A Look Back At The Top Of The 2016 NFL Draft

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks were talking about the players selected at the top of the 2016 NFL Draft on their recent Move the Sticks podcast. By the way, I highly recommend this podcast to anyone interested in a scout's view of football. Actually, I recommend it to anyone interested in football. Their tales of being on the road as NFL scouts are especially fun. Anyway, back to that recent podcast and their look at the top of a draft that looks better with each week. Here are the top 10 picks from that 2016 NFL Draft.

Pick	Player	Position	Team
1	Jared Goff	QB	Rams
2	CarsonWentz	QB	Eagles
3	Joey Bosa	DE	Chargers
4	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	Cowboys
5	Jalen Ramsey	CB	Jaguars
6	Ronnie Stanley	T	Ravens
7	DeForest Buckner	DL	49ers
8	Jack Conklin	T	Titans
9	Leonard Floyd	LB	Bears
10	Eli Apple	CB	Giants

For right or wrong, the quality of every draft seems to be determined by the quarterbacks that were selected in it. Jared Goff has been a revelation under the guidance of first-year head coach Sean McVay. Carson Wentz has been crowned, by many, the MVP of this season. Halfway through their second season both quarterbacks look like the long-term answer at the position for their teams.

As well as the two quarterbacks have played this season they haven't been the best of their draft peers. That honor could go to any of the three players that immediately followed the quarterbacks in this draft. Joey Bosa became one of the league's top pass rushers as soon as he hit the field. He's non-stop and a full game nightmare for every offensive line tasked with slowing him. Ezekiel Elliott led the league in rushing as a rookie. He's in the conversation with Le'Veon Bell and David Johnson as the best back in the league. The only thing that seems to slow Elliott is idiocy off the field. Jalen Ramsey is already one of the top corners in the game. The football talent keeps rolling. DeForest Buckner and Jack Conklin look like long-term difference-makers for their teams and are already among the top dozen, or so, players in the league at their positions. Leonard Floyd has flashed pass rushing brilliance. Ronnie Stanley and Eli Apple might be the least accomplished of the top-10 picks but they are both quality starters for their teams. 

These players are only 22-24 games into their NFL careers. A lot can change. Many players have come out of the gates blazing only to burn out soon after. We'll see how these players fair as they advance through their careers but all ten have had fantastic starts. 

These ten aren't the only early standouts from the 2016 NFL Draft. 

Karl Joseph

Taylor Decker

Keanu Neal

Hunter Henry

Myles Jack

Chris Jones

Sterling Shepherd

Michael Thomas

Yannick Ngakoue

Dak Prescott

Jordan Howard

Tyreek Hill

The hits just keep on coming from this draft. Especially the last three on the list. All three, Prescott (4th round), Howard (5th) and Hill (5th) made the Pro Bowl as rookies and probably find their way into the top-10 selections if the draft was done again.