With the anticipation of finally getting our franchise quarterback with the 2011 draft choice I began looking at the scouting reports of the top contenders IMO (Mallett, Luck, Locker, Ponder). Out of curiosity I looked back to what the experts said about Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf at the time. (sorry no linky...just copy and paste). Lets hope Nix doesn f#@k this up!
Tennessee's Peyton Manning and Washington State's Ryan Leaf have a chance to change that. They will go 1-2, or 2-1, in the April 18 draft to the Colts and Chargers, two bad teams.
So who is better? Manning vs. Leaf is the hot debate of this year's draft.
In the last three weeks, the Daily News polled a coach, GM or personnel director from 25 teams. The question: If you had the first pick, would you take Manning or Leaf? An overwhelming 20 said they would take Manning, three went for Leaf and two declined to give an opinion.
"If there is a more impressive guy in the country than Peyton Manning, I would be shocked," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said.
Bills GM John Butler would take Leaf. "He takes some hits and can buy extra time with his exceptional strength," he said. "He can look off people and get it done. You like the big, strong guys. It's a tough game where you take a lot of punishment."
Some of those picking Manning said they were just more familiar with him than Leaf. The bottom line: Manning may be the best-prepared quarterback to ever come into the NFL. He absorbed football through his father, Archie, and has a coach's understanding of the game. He's the safe pick with big-game experience and has a better chance to have success right away than Leaf.
Leaf is more physically imposing with a better arm; he's unshakable in the pocket, an aggressive, confident player who may have more long-term upside than Manning. Both, though, could be starters as rookies.