One thing that was mentioned during this past 2008 NFL Draft, but didn’t get a ton of attention was the fact that not one wide receiver was drafted in the first round. With a premium on offensive players, usually there are some high profile wide receivers that get drafted early on. It wasn’t until the Rams took Donnie Avery a wide receiver from the University of Houston with the second pick in the second round that a wide receiver got to hear his name announced. That kind of opened the flood gates as a total of ten wide receivers were then selected in the second round. In just last year’s draft, a total of six wide receivers were taken in the first round, including one taken with the second overall pick (Georgia Tech’s Calvin Johnson going to the Detroit Lions).

Has this ever happened before? Has an entire first round gone by with no wide receiver being selected? Let’s see, here is a list of the number of wide receivers taken in the first round of the NFL Draft since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

Number Of Wide Receivers Taken In The First Round:
2008 - 0
2007 - 6
2006 - 1
2005 - 6
2004 - 7
2003 - 3
2002 - 3
2001 - 6
2000 - 5
1999 - 3
1998 - 3
1997 - 4
1996 - 5
1995 - 3
1994 - 4
1993 - 3
1992 - 1
1991 - 4
1990 - 1
1989 - 3
1988 - 6
1987 - 3
1986 - 2
1985 - 4
1984 - 4
1983 - 1
1982 - 4
1981 - 2
1980 - 2
1979 - 2
1978 - 3
1977 - 2
1976 - 1
1975 - 1
1974 - 2
1973 - 5
1972 - 4
1971 - 4
1970 - 2

So, as you can see the answer is no. Never before since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970 has an entire first round of the NFL Draft gone by without a wide receiver being selected. So, if you watched the NFL Draft, you saw history being made.

Six different drafts (1975, 1976, 1983, 1990, 1992, and 2006) have only had one wide receiver taken in the first round. But, there is a technicality here. The 1990 NFL Draft had no wide receiver taken in the first round… technically. The New York Jets drafted Rob Moore out of Syracuse University with a first round pick, but it was a first round pick in the supplemental draft.

With the 2008 NFL Draft over and done with, we’re taking a look back at the worst draft picks of the past twenty years. Since it is way too early to judge this year’s draft, we’ll look at 1988 through 2007. We’re going on a pick-by-pick basis here so, who do you think is the worst #1 overall pick in the last twenty years?

The Worst 10th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
2005 Detroit Lions - Mike Williams - WR - USC
After so much hype coming out of the high powered Trojan offense, in 3 years he has been on 3 teams and scored two receiving touchdowns.

The Worst 9th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
2001 Seattle Seahawks - Koren Robinson - WR - NC State
Showed promise early in his career but off field problems later caused on field problems.

The Worst 8th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
1996 Carolina Panthers - Tim Biakabutuka - RB - Michigan
Highly touted, but in a six year career he had three seasons that he played in eight or fewer games.

The Worst 7th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
1990 Detroit Lions - Andre Ware - QB - Houston
In four total seasons, Andre Ware played in 14 total games. He finished his career with five touchdown passes and eight interceptions.

The Worst 6th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
2005 Tennessee Titans - Adam “Pacman” Jones - DB - West Virginia
This was a real no brainer, especially when you consider that also in the running for worst 6th overall pick in the last twenty years was David Klingler and Lawrence Phillips.

The Worst 5th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
1998 Chicago Bears - Curtis Enis - RB - Penn State
Mostly due to injuries, it took three seasons for Enis to rack up less than 1500 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.

The Worst 4th Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
2000 Cincinnati Bengals - Peter Warrick - WR - Florida State
While not having an overall terrible career, it did last six seasons and was somewhat productive, it did not come near the hype caused by his fantastic college career.

The Worst 3rd Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
1999 Cincinnati Bengals - Akili Smith - QB - Oregon
Smith sunk to the bottom of the 3rd overall picks, despite stiff competition from Bruce Pickens and Heath Shuler. Through 22 career games over four seasons, Smith “amassed” five touchdowns and eighteen interceptions, only throwing for more than one thousand yards in a season one time.

The Worst 2nd Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
1998 San Diego Chargers - Ryan Leaf - QB - Washington State
Hands down the worst number two overall pick in the last twenty years, if not ever. In his entire career (all three seasons), Leaf played in 25 games, threw for 14 touchdowns, and a mind boggling 36 interceptions.

And now, it is time for the unveiling of the worst number one overall draft pick in the last twenty years:

The Worst 1st Overall Draft Pick In The Last 20 Years:
2001 Atlanta Falcons - Michael Vick - QB - Virginia Tech
He probably wouldn’t have made the number one spot without his legal troubles and subsequent incarceration, but when he is sitting behind bars he isn’t helping the team that drafted him.

There you have it, the worst NFL draft picks one through ten in the last twenty years.

A quick analysis:

There are two teams who appear twice in the above list; the Cincinnati Bengals and the Detroit Lions. Is it any coincidence that in the past twenty years these are also two of the least successful franchises in the NFL?

With the help of a great NFL draft resource, here is a look at the top ten colleges based on how many players they’ve had selected through the NFL draft. While this is not a perfect way to analyze the successfulness of a college program, it is a good way to analyze which colleges help their recruits the most to make it to the next level.

So, here they are… the top ten colleges ranked by how many players they’ve had selected through the NFL draft through the 2007 season.

You know how we at IQFB love trivia and little known facts about football. The NFL Draft is coming up shortly and it is one of the most looked forward to events for any NFL fan. The opportunity to find out what direction your team or your main rival is going in is one of the best reasons to watch the draft. If you’re looking for all the information from all the previous drafts, check out DraftHistory.com.

They have all the draft picks from all the previous NFL drafts listed in an easily accessible database that can be sorted by college, position, team, and more. A very valuable resource!

The NFL Draft is still a few days away and we already know who the first pick will be. The Miami Dolphins have reached agreement with University of Michigan Offensive Tackle Jake Long. Bill Parcells is now heading football operations down in Miami, so this pick shouldn’t surprise too many people. Let’s look at draft history though, how many offensive linemen have been selected number one overall?

1939 - Chicago Cardinals - Ki Aldrich - Texas Christian - Center
1949 - Philadelphia Eagles - Chuck Bednarik - Pennsylvania - Center/Linebacker
1964 - Denver Broncos - Bob Brown - Nebraska - Guard
1968 - Minnesota Vikings - Ron Yary - USC - Tackle
1997 - St. Louis Rams - Orlando Pace - Ohio State - Tackle

Of this list, three of the players (Bednarik, Brown, and Yary) are in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame. One other, Orlando Pace, is generally accepted to be a future hall of famer when his current career is over. So, Dolphins fans, the practice of taking a lineman with the number one overall pick doesn’t look like it has worked out too badly in the past.

The 2008 NFL Draft is coming up in a few days. Let’s look back at the NFL Draft from one decade ago, here are some highlights of the 1998 NFL Draft.

1st Overall Pick, Peyton Manning - Quarterback
Manning has definitely lived up to his billing coming out of college. Always among the league leaders in most passing statistics and then finally winning a Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP following the 2006 season.

2nd Overall Pick, Ryan Leaf - Quarterback
There couldn’t possibly be a better example of opposites than Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. Manning threw for more touchdowns in his rookie season than Leaf did in his career. In a career highlighted by tantrums, outbursts, and of course interceptions, Leaf retired from the NFL following the 2001 season. Among his final numbers are 14 career touchdown passes and 36 career interceptions.

4th Overall Pick, Charles Woodson - Defensive Back
Woodson made an immediate impact for the Raiders and even found his way onto the offensive side of the field.

9th Overall Pick, Fred Taylor - Running Back
Though he was sometimes ridiculed by analysts early in his career due to having multiple and repeated injury problems, Taylor has gone on to become one of the more productive running backs in the last decade.

18th Overall Pick, Robert Edwards - Running Back
The Patriots appeared to have answered their running back needs when Edwards had an exceptional rookie season. Following an off season injury that occurred while playing beach football, Edwards’ hope for an NFL career were all but done. He did make it back to play for Miami during the 2002 season, but after that he was done.

21st Overall Pick, Randy Moss - Wide Receiver
Moss has been controversial at times but has also always been extremely productive, including his down years during his time with the Raiders.

It doesn’t seem possible that the 1998 NFL Draft was ten years ago, these players still seem so young. The excitement of the 2008 NFL Draft is building and in a few days it’ll all be over, what will the stories be about when we look back in ten years?

In week 9 of the 2007 NFL season, Ryan Grant helped lead the Green Bay Packers to a 34-0 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The game was supposed to be another highlight show by stud Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, but Peterson left the game due to an injury.

The Packers are now 8-1, a far cry from what they were predicted to do this season. Many of the negative predictions on the Packers season were due to their lack of a reliable running game. Green Bay has been searching for a rushing attack all season, although it hasn’t stopped them from winning games. Undrafted free agent Ryan Grant started today’s game after showing some promise in the last game. He finished with 25 carries for 119 yards (a 4.8 yards per carry average) and one touchdown on a 30 yard run.

Is Ryan Grant the answer to the Packers running back needs? It’s way too early to say that, but the NFL has proven before that you do not have to be a highly drafted running back to make an impact in the league. Jets and Patriots running back Curtis Martin was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft and will most likely go to the hall-of-fame. Denver Broncos great Terrell Davis was drafted in the fifth round of the 1995 NFL Draft and had some of the most productive seasons ever in the league. The Cowboys have found a great young back in Marion Barber and he was drafted in the 4th round of the 2005 draft. But, what about undrafted running backs?

Two running backs got the start this week and have had successful careers but were also not drafted in the NFL Draft.

Priest Holmes, Kansas City Chiefs
Holmes is coming back from injuries and gets the start in place of an injured Larry Brown for the Chiefs. Until the Seahawks‘ Shaun Alexander (and then later LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers) broke his record, Priest Holmes had scored more rushing touchdowns in one season than anyone in history.

Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers
“Fast Willie” has come out of nowhere (okay, really out of the University of North Carolina) and been a nice featured back for the Pittsburgh Steelers since his second season. He has two 1,000+ yard seasons and even made the Pro Bowl in 2006.

With all the advances in scouting these days, it is harder to find that diamond in the rough during the NFL Draft than it used to be. But, they’re still out there - and hey, Ryan Grant could be the next star running back to have been passed on by every team in the NFL Draft.

One of the common stories concerning Tom Brady is that the New England Patriots were able to get this future Super Bowl MVP in the sixth round of the NFL Draft taking him with the 199th pick. While it is obvious now that the pick was a steal… what other team wouldn’t love to have Tom Brady, but passed on him, you have to also remember that it wasn’t exactly a quarterback-rich draft that year.

Only one quarterback was drafted in the first round: Chad Pennington, by the New York Jets with the 18th overall pick.

This is a far cry from the year Dan Marino was taken as the fifth quarterback in the first round, or even when Peyton Manning and (sigh) Ryan Leaf were drafted back-to-back with the first and second overall picks in the draft.

How many quarterbacks were selected ahead of Tom Brady?

Chad Pennington - 1st Round - 18th Pick - New York Jets
Giovanni Carmazzi - 3rd Round - 65th Pick - San Francisco 49ers
Chris Redman - 3rd Round - 75th Pick - Baltimore Ravens
Tee Martin - 5th Round - 163rd Pick - Pittsburgh Steelers
Marc Bulger - 6th Round - 168th Pick - New Orleans Saints
Spergon Wynn - 6th Round - 183rd Pick - Cleveland Browns

Not taking anything away from the Patriots, but as you can see from that class of quarterbacks there weren’t many gems there… only Pennington and Bulger went on to accomplish anything. Plus when you factor that the Patriots also passed on Tom Brady for the first five rounds you can see that they too didn’t entirely see the potential that he had… there is a lot of luck in drafting good players.

Players the Patriots took in the 2000 Draft before they took Tom Brady:

2nd Round - Adrian Klemm - Tackle - University of Hawaii
3rd Round - J.R. Redmond - Running Back - Arizona State University
4th Round - Greg Robinson-Randall - Tackle - Michigan State
5th Round - Dave Stachelski - Tight End - Boise State
5th Round - Jeff Marriott - Defensive Tackle - University of Missouri
6th Round - Antwan Harris - Defensive Back - University of Virginia

To a certain degree, the Patriots themselves must have thought that each of these players had more talent or would help their team more than Tom Brady would. To say that the Patriots got a steal when they drafted Tom Brady in the sixth round is an understatement and cannot be argued… to say they were smarter than anyone else by getting him there… that isn’t entirely the truth.

The 1989 Green Bay Packers Draft: What Could’ve Been

Every team has stories about the player they passed on in the NFL Draft, and the Green Bay Packers are no different.

Packer fans can’t be too upset with the last 17 years or so of the franchise’s history, but let’s take a look at what could’ve been.

In the 1989 NFL Draft, looking to upgrade a sub par offensive line and not wanting to miss out on a stud lineman, the Packers drafted Offensive Lineman Tony Mandarich. Mandarich spent just a few seasons in Green Bay and the league as a whole, retiring after injuries and poor performance. He was highly touted and it probably would’ve been impossible to live up to the reputation he had coming into the NFL. The Packers, however, could’ve selected almost anyone else that year instead, who did they pass on?

DEION SANDERS
Whether it’s as a shutdown cornerback or as an electrifying return man, the thought of Deion Sanders patrolling downfield with a green Packers jersey on makes one wonder how much faster the rebuilding of the Packers would’ve been. It wasn’t until 1993 that the Packers signed future Hall-of-Famer Reggie White in what proved to be the final move to solidify a great defense, but the combination of White rushing the passer and Sanders intercepting the passer’s throws would’ve been amazing.

DERRICK THOMAS
Another pass by the Green Bay Packers in 1989 was taken on Alabama Linebacker Derrick Thomas. Thomas, before dying prematurely in an automobile accident, would go on to pick up the mantel of Lawrence Taylor as the most dominant Linebacker in the league. Few things would be as unpleasant for an opposing Quarterback than seeing a defense coming at you with Derrick Thomas and Reggie White.

BARRY SANDERS
Brett Favre came to the Packers as a backup Quarterback in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons. The combination of Brett Favre and Barry Sanders in their primes and on the same team is pure magic. One of the best passers in the NFL with the best Running Back of his day behind him? Unbelievable. During the 1990’s the Packers won one Super Bowl and appeared in another. The duo of Barry Sanders and Brett Favre would’ve meant at least a couple more Super Bowl victories than that.

The NFL Draft is a tricky thing to project, you can get burnt taking Tony Mandarich or Ryan Leaf early or hit it big getting Howie Long or Terrell Davis late. The Packers aren’t the first, and won’t be the last, team to pass on future superstars to take a dud in the draft. But, it sure can be interesting to sit and wonder “what if” sometimes.