The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
Before the draft, there was much debate in the media on if the Indianapolis Colts would select quarterbacks Peyton Manning from the University of Tennessee's Volunteers or Ryan Leaf from the Washington State University's Cougars with the first overall pick. Both were considered excellent prospects and future franchise quarterbacks: Leaf was considered to have more upside and a stronger throwing arm, whereas Manning was considered a polished prospect who was NFL ready and more mature.
On the day of the draft, the Colts selected Manning due to Leaf's disdain for Indianapolis and many other factors, with Leaf being selected second overall by the San Diego Chargers, who traded a king's ransom to the Arizona Cardinals for the right to draft whoever the Colts didn't select with the first overall selection to replace the recently-retired Stan Humphries as their franchise quarterback, which became Leaf, while the Cardinals would take the Chargers' original third overall pick to select the Florida State Seminoles defensive end Andre Wadsworth.
Manning went on to be a five-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) award winner (the most of any player in NFL history), a two-time Super Bowl champion (in 2006 with the Colts and in 2015 with the Denver Broncos), and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021, while Leaf was out of the NFL by 2002 after having earned a 4–17 record over 21 games as a starting quarterback with both the Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys, with brief stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks, and is considered one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history.
Player selections * Compensatory selection † Pro BowlerPlayers are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career. ‡ Hall of FamerPlayers are identified as a Hall of Famer if they have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Supplemental draft A supplemental draft was held in the summer of 1998. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. The Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers each selected a player in the second round.
Notable undrafted players † Pro BowlerPlayers are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
Hall of Famers Randy Moss, wide receiver from Marshall, taken 1st round 21st overall by the Minnesota Vikings. Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Peyton Manning, quarterback from Tennessee, taken 1st round 1st overall by the Indianapolis Colts. Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021. Charles Woodson, cornerback from Michigan, taken 1st round 4th overall by the Oakland Raiders. Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021. Alan Faneca, guard from LSU, taken 1st round 26th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
Trades In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the 1998 draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Notes
References
External links 1998 NFL draft 1998 NFL Draft Listing at Pro Football Reference