How many late rounder's ended up playing like 1st round picks?

[LittleBoyBlue]

I always wondered how many "no-name", "average-at-best" players come draft time turned out to be GREAT ONES? You know from 3rd round on??

 

[THUMPER]

Roger Staubach and Johnny Unitas come to mind

 

[ljs44]

I always wondered how many "no-name", "average-at-best" players come draft time turned out to be GREAT ONES? You know from 3rd round on??

Tom Brady
Joe Montana (Wasn't really a no-name, but 3rd round pick)
Terrel Davis

 

[THUMPER]

Oops, I missed the qualifier of "No-name" "Average at best" which certainly didn't describe Staubach coming out of the Naval Academy since he was also a Heisman Trophy winner. He only dropped so low because of his Naval committment.

It does apply to Unitas though.

 

[budsboys]

erik williams

 

[burmafrd]

Joe Montana had a big reputation coming out of college- the EXPERTS thought he was too small and did not have sufficient arm strength to be a big time NFL QB. OOOOPPPPPPSSSSS.

 

[MinnesotaCowboy]

How about Drew Pearson......should be in HOF and old steady DE Larry Cole!

 

[Tass]

Lofa Tatupu definitely.

 

[Natedawg44]

Leon Lett

 

[quaigs]

For the hell of it I went through rounds 5 and beyond from 1993 - 2002 and its pretty sparse pickings.

1993
Rd 6
160 Washington Frank Wycheck TE Maryland
Rd 7
181 L.A. Raiders Greg Biekert MLB Colorado
196 Dallas Brock Marion FS Nevada
Rd 8
198 New England Troy Brown WR Marshall
199 Phoenix Chad Brown OLB Mississippi
207 N.Y. Giants Jessie Armstead OLB Miami
219 San Francisco Elvis Grbac QB Michigan
222 San Diego Trent Green QB Indiana

1994
Rd 5
145 San Diego Rodney Harrison SS Western Illinois
149 Green Bay Dorsey Levens RB Georgia Tech
Rd 7
201 Atlanta Jamal Anderson RB Utah

1995
Rd 5
158 Miami Norman Hand DT Mississippi
196 Denver Terrell Davis RB Georgia
Rd 7
230 Green Bay Adam Timmerman G South Dakota State

1996
Rd 5
133 N.Y. Jets Marcus Coleman FS Texas Tech
135 Kansas City Joe Horn WR Itawamba JC
166 Oakland La'Roi Glover NT San Diego State
208 Green Bay Marco Rivera G Penn State
Rd 7
244 Buffalo Jay Riemersma TE Michigan

1997
Rd 6
169 Tampa Bay Al Harris CB Texas A&M-Kingsville
193 Oakland Grady Jackson DT Knoxville

1998
Rd 6
173 Minnesota Matt Birk C Harvard
187 Green Bay Matt Hasselbeck QB Boston College

1999
Rd7
213 Green Bay Donald Driver WR Alcorn State
248 Buffalo Bryce Fisher DE Air Force

2000
Rd 5
149 Green Bay Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila DE San Diego State
153 Kansas City Dante' Hall WR Texas A&M
Rd 6
168 New Orleans Marc Bulger QB West Virginia
189 Denver Mike Anderson RB Utah
199 New England Tom Brady QB Michigan
Rd 7
245 Jacksonville Danny Clark MLB Illinois

2001
Rd 7
204 Cincinnati T.J. Houshmandzadeh WR Oregon State
224 San Francisco Eric Johnson TE Yale

2002
Rd 7
248 San Francisco Kyle Kosier T Arizona State

 

[dallasfaniac]

For the hell of it I went through rounds 5 and beyond from 1993 - 2002 and its pretty sparse pickings.....

Take all those players and you could field a pretty good team. Nice work.

 

[Wimbo]

2002 pick 253: David Givens

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I always wondered how many "no-name", "average-at-best" players come draft time turned out to be GREAT ONES? You know from 3rd round on??

None. Average-at-best will not get it done in the NFL. Guys thought to be average can turn out to be anything but and often do. It happens.

 

[TheHustler]

Lofa Tatupu definitely.

Wasn't he a second rounder?

 

[Wimbo]

1985 draft, 6th round, pick #158: Jay Novacek.

1986 draft, 4th round, pick #96: Charles Haley

1987 draft, 6th round, pick #150: Greg Lloyd

1987 draft, 10th round, pick #266: Bobby Taylor

1989 draft, 4th round, pick #86: Ray Crockett

1990 draft, 6th round, pick #159: Bryce Paup

1991 draft, 5th round, pick #124: Ben Coates

1991 draft, 12th round, pick #320: Larry Brown (ok, maybe not first round, but I had no idea he was picked in the 12th.)

1991 draft, 12th round, pick #326: Keenan McCardell