Goddamn it r/NFL is out to make me sad today. A post a little bit further up about Nick Collins and now Sterling. What is it with Packers and career ending neck injuries?
https://www.nfl.com/photos/top-all-time-nfl-draft-steals-0ap2000000344957
The top 5 on this list are Brady, Staubach, Montana, Deacon Jones, and Johnny Unitas.
That list looks crazy, until you realize that a 9th round pick (Unitas) back then was the 102nd overall pick. That’s basically a 3rd round comp pick in today’s league.
The real steal was for that semi pro team that paid Unitas like $6 a game to play for them after he was cut by the Steelers and before he signed with the Colts.
Roosevelt Brown, 321st overall pick.
Richard Dent at 203rd overall. #3 in sacks at retirement and is still #6. Would have been more, but he was asked to drop into coverage a decent amount, as the 46 D made alot of players on D play at the LoS and needed unconventional ways to defend the pass. Imagine finding a Julius Peppers in the 6th round, and you understand how crazy valuable the Dent pick is.
Carter is not a steal, he was a gamble that eventually paid off big time because Buddy Ryan fired him
he did enough blow to have Sigmund Freud, Charlie Sheen and LT shaking their heads in disgust
Would personally put him above several of those guys, maybe not all. He's certainly right in the conversation. I mean the most receiving yards and most touchdowns of any undrafted receiver in NFL history, and second in receptions among the same group. Also a host of Broncos franchise records.
If Greenlaw doesn’t get hurt, you all win. I hope in the next 3-4 years you guys do win, because I would hate seeing people start saying “Purdy can’t win the big one” because he can - just shit luck the last one and got hurt too early last year.
Edit: I am also a bias Iowa State fan.
Johnny Unitas was a 9th round pick. Roger Staubach was chosen in the 10th round. Deacon Jones was a 14th rounder. None of the guys you listed even sniff top 15.
Keep in mind that there were only 12 teams back then. So 9th and 10th round picks would be picks 96-120 overall, which would fall in the 4th round if there were 32 teams drafting like there are now.
Colleges had film. "Scouts" would visit the schools after compiling data from newspapers and request to watch the film.
Obviously nowhere close to even just the 70s, but it was there
Thaa partially how the Steelers had that legendary draft class in the 70s.
They got the college tape for Swann, Stallworth, Webster, Lambert and just refused to share it with the league, as was customary
AB was the closest to breaking any of Jerry Rices records we've ever seen.
He was an absolute monster on the field and probably second only to Rice as a route technician. Hence why he had so many catches and such an impact.
If Brown was sane, I legitimately think he could've broken Rice's reception record. For context. When AB was 29, he had 828 receptions. Averaging 114 per year for 6 years after his rookie year. Even if that fell to 90 per year on average going forward, he would have to do that for 6 more years until his age 35 season and he'd pass Rice.
Yes, that's a lofty average. But browns game was not speed, it wasn't size. It was route technique. He was legitimately always open. His game would've aged beautifully
I think it's unlikely he would have continued to *average* 114/1,524/11 over the following 6 years like he did in his last 6 with the Steelers simply because the chemistry he had with Ben probably wasn't replicable with anyone the Steelers have brought in (not to mention the quality of those QBs was/is dramatically worse). But I agree that his game would have aged well and I think he could have tacked on 2-3 more all-pros.
What I wouldn't give to have seen him stay somewhat normal...he was one of my favorite Steelers to watch.
Shannon Sharpe was a 7th rounder. Montana was a third. Romo went undrafted. Starr was a 17th rounder. Raymond Berry was a 20th rounder. Roosevelt Brown is a hall of famer from the 27th round. Terrell Davis was drafted in the sixth. Kurt Warner was undrafted. Thats 12 right there more impressive than AB and I’m just scratching the surface. Learn some history my guy.
You shouldn’t include undrafted players on this list. The pool is astronomically larger than drafted players. Also, AB absolutely was a better player for longer than Davis.
I don’t think you or anyone else can legitimately compare AB to Brown or Berry either.
You also should consider the pick # not the round number because it’s kind of irrelevant when there were half the amount of teams lol
Out of all the players you listed, only three were drafted later in the draft. Undrafted players aren’t draft steals either. Roosey, Raymond and Starr or did you forget sharpe was drafted with the 192nd pick and AB was the 195th?
The round of the draft isn’t what matters, it’s how late they were drafted.
I would assume someone with so much history knowledge like yourself would understand something that basic.
you say "27th rounder" but there were 12 teams in 1953. roosevelt brown was pick 321, which is of course a bigger number than 195 but not by nearly as much as "27th round" would suggest. and i'd take prime AB over almost any of those guys without a second thought
Unitas was the 101st pick, Staubach was 129th and probably only so low cause he wasn't available yet, Deacon Jones was 186th.
Less teams, less picks per round, much less scouting. There's certainly ones in the last 20 years that are as impressive. 101st pick is just the end of Rnd 3 now.
In the modern era it’s probably Zach Thomas or Terrell Davis. There are other notable UFA’s like Kurt Warner from the modern era. Most of the other late round/UFA’s in the HOF are from before the Super Bowl Era when the draft had many more rounds and the NFL was not the entertainment giant it is today.
The perfect example of a guy who shouldn't be athletic enough to play in the NFL but is somehow around the ball every play.
His combine results were terrible. Every measurable was in the bottom half percentile for ILB except shuttle, and he got an F grade. Pretty amusing to look at really.
[https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=23417](https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=23417)
He peaked at 13th in receiving yards and had 3 TDs that season. Not really odd tbh, especially for an award that doesn't factor in playoff performance/team playoff success.
He gets a boost from being a very good receiver whose entire productive stretch of his career was with the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL during a stretch where they won 3 SBs. Elite is a pretty hard argument to even make outside of team context and playoff dominance.
I forget when exactly the rules have switched up, but he may or may not have been eligible as an alternate pro bowler due to SB appearances.
He’s also 3rd in playoff receiving yards (behind Jerry Rice). Used to be 2nd but Kelce has passed him.
1. Rice 2,245
2. Kelce 1,903
3. Edelman 1,442
4. Gronk 1,389
5. Michael Irvin 1,315
Fun fact: Mike Evans and Danny Amendola are tied at 47 with 709 yards
Probably not #1, but Donald Driver deserves a mention -- 7th round pick to the all time leading receiver in the history of the most storied franchise in the league is a pretty massive steal
Harold Jackson was taken with the 323rd pick of his draft. There’s a group of HOFers taken after pick 200, there’s another group of HOFers who were undrafted. But at least since 1960, Jackson is the only HOFer taken after pick 300. Karl Mecklenberg might join him one day.
not sure if undirected free agents technically count but….. Antonio Gates, James Harrison and Jason peters are three that may not have been mentioned so far
Not the greatest ever but the chiefs found Travis kelce and tyreek hill both in the 3rd round a couple years apart. Pretty solid value for round 3. But it's gonna go deacon Jones as the only 14th round pick in the hall of fame. That guy was terrifying. If sacks were a Stat he'd have the single season record at 26 in a 14 game season. That production would possibly win him an mvp in today's game. Just wrecking shit
At this stage I’d say Patrick Mahomes. Dude went ninth overall and is on a Brady pace.
Kind of like how Michael Jordan slipping to 3 was was the biggest steal of all time in basketball.
I haven’t seen Jason Kelce on here yet. Round 6, Pick 191, from the Cincinnati Bearcats. He’s by far the best (and highest profile) center in recent memory, making First Team All-Pro six out of seven years from 2017-2023.
lmfaooooo who tf is calling fraud brady a draft steal??? THE WORST DRAFT PICK OF ALL TIME. A cheating, lying fraud who disgraced the NFL. Josh Rosen is a better qb BY FAR
Shannon Sharpe was a 7th round pick and retired as the receptions leader for a TE.
well, he's the second best sharpe
Goddamn it r/NFL is out to make me sad today. A post a little bit further up about Nick Collins and now Sterling. What is it with Packers and career ending neck injuries?
Charles Martin fuck you
No mention of Bart Starr yet? 17th round pick, 200th overall He won the first two super bowls, was mvp in both, and won 3 championships before that
200>199 Eat that, Brady
let's see a 17th round pick do that today
For them to do that, they must first exist, and the NFL only has seven rounds in the Draft.
you've figured out the joke
https://www.nfl.com/photos/top-all-time-nfl-draft-steals-0ap2000000344957 The top 5 on this list are Brady, Staubach, Montana, Deacon Jones, and Johnny Unitas.
That list looks crazy, until you realize that a 9th round pick (Unitas) back then was the 102nd overall pick. That’s basically a 3rd round comp pick in today’s league.
Honestly it’s Staubach since the Cowboys had to wait 4 years to even see any of him as a player
According to that list, some guy named Tom Brady went in the sixth round and then won 3!! Superbowls. Pretty impressive.
It's a good thing he's retired now, if he won 4 or more he might displace Joe Cool as the GOAT.
I misread that and thought you said if he won 4 more lmao
Don't tempt the bad man.... Brady has broken people out of spite.
Well… he did regardless lmao
It's insane that Brady was already considered the greatest draft steal of all time at that point ... and he wasn't even halfway through his career.
Its a fucking travesty they have those nobodies listed above some like Ben Di'Nucci
Fuckers talking like they forgot about the GOAT Cooper Rush
Do UDFAs count as "draft steals?"
Is Unitas really a steal since the Steelers instantly dumped him after drafting him?
The real steal was for that semi pro team that paid Unitas like $6 a game to play for them after he was cut by the Steelers and before he signed with the Colts.
Roosevelt Brown, 321st overall pick. Richard Dent at 203rd overall. #3 in sacks at retirement and is still #6. Would have been more, but he was asked to drop into coverage a decent amount, as the 46 D made alot of players on D play at the LoS and needed unconventional ways to defend the pass. Imagine finding a Julius Peppers in the 6th round, and you understand how crazy valuable the Dent pick is.
What specific game can I watch to see Dent dropping into coverage a decent amount if times?
Probably Shannon sharpe and Terrell Davis for the the broncos. Those guys were amazing in the 90s. Won 2 rings back to back.
dont forget Rod Smith, who was undrafted lol A team full of massive overachievers
Cris Carter, Richard Sherman, Rod Smith, Terrel Davis
Wasn't Steve Largent a 7th round pick?
I believe he was a 4th round pick who was traded for an 8th rounder before even playing a down.
Ya but he was traded from the oilers.
Carter is not a steal, he was a gamble that eventually paid off big time because Buddy Ryan fired him he did enough blow to have Sigmund Freud, Charlie Sheen and LT shaking their heads in disgust
He’s top 15 all time in yards, touchdowns and receptions. Sounds like the coke was working.
LT did a shit load of coke apparently too. Sounds like there’s some correlation here
Rod Smith is the best undrafted player, not a draft steal.
Hmm thought he was a seventh rounder.
Yes, everyone knows Rod Smith was better than Dick Night Train Lane, Willie Brown, Larry Little, Antonio Gates, Justin Tucker, Jason Peters...
Would personally put him above several of those guys, maybe not all. He's certainly right in the conversation. I mean the most receiving yards and most touchdowns of any undrafted receiver in NFL history, and second in receptions among the same group. Also a host of Broncos franchise records.
John Randle and Emlen Tunnell were undrafted, made the HOF and the NFLs 100th Anniversary Team. Surely Rod Smith is also better than them.
Purdy? Lmao did you just start watching football?
Joe Montana 2.0 according to 1 year of data from 9ers fans
Excuse me but he is actually joe montana 1.0.
Who are we talking about? Joe “Brock Purdy” Montana?
If Greenlaw doesn’t get hurt, you all win. I hope in the next 3-4 years you guys do win, because I would hate seeing people start saying “Purdy can’t win the big one” because he can - just shit luck the last one and got hurt too early last year. Edit: I am also a bias Iowa State fan.
2 years
Super Bowl mvp and Hall of Famer Richard Dent was an 8th round pick
Johnny Unitas was a 9th round pick. Roger Staubach was chosen in the 10th round. Deacon Jones was a 14th rounder. None of the guys you listed even sniff top 15.
Keep in mind that there were only 12 teams back then. So 9th and 10th round picks would be picks 96-120 overall, which would fall in the 4th round if there were 32 teams drafting like there are now.
They probably barely even had game tape back then. You pick up a steal in the late rounds now it's kind of impressive that everyone missed it.
Colleges had film. "Scouts" would visit the schools after compiling data from newspapers and request to watch the film. Obviously nowhere close to even just the 70s, but it was there
Thaa partially how the Steelers had that legendary draft class in the 70s. They got the college tape for Swann, Stallworth, Webster, Lambert and just refused to share it with the league, as was customary
They only stole the tape for Stallworth.
It was probably before declaring for the draft was a thing too since there were 30 rounds. I can't figure out when declaring started by googling
Cool. Unitas in the 4th round is still a monster fucking steal. What’s your point?
Bart Starr was a 17th rounder.
AB had one of the best peaks for a WR in history, tf you mean he isn't top 15 drafted in the 6th.
AB was the closest to breaking any of Jerry Rices records we've ever seen. He was an absolute monster on the field and probably second only to Rice as a route technician. Hence why he had so many catches and such an impact. If Brown was sane, I legitimately think he could've broken Rice's reception record. For context. When AB was 29, he had 828 receptions. Averaging 114 per year for 6 years after his rookie year. Even if that fell to 90 per year on average going forward, he would have to do that for 6 more years until his age 35 season and he'd pass Rice. Yes, that's a lofty average. But browns game was not speed, it wasn't size. It was route technique. He was legitimately always open. His game would've aged beautifully
His game would have aged well, would he have kept up that production with Ben aging out is the question.
I think it's unlikely he would have continued to *average* 114/1,524/11 over the following 6 years like he did in his last 6 with the Steelers simply because the chemistry he had with Ben probably wasn't replicable with anyone the Steelers have brought in (not to mention the quality of those QBs was/is dramatically worse). But I agree that his game would have aged well and I think he could have tacked on 2-3 more all-pros. What I wouldn't give to have seen him stay somewhat normal...he was one of my favorite Steelers to watch.
Shannon Sharpe was a 7th rounder. Montana was a third. Romo went undrafted. Starr was a 17th rounder. Raymond Berry was a 20th rounder. Roosevelt Brown is a hall of famer from the 27th round. Terrell Davis was drafted in the sixth. Kurt Warner was undrafted. Thats 12 right there more impressive than AB and I’m just scratching the surface. Learn some history my guy.
You shouldn’t include undrafted players on this list. The pool is astronomically larger than drafted players. Also, AB absolutely was a better player for longer than Davis. I don’t think you or anyone else can legitimately compare AB to Brown or Berry either. You also should consider the pick # not the round number because it’s kind of irrelevant when there were half the amount of teams lol
Bro really tried to sneak Romo in there lmao
An undrafted Romo is a bigger steal than AB. So yes, yes I did.
Out of all the players you listed, only three were drafted later in the draft. Undrafted players aren’t draft steals either. Roosey, Raymond and Starr or did you forget sharpe was drafted with the 192nd pick and AB was the 195th? The round of the draft isn’t what matters, it’s how late they were drafted. I would assume someone with so much history knowledge like yourself would understand something that basic.
you say "27th rounder" but there were 12 teams in 1953. roosevelt brown was pick 321, which is of course a bigger number than 195 but not by nearly as much as "27th round" would suggest. and i'd take prime AB over almost any of those guys without a second thought
Unitas was the 101st pick, Staubach was 129th and probably only so low cause he wasn't available yet, Deacon Jones was 186th. Less teams, less picks per round, much less scouting. There's certainly ones in the last 20 years that are as impressive. 101st pick is just the end of Rnd 3 now.
Read what you just wrote and slap yourself. A hall of fame all time great QB in the “third” round isn’t a major steal? Stop it.
Youre an angry little elf.
Brother you’re the one that said Tom Brady wouldn’t even be top 15 while glazing an earlier pick of a worse player lmao
“Brother” no one said Brady wouldn’t be top 15. Literally no one. He’s on my list, implied from the OP, of better steals than AB.
Antonio Brown is absolutely a top 15 draft steal
Yeah...Unitas is a good candidate. I'd love to see him play under today's rules.
Scouting back then was a joke…a lot harder for talent to slip through the cracks now
In the modern era it’s probably Zach Thomas or Terrell Davis. There are other notable UFA’s like Kurt Warner from the modern era. Most of the other late round/UFA’s in the HOF are from before the Super Bowl Era when the draft had many more rounds and the NFL was not the entertainment giant it is today.
I will always upvote Zach Thomas praise
The perfect example of a guy who shouldn't be athletic enough to play in the NFL but is somehow around the ball every play. His combine results were terrible. Every measurable was in the bottom half percentile for ILB except shuttle, and he got an F grade. Pretty amusing to look at really. [https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=23417](https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=23417)
John Randle too if we’re counting UFA
London Fletcher wasn't even drafted, and he's 2nd all time in tackles and never missed a game his entire career.
Brock Purdy isn’t up there at all (yet 🤞)
Rosey Brown OT for the NY Giants, 321st player taken in the 27th round of the 1953 draft. Lowest draft pick in the HoF.
Edelman was a Super Bowl MVP and he was drafted 232nd overall.
And oddly, hasn’t he never been selected for a Pro Bowl?
He peaked at 13th in receiving yards and had 3 TDs that season. Not really odd tbh, especially for an award that doesn't factor in playoff performance/team playoff success.
I just say “oddly” in that he’s quite revered. Yet … Pro Bowl nods are pretty low-hanging fruit for supposed elite players.
He gets a boost from being a very good receiver whose entire productive stretch of his career was with the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL during a stretch where they won 3 SBs. Elite is a pretty hard argument to even make outside of team context and playoff dominance. I forget when exactly the rules have switched up, but he may or may not have been eligible as an alternate pro bowler due to SB appearances.
He’s also 3rd in playoff receiving yards (behind Jerry Rice). Used to be 2nd but Kelce has passed him. 1. Rice 2,245 2. Kelce 1,903 3. Edelman 1,442 4. Gronk 1,389 5. Michael Irvin 1,315 Fun fact: Mike Evans and Danny Amendola are tied at 47 with 709 yards
I wanna say Justin Tucker, but he wasn’t even drafted. The only other GOAT I can think of who was acquired with such little stock.
Oh well there you go, I said Rod Smith was the greatest undrafted but maybe he's #2 behind Tuck.
Deacon Jones in the 14th round.
Antonio Brown was a 6th rounder. People forget how dominant he was before the madness.
Probably not #1, but Donald Driver deserves a mention -- 7th round pick to the all time leading receiver in the history of the most storied franchise in the league is a pretty massive steal
Same exact story for Colston and the Saints too. Also we're storied...just maybe not in the same way hah
I'd go with Bart Starr. 200th pick leads team to multiple championships.
Eagles getting Jason Kelce in the 6th round (pick 191) has to be up there
Rosey Brown, number 321 In hall of fame
Harold Jackson was taken with the 323rd pick of his draft. There’s a group of HOFers taken after pick 200, there’s another group of HOFers who were undrafted. But at least since 1960, Jackson is the only HOFer taken after pick 300. Karl Mecklenberg might join him one day.
Deacon Jones drafted in the 14th round.
Shannon Sharpe was pick 192 in the 7th round
Kurt Warner wasn’t even drafted
John Randle wasn't drafted ... Does that still count?
Somehow Randy Moss made it to the 21st pick Steal!
not sure if undirected free agents technically count but….. Antonio Gates, James Harrison and Jason peters are three that may not have been mentioned so far
As a non-QB pick, HOF DE Richard Dent was taken in the 8th round #203 overall
Terrell Davis.
Terrell Davis or Johnny Unitas
Not the greatest ever but the chiefs found Travis kelce and tyreek hill both in the 3rd round a couple years apart. Pretty solid value for round 3. But it's gonna go deacon Jones as the only 14th round pick in the hall of fame. That guy was terrifying. If sacks were a Stat he'd have the single season record at 26 in a 14 game season. That production would possibly win him an mvp in today's game. Just wrecking shit
Tyreek was a 5th round pick
Kurt Warner?
In recent years for us it would be Ekeler (UDFA) or Keenan Allen (3rd rounder)
Romo was a beast for being undrafted.
At this stage I’d say Patrick Mahomes. Dude went ninth overall and is on a Brady pace. Kind of like how Michael Jordan slipping to 3 was was the biggest steal of all time in basketball.
Puka Nacua, 0 bias EDIT: Do people not get sarcasm anymore lmfao
Caleb Williams with the 1st pick is still gonna be a steal 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
It was a steal of a pick from the Panthers.
When you trade him to us for a no longer serviceable WR3 and a conditional 3rd, sure!
Purdy? You a damn crackhead
[удалено]
Joe Montana was drafted in the 3rd round
QBs drafted any round with multiple SBs wins is a massive steal. A 1st pick hof qb is still worth more than any undrafted hof non qb.
Yeah Mahomes at #10 overall is a massive steal.
I haven’t seen Jason Kelce on here yet. Round 6, Pick 191, from the Cincinnati Bearcats. He’s by far the best (and highest profile) center in recent memory, making First Team All-Pro six out of seven years from 2017-2023.
lmfaooooo who tf is calling fraud brady a draft steal??? THE WORST DRAFT PICK OF ALL TIME. A cheating, lying fraud who disgraced the NFL. Josh Rosen is a better qb BY FAR
Jerry Rice wasn’t taken #1 overall. Highly considered the greatest player of all time
How do we have zero Jason Kelce mentions? 6th round draft pick turned probably Hall or Famer and one of the greatest Eagles of all time?
Because IOL is the easiest position to find elite/All Pro players on day 3.
Lamar Jackson
Sun god gonna have his name there when it’s all said and done 4th round pick already has a all pro gonna be a hall of famer