Ahead of the 2017 draft, here are the all-time best draft picks for each of the NFL’s 32 franchises.
Later this month, the 2017 NFL Draft will take place in Philadelphia. It’s reality television to the highest degree, as invited prospects emerge early from the “green room” while others are forced to wait longer than expected.
Teams that recognize value, practically above specific need, often come out on the good side of immediate post-draft grades. But time is typically a better indicator of the quality of draft picks, good or bad, when a name and a college career becomes an NFL track record.
Here is the best all-time draft pick for all 32 NFL franchises.
Arizona Cardinals: CB Aeneas Williams, 3rd Round (No. 59), 1991
Coming out of Saginaw Valley State 1991, Williams was an overlooked small school draft prospect. He spent the first 10 seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals, earning six of his eight Pro Bowl selections and intercepting 46 passes over that span.
Current Cardinals’ running back David Johnson, a third-round pick himself in 2015, is starting build a case to be the team’s representative on a list like this down the road. But I’m going with Williams right now, based on a longer track record.
Mandatory Credit: Allen Dean Steele/Getty Images
Atlanta Falcons, CB/KR Deion Sanders-1st Round (No. 5)-1989
“Prime Time” went from Tallahassee to Atlanta early in the1989 draft, and Sanders made an immediate impact with five interceptions and a punt return touchdown as a rookie. Sanders was a big fish in a small pond while with the Falcons, while also playing baseball, earning three Pro Bowl selections and scoring 10 touchdowns over his five seasons with the team. As could be expected Sanders put his versatility on full display, scoring via interception, kickoff return, punt return and reception as a Falcon.
But the Falcons were not competing for championships, and they ultimately could not compete financially when the San Francisco 49ers signed Sanders in 1994. Sanders’ lone season with the 49ers was one of his best, with six interceptions (three returned for touchdowns) on his way to being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year and winning a Super Bowl.
Jerry Jones coaxed Sanders to Dallas with a big contract in 1995, and he got his second straight Super Bowl ring that season.
At his peak, Sanders simply defined the term “shutdown corner.” Opposing teams regularly avoided throwing to his man, their No. 1 wide receiver in most cases, so as not to risk an imprecise throw and a big play going back the other way.
His most successful seasons, from a team perspective, obviously did not come with the Falcons. But Sanders became a star in Atlanta, with the talent to back up his ego and brash self expression, so that easily makes him the best draft pick in Falcons’ history.
Baltimore Ravens: LB Ray Lewis, 1st Round (No. 26), 1996
The Ravens’ first NFL draft after relocating from Cleveland was a big winner right off the bat, with Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden (No. 4 overall) and then future Hall of Famer Lewis (No. 26 overall) taken in the first round. Getting one long-term building block at a premium position in the first round of a single draft would be a win, but Baltimore wound up procuring two in 1996.
Lewis list of career accolades is lengthy, as he was a 13-time Pro Bowler, a seven-time First Team All-Pro, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year (2000, 2003) and a Super Bowl MVP. Add in a fiery nature, versatile productivity (41.5 career sacks and 31 career interceptions) and clear place as a team leader over 17 seasons spent entirely in Baltimore, and Lewis was actually a first-round value. At the end of the 2012 season, as he returned from a torn triceps in time for the playoffs, the Ravens won the Super Bowl again in what would be Lewis’ final NFL game.
Lewis belongs among the all-time great linebackers in NFL history, and narrowing that down to middle or inside linebackers he stands out even more. He will take his rightful place in the Hall of Fame very quickly, probably in his first year of eligibility next year, as the second original Raven with a bust in Canton.
Buffalo Bills: WR Andre Reed, 4th Round (No. 86), 1985
After taking Bruce Smith No.1 overall in 1985, the Bills found another long-term mainstay in the fourth round of the same draft. Out of tiny Kutztown State in Pennsylvania, Reed spent the first 15 seasons of his career with the Bills and earned seven straight Pro Bowl selections along the way from 1988 to 1994.
Of course Reed was on all four of Buffalo’s Super Bowl losing teams, which unfortunately diminishes how he is viewed in the big picture of all-time great wide receivers. But a look at the all-time rankings shows Reed still in the top-20 in receptions (951), receiving yards (13,198) and touchdowns (87), which may be surprising to some people.
With an ongoing backlog of worthy wide receivers, however inexplicably based on potential agendas within the selection committee, Reed finally earned election to the Hall of Fame in 2014. It’s not unprecedented to find talent in the latter rounds of a draft, but Reed overcame coming from an incredibly small school and being a later pick to put together a great career.
Carolina Panthers: WR Steve Smith, 3rd Round (No. 74), 2001
Smith started his NFL career with a return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown in Week 1, which happened to be the only game the Panthers won that season. In his third season, Smith topped 1,000 yards for the first time while tallying 88 receptions.
Smith averaged 88 catches,1,288 yards and eight touchdowns per season from 2005-2008, earning three Pro Bowl selections during that time. After a two-year downturn, not coincidentally with lackluster quarterback play in Carolina, it looked like Smith was nearing the twilight of his career.
But the arrival of Cam Newton in 2011 brought a resurgence for Smith, with 79 receptions for 1,394 yards and 73 catches for 1,174 yards in the subsequent two campaigns.
After one more season in Carolina in 2013, Smith played his final three NFL seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. But his legacy and ultimate Hall of Fame bust are clearly etched in Panthers’ colors, with 836 receptions over 13 seasons with the team.
No player in NFL history has played with a chip on his shoulder in quite the way Smith did. Out of a less than noteworthy football school (at the time)? Who cares? Too small (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) to succeed in the NFL long-term? Think again.
Chicago Bears: RB Walter Payton, 1st Round (No.4), 1975
Over 13 NFL seasons, all with the Bears, Payton topped 1,200 rushing yards 10 times. That kind of production make it no surprise Payton passed Jim Brown as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher in 1984 (his 10th season), and “Sweetness” also had more than 350 touches in a season nine times.
Payton is still second on the all-time rushing list (16,726 yards), and he’s also third all-time in yards from scrimmage (21,264 yards). That kind of all-around ability would fit nicely in today’s NFL, and Payton would surely be one of what has become a dying breed of workhorse, three-down backs.
Payton’s legacy goes beyond what he did on the field, as evidenced by the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, given each year to honor a player’s charity work in concert with on-field performance. Payton gave his time willingly to philanthropic causes, and the annual award that carries his name sheds light on a guy who does as well.
Payton got a Super Bowl ring in 1985, but he did not perform especially well in the Bears’ dismantling of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX. William “The Refrigerator” Perry even vultured a touchdown from Payton in his only Super Bowl.
Emerging from little Jackson State to become one of the NFL’s greatest running backs, Payton defied the odds. I know Emmitt Smith surpassed him in 2002, but I still like to think of Payton as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.
Cincinnati Bengals: OT Anthony Munoz, 1st Round (No. 3), 1980
Left tackle is one of the most important positions on the field, and the Bengals nailed it by taking Munoz third overall in 1980. He blocked for a left-handed quarterback (Boomer Esiason) for a big chunk of his career, but even without being a proverbial “blind side” protector during that time Munoz is still one of the best offensive lineman in NFL history.
Over 13 seasons, all with the Bengals, Munoz earned 11 Pro Bowl selections. He also appeared in both of Cincinnati’s Super Bowl appearances (XVI, XXIII), and caught four touchdowns as a tackle-eligible over the course of his career. A rare athlete at his position to be sure, and probably a bit ahead of his time too.
Munoz entered the NFL with durability concerns stemming from his final two seasons at USC, but he started at least 15 games nine times and all 16 games eight times in his 13 seasons. Knee and shoulder issues brought eight missed games in 1992, which would be his final NFL season after he tried latching on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1993.
As expected, Munoz did not wait long to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 1998 was his first year of eligibility, and any other way would have been absolutely inappropriate. Munoz was the premier left tackle of his time, with a mix of mean streak and athleticism rarely seen.
Cleveland Browns: RB Jim Brown, 1st Round (No. 6), 1957
The recent pickings are slim here (or non-existent) for the Browns, with a hat-tip to Hall of Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome (No. 23 overall in 1978). But Brown is the clear choice as the best draft pick in franchise history, as arguably the greatest running back of all-time who may still hold some records if he had just played longer.
Over nine NFL seasons (1957-1965), Brown led the league in rushing eight times. He retired as the league’s all-time leader in rushing yards (12,312) and rushing touchdowns (106), and Brown is the only back in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career (104.3 per game).
As a clear testament to how good Brown was, it took Walter Payton 18 more games and 451 more carries to surpass him as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher in 1984 (Payton’s 10th NFL season). The league’s switch to a 16-game regular season during Payton’s’ career adds a little apples-to-oranges to the equation, but there’s no denying the greatness of either guy.
Brown had aspirations beyond the football field, and he retired at age-29 to fully pursue an acting career. Production delays filming The Dirty Dozen in 1966 delayed Brown’s arrival for training camp, which drew ire and the threat of daily fines from Browns’ owner Art Modell. Instead of playing what would have been his 10th (and final, by his own announcement) NFL season, Brown retired a bit sooner while still in his prime.
Brown is a case of what might have been, if he had played into his 30’s. It’s only a matter of time before he falls out of the top-10 on the all-time rushing list now, but Brown is absolutely toward the top of any other measure there is for a running back.
Dallas Cowboys: RB Emmitt Smith, 1st Round (No. 17), 1990
Concerns about his size (5-foot-9) and a lack of great timed speed dropped Smith down the first round of the 1990 draft, however inexplicably. The Cowboys traded up a few spots in search of a running back to replace Herschel Walker, who had been dealt to the Minnesota Vikings for a boatload of draft picks and players in 1989. With the 17th overall pick, one of the centerpieces of the franchise’s resurgence in the early 1990’s was put in place.
Smith was the second of six running backs drafted in that first round, with some indication the Cowboys were also considering each of the next three backs who were ultimately selected (Darrell Thompson, Steve Broussard, Rodney Hampton). The right choice as obviously made by the Cowboys, even though Smith wound up surpassing Walter Payton as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher in an Arizona Cardinals’ uniform.
Smith clearly benefited from the structure around him in Dallas, most notably a virtually unrivaled offensive line, so he was in the right place at the perfect time to become an all-time great running back. Two other Hall of Famers were drafted before Smith in 1990, but most of the other teams who made a pick before Dallas went on the clock definitely wanted a mulligan only a few years later.
Detroit Lions: RB Barry Sanders, 1st Round (No. 3), 1989
In his 10 NFL seasons, Sanders never had less than 1,100 rushing yards. In 1997, he became the third player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards (2,053).
But in the summer of 1999, within 1,500 yards of passing Walter Payton as the league’s all-time leading rusher, Sanders retired at 31 years old. Another season in line with his career average of 1,527 rushing yards per season, and Sanders would have passed Payton. Add a couple seasons beyond that, at something close to peak form, and Sanders himself would be the atop the list of rushers in league history.
Given what we know better now scientifically about concussions, Sanders can’t be blamed for retiring while he was still healthy. Bring able to walk as an older man was probably on his mind too, and Sanders always seemed like a guy who would retire early as opposed to hang on too long in a diminished state. With the history of the decline curve for running backs, Sanders may have called it quits at just the right time.
The Lions did not win a lot of games when Sanders played, but the franchise’s last playoff win came with him on team in 1991.
Sanders earned a Pro Bowl selection in all 10 of his seasons, and he averaged just shy of 100 rushing yards per game for his career (99.8). His running ability is obvious, and Sanders also had 352 receptions in his career. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Denver Broncos: Terrell Davis, 6th Round (No. 196), 1995
After the Broncos took a flier on him in the sixth round in 1995, Davis worked his way up the depth chart from special teamer to the No. 1 running back by Week 1. With 237 carries for 1,117 yards in 14 games, Davis became the lowest drafted player to top 1,000 rushing yards in his rookie season. He was also a factor in the passing game, with 49 receptions.
After he topped 1,500 yards on the ground in 1996, Davis became of the best running backs in the NFL over the next two seasons. After tallying 369 carries for 1,750 yards and league-leading 15 touchdowns during the regular season, Davis topped 100 yards on the ground in all four of Denver’s playoff games and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXII after rushing for 157 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the Green Bay Packers.
Davis was even better in 1998, becoming the third running back in league history to top 2,000 yards (2,008, on 392 carries) and again leading the league with 21 rushing touchdowns on his way to winning league MVP. The Broncos won the Super Bowl again, but with Davis as less of a factor.
A severe right knee injury early in the 1999 season derailed Davis’ career, with a leg injury limited him in 2000 and surgery on both knees limiting him to eight games in 2001. Over his final three NFL season, Davis played a total of just 17 games.
Davis is a case of what might have been, if not for injuries forcing him into retirement too soon. But he is easily the best draft pick the Broncos have ever made, and he will go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.
Green Bay Packers: QB Aaron Rodgers, 1st Round (No. 24), 2005
Rodgers was considered a potential No. 1 overall pick in 2005, but when the San Francisco 49ers went with Alex Smith a dramatic fall down the first round came. Multiple teams that that could have considered drafting a quarterback addressed other perceived needs, and most surely want to go back in time and make a different choice now.
Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre for three seasons, with just 59 pass attempts over seven total regular season games. But the Packers held a hard line on Favre’s annual retirement waffling in 2008, and committed to Rodgers through offseason work as their starting quarterback. Favre thought he could un-retire and be welcomed back with open arms in Green Bay, which was an epic miscalculation that led to him spending a season with the New York Jets.
Over the eight seasons he has started at least 15 games, Rodgers has topped 4,000 passing yards six times. Over the last three seasons (1,702 pass attempts), he has been remarkably efficient with 109 touchdown passes and just 20 interceptions.
Rodgers has equaled the number of Super Bowls Favre won with the Packers (one). Aside from some missed time to injuries (nine games played in 2013), it can be argued he’s been the better quarterback in Green Bay. If Favre had been drafted by the Packers there would be case for him here, but a combination of draft day value and the high level of performance we’ve seen makes Rodgers the guy.
Houston Texans: DE J.J. Watt, 1st Round (No. 11), 2011
The Texans are in a perpetual search for a franchise quarterback, and multiple teams took that plunge in a similar effort early in the 2011 draft. Cam Newton (No.1), Jake Locker (No. 8) and Blaine Gabbert (No. 10) were gone by the time Houston was on the clock in the first round, with Christian Ponder, Colin Kaepernick and Andy Dalton still available.
Houston landed Watt though, and they surely have no regrets about it now. He played just three games in 2016 due to a herniated disc in his back that required surgery to fix, but the Wisconsin product earned Pro Bowl nods in four straight seasons before that while also winning NFL Defensive Player of the year three times in that span (2012, 2014, 2015).
Watt is the only player in league history to have two 20-plus sack seasons in a career, and he also led the league with 17.5 quarterback takedowns in 2015. Pro Football Reference has a statistic which seems similar to WAR in baseball, called Approximate Value (AV), and Watt has led the NFL in that three times (2012, 2014 and 2015).
Watt started his college career as a tight end at Central Michigan, so it was an easy transition when he was deployed on offense and caught three touchdowns back in 2014. Over that season as a whole, Watt scored five touchdowns (one interception, one fumble return).
Watt is on a clear Hall of Fame track, which is far more than anyone can say for any quarterback taken in 2011 besides Newton. So the Texans get a lot of credit for not desperately taking a signal caller, and instead landing a game-changing defensive lineman.
Indianapolis Colts: QB Peyton Manning, 1st Round (No. 1), 1998
It was absolutely ludicrous in hindsight, but in the spring of 1998 there was a legitimate debate over who should be the No. 1 overall pick between Peyton Manning (Tennessee) and Ryan Leaf (Washington State). It was the man with NFL bloodlines (Manning) who couldn’t beat Florida during his college career, vs. a one-year wonder with physical tools to make scouts drool (Leaf).
The Colts clearly made the right choice, though it’s fun to imagine the NFL over the last 19 years if Leaf had been a Colt and Manning was then drafted by the San Diego Chargers second overall. Assuming the same career path for each guy, there are a lot of subsequent dominoes that would not have fallen into place quite the same way.
Manning finished his career as, and still is, the most statistically prolific quarterback in NFL history. He’s the all-time leader in passing yards (71,940) and passing touchdowns (539), and if not for a missed season in 2011 he would have started over 280 consecutive regular season games for the Colts and the Denver Broncos.
With two Super Bowl rings and the numbers he put up, as well as the cerebral approach he brought to the game, Manning is among the best and most influential quarterbacks in NFL history. Through the years, former Colts’ general manager Bill Polian has consistently said Manning stood out obviously above Leaf during the pre-draft process as a proverbial “gym rat” dedicated to his craft.
It may have ultimately been a clear choice for the future of the Colts, but messing up the No. 1 overall pick can set a franchise back for years. The Colts nailed it in 1998, as they also did in 2012 with Andrew Luck when there was a similar debate over quarterbacks in line to go 1-2 in the draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars: RB Maurice Jones-Drew, 2nd Round (No. 60), 2006
For his first three NFL seasons, Jones did not reach 200 carries in a season as Fred Taylor remained the lead dog in the Jaguars’ backfield. But opportunity knocked in 2009, upon Taylor landing with the New England Patriots, and Jones-Drew delivered nicely with 312 carries for 1,391 yards and 15 touchdowns while also catching 53 passes.
After a relatively down season in 2010 (299 carries for 1,324 yards and five touchdowns), due in part to a knee injury he played through all season, Jones-Drew rebounded to lead the league in rushing with 1,606 yards (on a league-leading 343 carries) in 2011. Add in 43 catches for 343 yards, and Jones Drew accounted for nearly 48 percent of Jacksonville’s offensive yards in 2011.
2012 started with a contract-related holdout, and Jones-Drew was then limited to just six games during the regular season. After one more season with the Jaguars in 2013, he finished his career back in his hometown with the Oakland Raiders in 2014.
Jones-Drew obviously did not quite have Taylor’s longevity with the Jaguars, with only three peak seasons as a clear workhorse. But he is behind only Taylor as the second-leading rusher in franchise history, for better or worse in the broader scope of the franchise, and Jones-Drew was a top-20 fantasy running back (top-10 four times) in seven of his nine NFL seasons.
Jones-Drew was the sixth running back drafted in 2006, behind Reggie Bush, Laurence Maroney, DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai and LenDale White. So the Jaguars were actually fortunate he was available, but credit is due for making the pick with Taylor still in place.
Kansas City Chiefs: OLB Derrick Thomas, 1st Round (No. 4), 1989
Thomas is yet another man on this list from the all-time great laden first handful of picks in 1989, and he was one of the top pass rushers in the NFL in the 1990’s with a league-most 116.5 sacks during the decade.
Thomas set a career-high with 20 sacks in 1990, which was aided by an NFL single-game record seven sacks of Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Dave Krieg. The Chiefs actually lost that game though, as Krieg evaded what would have been Thomas’ eighth sack on the final play to throw the game-winning touchdown. In 1998, Thomas also tallied six sacks in a 1998 game against the Oakland Raiders.
Thomas earned nine Pro Bowl selections in his 11 seasons with the Chiefs, with career accolades that further include NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and NFL Man of the Year (1993).
In February of 2000, at 33 years old, Thomas died of complications related to a car accident that caused him paralysis. There was no indication he was set to retire at that point, even after a bit of a down year in 1999 (seven sacks), so Thomas would have surely added to his career sack total for at least a couple more years.
In his fifth year of eligibility, and posthumously of course, Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
Los Angeles Chargers: LB Junior Seau, 1st Round (No. 5), 1990
Seau played his final seven NFL seasons for the Miami Dolphins (2003-2005) and New England Patriots (2006-2009), but his best years came with the Chargers and he is synonymous with the franchise.
Over his 13 seasons in San Diego Seau made the Pro Bowl 12 straight years (1991-2002), and he missed just eight games over that span. Over that same stretch, Seau had over 100 total tackles in a season seven times with at least 3.5 sacks eight times.
Seau won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1992, NFL Man of the Year in 1994 and he was an eight-time First Team All-Pro. Even in the relative obscurity of playing in San Diego, and on a team that didn’t win a ton, Seau combined longevity and production in a way few linebackers have. He is one of many players who clearly belong any list of those that never won a Super Bowl.
Seau made news for the wrong reason in 2012, when he committed suicide via a gunshot to the chest at age-43. He had been suffering from some issues related to the after effects of playing football, in an era where concussions weren’t taken as seriously, and he was later found to have brain damage consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE as it’s better known as.
Seau was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015, with a ridiculous rule that prevented his daughter Sydney from giving a full speech honoring him at the induction ceremony. Seau is the first player of Polynesian and Samoan descent to get into Canton.
Los Angeles Rams: DE Deacon Jones, 14th Round (No. 186), 1961
The draft is half as long now as it was when Jones was drafted in 1961, which makes him an even better draft pick in hindsight. With a menacing look and a name that befit utter dominance, Jones became an all-time great defensive end.
“The Secretary of Defense” was one of the leaders of the Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” defensive front in the 1960s, and he perfected the now illegal head slap move as a pass rusher to leave offensive tackles disoriented.
Jones’ career predates when sacks started to be an official NFL statistic, in 1982, but he is credited with coining the phrase to describe taking down a quarterback before he could let go of a pass. By some unofficial estimates, Jones has been credited with 159.5, 173.5 or perhaps over 200 sacks in his career. Regardless, even today over 40 years since he last played, Jones would be fairly high among the all-time leaders in sacks if they officially existed when he played.
The premium placed on pass rushers today owes a lot to Jones’ trailblazing in the 60s. The big money contracts the cream of the crop get now also can be traced back to his influence on the game, and the eventual institution of a statistic to officially measure how productive a pass rusher is. Sacks are not necessarily the end game anymore for how good a pass rusher is, with Pro Football Focus offering deeper analytics with their grading system and crediting of pressures, but if Jones played today he’d surely get high marks below the surface too.
Miami Dolphins: QB Dan Marino, 1st Round (No. 27), 1983
The 1983 NFL Draft was clearly a quarterback-driven draft. From the No. 1 pick (John Elway) all the way down the first round to Marino, with another Hall of Famer (Jim Kelly) and three guys who weren’t all-time greats (Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Ken O’Brien) in-between.
Rumors of drug use and a down senior season at Pitt brought Marino’s fall in the first round, but it only took until his second season for him to show what a huge mistake multiple teams made. He set single-season records for passing yards (5,084) and passing touchdowns (48) that stood for a long time in 1984, while leading the Dolphins to the Super Bowl. That loss to the San Francisco 49ers would be the only Super Bowl appearance of Marino’s career.
Marino retired as the NFL all-time leader in passing yards (61,361) and touchdowns (420). He has since been surpassed in both categories by the same quartet of quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees), which says a lot about them and Marino.
In today’s NFL, with rules to promote offense and the passing game in particular, it’s scary to think about the kind of numbers Marino could put up. But as it is he was ahead of his time, with a high level of production that has held up.
Minnesota Vikings: WR Randy Moss, 1st Round (No.21), 1998
Red flags from his college days, which led to him landing at Marshall, followed Moss into the 1998 draft. Based on talent, he should have been a top-10 pick. The Dallas Cowboys passed on him twice in that first round, after showing heavy interest during the pre-draft process, and Moss then made it his career mission to dominate whenever he played them.
For a few years prior to Moss landing in Minnesota, when the NFL still had the rule and the options to watch games weren’t nearly as plentiful as they are now, Vikings’ home games regularly struggled to sell out and thus be aired on local television. Owner Red McCombs coined the phrase “Purple Pride” in an attempt to inspire the fan base and sell t-shirts, with Moss as the exciting rookie to personify a new era for the team. After dominating as a rookie, with 69 catches for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns, Moss brought a change in how opposing teams drafted cornerbacks in an attempt to account for him as a deep threat.
Moss had a brief four-game run back in Minnesota during the 2010 season, amid a tumultuous season for the team on and off the field. Long-term memories of him in a Vikings’ uniform are clearly centered on 1998-2004 though, and Moss changed the course of the franchise for the better when he arrived.
New England Patriots: QB Tom Brady, 6th Round (No. 199), 2000
After failing to consistently hold the starting job at Michigan, and a notably poor look at the NFL Combine, Brady was the seventh quarterback taken in the 2000 draft. Of the six signal callers taken before him, only Chad Pennington and Marc Bulger did anything of note in the NFL. ESPN even did a film about that group of quarterbacks, appropriately called The Brady 6.
Brady has now won an unprecedented five Super Bowls as a quarterback, winning MVP honors in four of those games. He’s earned 12 Pro Bowl selections in his career thus far, with two league MVP awards and an NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2009 after missing almost all of the 2008 season due to a torn ACL.
Even the Patriots passed on drafting Brady multiple times in 2000, before finally using a sixth-round pick on him. If not for what turned out to be a severe injury for Drew Bledsoe opening the door, Brady probably would not have gotten an extended opportunity when he did in 2001. It’s possible Brady would not have seen the field as a starter for a few more years if Bledsoe hadn’t been injured, and it may not have even been with the Patriots by that point.
Brady is the biggest test case for seeing beyond the measureables when evaluating football players, while at least trying to get a peek into someone’s competitive drive and other intangible qualities. A sixth-round pick by physique and 40-yard dash time became an all-time great, and perhaps the undisputed greatest quarterback in NFL history.
New Orleans Saints: WR Marques Colston, 7th Round (No. 252), 2006
Colston was nearly Mr. Irrelevant in 2006, taken by the Saints with the fourth-to-last pick in the draft. He was elevated to a starting role by Week 1 of his rookie season though, and did not disappoint with 70 receptions for 1,038 yards and eight touchdowns over 14 games.
Colston set career-highs in his second season, with 98 receptions (eighth in the league) for 1,202 yards (eighth in the league) and 11 touchdowns (seventh in the league). After an injury shortened 2008 campaign, Colston then had four straight 1,000-yard seasons (2009-2012) and at least 70 receptions in five straight campaigns (2009-2013).
Colston sat out the 2016 season after the Saints cut him, and his career is likely over. But he is the Saints’ all-time franchise leader in receptions (711), receiving yards (9,759) and receiving touchdowns (72), over 10 seasons, and that is a heck of a string of accomplishments for a seventh-round pick.
With numbers that were good but never really eye-popping, Colston never made a Pro Bowl in his career. It’s also easy to chalk him up as a creation of how good Drew Brees was and still is, as both came to New Orleans in 2006, but that’s doing Colston a great disservice.
Brees likes to spread the ball around without bias, but he targeted Colston over 100 times in a season eight times. Finding a long-term No. 1 wide receiver in the seventh round is a rare feat, but the Saints did it by taking a flier on a guy out of Hofstra.
New York Giants: DE Michael Strahan, 2nd Round (No. 40) 1993
Strahan started slowly, with just one sack in nine games during his rookie season, but he then stepped into a starting role and stayed there for the rest of his career. He earned his first career Pro Bowl selection in 1997, with 14 sacks, and followed that up with 15 sacks in 1998.
The best season of Strahan’s career came in 2001, when he set a single-season NFL record with 22.5 sacks on his way to winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Brett Favre laid down for the record-setting sack in 2001, but Strahan led the league in sacks again in 2003 with 18.5.
Strahan finished his career with a Super Bowl win, as the Giants’ pass rush helped take down the undefeated New England Patriots. He had one sack of Tom Brady in the game, and rode off into the sunset to pursue other things. Those other things have been in the media, as a pre-game analyst for FOX, Good Morning America contributor and host of $100,000 Pyramid currently.
Strahan was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014, completing his journey from star in the SWAC to the highest place one can reach in football. Even as a second-round pick, 141.5 career sacks, seven Pro Bowl nods and a Super Bowl ring went surely beyond what was initially expected from Strahan.
New York Jets: CB Darrelle Revis, 1st Round (No. 14), 2007
“Revis Island” was a no-fly zone for the Jets opponents from 2007-2011, before a torn ACL limited him to two games in 2012 and he eventually moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New England Patriots.
Rex Ryan was allowed to deploy his aggressive defensive scheme freely during Revis’ prime knowing one side of the field was taken care of in the passing game and an opponent’s No. 1 option would be limited.
Five of Revis’ seven career Pro Bowl selections have been in a Jets’ uniform, as well as 25 of his 29 career interceptions over eight combined seasons. But his second stint has likely come to an end, after a bad 2016 season.
The early part of the 2007 draft features quite a few possible future Hall of Famers, including Calvin Johnson (No. 2 overall), Joe Thomas (No. 3 overall), Adrian Peterson (No. 7) and Patrick Willis (No. 11). But there were quite a few first round misses before the Jets drafted Revis at No. 14, and they clearly found a shutdown corner to fit what they needed and also suited what Ryan wanted to do defensively.
Revis may or may not continue to play, but for the majority of his 10 total NFL seasons he has been a shutdown corner by every measure. The Jets’ draft history is not great, but Revis was a clear win.
Oakland Raiders: RB Marcus Allen, 1st Round (No. 10), 1982
After a fantastic college career at USC, including a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 1981, Allen landed with the Los Angeles Raiders with the No. 10 overall pick in 1982.
Allen led the NFL in rushing touchdowns (11) as a rookie, as he won Offensive Rookie of the Year. At the end of his second season, he ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns (including a long-standing record run of 74 yards) and won MVP of Super Bowl XVIII as the Raiders dismantled the Redskins 38-9. From 1983-1985, Allen had reception totals of 68, 64 and 67 as a true dual threat.
Allen led the NFL in rushing yards (1,759) and won league MVP in 1985. After sharing the Raiders’ backfield with Bo Jackson for a few years and a contract dispute with owner Al Davis, Allen’s days with the Raiders ended after the 1992 season.
But Allen had a nice second act with the Kansas City Chiefs, leading the league in rushing touchdowns again in 1993 (12) and winning Comeback Player of the Year. Even in his final season, 1997, Allen found pay dirt 11 times on 124 carries.
Allen only had three 1,000 rushing seasons, but he is still in the top-10 all-time in total touchdowns (144). He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and Allen is the only guy to win a Heisman Trophy, a college national title, a Super Bowl, an NFL MVP and a Super Bowl MVP.
Philadelphia Eagles: QB Donovan McNabb, 1st Round (No. 2), 1999
A lot of Eagles’ fans will probably disagree here, but McNabb stood out among the five quarterbacks taken in the first 12 picks of the 1999 draft. Tim Couch (No. 1), Akili Smith (No. 3) and Cade McNown (No. 12) were outright busts, and Daunte Culpepper (No. 11) had his career derailed by a severe knee injury in 2005.
McNabb is the Eagles’ all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions an attempts, and he’s in the top-10 all-time in rushing yards by a quarterback. He also led the Eagles to five division titles and five NFC Championship Games. But ultimately reaching just one Super Bowl, throwing three interceptions in that game and apparently falling ill as the Eagles attempted a comeback against the Patriots drew criticism and ire from fans.
In hindsight, head coach Andy Reid’s time management skills late in that Super Bowl loss deserved scrutiny right alongside any of McNabb’s actual or perceived shortcomings.
McNabb’s career went off the rails very quickly, amid questions about his work ethic, grasp of the playbook and clear signs he was not in the best shape with the Washington Redskins (2010) and the Minnesota Vikings (2011). But his time with the Eagles was mostly good, and the team had a successful pairing of quarterback and head coach for many years. The McNabb half of that equation is the best draft pick in Eagles’ history, considering the alternatives at quarterback in the 1999 draft.
Pittsburgh Steelers: WR John Stallworth, 4th Round (No. 82), 1974
Four of Pittsburgh’s first five picks in the 1974 draft are Hall of Famers, but I’ll single out the highly-underrated Stallworth.
Lynn Swann was the flashier receiver and the marquee name, but Stallworth played a few seasons longer. After playing a total of 13 games in 1982 and 1983, Stallworth had the best season of his career and won NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1984 (80 receptions for 1,395 yards and 11 touchdowns). He would follow that up with another solid season in 1985, with 75 catches for 937 yards.
Stallworth was finally elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. As a four-time Super bowl winner and a productive player, he waited too long to get into Canton.
From Stallworth’s Hall of Fame page, we have this quote that encapsulates what can only be called understated confidence that allowed him to stick longer than others might have.
"I know I’m the primary receiver on ever(y) route. Even if the quarterback looks elsewhere first, I know I’ll be open and he’ll come back to me.”"
Stallworth is one of the most underappreciated players in NFL history, but I’m giving him his due as a fourth-round pick that made to the Hall of Fame. Steelers’ history has a lot of options for this list, but Stallworth is the guy.
San Francisco 49ers: QB Joe Montana, 3rd Round (No. 82), 1979
Can you name the three quarterbacks taken before Montana in 1979? One was Phil Simms (seventh overall), but the other two (Jack Thompson and Steve Fuller) are hardly memorable.
Montana fell to the final pick of that third round based on lacking prototypical size and arm strength, but Bill Walsh clearly saw a quarterback that fit the offense he wanted to run perfectly. Four Super Bowl wins later, including three game MVP awards for Montana, and Walsh was absolutely correct.
It’s worth wondering how successful Montana would have been playing on another team or in another offensive system for the bulk of his career. But he found a situation that was a perfect marriage for his skill set, with a coach he was well synchronized with and plenty of talent around him. Seven of his eight career Pro Bowl selections came with the 49ers, and Montana took home back-to-back league MVP awards in 1989 and 1990.
Montana played for two iconic football brands, in college at Notre Dame and the prolific 49ers of the 1980s. As is common on this list he is an oversight of traditional scouting based on measurables, which typically leaves intangibles by the wayside. Even though Tom Brady has now won more Super Bowls, some people may still stand by “Super Joe” as the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Seattle Seahawks: QB Russell Wilson, 3rd Round (No. 75), 2012
After a successful season as a graduate transfer at Wisconsin in 2011, Wilson landed on the NFL radar and became a third-round pick the following April. The Seahawks had just made a significant free agency investment in Matt Flynn, but head coach Pete Carroll practically immediately declared that Wilson was a candidate to start under center.
That’s just what Wilson did, winning the starting job in training camp, and he’s started every game for the Seahawks over the last five seasons. If not for an inexplicable play call, and a career-making play for New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, Wilson would have two Super Bowl rings in his career already.
The Seahawks have won at least 10 regular season games in all five of Wilson’s seasons under center (56-23-1 record), along with at least one playoff win (8-4 postseason record) in each campaign. If winning is the most important thing, Wilson passes the test.
Wilson is another draft miss by NFL teams, due predominantly to him being a shorter quarterback. But his other skills are more than worthy, and it’s probably only a matter of time before Wilson becomes a multi-Super Bowl winner.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: DT Warren Sapp, 1st Round (No. 12), 1995
In hindsight, it’s incredible to know that Sapp was the fourth defensive lineman taken in 1995. But reports of multiple failed drug tests late in the pre-draft process led to teams passing on him, including the Minnesota Vikings with the pick immediately before the Buccaneers went on the clock.
Tony Dungy’s Cover-2 defensive scheme generally relied on creating pressure almost exclusively with the front four, and Sapp was the perfect fit for that as a defensive tackle who was big and had quick feet.
Sapp earned seven straight Pro Bowl selections as a Buccaneer (1997-2003), with an NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1999 (12.5 sacks) and a Super Bowl ring in 2002 (Super Bowl XXXVII) as well. He set a career-high with 16.5 sacks in 2000.
Sapp is a rare player who is on two of the NFL’s All-Decade teams, for the 1990’s and the 2000’s. He spent the final four seasons of his career with the Oakland Raiders (2004-2007). In 2013, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and inducted into the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor.
Sapp carried red flags with him into the 1995 NFL Draft, but at the certain point in the first round the risk was probably not going to outweigh the potential reward. The No. 12 overall pick was that point for the Buccaneers, and it worked out quite handsomely for them.
Tennessee Titans: OL Bruce Matthews, 1st Round (No. 9), 1983
In a 1983 draft more known for quarterbacks, the then-Houston Oilers franchise took an offensive lineman. But Bruce Matthews proved worthy of a top-10 pick investment, providing great long-term stability to a critical area.
Matthews played all five offensive line positions over the course of his career, earning 14 straight Pro Bowl selections (1988-2001) and being named First Team All-Pro 10 times along the way. His Pro Bowl nods came at three different positions (right guard, center and left guard), in a rare exhibition of versatility.
Other than a strike-shortened 1987 season, Matthews started at least 15 games in each of his other 18 NFL seasons and all 16 games 17 times. So it’s not a surprise he retired having played the most games in NFL history (296-293 starts), since surpassed by Brett Favre, but Matthews still holds the record for games and seasons (19) played by a lineman.
Matthews comes from an extensive NFL family, with his father (Clay Sr.), brother (Clay Jr.), sons (Jake, Kevin) and nephews (Clay III, Casey) all also having played or currently playing in the league. He is clearly the most accomplished of the entire group though, and he took his rightful place in Canton in 2007, his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility.
Matthews combined to two things most important to an NFL team-availability and ability-at a level rarely seen. In the history of the Oilers/Titans franchise, that makes him a slam-dunk choice here.
Washington Redskins: CB Darrell Green, 1st Round (No. 28), 1983
Out of little Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville), Green was the final first-round pick in the 1983 draft. What he lacked in size (5-foot-9, 184 pounds) he made up for with speed though, as a four-time NFL’s fastest man.
To dismiss Green as simply a speedster would be wrong though, as he missed just 25 games over 20 seasons with at least one interception in each of his first 19 campaigns. Green was also a productive tackler, with a least 60 total tackles nine times in his career.
He was not a regular starter by that point, but Green played all 16 games at age-41 (2001) and age-42 (2002). As further evidence of how age-defying he was, the last two of Green’s seven career Pro Bowl selections came at 36 (1996) and 37 (1997) years old.
Green won two Super Bowls (XXII and XVI) with the Redskins, while appearing in a third (Super Bowl XVIII, a loss to the Los Angeles Raiders). He also became known for his work off the field, winning Walter Payton Man of the Year in 1996.
Next: 5 quarterback options for Houston Texans with Romo done
The Redskins were one of the best-run organizations in the NFL in 1980s, which is hard to imagine in their current state under owner Daniel Snyder. They clearly saw something in Green, a small school player with speed to burn, and wound up with a very complete football player that lasted 20 seasons.