<![CDATA[Biggest Impact Players in a Draft]]> The question came up elsewhere about who may become the biggest impact player of this past draft.  Of course, the totally remains to be seen.  However, here document those players whom I believe to have been the  3 or 4 biggest impact players of each draft, going back to the beginning of the common draft in 1967. So, here they are, top impact player first....then 2-3 runnersup for each year:

1967  Alan Page ....Gene Upshaw, Bob Griese

1968  Ron Yary...Ken Stabler, Art Shell

1969  Ted Hendricks....Mean Joe Greene, OJ Simpson

1970  Terry Bradshaw...Mel Blount, Lemar Parrish

1971  Ken Anderson...Jack Ham, Jack Youngblood,  John Riggins

1972  Franco Harris...Lydell Mitchell, Cliff Branch, Brian Sipe

1973  Dan Fouts...John Hannah, Joe Dellamelleure

1974  Mike Webster...Jack Lambert, Too Tall Jones

1975  Walter Payton...Randy White, Steve Grogan

1976 Mike Haynes...Steve Largent,  Harry Carson

1977 Tony Dorsett...Stanley Morgan, Bob Baumhauer

1978 James Lofton...Earl Campbell, Mike Kenn, Clay Matthews II

1979  Joe Montana...Dan Hampton, Phil Simms

1980 Anthony Munoz...Art Monk, Steve McMichael

1981  Lawrence Taylor...Mike Singletary, Ronnie Lott, Ricky Jackson, Howie Long

1982  Marcus Allen,  Mike Munchak, Andre Tippett

1983 Dan Marino.....John Elway, Jim Kelly, Bruce Matthews, Darrell Green, Eric Dickerson

1984  Boomer Esiason...Wilbur Marshall,  Ernest Byner  (pick #280)

1985  Jerry Rice...Bruce Smith, Chris Doleman

1986  Pat Swilling....Jim Everett, Charles Haley

1987  Rod Woodson....Rich Gannon, Vinny Testaverde

1988  Randall McDaniel...Thurman Thomas, Michael Irvin

1989 Barry Sanders.....Deion Sanders, Derrick Thomas, Troy Aikman

1990  Emmit Smith....Junior Seau, Cortez Kennedy

1991 Brett Favre...Aeneas Williams, Ricky Waters

1992 Jimmy Smith...Troy Vincent, Levon Kirkland

1993  Michael Strahan... Will Shields, Willie Roaf, Drew Bledsoe

1994  Marshall Faulk....Kevin Mawae, Isaac Bruce

1995  Derrick Brooks.....Warren Sapp, Steve McNair, Curtis Martin

1996  Ray Lewis...Marvin Harrison, Terrelle Owens, Jonathan Ogden

1997  Jason Taylor (ZIP!!)  Ronde Barber, Orlando Pace

1998 Peyton Manning...Randy Moss, Charles Woodson

1999  Edgerrin James...Champ Bailey, Donovan McNabb

2000 Tom Brady...Brian Urlacher, John Abraham

2001 Drew Brees...Ladanian Tomlinson, Reggie Wayne

2002  Julius Peppers....Ed Reed, Dwight Freeney

2003 Carson Palmer...Terrell Suggs, Kevin Williams

2004 Phillip Rivers.....Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning

2005 Aaron Rodgers...Logan Mankins, Demarcus Ware

2006  Jahri Evans...Haloti Ngata, Andrew Whitworth

2007 Patrick Willis, Adrian Peterson, Darrelle Revis, Joe Thomas

2008 Matt Ryan.....Joe Flacco,  Calais Campbell

2009  Matt Stafford...LeSean McCoy, Clay Matthews III

2010  Antonio Brown...Ndamakong Suh, Geno Atkins

2011 Cam Newton...JJ Watt, Von Miller

2012  Russell Wilson...Luke Kuechley, Bobby Wagner, Andrew Luck

2013  Leveon Bell....David Bakhtari, Travis Frederick

stoppin here as too soon to telll past this

Those in Bold were #1 overall picks

]]>https://brownsboard.com/topic/50315/biggest-impact-players-in-a-draftRSS for NodeThu, 01 Oct 2026 02:18:43 GMTWed, 27 Jun 2018 16:15:45 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Biggest Impact Players in a Draft on Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:59:05 GMT]]> Von Miller owned Cam Newton in their Superbowl faceoff and walked away with the SB MVP trophy for it to boot.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/797146https://brownsboard.com/post/797146Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:59:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Biggest Impact Players in a Draft on Wed, 27 Jun 2018 22:28:21 GMT]]>

@mjp28 said:

NFL Quarterback is probably the most important position in all of team sports. The feature RB has kind of kind of diminished in value over recent years and that will probably continue in years to come.

Even starting pitchers in MLB as individuals can't really compare one on one with a starting quarterback. 

Even going back a few generations the feature RB wasn't as important as the QB. 

The 50s and 60s were dominated by teams with Otto Graham, Bobby Layne, Johnny Unitas, Norm Van Brocklin, Y.A. Tittle,  Bart Starr, etc at QB. 

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/797099https://brownsboard.com/post/797099Wed, 27 Jun 2018 22:28:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Biggest Impact Players in a Draft on Wed, 27 Jun 2018 18:56:28 GMT]]> NFL Quarterback is probably the most important position in all of team sports. The feature RB has kind of kind of diminished in value over recent years and that will probably continue in years to come.

Even starting pitchers in MLB as individuals can't really compare one on one with a starting quarterback. 

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/797050https://brownsboard.com/post/797050Wed, 27 Jun 2018 18:56:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Biggest Impact Players in a Draft on Wed, 27 Jun 2018 16:29:04 GMT]]> Notes on this list:

1.  There are 17 QBs here listed as most impactful player.....there are 9 RBs (including 3 since 1999...when supposedly the RB position was de-emphasized);   there are 6 linebackers, 5 offensive linemen;  4 defensive linemen; 4 WRs, and 2 DBs.

2. There were a few very low picks that made impact:   Brady of course,   Sipe, Byner (#280), Antonio Brown...6th round.

3. As you might expect  1983 and 2004 had 3 QBs among the top 3-4 impact players of those drafts.

4.  Two of the top three impact players in the 1973 draft were OGs...which has to be unusual.  (Hannah and Joe D.)

Browns players included Sipe,   Joe D.  (for half of his career),   Clay Matthews, Byner,   Vinny T. for a bit of his career,  and Joe Thomas

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/797028https://brownsboard.com/post/797028Wed, 27 Jun 2018 16:29:04 GMT