Every No. 1 Overall Pick From 1980 to 2023, Ranked by Career Value

By NFL Records · Updated September 28, 2026

Being the first player taken guarantees nothing. Of the 44 No. 1 overall picks from 1980 through 2023, 31 made at least one Pro Bowl and 5 reached the Hall of Fame. Quarterbacks account for 24 of them.

The median No. 1 pick in this period finished with a career AV of 64.5.

Rank	Player	Pos	Year	Team	College	Games	Pro Bowls	Career AV
1	Peyton Manning	QB	1998	IND	Tennessee	266	14	176
2	Bruce Smith	DE	1985	BUF	Virginia Tech	279	11	152
3	John Elway	QB	1983	BAL	Stanford	234	9	140
4	Matthew Stafford	QB	2009	DET	Georgia	241	3	133
5	Eli Manning	QB	2004	SDG	Mississippi	236	4	121
6	Cam Newton	QB	2011	CAR	Auburn	148	3	115
7	Carson Palmer	QB	2003	CIN	USC	182	3	107
8	Jared Goff	QB	2016	LAR	California	153	5	106
9	Drew Bledsoe	QB	1993	NWE	Washington St.	194	4	105
10	Orlando Pace	T	1997	STL	Ohio St.	169	7	104
11	Myles Garrett	DE	2017	CLE	Texas A&M	135	7	104
12	Alex Smith	QB	2005	SFO	Utah	174	3	98
13	Vinny Testaverde	QB	1987	TAM	Miami (FL)	233	2	97
14	Troy Aikman	QB	1989	DAL	UCLA	165	6	96
15	Michael Vick	QB	2001	ATL	Virginia Tech	143	4	92
16	Irving Fryar	WR	1984	NWE	Nebraska	255	5	80
17	Baker Mayfield	QB	2018	CLE	Oklahoma	125	2	80
18	Keyshawn Johnson	WR	1996	NYJ	USC	167	3	79
19	Mario Williams	DE	2006	HOU	North Carolina St.	158	4	79
20	Andrew Luck	QB	2012	IND	Stanford	86	4	72
21	Kyler Murray	QB	2019	ARI	Oklahoma	88	2	71
22	Jeff George	QB	1990	IND	Illinois	131	0	66
23	Jadeveon Clowney	DE	2014	HOU	South Carolina	154	3	63
24	Jameis Winston	QB	2015	TAM	Florida St.	109	1	63
25	Joe Burrow	QB	2020	CIN	LSU	79	3	63
26	Eric Fisher	T	2013	KAN	Central Michigan	132	2	62
27	Russell Maryland	DT	1991	DAL	Miami (FL)	154	1	60
28	Dan Wilkinson	DT	1994	CIN	Ohio St.	195	0	60
29	Billy Sims	RB	1980	DET	Oklahoma	60	3	58
30	Jake Long	T	2008	MIA	Michigan	104	4	54
31	Trevor Lawrence	QB	2021	JAX	Clemson	79	1	52
32	George Rogers	RB	1981	NOR	South Carolina	92	2	46
33	David Carr	QB	2002	HOU	Fresno St.	94	0	45
34	Sam Bradford	QB	2010	STL	Oklahoma	83	0	44
35	Kenneth Sims	DE	1982	NWE	Texas	74	0	31
36	Tim Couch	QB	1999	CLE	Kentucky	62	0	30
37	Courtney Brown	DE	2000	CLE	Penn St.	61	0	27
38	Travon Walker	DE	2022	JAX	Georgia	65	0	26
39	Aundray Bruce	LB	1988	ATL	Auburn	151	0	24
40	Bryce Young	QB	2023	CAR	Alabama	48	0	23
41	Bo Jackson	RB	1986	TAM	Auburn	38	1	22
42	Steve Emtman	DE	1992	IND	Washington	50	0	13
43	Ki-Jana Carter	RB	1995	CIN	Penn St.	59	0	11
44	JaMarcus Russell	QB	2007	OAK	LSU	31	0	6

Data: nflverse draft data (compiled from Pro Football Reference), 1980–2026 drafts. Career outcomes are only compared for classes through 2023, since more recent players are still early in their careers. "Approximate Value" (AV) is Pro Football Reference's single-number estimate of a player's career contribution; it is useful for comparing careers across positions but is not a precise measure. Updated September 28, 2026.