What if the Indianapolis Colts made a mistake and drafted Ryan Leaf instead of Peyton Manning?

Ryan who?

Yep, the name Ryan Leaf is almost synonymous to TRADE BUST these days but back in April of 1998, his name, and that of a young Peyton Manning, were always mentioned in a debate on who should be drafted first.

Ryan Leaf was as good a quarterback as a Peyton Manning back in college. If not better. Leaf was a junior quarterback in Washington State when he decided to forego his senior year and enter the NFL Draft.

Nobody expected Ryan Leaf to have the season he had in his junior year. He passed for 3,968 yards and 34 touchdowns with 11 interceptions to lead the Washington State Cougars to their first Rose Bowl in 67 looong years.

As for our Peyton Manning? He entered his senior season at Tennessee as the consensus top pick for the upcoming NFL Draft. Manning did little to disappoint, throwing for 3,819 yards and 37 touchdowns, compared to 11 interceptions. But he wasn't the HOT STUFF so to speak then, it was Ryan Leaf, and yep, his overall No.1 pick status sure was in jeopardy.

Peyton Manning was viewed as the conservative choice, while Ryan Leaf, who had a considerably stronger arm, actually was thought to have the bigger upside.

The Indianapolis Colts ultimately went with Peyton while Ryan Leaf was signed by the San Diego Chargers after trading up to the second pick to get him. San Diego then inked Leaf with a contract that has the largest signing bonus ever paid to a rookie.

Now, Ryan Leaf is nowhere to be found while Peyton Manning just won a Super Bowl for the Indianapolis Colts. Isn't it weird that San Diego passed on another Manning, this time Eli, to get Philip Rivers, after passing on Peyton a few years back?

And yeah, what if the Colts drafted Ryan? Um... The Colts would've still won with Ryan Leaf at Super Bowl XLI as long as Rex Grossman is there to fuck things up for the Chicago Bears. He he...

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