how crazy would this be in real life?

[bigchief58]

i am in year 2 with the chiefs, using the jack english draft path. let me start by saying that this is not a post about my drafting ability, as one, the draft is loaded and two, with the spoilers out there and playing it for 3 years constantly its pretty easy to do. what this thread IS about is what if...in real life...a team could have this kind of draft? i ended up with 15 draft picks and was able to draft 6 of the future 50 players (mack jackson, juron riley, patrick boma, jake scott, leron james, and jamarion bellows). now what if a real nfl team could get all that talent in one draft?? that team would be super bowl caliber (even my lowly chiefs) for years to come. kinda similar to when the real life cowboys traded hershel walker for all those picks and won superbowls. can anyone else think of any real life amazing drafts any team had?

[bigbob]

I'd probably throw the Cardinals 2004 Draft in there just for their first three picks, Fitzgerald, Dansby and Dockett. Unfortunately they really couldn't do any with that. They also had two solid starters in Alex Stepanovich until he got hurt into his third year, and Antonio Smith made the Pro Bowl this year.

[cutter73]

In 1974 the Steelers drafted John Stallworth, Lynn Swann, Mike Webster and Jack Lambert. All four are in the NFL Hall of Fame. That's pretty impressive right there.

Closer to my heart as a Redskins fan:

In 1981 the Redskins drafted 3 players who made the All'Time 70 Greatest Redskins list as honored by the Redskins in 2002:

OL Mark May
OL Russ Grimm
DE Dexter Manley

Then they traded a 2nd round pick to the Colts for another 70 greatest Redskin in RB Joe Washington

Then they picked up the fifth 70 Greatest Redskin in an undrafted LT named Joe Jacoby

They also got WR Charile Brown who made the Pro Bowl in his first 2 seasons before getting traded to Atlanta before his third season, a rock at DT for the next decade in Darryl Grant and TE Clint Didier who was a very solid player for the Redskins as a pass catcher.

Russ Grimm is in the Hall of Fame, and Joe Jacoby really should be in there as well. Dexter Manely retired as the all time sack leader for the Redskins with 97.5 sacks.

The Redskins won their first Super Bowl the next year, and went on to win 3 out of 4 Super Bowls over the next decade. I know a lot of people probably aren't old enough to remember these guys, but this class was something to watch play on the field. I really, REALLY miss those years.

[karatemanchan37]

Bengals had a pretty nice one in 2001:

DE Justin Smith 1st
WR Chad Johnson 2nd
RB Rudi Johnson 4th
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh 7th

Chargers in 04-05

QB Philip Rivers 1st
DT Igor Olshansky 2nd
K Nate Kaeding 3rd
C Nick Hardwick 4th
DE Shaun Phillips 5th
RB Michael Turner 7th

OLB Shawne Merriman 1st
DE Luis Castillo 1st
WR Vincent Jackson 2nd
RB Darren Sproles 4th

Broncos in 06

QB Jay Cutler 1st
TE Tony Schaffer 2nd
WR Brandon Marshall 4th
DE Elvis Dumervil 4th

[Ueauvan]

as a 49ers fan all i usually worry about is picks 1-3 arent busts. i dont count alex, given the coach,coordinator,playbook changes i think any qb would struggle.

look at the reverse as well; what years/teams picks in rounds 1-3 have all failed?

[TrufflesEater]

In the 1965 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears had three Rd. 1 picks. At 1-3 (pick from the Steelers) they took Hall of Fame MLB Dick Butkus. At 1-4 they took Hall of Fame RB Gayle Sayers. At 1-6 (a pick form the Redskins), they took DT Steve DeLong from Tennessee, who opted to sign instead with the San Diego Chargers (then of the rival American Football League). DeLong became an All Star (as they called them in the AFL back then).

Even though the Bears had traded away their Rd. 2, 3, & 5 picks, they weren't done with their haul yet. In Rd. 4 the took AFL Hall of Fame FB Jim Nance (Syracuse), who signed with the then AFL Boston Patriots. In Rd. 7 they picked Dick Gordon of Michigan, who would go on have a 10 year career as a starter for the Bears, and lead the NFL in receptions and receiving TDs in 1970.

At the tail end of the draft (20 rounds back then), they selected two more players who had productive multiyear careers as starters: Frank Pitts, a WR out of Southern U. in Rd. 16, who signed with AFL Kansas City Chiefs; and Ralph Kurek in Rd. 20, a FB from Wisconsin, who singed with and stared for the Bears for 6 seasons.

Quite a draft!

[bigchief58]

thanks for the replies and for the trip down memory lane. all excellent examples.

[rdnk]

It would be pretty crazy, but not impossible. The Lions had a huge draft in 2009:

1.1- Matt Stafford, starting QB
1.20- Brandon Pettigrew, starting TE
2.33- Louis Delmas, starting FS
3.76- DeAndre Levy, starting OLB
4.115- Sammie Lee Hill, rotational DT (doesn't start, but gets plenty of play time)
7.228- Lydon Murtha, backup OT (waived by Detroit, claimed by Miami)

That's four starters and a part time starter, plus a backup on another team.

Conversely, Matt Millen had mostly whopper bad drafts. 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007 only have one starter each (Andre Goodman (for DEN), Cory Redding (for BAL), Shaun Cody (for HOU) and Calvin Johnson). 2004 and 2006 doesn't even have starters anymore with Roy Williams falling off the face of the earth and Ernie Sims being a disappointment. He never picked a starter from the 4th, 6th or 7th round (in the 5th round he did manage Jonathan Scott and Jerome Felton).