Late Round Draft Plums
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I have done an exhaustive search of all the drafts since 1970 to come up with the one name in each draft that was the real late draft plum, and I list each of those picks here. I only went back to 1970 because, well, it took some time to do this and that was the merger date so I used it.
Note a couple of things: Drafts from 1970 to 1975 consisted of 17 rounds. Drafts from 1976 to 1992 consisted of 12 rounds. 1993 had 8 rounds, and 1992 to present had 7 rounds. From 1970 to 92 I did not select anyone lower than the 6th round. For 1992 to current I stopped at the 5th round as the lowest I would go.
Also, I based this pretty much on the number of Pro Bowls and All Pros a player made. So, here is the list:
Year... Round...Name............Position/Team.....All Pro and Pro Bowls made
1970...8...Lemar Parish...DB/Bengals....1 All Pro, 8 Pro Bowls
1971...6...Mel Gray......DB/Cardinals...1,4
1972...14...Larry Brooks...DT/Rams....1,5
1973...6...Ed Newman...OG/Dolphins...1,4
1974...15...Billy White Shoes Johnson...WR/Oilers...1,3
1975...13...Herb Scott...OG/Cowboys...2,3
1976...10...Gary Fencik...DB/Dolphins...1,2
1977...7...Charlie Johnson...DT/Eagles...2,3
1978...6...Dwight Hicks...DB/Lions...0,4
1979...10...Dwight Clark...WR/49ers...1,2
1980...7...Eddie Murray...K/Lions...1,2
1981...8...Charlie Brown...WR/Redskins...0,2
1982...7...Gary Anderson...K/Bills...1,4
1983...12...Karl Mecklenberg...LB/Broncos...3,6
1984...10...Ernest Byner...RB/Browns...0,2
1985...9...Steve Tasker...WR/Oilers...0,7
1986...9...Clyde Simmons...DE/Eagles...2,2
1987...6...Greg Lloyd...LB/Steelers...3,5
1988...9...Jeff Cross...DE/Vikings...0,1
1989...10...Mark Schlereth...OG/Redskins...0,2
1990...7...Shannon Sharpe...TE/Broncos...4,8 *only HOF member so far
1991...6...Michael Sinclair...DE/Seahawks...0,3
1992...9...Brad Johnson...QB/Vikings...0,2
1993...8...Jessie Armstead...LB/Giants...1,5
1994...7...Tom Nalen...C/Broncos...2,5
1995...6...Terrell Davis...RB/Broncos...3,3
1996...5...Zach Thomas...LB/Dolphins...5,7
1997...6...Al Harris...DB/Buccaneers...0,2
1998...6...Matt Birk...C/Vikings...0,6
1999...7...Donald Driver...WR/Packers...0,3
2000...6...Tom Brady...QB/Patriots...2,8
2001...7...T.J. Houshmanzedah...WR/Bengals...0,1
2002...7...Brett Keisel...DE/Steelers...0,1
2003...5...Robert Mathis...DE/Colts...0,4
2004...6...Andy Lee...P/49ers...3,3
2005...7...Jay Ratliff...DE/Cowboys...1,4
2006...7...Cortland Finnegan...DB/Titans...1,1
2007...5...Corey Graham...DB/Bears...0,1
2008...5...Carl Nicks...OT/Saints...1,2
2009...5...Johnny Knox...WR/Bears...0,1
2010...6...Antonio Brown...WR/Steelers...0,1
2011...5...Richard Sherman...DB/Seahawks...1,0
2012...6...Blair Walsh...K...Vikings...1,1
The best teams at picking these plums have been the Vikings and Broncos with 4 each, followed by the Oilers/Titans and Steelers. The Pats picked only 1 plum, but it was probably the juiciest of all in Mr. Brady.
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Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
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Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
Great stuff Gip, thanks for putting this together and sharing. Does anyone know who the Broncos GM was at the time during those picks?
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Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
Great stuff Gip, thanks for putting this together and sharing. Does anyone know who the Broncos GM was at the time during those picks?
Great stuff Gip, thanks for putting this together and sharing. Does anyone know who the Broncos GM was at the time during those picks?
I'm not sure who picked those players, but it was NOT, Dwight Clark, Phil Savage, Butch Davis, Eric Mangini, or Mike Holmgren
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Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
They also had Elway and Shanahan. 2 Hall-of-Famers at the 2 MOST important positions in football
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Note that Sharp, Schlereth, Nalen, and Davis were all part of the Broncos back to back Super Bowls in the late 90s.
They also had Elway and Shanahan. 2 Hall-of-Famers at the 2 MOST important positions in football
They also had Elway and Shanahan. 2 Hall-of-Famers at the 2 MOST important positions in football
Do you think Shanahan will ultimately be a Hall of Famer? I'm not so sure.
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