What is the most successful draft (any team, any year) in history?

[jetstream23]

You often hear how a draft was considered successful because it "produced X number of starters." Or, how a team ended up drafting multiple Pro Bowlers in the same draft.

What would you consider the most successful draft in recent memory?

Has a team ever drafted 7 players ALL of which became starters, or drafted something like 4 Pro Bowlers in the same draft?

I'm looking for a fairly standard draft (i.e. not one where somebody packaged all their picks for 1 player, etc.).

[Mohegangreen]

I think it was the Jets' Blair Thomas Draft...😏

[adpz]

Off the top of my head the SD draft of Drew Brees and LT sticks out as particularly impactful - and one could certainly say the Seahawks last draft worked out very well as far as taking the team to another level.

[bullitt929]

1974 Steelers---got Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster and John Stallworth

[WestCoastOffensive]

1986 Niners:

1986
2 12 Larry Roberts DE 6-3 264 Alabama
3 1 Tom Rathman FB 6-1 232 Nebraska
3 9 Tim McKyer CB 6-0 174 Texas-Arlington
3 21 John Taylor WR 6-1 185 Delaware State
4 14 Charles Haley LB 6-5 230 James Madison
4 19 Steve Wallace T 6-5 276 Auburn
4 20 Kevin Fagan DT 6-3 260 Miami (Fla.)
5 21 Pat Miller LB 6-1 220 Florida
6 24 Don Griffin FS 6-0 176 Middle Tennessee State
8 9 Jim Popp TE 6-5 239 Vanderbilt
8 sup Roosevelt Snipes RB 5-9 175 Florida State
9 19 Tony Cherry RB 5-7 187 Oregon
10 18 Elliston Stinson WR 5-10 175 Rice
10 21 Harold Hallman NG 5-11 234 Auburn

[nycdan]

Originally Posted by bullitt929

1974 Steelers---got Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster and John Stallworth

This. Nothing else really even comes close.

[CanadaSteve]

As far as production, you would have to rank the 2000 Jet draft in the top ten all-time for one team, one year.
Chad Pennington, John Abraham, Shaun Ellis, Anthony Becht were all #1 picks and all played over 10 years in the league. Throw in Lavernous Coles in the third round, and this was a pretty damn good draft. No HOF's, and no '74 Steelers, but.....

[CanadaSteve]

Patroits
2003 1 1 13 13 Ty Warren DT Texas A&M
2 2 4 36 Eugene Wilson DB Illinois
3 2 13 45 Bethel Johnson WR Texas A&M
4 4 20 117 Dan Klecko DT Temple
5 4 23 120 Asante Samuel DB Central Florida
6 5 29 164 Dan Koppen C Boston College
7 6 28 201 Kliff Kingsbury QB Texas Tech
8 7 20 234 Spencer Nead TE Brigham Young
9 7 25 239 Tully Banta-Cain DE California
10 7 29 243 Ethan Kelley DT Baylor

[AFCEastFan]

Originally Posted by CanadaSteve

As far as production, you would have to rank the 2000 Jet draft in the top ten all-time for one team, one year.

[AFCEastFan]

The 1995 Patriots draft was quite good. One HOFer, one potential HOFer and 3 longtime starters.

1995 New England Patriots Draft
Round Overall Player Position Birthdate College
1 23 Ty Law DB 02/10/1974 Michigan
2 57 Ted Johnson LB 12/04/1972 Colorado
3 74 Curtis Martin RB 05/01/1973 Pittsburgh
3 88 Jimmy Hitchcock DB 11/09/1971 North Carolina
4 112 Dave Wohlabaugh C 04/13/1972 Syracuse
6 195 Dino Philyaw RB 10/06/1970 Oregon
7 234 Carlos Yancy DB 06/24/1970 Georgia

[CanadaSteve]

COWBOYS
1991 1 1 1 1 Russell Maryland DT Miami (FL)
2 1 12 12 Alvin Harper WR Tennessee
3 1 20 20 Kelvin Pritchett DT Mississippi
4 2 10 37 Dixon Edwards LB Michigan State
5 3 7 62 Godfrey Miles LB Florida
6 3 9 64 James Richards G California
7 3 15 70 Erik Williams T Central State (OH)
8 4 14 97 Curvin Richards RB Pittsburgh
9 4 23 106 Bill Muscrave QB Oregon
10 4 25 108 Tony Hill DE Tennessee-Chattanooga
11 4 27 110 Kevin Harris DE Texas Southern
12 5 21 132 D. Brownlow LB Illinois
13 6 14 153 Mike Sullivan G Miami (FL)
14 7 6 173 Leon Lett DT Emporia State
15 9 12 235 Damon Mays WR Missouri
16 10 14 264 Sean Love G Penn State
17 11 13 291 Tony Boles RB Michigan
18 12 14 320 Larry Brown DB Texas Christian

[CanadaSteve]

BEARS
1965 1 1 3 3 Dick Butkus LB Illinois
2 1 4 4 Gale Sayers RB Kansas
3 1 6 6 Steve Delong T Tennessee
4 4 3 45 Jim Nance RB Syracuse
5 6 3 73 Tony Carey RB Notre Dame
6 7 4 88 Dick Gordon RB Michigan State
7 7 6 90 Mickey Sutton B Auburn
8 8 3 101 Brian Schweda T Kansas
9 9 4 116 Ken Ambrusko B Maryland
10 10 3 129 Dennis Murphy T Florida
11 11 4 144 Frank Cornish T Grambling State
12 12 3 157 Steve Cox T South Carolina
13 13 4 172 Dave Daniels T Florida A&M
14 14 3 185 Dave Pivec WR Notre Dame
15 15 4 200 Art Robinson B Cal State-Los Angeles
16 16 3 213 Frank Pitts WR Southern
17 17 4 228 Tom LaFramboise QB Louisville
18 18 3 241 Mike Schwager T Northwestern
19 19 4 256 Lou Bobich K Michigan State
20 20 3 269 Ralph Kurek RB Wisconsin

[John_0515]

1987 - NEW YORK JETS

RD SEL # PLAYER POSITION SCHOOL
1 21 Roger Vick RB Texas A&M
2 42 Alex Gordon LB Cincinnati
3 75 Onzy Elam LB Tennessee State
5 129 Kirby Jackson DB Mississippi State
6 161 Tracy Martin WR North Dakota
7 187 Gerald Nichols DT Florida State
8 196 Eddie Hunter RB Virginia Tech
8 214 Mike Rice -- Montana
9 241 Ron McLean NT Cal State-Fullerton
10 268 Sid Lewis DB Penn State
11 300 Kirk Timmer LB Montana State
12 327 Bill Ransdell QB Kentucky

/Thread

[CanadaSteve]

Originally Posted by AFCEastFan

Quite serious......five players in one draft who played 10 plus years in the league. That is a productive draft, for any team.

[AFCEastFan]

Originally Posted by CanadaSteve

Quite serious......five players in one draft who played 10 plus years in the league. That is a productive draft, for any team.

Productive, without question. Top 10 all time? Almost 10 better have been mentioned in this thread already.

[WestCoastOffensive]

Originally Posted by CanadaSteve

As far as production, you would have to rank the 2000 Jet draft in the top ten all-time for one team, one year.
Chad Pennington, John Abraham, Shaun Ellis, Anthony Becht were all #1 picks and all played over 10 years in the league. Throw in Lavernous Coles in the third round, and this was a pretty damn good draft. No HOF's, and no '74 Steelers, but.....

+1

[24]

Originally Posted by WestCoastOffensive

1986 Niners:

1986
2 12 Larry Roberts DE 6-3 264 Alabama
3 1 Tom Rathman FB 6-1 232 Nebraska
3 9 Tim McKyer CB 6-0 174 Texas-Arlington
3 21 John Taylor WR 6-1 185 Delaware State
4 14 Charles Haley LB 6-5 230 James Madison
4 19 Steve Wallace T 6-5 276 Auburn
4 20 Kevin Fagan DT 6-3 260 Miami (Fla.)
5 21 Pat Miller LB 6-1 220 Florida
6 24 Don Griffin FS 6-0 176 Middle Tennessee State
8 9 Jim Popp TE 6-5 239 Vanderbilt
8 sup Roosevelt Snipes RB 5-9 175 Florida State
9 19 Tony Cherry RB 5-7 187 Oregon
10 18 Elliston Stinson WR 5-10 175 Rice
10 21 Harold Hallman NG 5-11 234 Auburn

Not too shabby.

[24]

Originally Posted by bullitt929

1974 Steelers---got Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster and John Stallworth

ftw

[CanadaSteve]

Originally Posted by AFCEastFan

Productive, without question. Top 10 all time? Almost 10 better have been mentioned in this thread already.

Including the Jets....

[AFCEastFan]

Originally Posted by CanadaSteve

Including the Jets....

LOL. That Roger Vick draft you posted was pretty sweet. Reminds me of two especially awful Patriots drafts, remembered today as simply the Chris Canty draft and the Mike Ruth draft.