Undrafted Gem's

[Howboutdemcowboys31]

Is Romo the best ever UDFA in NFL history?
I could see an ESPN or NFLN biased top 10 coming along...or maybe not, because they can't have a list where a Dallas Cowboy is truly #1....

He's gotta be top 5

 

[Risen Star]

The NFLN Top 10 list was

10. Wayne Chrebet
9. Tony Romo
8. Rod Smith
7. Antonio Gates
6. Warren Moon
5. Adam Vinatieri
4. Marion Motley
3. John Randle
2. Night Train Lane
1. Kurt Warner

Anybody believe Warren Moon was a better QB than Tony Romo?

Seriously. Anybody?

 

[AsthmaField]

Drew Pearson?

What about Everson Walls? Brian Waters?

There are plenty of guys that should be on there before Crebet, Rod Smith, and Adam Vinetieri.

Hell, almost every kicker is an UDFA.

EDIT: As someone said earlier, Priest Holmes could be the poster boy for UDFA success.

 

[SacramentoKing]

Still early in his career but Arian Foster was undrafted

 

[perrykemp]

Anybody believe Warren Moon was a better QB than Tony Romo?

Seriously. Anybody?

Risen:

You certainly are entitled to your opinion. It's one I've heard repeated here from time to time when the 'Romo is better than Moon ever was' argument I see here on CZ from time to time.

He never won a Superbowl that is for sure, however, here is some of the reasons why I think Warren Moon was selected to the the HOF:

• Warren Moon, because he was black, was not given the chance to play QB in the NFL coming out of college, so he took his game to Canada and in his 6 years in the CFL he lead his team to 5 Championships.
• Despite not getting to the NFL until age 28 he was selected to 9 Pro-bowls -- note this was before the days before fan voting. the pro-bowl being played before the Superbowl, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th alternates playing in the game. Point of comparison, Tony Romo has been selected to a total of 3 Pro-bowls so far (yes, I agree today it is a popularity contest)
• Moon's teams managed to get the playoffs 7 times, however, he only won 3 games over that stretch.
• Moon's had a career QB rating 80.1 QB rating (84 in the playoffs) is roughly equivalent of Aikman's 81.6, especially when adjusting for eras.
• He passed for a total of 70,586 yard in his professional (CFL + NFL) career, more than any man before or since
• Moon was in the top 5 all-time when he retired for passing yards, passing touchdowns, pass attempts, and pass completions.

 

[EPL0c0]

He's gonna have to do more than win 1 to top Kurt

It's not just that Kurt won a Super Bowl, it's that the guy was bagging groceries before winning it all... I like Romo, but Kurt Warner is the best UDFA IMO.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Is Romo the best ever UDFA in NFL history?
I could see an ESPN or NFLN biased top 10 coming along...or maybe not, because they can't have a list where a Dallas Cowboy is truly #1....

Yes he is the best ever UDFA and by a far margin at that. But ESPN doesn't want to put Romo on any #1 list because they want to brand him as a choker.

 

[perrykemp]

Yes he is the best ever UDFA and by a far margin at that. But ESPN doesn't want to put Romo on any #1 list because they want to brand him as a choker.

Just because Romo is the QB of the Cowboys doesn't mean he is the best UDFA of all time.

In no way I am arguing that Romo doesn't deserve to be in the Top 10 UDFA list somewhere, however, I think it would be an oversight not to point out that Tony Romo has never once in his career been selected to the All-Pro team (either 1st or 2nd team). All-Pro selections are something that is often mentioned when a NFL player's credentials for the HOF are discussed -- it's considered a much better indicator (although not perfect) than Pro-Bowls.

It's really hard to make the case for Tony Romo as the best UDFA of all time if you use All-Pro selections as a criteria. Look at some of the other UDFAs who have multiple All-Pro selections:

• Priest Holmes (3x 1st team All-Pro)
• Kurt Warner (2x 1st team All-Pro)
• Larry Little (5x 1st team All-Pro)
• Jeff Saturday (2x 1st team All-Pro)
• Willie Brown (5x 1st team All-Pro)
• Brian Waters (2x 1st team All-Pro)
• Emlen Tunnell (4x 1st team All-Pro)
• John Randall (6x 1st team All-Pro)
• Night Train Lain (3x 1st team All-Pro)

Again, Tony Romo has zero All-Pro Selections -- although this year he might have a good shot.

In summary, I appreciate your exuberance pro-claiming Tony Romo has the best UDFA of all time, however, I just don't think there is any strong basis for that statement.

 

[plymkr]

Nfl net did one. Romo was like #8 of the top ten.

What!!! man that's so bogus. #8? The media hates us. I'm not saying he needs to be #1 but #8 is pure ridiculous bias.

 

[RS12]

Leary has been great all year. Hope that knee holds up a long time. I was sold after the Houston game where he handled Watt all by himself.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Just because Romo is the QB of the Cowboys doesn't mean he is the best UDFA of all time.

In no way I am arguing that Romo doesn't deserve to be in the Top 10 UDFA list somewhere, however, I think it would be an oversight not to point out that Tony Romo has never once in his career been selected to the All-Pro team (either 1st or 2nd team). All-Pro selections are something that is often mentioned when a NFL player's credentials for the HOF are discussed -- it's considered a much better indicator (although not perfect) than Pro-Bowls.

It's really hard to make the case for Tony Romo as the best UDFA of all time if you use All-Pro selections as a criteria. Look at some of the other UDFAs who have multiple All-Pro selections:

• Priest Holmes (3x 1st team All-Pro)
• Kurt Warner (2x 1st team All-Pro)
• Larry Little (5x 1st team All-Pro)
• Jeff Saturday (2x 1st team All-Pro)
• Willie Brown (5x 1st team All-Pro)
• Brian Waters (2x 1st team All-Pro)
• Emlen Tunnell (4x 1st team All-Pro)
• John Randall (6x 1st team All-Pro)
• Night Train Lain (3x 1st team All-Pro)

Again, Tony Romo has zero All-Pro Selections -- although this year he might have a good shot.

In summary, I appreciate your exuberance pro-claiming Tony Romo has the best UDFA of all time, however, I just don't think there is any strong basis for that statement.

Your argument is duly noted. However, I still believe that Tony Romo is the best UDFA of all time when everything is all set and done.

First of all, your basing your criteria is based on being selected to being in the probowl. However, Romo should have been selected more times than not to be in the probowl more than any other QB in the NFL. Take a look at 2011 season where he lead the NFL in TD passes and yardage. Why wasn't he selected to be in the probowl? My thoughts are that there is a bias against him and its holding him back being considered as one of the top QBs in the NFL.

Secondly, Romo has done more with less. Prior to this year he had really no one else to rely on in making big plays for the team. He had no oline, no running game and no defense. So its amazing that he was still able to put up the numbers and stats that he's been putting up.

Thus I'm sticking to my statement. As terms of production and stats, and his influence on this team, IMO Romo is the best UDFA ever.

 

[DFWJC]

Undrafted now and undrafted 15 -20 years ago is not at all the same.
By all accounts, Romo was almost drafted in the 7th round and for sure would have been gone one round later.
The old drafts went way deeper than that...12 rounds not long ago and more than that before then, I think.

There are a few HOFers anyway, so although Romo would make a top 10-15 list, he has a ways to go.

Besides Warner, there are:

Night Train Lane (completely dominant)
Warren Moon
John Randle
Willie Brown (one of the best CBs of all time, imo)
and many more