TallySaint

5. Dave Wilson, QB, Saints



Eric Moneypenny / FOXSports.com

(1981 Supplemental Draft, 1st round)

In college at Illinois, Wilson was the man. In 1980, Wilson bombed Ohio State for a record 621 passing yards in one game. When Wilson became eligible for the supplemental draft, the hapless New Orleans Saints simply couldn't help themselves.

At the time, the Saints still had perennial punching bag Archie Manning in control of the quarterback position. And Wilson never got much of a chance after his rookie season in 1981, when he threw an Alex Smith-like one touchdown to 11 interceptions.

What makes this a bad selection was that Wilson (like Manning or any other Saints quarterback in that era) was heaved to the lobos way too early, bad for any young quarterback, but then he sat. And boy, did he sit. In fact, he almost sat behind every quarterback in a set of 1979 TOPPS Pro Football cards. He sat behind Manning. He sat behind Ken Stabler. He even sat behind Richard Todd. Folks, you know that your team thinks you throw way too many interceptions if you're grabbing bench behind Richard Todd, also known by his superhero alter ego "Pickman."

Wilson finally got his chance to shine for the Saints in 1985, but he had a difficult time holding off USFL refugee Bobby Hebert. Wilson had an even harder time holding Hebert off once ex-USFL coach Jim Mora took over in New Orleans for 1986.

By the time the 1987 strike dust settled, the job was Hebert's. By '89, Wilson was out of football. From '81-88, Wilson passed for a very un-first-round worthy career total of 6,987.




Had the Saints waited until 1982 to draft a quarterback: The Saints would've had the third pick in the 1982 NFL Draft. Here were the quarterbacks available for the Saints to draft that year (in order): Jim McMahon, Art Schlichter, Oliver Luck, Matt Kofler, Mike Pagel, Mike Kelley, Luc Tousignant, Bob Lane, Bryan Clark, Ron Reeves, Steve Michuta, Bob Holly and Dan Fereday. Well, I guess there was one in there, huh?


The Top 5....
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5735860

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

MatthewT

I believe Dave Wilson would have been a great QB if his shoulder would not have gotten torn up. I think it was a preseason game in 82, don't exactly remember. After the injury, he was never the same. He still managed to stick around for many seasons, just didn't have any impact. Still, he was a very class guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times. He is about as nice of a person as it gets.