MVN: Most Valuable Network

There are dangers inherent in selecting a quarterback in the first round of the draft. Vince Lombardi once commented on first-round draft picks,

"If you make a mistake on a player, you lose some games. If you make a mistake on a quarterback, you get fired."

The Falcons and Ravens didn't make mistakes when they drafted quarterbacks in the first round of the 2008 draft. Rookie quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco have both helped transform losing teams into winners and are both leading candidates for Rookie of the Year honors.

It doesn't always work out that way. The 49ers used the first pick in the 2005 draft on Alex Smith, a move which backfired in their face and got Mike Nolan fired, making Lombardi prophetic yet once again. Smith has lost his starting job, hasn't taken a snap yet this year and hasn't started a game in over a year. He's won only 11 of 30 games as a starter, not what you'd expect from a number one draft pick. Eleven wins in four years! Ryan and Flacco both have a chance to match that win total in just one year.

Smith isn't the only young first-round quarterback who hasn't performed as well as expected recently. J.P. Losman, Vince Young and Matt Leinart, all former starters, are sitting on the bench, watching someone else lead their teams to winning records.

Those who think that Ryan and Flacco stepped into good situations are incorrect. Both came to teams with losing records last year and with rookie head coaches installing new systems which the entire team had to learn. Quite a difference from Ben Roethlisberger's situation in his rookie year, when he stepped in on a team good enough to win a Super Bowl.

Ryan's 89.9 passer rating is eleventh in the league and Flacco's 79.7 is twentieth. They both have a 6-3 record and they've both proved they belong in the NFL.

Here's a look at the career stats of all the quarterbacks drafted in the first round in the last five years.

Career Stats	Gms	Strts	Comps	Attmpts	Prcnt	Yards	Avg	TDs	Ints	Rating
Matt Ryan	9	9	149	250	59.6	1,909	7.6	11	5	89.9
Joe Flacco	9	9	151	243	62.1	1,649	6.8	7	7	79.7
JaMarcus Russell	12	9	141	282	50.0	1,662	5.9	8	8	65.9
Brady Quinn	2	1	26	43	60.5	284	6.6	2	0	95.5
Vince Young	31	29	434	761	57.0	4,855	6.4	22	32	68.3
Matt Leinart	18	16	275	491	56.0	3,209	6.5	13	16	71.2
Jay Cutler	30	30	589	946	62.3	7,114	7.5	47	30	88.6
Alex Smith	32	30	435	800	54.4	4,679	5.8	19	31	63.5
Aaron Rodgers	16	9	217	347	62.5	2,453	7.1	14	6	89.9
Jason Campbell	29	29	536	897	59.8	5,957	6.6	30	19	81.9
Eli Manning	66	64	1,157	2,086	55.5	13,311	6.4	91	70	75.5
Philip Rivers	45	41	754	1,220	61.8	9,042	7.4	65	33	91.0
Ben Roethlisberger	65	64	1,051	1,675	62.7	13,355	8.0	94	65	90.1
J.P. Losman	38	31	510	858	59.4	5,847	6.8	32	30	77.9