Best draft ever? There are several contenders. How about the 1957 NFL Draft? 9 of the players drafted in 1957 have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Paul Hornung, Len Dawson, Jim Brown, Jim Parker, Tommy McDonald, Sonny Jurgensen, Henry Jordan, Gene Hickerson, and Don Maynard. 11 of the 13 players drafted in the first round were elected to the Pro Bowl. The 1964 NFL Draft produced 10 future Hall of Fame players and one Hall of Fame coach. Bob Brown, Charley Taylor, Carl Eller, Paul Warfield, Mel Renfro, Paul Krause, Dave Wilcox, Bob Hayes, Leroy Kelly, Roger Staubach, and Bill Parcells. Those 11 Hall of Famers are the most to come from a single draft. The 1983 NFL Draft is best remembered for the six quarterbacks taken in the first round. Hall of Famers John Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino among those six. That draft wasn't just about the quarterbacks. 15 of the 28 players taken in the first round made it to the Pro Bowl. Eric Dickerson, Bruce Matthews, Darrell Green, and Richard Dent joined Elway, Kelly, and Marino in Canton. Curt Warner, Joey Browner, Chris Hinton, Roger Craig, Tim Krumrie, Jesse Sapolu, Karl Mecklenburg, and Anthony Carter looked like future Hall of Famers at times during their career. Some still could make it. Others might have made it if injuries hadn't shortened or ended their careers. The 1983 NFL Draft was loaded beyond those six quarterbacks. The 1989 NFL Draft will always be remembered for the top of it. Troy Aikman was selected #1. Barry Sanders #3. Derrick Thomas #4. Deion Sanders #5. The one that wasn't like the rest was Tony Mandarich at #2. Going into that draft those top five players were thought to be among the best at their position to ever enter the draft. There were other players that had nice NFL careers that came out in 1983. Trace Armstrong, Steve Atwater, Andre Rison, Steve Wisniewski, Darryl Johnston among them. Wisniewski probably deserves some serious Hall of Fame consideration. The 1989 NFL Draft still gets it's deserved attention because of the players at the top. Despite, the presence of Mandarich.
I'm kind of partial to the 2007 NFL Draft. I don't think that this draft gets the attention that it deserves. That may due to the fact that most of the players of note are still shining in their NFL careers. Drafts are best appreciated with more time than seven short years. The biggest problem with the 2007 NFL Draft is, and always will be, the #1 pick. JaMarcus Russell. The Oakland Raiders will always be a sad joke because of that pick. That's unfortunate. Perhaps as many as half of the teams in the league would have made the very same choice if given that first pick. The draft got better after JaMarcus Russell got out of the way. 14 of the 32 players taken in the first round have earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. Six players from that first round will have serious Hall of Fame support five years after they retire. Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, and Darrelle Revis have played much of their seven seasons to a Hall of Fame standard. Thomas and Willis have yet to miss a Pro Bowl. Peterson would have done the same if not for the knee injury that put his 2011 season on the shelf. Quality players were found throughout the 2007 NFL Draft. LaRon Landry, Michael Griffen, Dwayne Bowe, Jon Beason, Anthony Spencer, Joe Staley, Ben Grubbs, Paul Posluszny, Eric Weddle, Zach Miller, LaMarr Woodley, Ryan Kalil, Jacoby Jones, Marshall Yanda, Paul Soliai, Dashon Goldson(if he can ever learn to tackle properly), and Brian Robison. There were a lot of teams that came out of the 2007 NFL Draft very happy. After several seasons, most teams, other than the Raiders, are probably still pretty happy with this draft.
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