1. Bernie Kosar, QB, Cleveland
(1985 Supplemental Draft, 1st Round)
Obviously, Bernie Kosar's the no brainer on this list. By the end of Kosar's rookie season, he was a starter. By his second year, he'd returned the franchise he cheered for as a kid to the NFL's upper echelon.
The slow-footed, side-armed slinger from Youngstown, OH helped lead a struggling franchise to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons, and had the Browns one game away from the Super Bowl on three separate occasions, making him my most valuable supplemental pick of all-time.
The common understanding is that this supplemental pick was shrouded by a small pinch of controversy. Kosar was a redshirt sophomore at the University of Miami, and graduated from school after the regular 1985 NFL Draft occurred, an important point since only college seniors and graduates were eligible for the draft.
Then, Kosar made himself eligible for the 1985 Supplemental Draft, largely in hopes of being drafted by his childhood favorites. The interest on the Browns part was definitely reciprocal, and to this day, everyone (including Kosar) admitted that the Browns and the young quarterback were in cahoots all along on setting this up.
You see, Minnesota held the second selection in the 1985 supplemental draft, and they also coveted Kosar. But Cleveland wanted him really badly, so they traded four draft picks to Buffalo (who held the first pick), just to leapfrog the Vikings in the supp and bring Bernie back home to Ohio. In fact, the Browns' mass dumping of picks to bully their way into the front of the Kosar Sweepstakes even helped lead to changes in the way the NFL operates the Supplemental Draft.
In 8 1/2 with the Browns, Kosar threw for 21,904 yards, establishing himself as not only one of the franchise's all-time greats, but as an all-time great supplemental draft pick.
Notable quarterbacks available to Cleveland in the 1986 NFL Draft, had they passed on Kosar in the 1985 supplemental: Jim Everett, Chuck Long, Bubby Brister, Jack Trudeau, Hugh Millen, Mark Rypien. The year of 1986 was a decent one for quarterbacks, but you can see why the Browns were better served in the long run to have not waited until then.
