Highlighted Year: Boomer Esiason, 1987

Quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals

Age:  26

4^th season in pro football & with Bengals

College: Maryland

Height: 6’4”   Weight: 220

Prelude:

Taken by the Bengals in the second round of the 1984 NFL draft, the left-handed Esiason replaced Ken Anderson as the starting quarterback in ’85. An accurate passer with a strong arm and good mobility, he led the league in TD percentage (6.3) in 1985 with 27 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in ’86 after passing for 3959 yards and averaging 8.4 yards per attempt as the Bengals improved to 10-6.

1987 Season Summary

Appeared and started in 12 of 15 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Passing

Attempts – 440 [3]

Most pass attempts, game – 53 vs. Pittsburgh 11/22

Completions – 240 [6]

Most pass completions, game – 30 vs. Pittsburgh 11/22

Yards – 3321 [2, 1^st in AFC]

Most passing yards, game – 409 vs. Pittsburgh 11/22

Completion percentage – 54.5

Yards per attempt – 7.5 [10]

TD passes – 16 [11]

Most TD passes, game – 2 on six occasions

Interceptions – 19 [2, tied with Mark Malone]

Most interceptions, game – 3 vs. Pittsburgh 11/22

Passer rating – 73.1

400-yard passing games – 1

300-yard passing games – 5

200-yard passing games – 9

Rushing

Attempts – 52

Most attempts, game – 10 (for 5 yds.) vs. San Francisco 9/20, (for 77 yds.) at Atlanta 11/15

Yards – 241

Most yards, game – 77 yards (on 10 carries) at Atlanta 11/15

Yards per attempt – 4.6

TDs – 0

Punting

Punts – 2

Yards – 68

Average – 34.0

Punts blocked – 0

Bengals went 4-11 in the strike-shortened season (three games were played with replacement players) to finish fourth in the AFC Central.

Aftermath:

Esiason followed up with an MVP season in 1988as he led the league in passing with a 97.4 rating and Cincinnati won the AFC title. He had another Pro Bowl season in 1989, with nearly identical numbers to ’88, although the team’s record dropped to 8-8. After three disappointing seasons in 1990, ’91, and ’92, he was traded to the New York Jets and was selected to a fourth Pro Bowl in 1993, although his performance dropped off in the second half of the year. The next two years with the Jets, a team in flux, were mediocre and Esiason moved on to the Arizona Cardinals, where he threw for 522 yards in one game but otherwise had an inconsequential season. He returned to Cincinnati for one last, good year in a part-time role in 1997 (five starts, but a 106.9 passer rating with 13 TDs and just 2 INTs) before retiring to the broadcast booth. Overall, Esiason passed for 37,920 yards with 247 TDs against 184 interceptions.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970