Home > List of NFL first overall draft choices
American football National Football League
Year player, position, college. pro team
- 1936 Jay Berwanger, hb Chicago Philadelphia Eagles
- 1937 Sam Francis, fb Nebraska Philadelphia Eagles
- 1938 Corbett Davis, fb Indiana Cleveland Rams
- 1939 Ki Aldrich, c Texas Christrian Chicago Cardinals
- 1940 George Cafego, hb Tennessee Chicago Cardinals
- 1941 Tom Harmon, hb Michigan Chicago Bears
- 1942 Bill Dudley, hb Virginia Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1943 Frank Sinkwich, hb Georgia Detroit Lions
- 1944 Angelo Bertelli, qb Notre Dame Boston Yanks
- 1945 Charley Trippi, hb Georgia Chicago Cardinals
- 1946 Frank Dancewicz, qb Notre Dame Boston Yanks
- 1947 Bob Fenimore, hb Oklahoma State Chicago Bears
- 1948 Harry Gilmer, qb Alabama Washington Redskins
- 1949 Chuck Bednarik, c/lb Pennsylvania Philadelphia Eagles
- 1950 Leon Hart, e Notre Dame Detroit Lions
- 1951 Kyle Rote, hb SMU New York Giants
- 1952 Bill Wade, qb Vanderbilt Los Angeles Rams
- 1953 Harry Babcock, e Georgia San Francisco 49ers
- 1954 Bobby Garrett, qb Stanford Cleveland Browns
- 1955 George Shaw, qb Oregon Baltimore ColtsThere have been two unrelated American football teams called the Baltimore Colts based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first Colts team started in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 as the Miami Seahawks . They moved to Baltimore in 1947. In 1950, th
- 1956 Gary Glick, db Colorado A&M Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1957 Paul Hornung, hb Notre Dame Green Bay Packers
- 1958 King Hill, qb Rice Chicago Cardinals
- 1959 Randy Duncan, qb Iowa Green Bay Packers
- 1960 Billy Cannon, rb Louisiana State LA Rams (Signed with American Football League Houston Oilers)
- 1961 Tommy Mason, rb Tulane Minnesota Vikings
- 1962 Ernie Davis, rb Syracuse Washington Redskins
- 1963 Terry Baker, qb Oregon State Los Angeles Rams
- 1964 Dave Parks, wr Texas Tech San Francisco 49ers
- 1965 Tucker Frederickson, rb Auburn New York Giants
- 1966 Tommy Nobis, lb Texas Atlanta Falcons
- 1967 Bubba Smith, de Michigan State Baltimore Colts
- 1968 Ron Yary, ot Southern Cal. Minnesota Vikings
- 1969 O.J. Simpson, rb Southern Cal. Buffalo Bills ( American Football League}
- 1970 Terry Bradshaw, qb Louisana Tech Pittsburgh Steelers
- 1971 Jim Plunkett, qb Stanford New England Patriots
- 1972 Walt Patulski, dt Notre Dame Buffalo Bills
- 1973 John Matuszak, de Tampa Houston Oilers
- 1974 Ed Jones, de Tennessee State Dallas Cowboys
- 1975 Steve Bartkowski, qb California Atlanta Falcons
- 1976 Lee Roy Selmon, de Oklahoma Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 1977 Ricky Bell, rb Southern Cal Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 1978 Earl Campbell, rb Texas Houston Oilers
- 1979 Tom Cousineau, lb Ohio State Buffalo Bills
- 1980 Billy Sims, rb Oklahoma Detroit Lions
- 1981 George Rogers, rb South Carolina New Orleans Saints
- 1982 Kenneth Sims, dt Texas New England Patriots
- 1983 John Elway, qb Stanford Baltimore Colts
- 1984 Irving Fryar, wr Nebraska New England Patriots
- 1985 Bruce Smith, de Virginia Tech Buffalo Bills
- 1986 Bo Jackson, rb Auburn Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 1987 Vinny Testaverde, qb Miami, (Fla.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 1988 Aundray Bruce, lb Auburn Atlanta Falcons
- 1989 Troy Aikman, qb UCLA Dallas Cowboys
- 1990 Jeff George, qb Illinois Indianapolis Colts
- 1991 Russell Maryland, dt Miami, (Fla.) Dallas Cowboys
- 1992 Steve Emtman, dt Washington Indianapolis Colts
- 1993 Drew Bledsoe, qb Washington State New England Patriots
- 1994 Dan Wilkinson, dt Ohio State Cincinnati Bengals
- 1995 Ki-Jana Carter, rb Penn State Cincinnati Bengals
- 1996 Keyshawn Johnson, wr Southern Cal. New York Jets
- 1997 Orlando Pace, ot Ohio State St. Louis Rams
- 1998 Peyton Manning, qb Tennessee Indianapolis Colts
- 1999 Tim Couch, qb Kentucky Cleveland Browns
- 2000 Courtney Brown, de Penn State Cleveland Browns
- 2001 Michael Vick, qb Virginia Tech Atlanta Falcons
- 2002 David Carr, qb Fresno State Houston Texans
- 2003 Carson Palmer, qb Southern Cal. Cincinnati Bengals
- 2004 Eli Manning, qb Mississippi San Diego Chargers
