Each NFL team’s QB we expected better from
By Brad Weiss
Los Angeles Chargers: Ryan Leaf
The story of Ryan Leaf is a sad one, filled with wasted potential, and a pension for blaming everybody but himself during his NFL career. For the Los Angeles Chargers franchise, he became the biggest miss in the history of the organization, and they were oh so close to getting one of the better quarterbacks in NFL history instead.
During the 1998 NFL Draft, two men stood alone in terms of who would be taken with the No. 1 overall pick. Both quarterbacks, Leaf and Tennessee signal-caller Peyton Manning were both coming off monster seasons at the college level, and the teams holding early picks were torn between the two.
When the Indianapolis Colts took Peyton Manning at No 1 overall, that meant the then-San Diego Chargers would get Leaf, who they deemed to be a franchise quarterback in his own right. Well, we all know how this story played out, as Manning is headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Leaf spent time in jail before turning his life around in recent years.
For Leaf, he was expected to be the savior in San Diego, becoming the next great quarterback for the Chargers since Dan Fouts. Instead, he spent only three seasons with the team, barely played due to injuries, and when he was on the field, he was an absolute mess. Overall, he is considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history.