The NFL recently announced it is letting fans vote (by going to NFL.com) to help decide upon the best NFL draft picks of all time - meaning which player(s) ended up having the most significant and long-lasting impact on their respective team. The results will be announced during Draft Day on April 22nd.

But a much more revealing and interesting challenge would have been to rate the many low ranked draft picks who turned out to be extraordinary NFL players. Specifically, Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks. For while many first-round picks eventually validate their worth and hype, there have been a surprising number of great quarterbacks who were either vastly underrated (or in some cases non-rated) coming out of college.

Now, of course, evaluating talent is a decidedly non-scientific practice - in any industry. And though there are dozens of experts employed by each team that assess hundreds of collegiate players each year in this hyper-competitive league, there's no sure way of knowing how skills translate from college to the pro ranks. And hence, many stellar players still slip through relatively unnoticed (though not as often as past years).

Of the thousands of Division I players with professional aspirations, obviously just a fraction will be selected in the draft. For the rest of them a daunting job market awaits, as it does for most Americans in these troubled times.

And just as so many people are unfairly rejected from many jobs because of a perceived lack of a certain skill set, the same is true with many football players. Say a person is not as adept with computer skills or doesn't have as impressive an academic record as other applicants. They may be armed with better communication and problem solving abilities but the employer will never find that out if they just rely on strict measures for employment.

Though scouting in football - and all sports for that matter - has become exponentially more advanced than in previous decades, there are still often stringent aptitude tests by which these prospective NFL players are judged. Be it foot speed, throwing arm strength, movement, etc., many potentially good players will never see the NFL because they didn't quite measure up to these basic performance standards.

But some of these players who lack the assumed skill set could also make up for it with intangibles - be it leadership, instinct or strategic acumen. Yet these are not physically palpable and are impossible to fully judge, unless it is on the field of play. So unless there is an open-minded and creative thinking talent judge at these NFL combines there are countless players who may be able to perform in the NFL but will never get the chance.

And throughout the history of the league, it is astonishing just how many un-touted quarterbacks were able to guide their teams to championships (one could examine any position player but the role of quarterback is unquestionably the most important on the field and the intense focus that is placed on them during the draft is far greater than any other position).

Yes, more than half of Super Bowl winning teams were helmed by a first round draft pick. So it's not like scouts miss the unknown greats that often. But consider - nearly half of all Super Bowl champion quarterbacks were not selected in the first round and a few were not among the first 200 picked. And if one compiled a list of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, at least half would come from those who were initially unheralded.

FIRST ROUND QUARTERBACK PICKS WHO WON A SUPER BOWL:

Joe Namath
Len Dawson
Terry Bradshaw
Bob Griese
Jim Plunkett
Phil Simms
John Elway
Jim McMahon
Doug Williams
Troy Aikman
Steve Young
Trent Dilfer
Peyton Manning
Eli Manning
Ben Roethlisberger

THOSE THAT WEREN'T FIRST-ROUND PICKS WHO WON A SUPER BOWL:

Bart Starr
Johnny Unitas
Roger Staubach
Joe Theismann
Ken Stabler
Joe Montana
Mark Rypien
Brett Favre
Kurt Warner
Tom Brady
Brad Johnson
Drew Brees

From this second group are some astounding numbers in terms of where they were picked.

--Johnny Unitas is still considered by many to be the greatest quarterback of all time, the man who embodied football during its explosive growth in the late 1950's through the 1960's. Well, Unitas wasn't drafted until the 9th round from his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, the 102nd player selected overall, and was in fact cut quickly as he wasn't considered as good a player as the three other quarterback hopefuls. Unitas then dropped out of football for a short while, working in construction to support his growing family. Obviously, after given a chance by the Colts the rest was history.

--Bart Starr, the man who led the Green Bay Packers to victories in Super Bowls I and II in the mid 1960's was one of the last players taken in the draft - not until the 17th round, as the 200th selection.

--Roger Staubach was the Heisman Trophy winner but yet he was still not grabbed by the Cowboys until the 10th round as the 129th selection. Yes, he had a military commitment but still, one would have thought his credentials would have merited a far earlier round. Staubach is routinely on the Top 10 lists of all-timers.

--That other "greatest of all time" candidate, Joe Montana. Montana was said to be too frail, too thin, to not possess a powerful enough throwing arm when the 1981 draft commenced - even though he had already orchestrated legendary comebacks in critical games, such as the Cotton Bowl. Yet it took Bill Walsh until the 82nd pick to decided that yes, Montana was worthy.

--Drew Bledsoe's injury a decade ago is what allowed Tom Brady to prove that the 199th pick could soon be the most dominant player of his decade.

--And without question, the most unlikely of football stories, the biggest miscalculation of scouts has to be that of former stock boy Kurt Warner. The three time Super Bowl quarterback wasn't even drafted out of Northern Iowa and was rejected during several walk-on tryouts until the St. Louis Rams gave him a chance.