The risk in listing the top-ten draft picks in NFL history is we simply list the top-ten players in NFL history. So we will pick Hall of Fame players who slipped past the first round of the draft, while some mysteriously lasted past the second, third, and fourth rounds. We try to look at where they were drafted, how often teams whiffed on them, their legendary careers and equally iconic impact on the gridiron. So here are ten of the best picks in NFL Draft history.
10. Art Shell
Oakland Raiders
1968, 3rd round, 80th pick
An eight-time Pro Bowl selection and member of the 1970s all-decade team. Shell and Gene Upshaw anchored Oakland’s granite offensive line that, at one time, had three Hall of Famers (Jim Otto is the third). Shell blasted open holes for a decade, making the Raiders a perennial contender under John Madden and Tom Flores, protecting Ken Stabler and Jim Plunkett. Shell helped Oakland win Super Bowl XI and XV. He punctuated his career by entering the Hall of Fame and becoming the first Black man to be named head coach of an NFL club, when Al Davis hired him to coach his Raiders.
9. Terrell Davis
Denver Broncos
1995, 6th round, 196th pick
The main reason John Elway has two Super Bowl rings, Davis took the load off the all-time great quarterback by helping the Broncos become a run-first offense in the zone blocking schemes designed by coach Mike Shanahan. Davis had a truncated prime because of knee injuries. But what a prime it was. In 1998, Davis rushed for 2,008 yards, was named NFL MVP, and helped Elway win Super Bowl XXXIII. Without a real rushing attack, Elway went 0-3 in the Super Bowl, but was 2-0 with Davis behind him. The balky knees forced Davis to retire after seven seasons and 7,607 yards.
8. Shannon Sharpe
Denver Broncos
1990, 7th round, 192nd pick
An eight-time Pro-Bowl selection, Sharpe was one of the first tight ends with the strength of a tackle and the speed of a wideout. He was a key cog on three Super Bowl-winning squads, twice for the Denver Broncos (1997-’98) and a third time on the bone-crunching Baltimore Ravens team of 2000. When he retired, Sharpe held the record for receptions (815), receiving yards (10,060), and touchdowns for a tight end (62).
7. Deacon Jones
Los Angeles Rams
1961, 14th round, 186th pick
Before the sack was a stat, Jones was the master of the sack. Jones rushed the passer with a fearsome fury as the leading member of the Fearsome Foursome - a iconic quartet of defensive linemen for the Los Angeles Rams (which also featured Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy, and Rosey Grier). Historians assert that Jones would have registered around 175 sacks had the stat been kept during his career, which would have placed him third in NFL history (behind Bruce Smith and Reggie White.)
6. Johnny Unitas
Pittsburgh Steelers
1955, 9th round, 102nd pick
Drafted by Pittsburgh but forever tethered to Baltimore, Unitas held every vital passing record when he retired in the early '70s. Consider his record of 47-straight games with a touchdown pass (between 1956 and 1960) held up until Peyton Manning broke it 54 years later. By all accounts and metrics Unitas is the father of the modern passing game. And while we can debate the best QBs of the last 40 years, Unitas had no peers.
5. Mel Blount
PIttsburgh Steelers
1970, 3rd round, 53rd pick
Among the top-three cornerbacks ever, if not the best, (before Deion Sanders, anyway). At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Blount was huge for a defensive back, and often grabbed, twisted, and tossed wide receivers around, keeping them from running their routes. In 1977 the NFL passed the rule that disallowed defenders from touching wideouts within five yards of the line of scrimmage. It was so obviously influenced by the Steelers CB it was often called "The Mel Blount Rule." Blount was a member of the NFL’s 75th anniversary all-time team, and also won four Super Bowls.
4. Roger Staubach
Dallas Cowboys
1964, 10th Round, 129th pick
The NFL version of Captain America. Staubach wasn't only a great quarterback who played in five Super Bowls (winning two), but also won the Heisman in college. Oh, and that college was the Naval Academy, during a war. And yes, Staubach was sent to serve in Vietnam, refusing to take one of those posh, high-carpeted tours often set up for celebrities. Not only known as a great passer, Staubach was one of the first scrambling quarterbacks who duped defenders with his nimble feet, to buy time to make big throws. Staubach was also the first NFL QBs to be known for adrenaline-draining comebacks. Arguably the greatest quarterback of the NFL's greatest era (1970s).
3. Brett Favre
Atlanta Falcons
1991, 2nd round, 33rd pick
Indeed - the most beloved Packer since the Lombardi era was actually drafted by the Falcons, who then thought so much of the Mississippi gunslinger that they shipped him to Titletown, U.S.A. So, naturally, Favre leads Green Bay back to the Super Bowl - twice - for the first time since Lombardi paced the Packers sidelines in the 1960s. Favre won one of the team's two Super Bowl appearances in the ‘90s, and then went on to win three-straight NFL MVP awards from 1995-'97. Favre was known for his talent, toughness, and his ability to play through pain, starting in 297 straight games, smashing the old record of 270 and setting the bar impossibly high for future football players. What made Favre different was his willingness to take big risks in big games, his smirking southern charm, and goofy sense of humor. Favre played for pay, of course, but played first for fun. While Montana and Brady and John Elway have an aura of football royalty. Favre was one of the boys, making him not just great but acutely relatable - exactly as he wanted it.
2. Joe Montana
San Francisco 49ers
1979, 3rd round, 82nd pick
Brady's hero and the G.O.A.T. before the pupil leapfrogged the master. Maybe the most clutch QB to ever play pro football. Montana played in four Super Bowls, went 4-0, and was MVP of three of them. He threw 11 touchdown passes in those Super Bowls, and zero interceptions. Montana was spawned by that wildly fertile football soil of Western Pennsylvania, that also produced Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, John Unitas, and Joe Namath. All Hall of Famers. The Niners booted Montana in favor of the younger Steve Young. And still Montana, weathered by concussions and chronic back pain, took the Kansas City Chiefs to within one game of the Super Bowl.
1. Tom Brady
New England Patriots
2000, 6th round, 199th pick
The most decorated NFL player of all-time. After he led New England to six Super Bowl wins, folks wondered if the magic came from Brady or Belichick. Then Brady migrated to Tampa Bay, ran into a pandemic that prevented OTAs, training camp, and preseason games. Yet he went into last year cold and won a Super Bowl anyway, with an entirely different cast of coaches and players. And he did it at 43 years old, about a decade past a QB's assumed prime. Brady has achieved a laughable lead in championships over anyone who has played pro football. To give you an idea of how badly the league whiffed on Brady on draft day, consider that these six quarterbacks - Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Mark Bulger, and Spergon Wynn - were picked ahead of the G.O.A.T.
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