First round, blue-chip quarterback prospects are truly hit-or-miss.B Since 1998, a number of first round quarterbacks have panned out as above-average or better players, such as Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper, Chad Pennington, Carson Palmer, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Jay Cutler, and Matt Ryan.B The list of first round failures, however, is just as long and ranges from spectacular flameouts such as Ryan Leaf and Akili Smith, to mere disappointments such as Tim Couch, Cade McNown, David Carr, Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich, Alex Smith, and Rex Grossman.B Vince Young, JaMarcus Russell, and Matt Leinart are dangerously close to being added to the failure list as well.

The Lions have guaranteed Stafford $41.7 million dollars and have staked their newest rebuilding plans on his development.B Like the Jets with Mark Sanchez, Detroit is taking an enormous gamble by investing so much money and such a high draft pick on a position that is historically so hard to project.B A safer strategy would be to use top picks on more predictable areas such as Defensive Tackle or Offensive Tackle and then to use later picks to try to find a franchise quarterback.B The New England Patriots have hit the jackpot twice this decade in terms of finding great quarterbacks at the end of the draft, landing Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 draft and Matt Cassell in the seventh round of the 2005 draft.B Kurt Warner was undrafted and yet has led his teams to three Super Bowl appearances, while Tony Romo has had success with the Cowboys despite going undrafted as well.

B Other quick observations from the sports world:

-In the NBA playoffs on Monday night, James Jones of the Miami Heat had two 4-point plays in a span of 11 seconds.B I have never seen this before and I’m pretty sure that nobody else has, either.B Meanwhile, in New Orleans, the hometown Hornets lost a home playoff game by an astounding 58 points, falling 121-63 to Denver.

-In baseball, Red Sox fans were ready to panic following the team’s 2-6 start, but have settled down considerably in the midst of the team’s current 11-game winning streak, which included a weekend sweep of the Yankees.B In the National League, the Florida Marlins have lost 7 straight games and yet remain in first place, an occurrence that seems almost impossible in the month of April.