Rumor and innuendo?...Really?...A quick Google news search for the first four months of 1998 reveals lots and lots of rumor and innuendo...
"Leaf and Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning are undoubtedly the class of this year's draft."
""I think the consensus of opinion is that two guys like (Manning and Leaf) don't come along very often," Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard said."
...
Good lord, the parallels to this year's draft are stunning... San Diego traded up to #2 from #3 (yes, number THREE) to ensure they got either Manning or Leaf...
Now again, it's not that I think Luck (or RG3) will be busts, or that Fitz will lead us to the promised land...But you can't shoehorn the story of Leaf/Manning 14 years later into some revisionist argument that Luck is a surefire bet for Canton and everybody knew Leaf would be a bust and so Fitz should die homeless and penniless and 20 pounds overweight and that nobody will ever love him...But it is a free world, so I will go ahead and take you up on that offer to think whatever I wish...