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Aaron Schatz, ESPN Writer
This year is the 50th anniversary of the greatest draft class in NFL history, the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers drafted four different future Hall of Famers — wide receivers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, linebacker Jack Lambert and center Mike Webster — who would eventually help power them to four Super Bowl titles. No team since has come close to that draft accomplishment, but we’ve seen some pretty good and deep draft classes in recent years, with multiple players having strong NFL careers.
We decided to evaluate the best team draft classes of the 21st century. Our choices balance star players with depth. That last part is important because we wanted to choose classes where a lot of players had NFL careers rather than classes with just a couple of huge starts.
We limited our list to draft classes with at least four players with substantial NFL careers. That means you won’t see teams such as the 2001 San Diego Chargers, who drafted Drew Brees and LaDainian Tomlinson but not much more. Also, we judged these classes based on everything players did in the NFL, not just what they did for the teams that selected them on draft day. And with apologies to the 2022 New York Jets, 2023 Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams, we didn’t consider classes after 2021 because there’s still so much to come for those players.
What were the best draft classes of the 21st century? We stacked them from No. 12 to No. 1:
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The Broncos led off this draft with quarterback Jay Cutler at No. 11 overall. He had 10 years as an NFL starter, a very successful career despite never quite meeting his potential. But the real finds came in the fourth round, where the Broncos had three picks.
Wide receiver Brandon Marshall made six Pro Bowls during his 13-year career. Edge rusher Elvis Dumervil made five Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro twice. Wide receiver Domenik Hixon also had some useful years with the Giants. In the fifth round, the Broncos selected Chris Kuper, a five-year starter at guard.
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There’s value in this class at the top and bottom. The Bengals started off by using the No. 4 pick on defensive end Justin Smith. He was a 14-year starter for the Bengals and 49ers, making five Pro Bowls once he moved on to San Francisco and finishing third in the Defensive Player of the Year balloting in 2011.
In the second round came wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, who had nine years as an NFL starter with six Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro selections. Then, in the seventh round, came Johnson’s running partner T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had an 11-year career and six seasons of at least 900 receiving yards. Between Johnson and Houshmandzadeh was fourth-round running back Rudi Johnson, who started for five years in Cincinnati and rushed for at least 1,300 yards in three straight seasons.
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This was an exceedingly deep draft for the Saints. They had six picks in the first three rounds, and all six players have been regular NFL starters. First-round cornerback Marshon Lattimore has made four Pro Bowls. At the end of the first round, the Saints took right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who was first-team All-Pro in 2019. In the second round, the Saints selected safety Marcus Williams, who immediately started at free safety and spent five years in New Orleans before moving on to Baltimore, where he has started two seasons.
Then came three picks in the third round, two of whom became Pro Bowlers. Running back Alvin Kamara was chosen 67th overall. Edge rusher Trey Hendrickson was chosen 103rd overall. In between was linebacker Alex Anzalone (76th overall), who struggled with injuries before emerging as a regular starter in Detroit the past three seasons. Even the final pick, edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad, started 34 NFL games (mostly for Indianapolis) in six seasons.
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Jadeveon Clowney was supposed to be the can’t-miss pass-rushing selection in the 2014 draft, but the Raiders drafted the best edge rusher in the class with the No. 5 pick. Khalil Mack has made the Pro Bowl eight times with three first-team All-Pro selections and five seasons of double-digit sacks. He was Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and will likely be in the Hall of Fame one day. In the second round, the Raiders took Derek Carr, who spent nine years as their starting quarterback before moving on to the Saints.
The third-round pick was guard Gabe Jackson, a nine-year starter for the Raiders and Seahawks. Fourth-round pick Justin Ellis started a couple of years at defensive tackle for the Raiders and also played for the Ravens and Giants. The Raiders even got two useful players in the seventh round. T.J. Carrie started 54 games at cornerback and safety for four NFL teams, including two seasons as a regular starter for the Raiders. Defensive lineman Shelby Harris barely played in Oakland but eventually emerged as a useful starter for the Broncos before moving on to the Seahawks as part of the Russell Wilson trade. He also started seven games for Cleveland in 2023.
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Here’s another deep draft where, as with the 2017 Saints, seven players had at least one season as an NFL starter. However, this one also has a Hall of Famer at the very top. The Cowboys kicked off their 2005 draft with two first-round picks. Edge rusher DeMarcus Ware was the first selected at No. 11. He was first-team All-Pro four times and went to nine Pro Bowls with the Cowboys and Broncos. Nine picks later, the Cowboys took Marcus Spears, a 5-technique lineman who started 90 NFL games. Second-round pick Kevin Burnett was a role player in Dallas but later started for four and a half seasons in San Diego, Miami and Oakland.
In the fourth round, the Cowboys got running back Marion Barber — who never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season but had four seasons with at least seven touchdowns — and another defensive lineman, Chris Canty, who started 128 games for the Cowboys, Giants and Ravens. Sixth-round offensive tackle Rob Petitti started every game as a rookie but quickly faded out of the league. Still, this draft wasn’t over for the Cowboys. Seventh-round defensive tackle Jay Ratliff was the Cowboys’ starting nose tackle from 2007 through 2011, making four Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro.
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The Bengals took only four players who had real NFL careers in this draft, but one of them will make the Hall of Fame and three of them had at least 60 career Approximate Value points, according to Pro Football Reference. First-round pick Johnathan Joseph had a 15-year career, primarily as a starting cornerback in Cincinnati and Houston, with two Pro Bowl selections.
Second-round pick Andrew Whitworth was named first-team All-Pro twice, once for the Bengals and once for the Rams, and helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI in his final season. Third-round pick Frostee Rucker played 12 NFL seasons for four teams as a 5-technique defensive end. Fourth-round pick Domata Peko had a 15-year career as a defensive tackle, mostly as a starter for Cincinnati and also with Denver, Baltimore and Arizona.
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This was an interesting draft because it had so many valuable players despite the Ravens whiffing on their first selection. Nine players selected by the Ravens in 2018 have accumulated at least 10 career Approximate Value points. Tight end Hayden Hurst was chosen at No. 25 but has only one season with at least 10 games started — and that was for Cincinnati in 2022. The Ravens traded back into the first round and selected quarterback Lamar Jackson with the 32nd pick. He has only won two MVP awards for them. The Ravens didn’t have a second-round pick but had two in the third round, and those picks became offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who has made four Pro Bowls so far, and tight end Mark Andrews, who has made three.
The fourth round brought cornerback Anthony Averett and linebacker Kenny Young, who each had five-year NFL careers. In the sixth round, the Ravens got safety DeShon Elliott, who became a starter in his second season before playing for Detroit and Miami. He signed a two-year contract with Pittsburgh this offseason. But wait, we aren’t done! Three picks after Elliott came offensive lineman Bradley Bozeman, who moved into the Baltimore starting lineup in his second season and has started three seasons for the Ravens and two for the Panthers at left guard or center. Even seventh-round defensive lineman Zach Sieler has had a nice career since he went to Miami in the middle of the 2019 season, spending the past two years as a regular starter.
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Here’s an interesting draft where the Seahawks might have selected two Hall of Famers, but neither came in the first round. There’s an interesting debate to be had about what quarterback Russell Wilson’s late-career struggles in Denver — and what he does in Pittsburgh this year will mean for his Hall of Fame case. But that doesn’t change the fact the Seahawks got a signal-caller in the third round who made nine Pro Bowls for them in 10 years and led them to two Super Bowls, winning one. Second-round linebacker Bobby Wagner will likely make it to Canton; he has been a first-team All-Pro six times.
What about the rest of this draft? First-round pick Bruce Irvin has bounced around the league for the past few years but started at least nine games as an edge rusher in eight seasons. In the seventh round, the Seahawks got defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy. He moved to offense in his second year and was a starter at guard for three different teams for seven seasons from 2013 through 2020. In between, the Seahawks also drafted fourth-round running back Robert Turbin, who had an eight-year NFL career; fourth-round defensive tackle Jaye Howard, who eventually started two seasons in Tampa; and sixth-round nickelback Jeremy Lane, who played a key role in the 2013 and 2014 Super Bowls.
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This one is a bit top-heavy, led by the recently retired Matt Ryan, the most valuable player in Falcons history. He spent 14 years as their starting quarterback and was the league MVP in 2016. With a second first-round pick, the Falcons selected offensive lineman Sam Baker, who started three seasons and parts of a couple of others as Atlanta’s left tackle. Second-round pick Curtis Lofton immediately became the Falcons’ middle linebacker and started four seasons for them, then three for the Saints and one for the Raiders.
In the third round, the Falcons took safety Thomas DeCoud, a six-year starter for two teams who made the Pro Bowl once for Atlanta, and slot receiver Harry Douglas, who had more than 1,000 receiving yards in 2013. Finally, the fifth round brought edge rusher Kroy Biermann, a rotational player who started most of 2010 and 2014.
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The biggest star from this draft was No. 3 selection Larry Fitzgerald, who will eventually make the Hall of Fame after a 17-year career. It’s eye-popping that he only was named a first-team All-Pro once. Second-round pick Karlos Dansby was never named first-team All-Pro or even a Pro Bowler, but he was a regular starter at linebacker for four teams over 14 NFL seasons.
Third-round pick Darnell Dockett started 10 seasons for the Cardinals, first at defensive tackle before moving to defensive end. And fifth-round pick Antonio Smith had a 15-year career on the defensive line, mostly for Arizona and Houston but also for Denver, where he helped the Broncos and their great defense to a Super Bowl 50 title. Two centers, fourth-round pick Alex Stepanovich and sixth-round pick Nick Leckey, also had short NFL careers.
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We could play this one a couple ways. The Chargers started their 2004 draft by selecting quarterback Eli Manning with the No. 1 pick. Or would you rather consider their first-round pick to be quarterback Philip Rivers since they immediately dealt Manning to the Giants for the rights to Rivers and three other picks? Either way, the Chargers began the 2004 draft with a possible Hall of Fame quarterback before moving on to select seven players with at least 15 career Approximate Value points. The strongest of those players was center Nick Hardwick, a third-round pick who started nine years in San Diego with one Pro Bowl appearance. The other third-round pick, Nate Kaeding, was their kicker for seven seasons and was chosen first-team All-Pro in 2009.
The Chargers used a second-round pick on defensive end Igor Olshansky, a seven-year starter for San Diego and Dallas. Edge rusher Shaun Phillips came in the fourth round and became a seven-year starter in San Diego before a year with the Broncos. Fifth-round defensive lineman Dave Ball had an eight-year career for three NFL teams, eventually becoming a starter for the Titans. Fifth-round running back Michael Turner was a strong backup to LaDainian Tomlinson before getting big money to start for the Falcons, where he was selected a first-team All-Pro in 2008 after rushing for 1,699 yards. Finally, Shane Olivea dropped to the seventh round because of a pectoral muscle injury but became an immediate starter for the Chargers. He spent four seasons as the right tackle before leaving for the Giants in free agency, where a back injury cost him the rest of his career.
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Here’s the best draft of the 21st century: six different NFL veterans with at least six seasons as a regular starter and 49 or more career Approximate Value points. The biggest name here on draft day was Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush, chosen No. 2 overall. Bush had an 11-year career with five different NFL teams, topping 1,000 combined yards from scrimmage four times.
But the real star came in the fourth round, when the Saints took guard Jahri Evans out of Division II Bloomsburg. Evans started for 11 seasons in New Orleans plus one season in Green Bay, making six Pro Bowls and getting chosen first-team All-Pro in four straight seasons from 2009 through 2012. In between Bush and Evans came second-round safety Roman Harper, who had an 11-year career, mostly as a starting strong safety for New Orleans and Carolina. He made the Pro Bowl twice.
The Saints selected edge rusher Rob Ninkovich in the fifth round but barely got anything out of him before he moved on to two years in Miami. He didn’t blossom until he signed with the Patriots, eventually starting seven seasons on the edge and winning two Super Bowls. Finally, the Saints got not just one, but two, regular starters out of the final round. Zach Strief, chosen at No. 210, was a backup lineman for a few years before eventually starting at right tackle from 2011 through 2016. And Marques Colston, chosen at No. 252, became an immediate starter at wide receiver and had six seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards during a 10-year career spent entirely with the Saints.
The 2006 Saints drafted both stars and depth, and that’s why this is the best draft class of the 21st century.