On Saturday, Josh Freeman joined a very exclusive group.

In 1990, the NFL began allowing underclassmen to declare for the draft, and with the 17th pick in the 2009 draft, Freeman became the eighteenth underclassman quarterback selected in the first round.  He opted to declare for the draft after Kansas State fired head coach Ron Prince, and expressed his disinterest in helping to rebuild the program with only a year of eligibility remaining.

Unfortunately for Freeman, history isn’t on his side.

On the surface, the stats don’t seem so bad.  Of the fifteen underclassmen quarterbacks from 1990 - 2008, eight have started and won playoff games.  In fact, five of the last eighteen Superbowls have involved a team led by a first-round, underclassmen quarterback.  And seven of the last fifteen Pro-Bowls have had one or more of them on its roster.

Doesn’t seem like bad company to be in, until you dig a bit deeper, and place names with players.

Andre Ware did indeed win a playoff game, but it would be only one of two playoff games he would ever play in.  Ditto for Tommy Maddox (one win in three games), and—so far—Vince Young.  Jeff George only led two teams to the playoffs in twelve seasons.  Rex Grossman and Trent Dilfer both rode elite defenses all the way to postseason berths (and two of the five Superbowl appearances).

Carried by Drew Bledsoe’s league-leading 623 pass attempts, the 1996 Patriots faced off against the Green Bay Packers in a losing effort in Superbowl XXXI.  Trent Dilfer’s silent 12-completion-153-yard game the following year was the only victory for a first-round underclassman until—more than ten years later—Ben Roethlisberger won two in four seasons up in Pittsburgh.

Of this group, nine have a losing record for their careers.  Only eight have started an entire season.  Six were benched or cut after less than two seasons.  Four started less than 25 games.

Out of the three underclassmen passers taken in the draft’s first round, Freeman thinks he’s the best.  For his sake and ours, let’s hope he’s better than that.