With eight weeks to go until the NFL Draft, it's time to count down each team's greatest single draft since the common NFL-AFL draft was instituted in 1967. Here is the first of eight installments:
The Cardinals don't exactly have a rich history in the draft. But Dierdorf, the second-round pick in '71, was a six-time Pro Bowler and a Hall-of-Fame inductee who anchored St. Louis's great offensive lines during the mid-70s. And Mel Gray made four Pro Bowls as a receiver and return man.
Honorable Mention
1979 Ottis Anderson, RB, Miami (1st round, 8th pick) Roy Green, WR, Henderson State (4th round, 89th pick)
O.J. Anderson made two Pro Bowls and rushed for a Cardinal-record 7,999 yards in eight seasons in St. Louis. You may remember him grinding out yards for the Giants in their Super Bowl victory over Buffalo. Green was one of the league's most versatile players, thrice breaching the 1,000-yard barrier as a receiver, starring in the return game, and making two Pro Bowls. He also played defensive back for the Cardinals- a two-way regular, the first since Chuck Bednarik. St. Louis also drafted a wide receiver from Michigan State named Kirk Gibson with the 173rd pick. Gibson went on to a pretty fair career as an outfielder.
Atlanta Falcons
1969 George Kunz, T, Notre Dame (1st round, 2nd pick) Jim Mitchell, TE, Prairie View (4th round, 81st pick) Jeff Van Note, LB, Kentucky (11th round, 262nd pick)
Kunz, taken just after O.J. Simpson with the second pick in the '69 draft, was a dominating presence at tackle, making it to five Pro Bowls with the Falcons and three more after being traded to Baltimore following the 1974 season. Mitchell, a two-time Pro Bowler, was one of the NFC's best tight ends throughout the 1970s. Jeff Van Note, picked way down in the 11th round, was a five-time Pro Bowler and one of the most popular players ever to wear a Falcons uniform in a career that lasted all the way through the 1986 season. His number 57 is one of only four retired by the Falcons.
Honorable Mention
2001 Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech (1st round, 5th pick) Algee Crumpler, TE, North Carolina (2nd round, 35th pick)
Jeff Van Note
Crumpler has become a premier tight end, and we all know about Vick the Quick, who would make this a great draft all by himself.
Ogden and Lewis have combined for 13 Pro Bowl appearances, and are considered the best in the game at their respective positions. Lewis is an almost sure Hall-of-Famer, and Ogden will merit consideration. Jermaine Lewis made two Pro Bowl appearances as a return man for the Ravens. This was Baltimore's first draft after relocating from Cleveland.
Honorable Mention
1997 Peter Boulware, DE, Florida State (1st round, 4th pick) Jamie Sharper, LB, Virginia (2nd round, 34th pick) Kim Herring, DB, Penn State (2nd round, 58th pick)
Three-time Pro Bowler Boulware is the star of this draft class. But Sharper and Herring were solid role players for Baltimore's great defense in 2000.
Buffalo Bills
1985 Bruce Smith, DE, Virginia Tech (1st round, 1st pick) Frank Reich, QB, Maryland (3rd round, 57th pick) Andre Reed, WR, Kutztown State (4th round, 86th pick)
Bruce Smith was an eleven-time Pro Bowler and one of the great defensive ends in NFL history. Reed made seven Pro Bowls and owns the Buffalo record for career receiving yards with 13,095. And Reich, as Jim Kelly's personal Don Strock, saved Buffalo's bacon on numerous occasions, most notably the '92 Wild-Card Game, when he rallied the Bills from a 35-3 deficit to beat the Oilers.
This draft merits mention simply because of O.J. Simpson. Shack Harris didn't play much for Buffalo, but he did start for several playoff teams with the Rams and became the first black quarterback to earn a Pro Bowl spot in 1974.
Next Week: Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland
What about...? Posted: 8/12/2006by: Tom I can't believe you didn't mention some of the other Bill's '70s drafts; especially '73, when they applied the finishing touch to the "electric company" by drafting HOF guard Joe Dellamielluere and TE Paul Seymour, plus great QB Joe Ferguson (as well as a grip of other good NFL players such as WR Wallace Francis, OG Jeff Winans, DE Jeff Yeates, and LBs Merv Krakau, Joe Rizzo, and John Skorupan)...'71 was a very fruitful year, too, with FB Jim Braxton (HOF teammate DeLammielluere saidBraxton was an OT in the backfield, and said he was the best blocker he ever saw-He should know!), WRs Bob Chandler and J. D. Hill (the Oakland Raiders considered Chandler to be the closest thing to their HOFer Fred Biletnikoff in the NFL), TE Jan White, and OT Donnie Green and C Bruce Jarvis (the first 2 pieces of the electric company- though Jarvis was later replaced by Mike Montler 'cause he got hurt too much)-and that's not counting 7 time pro-bowl FS Tony Greene, who was signed as a free agent that year out of college...And the Bill's had other impressive drafts during that general period-They drafted very, very well in those days (Incidentally, regarding 1969, besides drafting Simpson and Harris the Bills also signed 3 time pro-bowl CB Robert James as a free agaent) The C's Posted: 3/3/2005by: Charlie I can't wait for the "C" cities next week. And for the record, the Browns should get a share of the credit for that 96 ravens draft. It was in cleveland that that team "earned" the forth pick, and it was in cleveland that they traded for the 25th pick.
nothing pains me more than the fact the "old browns" won a superbowl only four years after leaving town... that hurts - maybe even more than all of the painful playoff loses.
