NFL Draft with John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino hits 40th anniversary: Six numbers on the famed QB class

Wednesday marks the 40-year anniversary of the 1983 NFL Draft, which many consider the greatest QB class of all time. 

Here are six numbers to celebrate the iconic class:

6 — QBs drafted in first round

The 1983 NFL Draft produced six quarterbacks selected in the first round, a draft record. Only three classes have even produced five first-round QBs (1999, 2018 and 2021).

The draft was clearly ahead of its time. Prior to 1983, there had never been a draft in the common draft era (since 1967) where more than three quarterbacks were taken in the first round. From 1967-82, there were nearly three times as many running backs as quarterbacks (76 to 27) drafted in the first round. The 1983 draft featured the first class in the modern era where more quarterbacks (six) were taken in the first round than running backs (four), which is unheard of today. 

5 — First-round QBs drafted by AFC East teams

Remarkedly, all five AFC East teams at the time drafted a quarterback in the first round. Talk about an arms race. It was perhaps the closest thing to today’s QB landscape, which boasts an absurd amount of blue-chip QB talent in the AFC. Of course, Elway was traded to the Broncos after the draft so only four truly walked away with a first-round QB.

4 — First-round QBs to start a Super Bowl

Four of the six first-round quarterbacks started a Super Bowl in their careers. The quartet of Elway (five starts), Kelly (four starts), Marino (one start) and Eason (one start) combined to start 11 Super Bowls in a 16-season span from 1983-98. Kelly is the only signal-caller to ever start four straight Super Bowls. The 1983 draft class is the only one to produce four quarterbacks who started a Super Bowl and their 11 combined Super Bowl starts are the most by any quarterback class, ahead of 2000 (all 10 by Tom Brady).

3 — First-round QBs in Pro Football Hall of Fame

Only one draft class has produced three Hall of Fame quarterbacks (John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino): 1983. They could be joined by the class (Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger) in the near future. 

When Marino retired following the 1999 season, they were three of the top 10 all-time passing yards leaders. Marino and Elway actually ranked 1-2, and Kelly would have ranked higher than 10th had he not played several seasons in the USFL.

2 — MVP QBs from 1983 class

Two quarterbacks from the famed class of ’83 would win an MVP. Marino won in 1984 by shattering the NFL records for touchdown passes (48) and passing yards in a season (5,084). The previous mark for touchdown passes in a season prior to ’84 was 36 by George Blanda (1961) and Y.A. Tittle (1963). Marino authored the first 5,000-yard passing season, a feat that wouldn’t be duplicated for another 24 years when Drew Brees did it in 2008. Elway won the award in 1987 while leading Denver to a Super Bowl appearance, which they lost to Washington. 

1 — Super Bowl-winning QB from 1983 class

Elway is surprisingly the only Super Bowl-winning quarterback from this class. He won back-to-back championships in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, and is the only player to win Super Bowl MVP in his final NFL game. The ’83 class sported a record of 2-9 in Super Bowls, which would be the biggest counter argument for this being the greatest QB class of all time. The 2004 quarterback class went 4-1 in Super Bowls (all by Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger).

Besides their Super Bowl record, the 1983 QB class is relatively unblemished and the measuring stick by which all other QB classes will be judged. Forty years later, another heralded QB class is on the doorstep of draft day. They could set several draft marks. Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis could be the first quarterbacks to go 1-2-3-4 in a draft, or mark the first time four quarterbacks go in the top five. If Hendon Hooker sneaks into the first round, it’ll be the fifth QB class to produce five first-round quarterbacks. 

Only time will tell if they are eventually worth a comparison to the class of 1983.