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NFL Rankings: Top 10 seasons by a rookie QB

By Phil Watson

Dan Marino might have been the last of the first round picks in the famous 1983 quarterback draft, but he was the first to shine in the NFL.
Dan Marino might have been the last of the first round picks in the famous 1983 quarterback draft, but he was the first to shine in the NFL. /
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Jim Kelly's arrival with the Buffalo Bills was delayed three years. It was worth the wait.
Jim Kelly’s arrival with the Buffalo Bills was delayed three years. It was worth the wait. /

5. Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills, 1986

Jim Kelly’s arrival in Buffalo was delayed by a few years; the Bills had drafted him 14th overall in the loaded 1983 draft out of Miami and Kelly did not want to play in the cold and held out before signing with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL in 1984.

With the Gamblers, Kelly set all sorts of passing records, throwing for 5,219 yards and 44 touchdowns while winning USFL MVP honors in 1984.

But after the USFL suspended operations in early 1986, Kelly signed with the Bills and launched a Hall of Fame career in the place he once did not want to play.

As a rookie, Kelly completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 3,593 yards and 22 touchdowns with 17 interceptions and ran for 199 yards.

He started all 16 games for the 4-12 Bills, but he had Buffalo in the playoffs just two years later.

Kelly threw for a season-high 342 yards on 29-of-39 passing with three touchdowns in a 34-28 loss at Tampa Bay on Nov. 2, and topped the 300-yard plateau one other time in 1986.

His passer rating of 83.3 compared to the league collective in 1986 of 74.1.

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