptions in the league and they still managed to defeat the best player in football. that we've seen to date in the screenshot of Tom Brady's helmet David Tyree made this Super Bowl an instant classic, but Eli and the Giants weren't doneover there;

They would return to the Super Bowl once again in 2012 against none other than Tom Brady and For the Patriots, this was a very similar story to 2008, when the Giants came back into this game from a 9-17 deficit to overcome the Patriots. . The NFC East was truly Brady's kryptonite if you look back and you can mainly thank Eli Manning. Because after that Super Bowl victory, Eli seemed to have exhausted all of his magical desire because he would once again lead the league in interceptions and the Giants began to play worse and worse. Wishes well spent, although I have to say that any time you can beat Brady is definitely worth it.

Manning was selected to one more Pro Bowl in the 2015 season before ending his career in 2012. I have to say that Eli seemed foolish at times, making decisions here and there where all you could really do was just shake your head, but in the end At the end of the day, Eli did exactly what the Giants needed him to do, go out and win football games when it mattered most in those two Super Bowls. Eli will always be known as a Giants legend and I want to know your thoughts in the comments section below, do you think he did enough to become a Hall of Famer since he retired?

Eli has been very busy working with multiple brands as Corona is half of the Manning cast that airs on ESPN during Monday Night Football games and is apparently looking to own sports teams in the future. 2005 was another wild ride of ups and downs and his captain of this ride went by the name Alex Smith, he was selected number one overall by the San Francisco 49ers and his career got off to an atrocious start: one thrown touchdown and 11 interceptions for Smith in his rookie season had to leave fans wondering how the hell I picked this guy, was Smith a bad choice or what exactly was going on here now?

I know I said newbies usually struggle, but not that much. After that start, people began to wonder if he was really going to last in the NFL and, if he did, would it be for him? However, during that time he returned with better performance in his second season, but it was still clear that he was not playing at the level that the ners needed. The following season Smith would encounter the first physical obstacle of many that separates his career. AC joint in his shoulder and being shut down after playing only seven games, he would then break a bone in the same shoulder before the following year began, causing him to miss the entire 2008 season and, once he returned, Smith in He actually played much better.

Even though he had to deal with a few more injuries along the way when he was on the field, things were going well for the team. His best year with the Ners came in 2011, where they finished 13th and 3rd before losing to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game. In another season in which he suffered an injury in 2012, the 49ers traded Smith to the Chiefs, this paired him with Andy Reed and was also where Smith played his best overall football. The best part of this whole experience for him in Kansas City was that he was finally fully healthy, he led the Chiefs to a positive record each season and the team even made three Pro Bowl appearances, but unfortunately they couldn't get the job done when most mattered in the playoffs after the 2017 season they sent Smith to.

The Redskins where he faced the biggest challenge imaginable in a game against the Houston Texans on November 18th was tackled by Kareem Jackson and JJ Watt in the backfield what at first seemed like a normal act turned into the biggest battle of his career. Smith who had broken. his tibia and fibula during that play this injury was much more than meii even though it was absolutely disgusting to look at Smith had to go through 17 different surgeries his leg at one point turned black and he was diagnosed with a flesh eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis and just when it seemed like all hope was completely lost, like Alex Smith would never play professional football again, the unthinkable happened, he fought and fought and finally returned to the league in the 2020 season, won the Comeback Player of the Year award and ended his career .

On a positive note as an absolute warrior, I take my hat off to Alex Smith for being one of the strongest and most dedicated athletes I have personally seen after his NFL career concluded. Smith joined ESPN as an NFL analyst for Monday Night Sports Center and Countdown and this. Poor guy had to deal with his daughter having a brain tumor that required multiple surgeries to remove. Now, in 2006, we took our second Defender at number one and it would be with the Houston Texans who decided to go defensive and take out Mario Williams. NC State, he was extremely strong, fast for his position and of course had a knack for rushing the quarterback.

There was a lot of debate about whether Reggie Bush should have gone No. 1 overall, but at the end of the day the Texans decided against it. Go with them because of quote unquote character issues. Williams still turned out great for Houston, although in just his second season he had a breakout year, leading all other Texans defenders in terms of sacks that season and even scoring a third of them. team's total defensive touchdowns, followed up with two consecutive Pro Bowl seasons before Williams began missing some time after being injured in 2011 and being placed on injured reserve. Mario became a free agent during the offseason.

Once all the dust settled, Williams was done. on the Buffalo Bills, where he would continue to play at a dominant level even though he made two more Pro Bowls during his time with Buffalo, they never had what it took to make a good career; in fact the Bills didn't even make the playoffs while Williams was part of that list that sucked to see that after the 2015 season ended he was a free agent once again and surprisingly made it to the Dolphins who are one of the rivals of the Bills division. Williams signed a 2-year contract with them in the off-season, but he would only play one of those before being released and retiring from the NFL.

Since he retired Williams has simply been really focused on spending more time with his kids. . There was an incident in 2019 where Williams apparently broke into his ex's house and was arrested for it, but she later stated that he wanted the charges dropped and he was ultimately punished with a misdemeanor. 2007 was a unique case, it was one of the biggest failures in NFL history. JaMarcus Russell was picked first overall, he was a beast in college at LSU had skills that simply couldn't be taught as a coach. The Scouts loved his arm strength and size at the quarterback position, but unfortunately the Raiders had the number one pick, who at the time kept making bad decisions.

At the time, Al Davis insisted that they draft Russell and that he would be a savior for that franchise, while on the other hand, the head coach at the time, Lane Kein, wanted them to draft the future Hall of Fame wide receiver. Fame, Calvin Johnson. In hindsight, it's 2020 and Megatron in The End of the Day was a much better choice. Russell immediately started his career on a sour note by holding out all through training camp and the first week of the season because he wanted a better rookie contract even though Russell and the Raiders finally arrived.

By the way, he only played in four games during his rookie season and didn't play very well, as we talk about a lot in this video, although many times rookies will struggle and then bounce back during their second season. That was the case for Russell, as he played a little better, but not too well, finishing the 2008 season with 2,423 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The really ugly statistic was his 12 fumbles on the season, we were able to hold on to that football. but fumbles would become the least of the Raiders' problems with Russell starting in 2009. Dem Marcus's uncle and father figure ended up passing away from heart disease in April and then, in July, another of his uncles died of a heart attack that he actually caused led to him losing control at the beginning of the season, all that grieving in the offseason left Russell at 305 pounds and he clearly wasn't ready to play football both mentally and physically, this was shown when the season ended. 2009 season with an initial record of 2-7 in throwing for only three touchdowns and 11 interceptions, Oakland at that time tired of Russell and he was released in the offseason that would end up being the last time anyone saw JaMarcus Russell play in the NFL after his NFL.

The journey was over Russell attempted to return to several teams, but was never able to return to a roster in 2018. He began working for Williamson High School as a quarterbacks coach in hopes of developing the young athletes there into future college players. NFL in 2008, the Miami Dolphins. They were on the clock on the number one pick and decided to bolster their offensive line with Jake Long. This turned out to be a great pick for them as he would begin his career with four consecutive Pro Bowl appearances along with one all-pro appearance during the 2009 season. He also became the highest-paid offensive lineman in history at the time and accepted a 5-year, 57.5 million contract with the Dolphins.

During his rookie season, he only gave up two and a half sacks all year. I saw this thread. on Reddit asking if he could be considered a bust, that doesn't make any sense to me because Long was one of, if not the best left tackle in all of football during his time with Miami now, after his time with the Dolphins, that argument could use a little more common sense because he was injured a lot, but I really don't think you can put all the blame on him. He wishes he could talk a lot more, but offensive lineman jobs aren't too flashy, get out there and stop. the defender got to his quarterback, which is exactly what he did, he did his job very well when he was healthy since he retired, he spent most of his time just being with his two sons and rounding things out in 2009, the The Detroit Lions were in the After an embarrassing 0-for-6 season the year before, they needed a change at the helm and they needed it badly, so they went and drafted quarterback Matthew Stafford, No. 1 overall out of Georgia, the Things didn't start looking good right away for Detroit though once he was drafted. as he missed six games during his rookie season due to various knee and shoulder injuries, as well as throwing 20 interceptions in the 10 games he played, and once again in 2010 he injured his shoulder, which ultimately ended his season after However, Stafford did not give up in just three games total, as he won the Player of the Year award upon his return in 2011 and led the Lions to a much better record of 10 and six, in addition to pitching for more than 5,000 yards that season, Detroit was leaning.

A lot is riding on Stafford to turn this franchise around, probably more than any other NFL team, as they consistently ended up leading the league in attempts per game, although his time in Detroit did not lead to any playoff success for the Lions. Stafford and Calvin Johnson saved this team from being a complete disgrace in the early 2010s in 2014, Stafford made his first pro bowl and led the league in winning drives and fourth quarter comebacks. Another thing I noticed when looking at the stats is that in 2016 Stafford led the Lions to a 9-7 record and you might be thinking okay, that's pretty mediocre, but what's amazing is that eight of those games were won in game-winning drives. led by Stafford.

It's quite remarkable that this guy was decisive and highly underrated due to his playoff success and overall pieces around him, it wasn't until 2021 when Stafford finally found himself on a team that had a real shot at winning it all. . Los Angeles Rams, he teamed up with players like Aaron Donald Jaylen Ramsay and even went out and got Bon Miller at the trade deadline to make this defense an absolute powerhouse and push for a title. Cooper Cop emerged as one of the NFL's best receivers that year due to his connection with Stafford on the offensive end and made the most Super Bowl appearance of his career by beating the Bengals by a final score of 23 to 20.

Stafford is the only player on this list still playing to this day and recently led the Rams to another playoff appearance along with making his second Pro Bowl on a team that was written off by almost everyone before Before the season began, several sources had the Rams finishing under five wins all season, but Stafford continues to prove the haters wrong now, if you guys enjoyed this video, maybe. Check these out too. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel for more NFL content.