NFL Draft: The Greatest 1st Overall Picks Ever

Roman Gabriel . 29. player. 28. One of those first really big quarterbacks the NFL hadn’t seen before. Roman Gabriel blew into pro football at 6’5″, 220 lbs. That was massive for back in the 1960s. Yet it wasn’t the size that defenses feared. Gabriel turned out to be a pretty good quarterback on top of it. He was taken 1st overall by the Oakland Raiders in the old AFL, but elected to play for the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL instead. Twice he led the league in passing touchdowns, reached four Pro Bowls and got the team to the playoffs twice. <p> </p> <p>He capped everything with an MVP award in 1969. If not for the Lombardi Packers and the Purple People Eater Vikings, he might’ve had a shot at winning a championship given how talented those Rams teams were at the time. Eight seasons he posted a winning record and made Comeback Player of the Year after being traded to Philadelphia in 1973. It was a great career that future big quarterbacks would use as a guideline for success.</p>. QB. North Carolina State