Ranking the 5 NFL QBs drafted before future Hall of Famer Russell Wilson ft. Andrew Luck, Brock Osweiler, and more
Russell Wilson has given us plenty of great moments in the NFL, including winning the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. He and the Denver Broncos, who he joined this season, are currently struggling to reach the heights they had envisaged. To put his struggles into perspective, we thought we would check all the other quarterbacks drafted before him in the 2012 NFL Draft and how they fared.
Russell Wilson was the sixth quarterback taken on the field that year. Before him, Andrew Luck was the first overall pick, followed by Robert Griffin III as the next pick. They went to the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington franchise, respectively.
With the eighth pick of the draft, the Miami Dolphins picked Ryan Tannehill. Brandon Weeden was selected 22nd overall by the Cleveland Browns to round up all the quarterbacks taken in the first round.
The second round saw only one quarterback drafted. Brock Osweiler was taken with the 57th pick by Russell Wilson's current team, the Denver Broncos. In the third round, as the 75th overall pick, Russell Wilson was selected by the Seattle Seahawks.
2012 QB Draft Class:
1. Andrew Luck: 185 TOT TD
2. Robert Griffin III: 53 TOT TD
8. Ryan Tannehill: 235 TOT TD
75. Russell Wilson: 324 TOT TD
88. Nick Foles: 88 TOT TD
102. Kirk Cousins: 259 TOT TD
This class was ELITE 👀 https://t.co/7uELVWT85V
Here is how each of them fared in the NFL.
How did Russell Wilson's contemporaries fare in the NFL?
#5 - Brandon Weeden
Brandon Weeden joined the Cleveland Browns following on from his baseball career and, at 28 years of age, was the oldest first-round selection ever. He played two seasons with the Browns but was characterized by uneven plays and injuries. He was let go after the 2013 season and played as a backup for various teams until 2018. He never made it to the Pro Bowl.
#4 - Brock Osweiler
Brock Osweiler served as the backup to Peyton Manning from 2012 to 2015. Memorably, though, when he relieved Manning in the last of these years, he contributed to making sure that the Broncos made the playoffs. Manning would later return to guide the team to a Super Bowl victory. He signed with the Houston Texans the following year but was bust, and his career went downhill. He never won any Pro Bowls but did retire with a Super Bowl ring.
#3 - Robert Griffin III
Robert Griffin III had a great rookie season and took the Washington franchise to the playoffs in his rookie year. In the process, he won Pro Bowl honors and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year. But a severe injury in the playoffs affected his career trajectory, and by 2015, he had lost his starting place to fellow 2012 draftee Kirk Cousins. A case study of what could have been.
#2 - Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Tannehill is the only one other than Russell Wilson still playing in the NFL. He had an underwhelming and disruptive career at the Miami Dolphins but did reinvent himself since joining the Tennessee Titans in 2019. That year, he won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award and made it to the Pro Bowl. He has not been to the Pro Bowl since and is currently fending off interest in his starting spot from Malik Willis.
#1 - Andrew Luck
The first overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft was arguably the most accomplished as well. He was a Pro Bowler every year from 2012 to 2014 and was the league's passing touchdown leader in 2014. But injuries saw him struggle over the next couple of years.
He missed the entirety of 2017 due to injury but returned in 2018 as the NFL Comeback Player of the Year and made it to the Pro Bowl again. However, persistent problems with injuries saw him quit the NFL in 2019.