Previously: 2004 Michigan State

We're back to break down another vintage Michigan Football game. Last week we covered the Braylonfest, which earned generally strong reviews from the commenters (thanks to all those who gave feedback). This week we're turning back the clocks 12 years and looking at the 1992-93 Rose Bowl Game, a rematch between Michigan and Washington and one that would be remembered by many for the electrifying performance of Tyrone Wheatley. 

 

The team: 1992 was year #3 of the Gary Moeller era. After winning the Big Ten in each of his first two seasons, Moeller's '92 squad came into the year with the goal of making it a three-peat atop the league and most of all, hungry to avenge a beatdown in the Rose Bowl at the hands of Washington the previous year. Their 10-2 record and postseason ranking of 6th in the AP poll set them up for high expectations going into '92, especially with plenty of talent returning. 

On offense Michigan did lose the biggest piece of them all from '91, Desmond Howard. After winning the Heisman Trophy, Howard was picked 4th overall by the Washington Redskins in the 1992 NFL Draft. However, the majority of the talent on the offense besides Des did come back for the 1992 season, including starting QB Elvis Grbac, the RB trio of Ricky Powers, Jesse Johnson, and Tyrone Wheatley, FB Burnie Leggette, and 3/5ths of the OL (All-B1G C Steve Everitt and G Joe Cocozzo both returned). To fill in the holes on the team, returning LG Doug Skene kicked out to tackle to replace the departing Greg Skrepenak (though Skene was back at G in this game) while new starters in RS So Shawn Miller and Sr Rob Doherty slid into the LG and RT holes, respectively.

[Bentley Historical Library]

A new class of receivers were needed to replace Howard and Yale Van Dyne, Derrick Alexander and Walter Smith stepping up to take those gigs and getting support help from heralded true freshmen Mercury Hayes and Amani Toomer. Alexander would lead the team in receiving yards by a longshot, followed by TE Tony McGee, who had a breakout season by hauling in 38 catches for 467 yards. Alexander earned 1st Team All-Big Ten while McGee got second team honors, but the story of the offense was the emergence of Wheatley at running back, moving past Powers on the depth chart to run for 1,357 yards and 13 TDs, winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.  Grbac's numbers, while worse than 1991, still earned him 1st Team All-Big Ten and when combined with an offensive line that saw four players earn honors, the Michigan offense scored 35.9 points per game, 5th most in the NCAA in 1992. 

Defensively Michigan was excellent as well. They allowed only 14.2 points per game on the year (7th best in the NCAA) and like the offense, returned plenty of starters. It was liftoff time for DL Chris Hutchinson, who won Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. A team captain and a senior, Hutchinson was dominant most of the season next to fellow returning starter Buster Stanley. Ninef Aghakhan and Tony Henderson helped round out the group up front. The LB group had plenty of experience too, Steve Morrison and Marcus Walker in the middle (Morrison earning All-Big Ten honors) and Martin Davis returning on the outside. 

Returning FS Corwin Brown was the star of the secondary, a co-captain of the team and also an All-Big Ten First Team honoree. He started opposite SS Pat Maloney, who was new to the lineup after the graduation of Otis Williams. At corner, Dwayne Ware returned and was joined in the rotation by Coleman Wallace and true freshman Ty Law, who passed Alfie Burch on the depth chart rather early into the season. Two-year starter at P Eddie Azcona returned for 1992 but would be supplanted by Chris Stapleton, while first year starter at kicker Pete Elezovic took the reins. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: the game]

[Stephen Dunn]

The Opponent: 1992 would end up being the swan song for long-time Washington coach Don James, though that wasn't known at the time. The Huskies won a national title* the previous year after their thrashing of Michigan in this very bowl game and they seemed to be set to do so again for much of '92. Starting at pre-season #2, Washington began the year 8-0, bouncing back and forth between being ranked #1 and #2. They were holding the pole position when they went on the road to Tucson to play #12 Arizona... the same time that scandal hit the program (more on that in a second). A 16-3 defeat by the Wildcats bounced the Huskies from national title discussion but they were able to clinch a share of the Pac-10 title the next week with a beatdown of Oregon State. Washington dropped the Apple Cup in Pullman to Wazzu but their 6-2 conference record and #9 ranking were enough to send them to the Rose Bowl (6-2 Stanford ranked #11 and went to the Blockbuster Bowl). 

QB Mark Brunell led Washington into the Rose Bowl, after the aforementioned scandal struck 1991's starter Billy Joe Hobert. The scandal would eventually cost Hobert his eligibility, impose a two year bowl ban on the program, and would lead to the resignation of James. RB Napoleon Kaufman was the star of the offense after running for over 1,000 yards (eventually a first round pick) and Dave Hoffman (Pac-10 DPOY) was the star of the defense. Washington was not as dominant as the previous year, but they were still an elite team, albeit one with an air of uncertainty over them when they rolled into New Year's Day 1993. 

[The Toledo Blade]

The season context: For Michigan, the 1992 season would be remembered as The Year of the Tie. First game of the regular season? Tie. Last two games of the regular season? Ties. The Wolverines did not lose a game that year, but they did not win all their games. After drawing with #3 Notre Dame in South Bend 17-17 to begin the season, Michigan easily moved past Oklahoma State and Houston in the non-conference and then began mowing down the Big Ten. The Wolverines' margin of victory in their first six conference games were 24, 25, 28, 50, 7, and 33 points. The lone competitive game was over an iffy Purdue team in West Lafayette (the ole trap game).

Michigan ranked #3 when they hosted 5-4 Illinios, a game that ended in a 22-22 tie after a last second Elezovic field goal. Michigan held a 13-3 lead over Ohio State in the third quarter of The Game, but the Kirk Herbstreit-led Buckeyes clawed back and scored a TD to make it 13-12. Rather than going for two, John Cooper kicked the PAT with just over four minutes to go. Neither team would score again and the contest ended in a 13-13 score, Michigan's third tie of the year. It was the first tie in The Game since the famous 1973 one and only the second since 1949. Michigan's 6-0-2 Big Ten record was well above Ohio State's 5-2-1 mark and sent the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl for the second straight year and the fourth time in five seasons. 

The personal context: Not a whole lot for this one, as Craig Ross told me he didn't have a ton of specific memory of this game before we began watching it. As someone who was not born for this game, I obviously have no anecdotes to add either. Brian stopped by while we were watching the game and said he remembered watching this game as a child with his father but that's the best I have for this week. 

-----

 

What happened

Washington got the ball to start the game and ABC's Brent Musberger informs us right before the opening kick that Michigan K Pete Elezovic pulled a quad muscle in practice, so he will not be handling kickoffs. Rather, Erik Lovell will be booting them deep for the Maize & Blue. Michigan comes out in a 4-3, with Hucthinson/Aghakhan/Henderson/Stanley as the defensive front and Greg McThomas starting his first game at MLB. The first drive for McThomas doesn't go particularly well, poor tackling blowing several plays for the Michigan defense (he'd be replaced later by Bobby Powers). However, the Huskies run the option on 3rd & 6 and Corwin Brown stuffs it to get off the field: 

One odd note about this game established in the early going: Bo Schembechler is in the ABC booth doing the game with Musberger and Dick Vermeil. 

Michigan's offense comes out playing largely no huddle, something that Craig noted was a fixture of Moeller's early teams. After a short run and an incomplete pass, Michigan surprises Washington with a draw play, Joe Cocozzo setting a trap block that Vermeil explains rather well: 

That was Wheatley's first chunk gain on the ground of the game, the first of many, and we should commend Shane Pahukoa with the nice tackle there to prevent this play from being real trouble for the Huskies. Craig praised Cocozzo's abilities after that block and commended him on his strong play throughout his Michigan career. 

Michigan drove into Washington territory and recovered a Ricky Powers fumble that momentarily put things in doubt. Mercury Hayes checks in for the Wolverines after that, his first appearance of the game, and then on 3rd & 2 we see a play that stood out to me: Michigan called a screen [CR = that was Moeller football, not just pounding the rock on the ground]. It works to perfection but a few plays later, a high throw from Grbac to TE Tony McGee ends the drive. Despite being too injured to do kickoffs, Elezovic is evidently healthy enough to attempt a 41 yard FG, which he bangs through. 3-0 Michigan. 

The next Washington drive establishes a pattern we'd see in this game, Michigan suffocating the Washington run game but the Huskies having success through the air and using the legs of Mark Brunell to pick up first downs. On 3rd & 5 with a chance to get off the field quickly, Hutchinson and Stanley compress the pocket on Brunell but the QB scrambles for the first down: 

With a fresh set of downs, Brunell goes on the run again and uncorks a rainbow throw that is dead-on to an open receiver, evading Michigan safety Pat Maloney. Next pass? A strike down the seam to TE Mark Bruener (Brunell to Bruener!) that gets Washington to the goal line: 

They'd mark him down on the one and after two tries (one of which seemed to be a clear touchdown), the Huskies finally punch it in. 7-3 Washington. Brunell is alive and well in this game. 

Grbac continues to be a bit strong on his throws on the next series, but the offense marches out to midfield when Washington makes one of the worst coverage busts you'll see in a long while: 

Craig's reaction: what the hell kind of fucking defense was that?

Answer: no defense at all really. 10-7 Michigan.

The game keeps rolling along and it's more of the same for the Michigan defense, winning the battle up front but struggling to bring down the evasive Brunell. The 6'5", 240 lb. Matt Dyson whiffs on a sack of Brunell, who scrambles for a "first down" after a BRUTAL spot. Regardless, Michigan would get their stop when Chris Hutchinson gets free on a stunt and with help from Dyson, results in an intentional grounding: 

Hutchinson wearing #97 getting after the QB? Hmmmmmmm. 

Washington punts the ball away and then we get a kick-catch interference play, made weird by the broadcast. Derrick Alexander is back deep for Michigan, standing around midfield, and the Huskies boot it away. Michigan #2 Walter Smith is jostling with the Washington gunner Jones when said Husky plows into Alexander and then the ball hits him, Washington recovering the fumble. It is apparent to all of us watching except for Musberger that this is an obvious penalty, Dick Vermeil defending the call ("that's a good call") while Musberger keeps sounding off about how Jones was given no opportunity to get out of the way. You can watch the whole sequence here, or just look at this screencap: 

While Smith and Jones are indeed jostling with each other, Musberger's characterization that Jones "had no place to go" doesn't make any sense. He was not pushed into Alexander, they were nudging with each other side by side. If Smith had been behind Jones and gave him a two-hand shove, yeah that's being pushed in. But side by side, I don't see much argument. It's on the gunner to get out of the way in that situation and give the returner room to make the play. The referees got it right. 

Michigan got extremely favorable field position out of it but would punt from the UW 37(!!!), a punt that Stapleton rockets well into the stands (thanks for that, Moeller!). Lloyd Carr's defense gets a quick stop, though, and when the Michigan offense sees the ball again, it's the Tyrone Wheatley show babyyyyy: 

It's another quick hand-off from Grbac to Wheatley and Tyrone is basically untouched. Doug Skene at LG has a strong block on this one and it's really a showcase of Wheatley's sprinter speed inside a large frame (listed for the season at 6'1", 225 lbs.). Lightning fast. 17-7 Michigan. 

You'd think that the Maize & Blue have control at this point, but you'd be wrong. The Huskies convert a 3rd & medium play and then we get a swing moment in the game. The LT is apparently asleep as Buster Stanley, lined up outside of him, is allowed to run right into the backfield. Brunell again evades a Michigan DL, rolls out, and unloads a tight spiral 65 yards down the field to Jason Shelley (Ace clipped this one years ago): 

Three thoughts here: 1.) Corwin Brown played it quite well but jumped just a half-second too early; 2.) good lord that's a throw from Brunell, you can see why he had a long NFL career; 3.) wait a second, was that an incomplete pass under modern rules???? 

Well, we got to see some replays and no, it wouldn't be an incomplete pass today... but it would be a fumble. Replays showed that the ball was out before the knee was down and though we never got the Plyon Cam™, piecing the evidence together suggested to me that it had not broken the plane of the goal line. It should've been a fumble at the one, a touchback and the ball to Michigan. Instead, it's 17-14.

Michigan does nothing on its next offensive series and Chris Stapleton's punt this time is a flop, setting Washington up with favorable field position. We quickly get a virtual carbon copy of the previous "touchdown" for Washington- Brunell escapes a sack, heaves a beautiful ball deep, Washington catches it: 

Wash, rinse, repeat. That's Ty Law with the busted coverage and Ware with the blown sack. Brunell's shiftiness and mobility (superior to that of a hulking defensive player) is killing Michigan in this game. The play didn't get in the end zone, but it didn't take long for Washington to get there. On 3rd & 14 after a fumble by Brunell went out of bounds (felt like the Football Gods were against Michigan at this point), another dime by the QB got it in the end zone: 

That's a back-foot throw with a blitz in his face. Tip your cap. The end of the first half was rather slow, UW getting back into field goal range but missing and so the purple and gold led 21-17 into halftime. We get treated by the bands and then some more Musberger, Schembechler, and Vermeil: 

If that halftime serenade lulled you to sleep, Tyrone Wheatley on the first play from scrimmage in the second half says WAKE UP: 

The fireworks between Wheatley and Brunell just keep coming in the second half. Washington's kickoff return by Napoleon Kaufman is a dandy (Dwayne Ware with a huge tackle to stop it), giving Washington the ball inside Michigan territory. Brunell dances his way for another first down and then flicks a ball down the seam again: 

Kaufman punched it in from the one and Washington got the lead right back, 28-24. At this point I wrote in my notes, "this game was pass O of UW vs. run O of M... Wheatley vs. Brunell". Around this time in the game, are treated to what may be the highlight of my time watching this broadcast, when ABC goes down to the sideline reporter who says "Well Brent, I'm with former Michigan QB Jim Harbaugh". Enjoy: 

Another poor Michigan punt on the next drive sets Washington up with good field position again, leading to a UW field goal to make it 31-24. On the ensuing Michigan possession, the Wolverines run a play that David insisted I had to include... Michigan runs a nine-man protection and somehow it works as a passing play!!!: 

Derrick Alexander is the lone Michigan player running a route there and he manages to get free from all those purple jerseys. Wild! The drive stalls out after Wheatley's shake n' bake run comes up a half-yard short and Moeller punts from midfield. Matt Dyson FINALLY gets two hands on Brunell to bring him down for a sack, giving the Michigan defense a much needed stop. Alexander returns the UW punt all the way to the 12 but Michigan completely squanders it, a dumb HB toss play and two iffy throws from Grbac. Elozevic shanks the FG and Michigan comes up empty [Brian = I remember hating Moeller football, after this, I do see why"]. 

Thankfully for Michigan, Kaufman fumbles the very first play and the Wolverines get the ball right back, deep in Washington territory. First M play and it's Mr. Wheatley one more time: 

31-31. As it turns out, this would be more or less the end of the day for Wheatley, who begins to get his back massaged and is replaced on the field by his backups. 

The next drive was Washington's turn to drive deep into Michigan territory (thanks to plenty of flags), but the drive stalls out at the Michigan 5 and they return the favor by shanking a short FG. Michigan's offense goes right back out there and builds on the momentum of the previous series. After a couple times running the ball in Counter GT with Burnie Legette and Ed Davis, they turn to that same PA seam pass to the TE: 

The big gain to Tony McGee got them into the red zone and another pass to McGee puts it in the end zone: 

For my money, this was Grbac's best series of the game. 38-31. 

Washington responds by driving deep into Michigan territory again, with two plays standing out. The first was a failed triple reverse pass play and the second was Hutchinson getting hit with a low block that would 100000% be a 15 yard penalty today. On 3rd & 11, Michigan safety Shonte Peoples breaks up a pass that Musberger apparently didn't see, setting up 4th & 11: 

A Mark Brunell scramble is stopped???? What is this development???? 

The game isn't over though, with 3:05 to play and UW holding two timeouts. Michigan gets a first down on a mega-RPS+ when Washington puts only six in the box on an obvious running down(!!?!), but the drive stalls out near midfield with just over a minute to go. Huskies block the punt and take over at the Michigan 44 with 1:08 to go: 

It was a pretty bad day for Michigan's special teams, but the defense rises to the occasion one more time. Brunell has one of his worst series of the game, airmailing receivers and his team finds itself in 4th & long again, this time with the game truly on the line: 

Ballgame. A 38-31 Michigan victory. 

 

The Aftermath

[Michigan Football]

Game analysis and takes: As I mentioned in the narrative section, this game was all about the rushing offense of Michigan against the passing offense of Washington. The box score provided to us by the Bentley Library breaks this down perfectly, as Michigan had 308 yards rushing and Washington had exactly 308 yards passing. Both were big strike attacks, Brunell attacking Michigan down the field in chunks and Wheatley having rushing TDs of 56, 88, and 24 yards. Michigan's offensive line did its job opening up holes with decent frequency and the pure shock and awe speed of Wheatley did the rest for the Maize & Blue in that facet of the game. 

On the flip side, I didn't think that Michigan's secondary was particularly bad in this game. There were a few busts, but for example the "touchdown" scored by the Huskies was defended well by Corwin Brown, just an even better pitch-and-catch by UW. Brunell in particular was damn good for Washington, his pro potential seeping in during this viewing. Brunell was not perfect, but 18/30 for over 300 yards and two TDs are what you ask for. He wilted in the final series of the game, but it's not like he was missing wide open throws, just not quite the killer he had been earlier. 

To that point, Brunell's mobility in the pocket, not just scrambling for yardage but buying himself time in the passing game, was massive. A plodding pocket passer a la John Navarre doesn't have any ability to do what Brunell did through the air in this game, even if they were a dead-on accurate thrower with a big arm. Several of Brunell's deep balls came off of plays where he evaded pressure and gave himself a chance to make a play. His feel in the pocket was excellent, made some big time throws, and got the scramble yardage when he needed to, too. It's known as the Tyrone Wheatley Game, but I came away just as impressed with Brunell as I did Wheatley. 

[Mike Powell/Getty Images]

Of course, we have to talk about that defensive front of Michigan that made life so difficult on Brunell. Not just did they put frequent pressure on the QB, they gobbled up the UW rushing game. Washington's RBs had 33 carries for 73 yards, barely over 2 YPC. Buster Stanley stood out to me as a monster in run defense but Steve Morrison at ILB impressed me as well in that phase of the game. Chris Hutchinson was awesome in all situations defensively, while the other DL/EDGE defenders, Henderson, Aghakhan, and Dyson sparkled too. If football games are won in the trenches, this one was indeed won in the trenches for Michigan- on both sides of the ball. 

We should give some credit to Michigan's Elvis Grbac as well, who was money when he needed to be late in the game. For all the praise that Wheatley gets, the funny thing is that he only carried the ball 15 times (albeit for 235 yards). The other 51 plays in this game for the Michigan offense did not include Wheatley carrying the pigskin, and Grbac had a major hand in making those plays successful. For the game he was 17/30 for 175 yards with 2 TDs, no turnovers as well. Grbac started out a bit shaky but found his groove as the game wore on. Some big time passing plays were easy money (the long TD to McGee most notably), but Elvis also fit some balls in there. On the final TD drive, he shone brightest. In the end, Michigan's passing offense made more plays than Washington's rushing offense (especially if you don't include Brunell scrambles) and that's also part of why they were successful in the '93 Rose Bowl. 

Both teams made some errors, each side missing a field goal, but the Washington fumble right after the Michigan missed FG loomed largest. That was an opportunity for the Huskies to take control of the game and instead they gave it right back and in a blink of an eye, Wheatley was in the end zone. Of course, they probably should've been charged with another costly turnover earlier in the game, the fumble into the end zone at the goal line that was ruled a touchdown. Alas, those are the realities of playing football in the pre-replay era. Penalties definitely hurt Washington more than Michigan, with the kick-catch interference play being a big one. Michigan played a cleaner, more well-rounded game, won in the trenches, and had a better QB/RB duo despite the brilliance of Brunell. That's why they came away victorious. 

[Michigan Football]

From the tactical side of things, I found Moeller's decently up-tempo, no huddle offense rather interesting, especially compared to the slow Lloyd Carr offense we'd watched the previous week. Yes, Grbac was still under center nearly 100% of the time and yeah, they ran a nine-man protection that one time, but it still seemed a bit more modern than I was expecting. Michigan's running game did a good job setting up the pass, with the play-action seam shot to McGee being the most notable example of this. Quick hand-off plays resembling dives got the LBs biting HARD and then the Wolverines exploited that vacated area. 

Michigan generally won the RPS battle in this game I thought, hitting Washington when they were light in the box and having that solid interplay between rushing and passing plays. Defensively I didn't think they were getting burned by anything schematic in particular... if anything though, I would've liked to see Carr adjust his QB contain. DL were pleased to get upfield in a hurry, winning their matchups with ease, but the problem was that they didn't have the speed or agility to bring down Brunell. Perhaps adjusting to have one rusher flow Brunell into the arms of another rusher, pushing him into designed spaces where the defense is waiting would've been a better bet, because asking these husky linemen to haul down the elusive Brunell 1-on-1 in space (especially when the DL are coming downhill with speed) was not effective in the slightest. 

I have a few miscellaneous notes I wanted to get down that I saw while watching the game. I enjoyed Moeller's cream-colored sweater with the Michigan logo and the roses embroidered on. Very classy. I also liked Moeller's constant battles with his hat, taking the headset off to readjust, something Craig noted was a frequent theme with the coach. I found the cheesy jokes and old man humor between Bo, Vermiel, and Musberger a bit cringy but still enjoyable (something Ace covered when he broke this game down a few years back). And most of all, the Harbaugh interview was glorious and the 1993 commercials in the game copy we used (including one with Wayne Gretzky!) had their moments too. 

[Michigan Athletics/Getty Images]

What it meant: Michigan's 1993 Rose Bowl win capped a period in which the Wolverines claimed five consecutive Big Ten championships, dating back to the final years of Bo Schembechler. After this game, the team had gone 28-5-3 under the first three seasons of Gary Moeller, but would go 8-4 back-to-back seasons in the next two years, taking fourth in the conference both years. Moeller would be dismissed in the spring of 1995, bringing Lloyd Carr to the helm, and Michigan went 8-4 and 9-4 in Carr's first two seasons. Thus, this game ended a period of dominance for Michigan atop the Big Ten, ushering in a four year stretch of four losses every season and no conference hardware (also no Rose Bowls). It wouldn't be until that 1997-98 season that the Maize & Blue returned to Pasadena. 

Michigan went into 1993 with high expectations, ranked #3 in the preseason, but started the year 4-4 and dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in six years. Wheatley, Stanley, Powers, and Law all returned, and the defense remained excellent, but a sizable step back on offense as a unit was a big story. Grbac graduated, leaving Todd Collins at signal caller, though Collins did engineer a strong passing game in '93. Four rather narrow defeats did Michigan in that season, sending them to the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa. 

As for Washington, the aforementioned scandal cascaded in the offseason, leading to Don James' resignation and the end of a golden age for Huskies football. The team finished in the top 10 of the coaches poll in the final three seasons under James (winning the Pac-10 in all of them), but would go 7-4, 7-4, and 7-4-1 in the first three seasons under successor Jim Lambright. The team was banned from bowl competition for two seasons and Lambright would win just one conference title in his six seasons before being fired. The dominance that James achieved in the Pac-10, ending with this game, would not be seen again in Seattle for over two decades when Chris Petersen got the program up and running. 

[RaidersWire]

Several of the players in this game would go on to have notable pro careers. In the 1993 NFL Draft, Michigan center Steve Everitt went 14th overall to the Cleveland Browns, though he never had the same NFL success he had in college. TE Tony McGee went in the second round and played a decade in the league, G Joe Cocozzo went in the third round, and Corwin Brown in the fourth. Out of all the players on Michigan drafted in the spring of '93, it would be Grbac who had the longest and most successful career, despite being picked 219th out of 224 selections. Grbac reached a Pro Bowl in 2000 with Kansas City and won a Super Bowl early in his career with San Francisco as a back-up. 

Wheatley would be picked 17th overall by the New York Giants in 1995. He never won any awards in the NFL, but did play 10 seasons, rushed for 1,000 yards once, and reached the Super Bowl in 2002 with Oakland. Ty Law, who was a young and relatively inexperienced corner in this game, would go 23rd overall in that same draft and would become the player with the best pro career out of anyone on Michigan's 1992 roster, a 5x Pro Bowler, 2x First Team All-Pro, 3x Super Bowl Champion, a member of the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team, and a member of the Pro Football HOF. 

On the Washington side of things, tackle Lincoln Kennedy was picked 9th overall in 1993 and would be a 3x Pro Bowler, while Brunell was buried in the 5th round, picked by the Green Bay Packers. Brunell would be most famous for his time in Jacksonville, when he led the Jags to two AFC Championship Games (unsuccessful both times). Brunell was also be a 3x Pro Bowler and won a Super Bowl as a backup to Drew Brees in New Orleans. RB Napoleon Kaufman and TE Mark Bruener were both first round picks in 1995. Kaufman as a matter of fact shared a backfield with Wheatley in Oakland in 1999-2000. Bruener's career spanned over a decade but featured no awards due to his role as a blocking TE.