Every NFL Team’s Best Draft Pick of All-Time

11. player. 50. <p>The most electrifying running back to ever play the game was he No. 3 pick in the star-studded 1989 draft that featured Aikman, Sanders and Thomas in the top-five. Sanders went third, one pick after division rival Green Bay took Mandarich. He was great from the start, rushing for 1,470 yards as a rookie, his first of 10 straight seasons with at least 1,100 yards.</p> <p>Sanders led the NFL in rushing four times, including in 1997 when he joined the exclusive 2,000-yard club when he ran for 2,053, including a remarkable 2,000 yards in the last 14 games. He shared MVP honors with Brett Favre that year to go with a pair of Offensive Player of the Year Awards and a Rookie of the Year already on his resume.</p> <p>He abruptly retired after the 1998 season when he ran for 1,491 yards and likely would have broken Walter Payton’s record for most rushing yards in a career, but he finished with 15,269 yards, the third most in league history. He is second 99.8 yards per game and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2004.</p>. RB. Detroit Lions. Barry Sanders