🏈 Who's the best No. 1 NFL draft pick ever?

You're watching Day 3 of the NFL draft, catching a couple of names you recognize from college here and there and wondering when your favorite team picks next. Pick No. 188 goes across the board, and a little voice in your head wonders: "Why even bother making pick No. 188? Pick 188 is never going to matter. Who's even the best player to come out of Pick 188?"

Danny Trevathan. The best 188th pick ever was Danny Trevathan.

I know this because I've spent the past month or so looking at every draft pick since the common draft era began (1967) and using the modern seven-round format (Nos. 1-262) to answer that very question: Who was the best player taken at this draft slot? Plenty of "Oh, I remember him!" moments ... and plenty of impossible decisions.

How I went about things:

• I took "best" to mean some combination of "most talented" and "most successful." As is always the challenge in debating the bestness of football players, any argument that exclusively looks at Super Bowl wins and All-Pro nods is insufficient and lacks context. Similarly, any argument that leans solely on individual player stats and film impressions is lacking as well. I generally tried to use historical accolades to contextualize career-long production. Peak season performance and single-season record-setting also mattered to me; this isn't just a measure of who played the longest but also who played ... well, the best. And of course, rings matter because rings always matter. But there's no formula here. There's my read on each pick, levied as fairly as I could make it. Disagreement is expected.

• In order to be the best draft pick, you kind of have to play for the team that drafted you. I only used this rule to the water's edge -- I'm not dumb enough to knock Brett Favre because he was drafted by the Falcons. But when it came to splitting hairs, the spirit of the exercise implies that the player was talented and the team that drafted him was successful because of the pick. Lifers for one franchise got an edge over career journeymen.

• There isn't a bump for QB value (unless it was inescapable). Again, the specifics of the exercise established a guardrail. Is "best draft pick" the same as "most valuable draft pick?" If that feels like a pointless distinction, understand that I had to make it in order to solve several ties. I'm interested in finding the best player regardless of position, which means that safeties can beat quarterbacks, and guards can beat pass rushers. Only in cases of the blatantly obvious (see: Purdy, Brock) did I let the expanded impact of the quarterback position affect my choice.

• I am 28 years old. I did my best with the stars of the 1970s and 1980s, but please do not interpret any mischaracterizations of the historical GOATs as ageist propaganda. When I'm being deliberately anti-throwbacks, I'll make it very clear, I promise.

Enough of that. Let's get to the picks. I wrote on the top 100 here, and then also picked out a few outside the top 100 to discuss further. Here are the best selections ever at each slot.

Jump to: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 Outside the top 100 picks

Fourteen Hall of Famers have been selected with the first overall pick since the draft began in 1936, including Bruce Smith, Orlando Pace, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw and Earl Campbell. (By the time Myles Garrett is done, we'll be well on our way to the 15th.) As such, selecting a winner for the best No. 1 pick ever is the splitting of fine hairs, but Peyton Manning gets my nod. Five MVPs, two Super Bowl championships (with two different teams) and still-standing records for single-season passing touchdowns (55) and single-season passing yardage (5,477) is an impossible résumé to knock.

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The best defensive player of all time is also the best second overall pick of all time. Taylor is one of two defensive players to ever win league MVP (in 1986, joining defensive tackle Alan Page in 1971), and that rarefied air all but cements him over contenders such as Marshall Faulk, Julius Peppers and Calvin Johnson. Modern contenders such as Von Miller, Saquon Barkley and Nick Bosa are excellent in their time but don't hold a candle to L.T., who finished his 13-year career with 142 sacks.

The pick at No. 3 was one of the most challenging of the early selections. Both Anthony Munoz and Joe Thomas are Hall of Famers for their longevity -- not just for career length but also for sticking it out with one squad (mostly). Sanders, in comparison, retired earlier than some expected and could have cleared Walter Payton's career rushing record had he kept it chugging (he finished with 15,269 yards, 1,457 behind Payton).

I gave the edge to Sanders for his stylistic impact on the game and his lasting impact on Detroit football; he is still the best Lion in history, whereas neither Munoz nor Thomas is the best Bengal or Brown, respectively. But this was close.

Impossible to argue anyone over Sweetness when you consider his impact both on and off the field. Put another way: Guys with awards named after them tend to be the best draft pick at their slot ever, even without mentioning his 16,726 rushing yards. All due respect to Charles Woodson, Derrick Thomas and Mean Joe Greene.

It's a loaded fifth pick (Junior Seau, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jalen Ramsey and Ja'Marr Chase), but Sanders gets the nod for his unique place as a two-way player (not to mention his two rings -- one of which came in his Defensive Player of the Year season -- and his six first-team All-Pro appearances). Does he also get a bump for providing excellent return on a sixth-round draft pick in the MLB draft? Who's to say?

A first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the best offensive linemen of all time, Jones just beat out a glut of receivers taken with the sixth overall pick (Tim Brown, Julio Jones, James Lofton and Torry Holt). I would hear arguments for the first two; I would not hear arguments for the latter two. Walter Jones is one of only four Seahawks with his number retired and is probably the greatest Seahawk in history.

The last non-quarterback to win the MVP award, Peterson led the league in rushing yardage three times in his career: 2008, 2012 and 2015. That's a testament to both his excellence -- the next most recent players with at least three seasons of league-leading production are Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith -- and his longevity. Three times over an eight-year span!

"All Day" was my pick over Champ Bailey, but watch out for Josh Allen. He and Peterson have the same number of MVP trophies and Super Bowl appearances ... for now.

A four-time Super Bowl champion with the 49ers and eight-time first-team All-Pro, Lott is one of the most decorated players in history. He also benefits from lighter competition than many of the other top-10 picks; also under consideration were Willie Roaf, Mike Munchak and Larry Csonka.

Matthews made 14 Pro Bowls over his 19-year NFL career, which is frankly ludicrous. He played all across the offensive line, long-snapped for special teams and spent his entire career on just one team (even if that team changed names and locations, from the Houston Oilers to the Tennessee Titans, during his career). But despite his glowing résumé, it wasn't easy taking Matthews over Brian Urlacher.

Our first active player is Mahomes, who somehow easily clears Rod Woodson, Terrell Suggs and Marcus Allen despite being maybe halfway through his career. A two-time MVP, three-time Super Bowl champ and three-time Super Bowl MVP, Mahomes will likely build a compelling argument for being the greatest quarterback ever by the time his career is done.

It was a little tricky to take Watt over Hall of Famers such as Michael Irvin and Patrick Willis -- until you remember that Watt will be a first-ballot lock. Injuries robbed us of a real race between Watt and Aaron Donald for best modern defensive player. From 2012 to 2015, Watt earned four consecutive first-team All-Pro nods and won three Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was building an all-time résumé and should be remembered as an all-time player.

The only Hall of Famer selected with the 12th overall pick (so far), Sapp was one of those rare defensive tackles who could accumulate sacks from the interior. He has a Defensive Player of the Year award and a Lombardi Trophy on his shelf. How much longer can he hold off Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons, though? It depends on the hardware Parsons collects over his own career.

Donald was actually not the slam dunk that I thought he would be here, as Tony Gonzalez -- owner of just about every career tight end production record you can think of -- put up a good fight. As it is, Donald played 10 seasons and made eight first-team All-Pros, which is about as dominant as dominant gets. His 20.5 sacks in 2018 remain a towering, almost unachievable figure for a defensive tackle.

This is very unfair, but here it goes: If Jim Kelly had won a Super Bowl, he probably beats Revis out. But he didn't, and Revis did. Kelly also didn't collect as many All-Pro appearances as Revis did (four), and he didn't have an island named after him, either. While Kelly was certainly more valuable than Revis because of the position he played, I tried not to overweight quarterbacks and just look at the best player picked. Revis was the best player. Close one, though!

The lone Hall of Famer selected with the 15th pick and our oldest player in Round 1, Page rocks. He was the only defensive player to win MVP besides Lawrence Taylor, and he did it before him. He went to Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota after retirement, got his law degree and became an associate justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. This shouldn't really matter in the "best draft pick" debate, but it makes it an even more fun pick.

Do I need to explain why Rice is the best 16th pick in history? I don't, but Rice is the all-time leader in receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and receiving touchdowns (197). Pour one out for Zack Martin, who would be an easy winner at a lot of other spots on this list -- but not here.

The leader for career rushing yards by almost 2,000 yards takes the top spot here. Just how incredible are Smith's 18,355 rushing yards? Derrick Henry -- who is 19th in career rushing yardage but ninth with 84 rushing yards per game over his career -- would need to maintain his career average over another five seasons to catch Smith.

A quieter group of options here -- the biggest contenders were Joe Flacco, Marcus Peters and Maurkice Pouncey -- makes the only Hall of Famer an easy choice. Three rings certainly helps, though Monk made only two All-Pro teams. Guess that's the struggle of playing at the same time as Jerry Rice, Steve Largent, Sterling Sharpe and Andre Reed.

When Harrison snagged 143 passes in 2002, he broke Herman Moore's record (123 in 1995). That's a 20-catch leap in just seven years, and Harrison's number stood all the way until 2019, when Michael Thomas cleared him with 149. In his heyday with Peyton Manning, Harrison had eight straight seasons of 1,000 receiving yards, had eight straight seasons of at least 10 receiving touchdowns and made eight straight All-Pro teams. Pretty good!

What a great name for a pass rusher. Youngblood was a Rams lifer with eight All-Pro nominations and a retired jersey. His longevity just barely gives him the nod over another Hall of Famer, Steve Atwater, a legendary Broncos safety and winner of two Super Bowls. I flip-flopped on this one for a while.

Moss' dominance came not in the form of yardage (26th all time in receiving yards per game), but in scoring (his 156 TD receptions are second all time). He led the league in receiving touchdowns five times and set the single-season record with his 23 scores for the Patriots in 2007. He gets the bump for being an iconic, culture-defining player as well.

Thank goodness there were no Hall of Famers to snub with the 22nd pick, making Jefferson an even easier selection for me. Never forget that Jefferson holds the record for most receiving yards through two seasons of a player's career (3,016) -- as well as through three seasons (4,825), four seasons (5,899) and five seasons (7,432). Guess which record he'll hold at the end of this year?

Law doesn't have the personal accolades that some other winners do -- only two All-Pro appearances -- but he did win three Super Bowls with the Patriots and played famously important roles across those playoff runs, including his Super Bowl XXXVI pick-six.

I picked Reed over Aaron Rodgers here, which is likely my most controversial selection. Safety is an impossible position to rack up counting stats -- the whole point is that you're away from the ball -- yet Reed accumulated 64 picks in only 174 games. That's second all-time and easily the best of the modern era.

Listen to guys like Bill Belichick and Peyton Manning talk about Reed, and it becomes easy to call him the best safety of all time; I'm pretty confident he is, even over Ronnie Lott. And I think the best safety ever clears a quarterback who wasn't ever the best of his era, despite his four MVPs.

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Ed Reed's reason for playing safety over QB

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No Hall of Famers at pick No. 25 leaves us choosing between Hightower, Ted Washington and Stanley Morgan. Hightower has championship rings with the Patriots, and I have such wonderful memories of him as one of the last great thumpers at linebacker in the modern NFL, so I gave him the edge.

Pretty easy selection here, as Lewis is arguably the best off-ball linebacker in NFL history. Thirteen Pro Bowls in 17 seasons with 10 All-Pro considerations (seven on the first team) and a Super Bowl MVP to boot. What more is there to say?

Another wildly easy selection for me. Marino doesn't have the hardware of the historically elite quarterbacks -- only one MVP, no rings, etc. -- but he was as talented as any of them. Marino led the league in passing yardage five times, which is behind only Drew Brees' seven seasons as the most prolific, and he was the first to ever clear 5,000 yards in a season. He did it back in 1984, when illegal contact was considered legal contact, too.

A Buccaneers lifer, Brooks won the Super Bowl in the same season he won Defensive Player of the Year (2002). It was the first Super Bowl for the Tampa Bay franchise. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The Buccaneers have only three jerseys officially retired, and his No. 55 is one of them. Brooks is not just the best 28th overall pick, but he's also the best example of how you win on this list. What a pick.

An odd one here, as Wisniewski was drafted by the Cowboys but was then almost immediately traded to the Raiders, with whom he made eight All-Pro teams over a 13-year career. The Wiz started 215 of a possible 217 games in his career with the Raiders as well -- ridiculous availability. Congrats to the Cowboys (I guess?) for drafting him!

The lone Hall of Famer taken with the 30th overall pick, Allen was still tough for me to choose over Reggie Wayne and T.J. Watt. Wayne has been up for the Hall six times and has yet to be inducted, which feels unjust but is the reality. And Watt has a good résumé so far for the Hall of Fame but needs to keep his career production up, especially since his lack of postseason impact in Pittsburgh hurts him. So I gave it to Allen, who will grab his gold jacket in August as the leading corner of the Gang Green defense.

I was willing to take an active player over a Hall of Famer here, giving Heyward the nod over fellow defensive tackle Curley Culp (yes, you read that name right). Culp was a productive Chief and Oiler in the 1970s, though he was initially a Broncos draft pick. Heyward is approaching his 15th season with the Steelers, is a Walter Payton Man of the Year and should go down as one of the best Steelers of all time -- an incredibly tough list to make.

Picking between Brees and Lamar Jackson was agonizing, so I chickened out and picked the guy whose career is over, and as such requires no prognostication. While Brees never won a regular-season MVP, he did win a Super Bowl and a Super Bowl MVP, and I imagine Jackson would trade his two MVPs for Lombardi hardware right about now. This pick might flip by next season, though ...

The 33rd pick has produced four Hall of Famers, but Isaac Bruce, Fred Dean and Ted Hendricks can't clear the value of Favre, a three-time MVP and one of the league's most electric passers ever. An excellent draft pick by the Falcons, though they reaped absolutely none of what they sowed.

A member of the 1970s Steelers, Ham has four rings, which pushes him above another 70s great -- Lions CB Lem Barney -- for the pick here. Making the first-team All-Pro squad six consecutive seasons also helps, too.

There are a few good active players here, including Andy Dalton and Zach Ertz. But Bitonio looks like a Browns lifer, has made five All-Pro lists and might be considered the best guard of the past decade of football if not for Zack Martin being, you know ... the best guard of the past decade of football.

A 16-year pro, Mawae sailed off into the sunset, blocking for Chris Johnson's 2,000-yard season in his final NFL campaign. Mawae was an All-Pro-caliber starter at center for three teams (Seahawks, Jets and Titans) and the only Hall of Famer at this spot. Easy pick.

I struggled between Jones and Randall Cunningham, who had a larger impact on the league than his stats would indicate, given his position as the herald of dual-threat quarterbacking. But Jones has strung together three straight first-team All-Pro nods and was an integral contributor to the Chiefs' three rings. This was super close, though.

One of the best linebackers in NFL history, Singletary was a Bears lifer, accumulating seven first-team All-Pro recognitions and two Defensive Player of the Year awards in a 12-year career. Only six players ever repeated as DPOY, which surprised me. What a player.

The hardest hairs to split in compiling this list were between two players whose best play predated my existence. Such was the case between White, who played 17 seasons for the Vikings and Chargers, and Darryl Talley, a Bills pass rusher who retired the year before I was born. White had a couple more Pro Bowl honors, so he gets the pick here.

The little 8-year-old Eagles fan in me still resents Strahan, who terrorized Donovan McNabb and my beloved Birds for years. I really wanted to pick Thurman Thomas here -- an MVP winner at running back whose number is retired in Buffalo. But Strahan's 22.5-sack season in 2001, his final-season performance in the Giants' magical Super Bowl XLII run ... it's just too tough to argue against.

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Strahan: 'Improbable Hall Of Famer'

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Tippett's total of 100 sacks is far and away the best in Patriots franchise history and will likely stand as such for a long time. He made four consecutive All-Pro teams in his heyday, helped power the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance in 1985 and is enshrined in the Hall. No-brainer.

Four Super Bowl rings. Four first-team All-Pro appearances. A uniquely dominant prime as a pass-catching tight end with elite blocking ability. Gronk's career was too short to measure as far as career statistics are concerned, but you can't tell me he wasn't one of the three or four best to ever play the position.

The only Hall of Famer selected at No. 43, Dierdorf spent all 13 seasons of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and grabbed six All-Pro acknowledgements. This draft slot is uniquely bad for current players -- recent 43rd overall picks include Joe Tippmann, Cole Kmet, Jahlani Tavai, Kerryon Johnson, Sidney Jones IV, Benardrick McKinney and Stephen Hill.

Much like Dierdorf, Dawson is the lone Hall of Famer taken at his pick, spent all 13 years of his career with one team (Steelers) and made six All-Pro teams (though all of Dawson's were first team). Long-tenured offensive linemen will appear more and more on this list as we go.

It takes a lot for me to select an active player over a Hall of Famer (Dave Casper, a tight end selected by the Raiders in 1974). But Henry is a truly unique player. He has an Offensive Player of the Year award, is one of nine backs to produce a 2,000-yard season and will likely break into the top 10 of career rushing yards this season. The top five is in reach if he stays healthy for another few years. And if he can get a ring in Baltimore ...

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Pat McAfee reacts to Derrick Henry's 2-year extension with Baltimore

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Jack Ham was our selection at No. 34, and his running mate Lambert gets the call at No. 46 for his four Super Bowl rings and double defensive hardware -- both Rookie of the Year (1974) and Player of the Year (1976). One of the best players to miss this list in any round is unfortunately Cowboys guard Larry Allen. Allen would have won easily in over half of the spots on this list -- just not this one.

Wagner made an All-Pro list in 2014 and hasn't stopped making them since, spanning 11 straight seasons. Preposterous consistency and longevity. Wagner should end up a Hall of Fame player for his career success, but don't sleep on the fact that he's only 221 tackles behind Ray Lewis for the most combined tackles in NFL history. If Wagner plays two more healthy, productive seasons ...

There were three Hall of Famers to choose from here, including Howie Long and Dwight Stephenson. However, neither Long nor Stephenson invented a touchdown celebration (the Lambeau Leap), and that sort of thing matters to me when I'm splitting hairs in the second round. A Super Bowl ring and four first-team All-Pro nods help, too.

Craig wins largely on the back of two seasons: his 1988 Offensive Player of the Year campaign, in which he totaled more than 2,000 scrimmage yards and powered the 49ers to a Super Bowl win; and his 1985 season, in which he exceeded 2,000 scrimmage yards by evenly splitting his production on the ground (1,050) and through the air (1,016). That's the first 1,000/1,000 season in NFL history. Pretty nifty!

A classic apples to oranges comparison here, picking between Lanier -- a '70s middle linebacker with eight All-Pros and a Super Bowl IV victory -- and Calais Campbell, who is playing his ball 40 years after Lanier. Campbell's argument is longevity, whereas Lanier was dominant in his time. The official Hall of Fame site tells me his nickname was literally "Contact." That's sick.

A similar debate here as the pick above, with Jackson -- one Super Bowl ring, five All-Pro teams -- facing off against A.J. Brown, who might become one of the great wide receivers of this era. Again, I lean to the established Hall of Famer, but five of Brown's six seasons have cleared 1,000 yards. If he keeps that up for another five seasons, his résumé will hold up.

Even without a QB bump, "The Snake" would be the best of this group. He delivered the first Super Bowl victory for a legendary Oakland Raiders franchise and won an MVP award. He also has an iconic play in his belt -- the Ghost to the Post -- which doesn't really matter here, but bears mentioning because it's such a great play name.

A weirdly stacked pick, with Blount -- a Hall of Famer, a four-time Super Bowl champion and the 1975 Defensive Player of the Year -- fending off active players Davante Adams and Jalen Hurts. Adams has the individual accolades (three-time first-team All-Pro) without the team success, and Hurts has the opposite. This pick is one to watch for the next couple of seasons.

Boldin is our first pick to never make an All-Pro team, and I debated handing this spot to Jessie Bates III instead. But Boldin is such a classic underappreciated guy: 14-year career, seven seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards, success with several different teams and a Super Bowl ring. He was tough, big, physical and talented. I loved him, so I picked him.

Whitworth played 239 games over 16 seasons (wow!), and he needed all 16 of those seasons to get his ring with the Rams. Whit worked his way into a dominant back half of his career, making his first Pro Bowl at 31 and first All-Pro team at 34. The Bengals, who drafted him, will appreciate him for his 11 seasons of quality play, and the Rams enjoyed his strong sunset.

Umenyiora wasn't consistently dominant, but his peaks made him the pick at No. 56. In the 2007 Super Bowl season, Umenyiora was quieter in the postseason but excellent in the regular season, with 13 sacks and a Pro Bowl. In the 2011 Super Bowl season, he was quieter in the regular season but dominant in the playoffs -- 3.5 sacks over four games. Key roles in big seasons can make the difference in this exercise.

I'll always be a Hester apologist. I love that he's in the Hall of Fame, and I impugn anybody who says they'd rather take Mark Stepnoski or Rob Havenstein with the 57th pick over Hester, owner of 20 total return touchdowns. His electric, field-flipping potential is more than just valuable -- it's super cool and super fun.

David probably won't be a Hall of Famer by virtue of average awards and accolades (three All-Pros, one Pro Bowl), but I will slot him firmly in my personal Hall of Very Good and sing his praises whenever given the chance. A Buccaneers lifer with high productivity on the ball (70 passes defensed since entering the league), David has been an era-defining player who led several different Tampa Bay defenses.

Williams' 55 career picks has him in the top 20 of all time, and he made eight Pro Bowls -- seven as a corner and one as a safety, speaking to his versatility. He's the lone Hall of Famer here without much competition, so an easy selection for me.

The 1991 Defensive Player of the Year and a five-time All-Pro, Swilling was a bit of a journeyman (played for the Saints, Lions and Raiders), but he was at his best for the team that drafted him. One wild note from a 2011 column by an up-and-coming writer named Adam Schefter: Swilling has the most playoff losses (six) with no wins of any player in NFL history.

Dawkins has all the pieces to be a selection in this exercise. He did most of his damage with the team that drafted him, was consistently dominant over a long stretch (he made his first Pro Bowl in 1999 and last one in 2011) and was an iconic player in Philadelphia. The gold jacket certainly helps, as well.

With respect to Hill, pick No. 62 is easily the worst pick we've run into so far. Hill is a three-time Pro Bowler with one ring; his best season had 1,113 yards. His strongest competition is Brian O'Neill, the current right tackle for the Vikings, and Jimmy Garoppolo. It's starting to get bleak!

A Hall of Fame lock, Kelce likely won't end his career with tight end production records. He's still four Pro Bowls, 300 catches, 3,000 yards and 34 touchdowns behind Tony Gonzalez, but he'll easily clear him in Super Bowl championships. Kelce also gets a bump for his defining role as Patrick Mahomes' primary target and for being one of the leading figures in the story of the 2020s in the NFL.

Fouts is the only 64th pick with a gold jacket, which gives him an easy inside track. How about four straight seasons leading the league in passing yardage and an entire career spent quarterbacking the San Diego Chargers? Pretty good player for our final second-round pick. (He was technically a third-round pick due to there being fewer teams in 1973, but whatever.)

Gore finished his career with an even 16,000 rushing yards, putting him third on the all-time list behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. I won't get into Hall of Fame debates here (I'd be fine if he made it, though I'm not stumping for it), but when it comes to pick No. 65, he's head and shoulders above the rest.

Feathers in Barber's cap: He's a Hall of Famer and Buccaneers Ring of Honor member, having played his entire career (16 seasons!) in Tampa Bay. He holds the record for most consecutive starts by any defensive back with 215. He's a Super Bowl champion and author of an iconic play -- the pick-six against Philadelphia in the 2002 NFC Championship Game. He's a five-time All-Pro with a ring. What a star.

A 16-year vet of the Bengals, Anderson's 1981 season won him an MVP and took Cincinnati to its first-ever Super Bowl. I strived to avoid overweighting quarterbacks in this exercise, but even without a positional value bump, Anderson still clears the value of Alvin Kamara, also taken at No. 67 overall and one of the best third-round picks ever.

Briggs spent all 12 seasons of his NFL career in Chicago, and 10 besides Hall of Famer (but not best-ever ninth overall pick) Brian Urlacher. He's probably not as elite as I remember (middle school Ben was obsessed with Briggs and Urlacher), but seven straight Pro Bowls with three All-Pro nods is nothing to sneeze at, either.

A weirdly tough group at pick No. 69, where Witten goes against Hall of Famer Russ Grimm and a few strong active players, including Cooper Kupp. Assuming Witten -- who becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in this upcoming cycle -- makes the Hall in one or two ballots, I think he has a better résumé than Grimm (though three Super Bowl championships and four first-team All-Pros is pretty good stuff). Witten just has a level of era-defining play with those 2000s Cowboys that puts him a hair above.

Easy pick here, as Warner will go down as the best linebacker of this decade and one of the best linebackers ever. Warner has been a first-team representative on four of the past five All-Pro teams and shows no signs of slowing down.

Pick No. 71 isn't a strong group, so I'll let Murray's legendary 2014 season carry him to the top: 392 carries, 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns, with another 57 catches for 416 yards to boot. The 449 touches remains the sixth highest-volume season in NFL history, and given the way backs are managed these days, it will likely stay that way for a while.

The Axe Man was a two-time All-Pro at his peak and an era-defining player for the early-2000s Eagles as they continually knocked on the door of a Super Bowl berth. As we get further down this list, guys with solid peaks start to overtake the rest of the field, even if a long, dominant career wasn't really there.

Another Hall of Famer was also selected at pick No. 73 in Bears DT Steve McMichael, but it's tough to hold a candle to Taylor. A winner of Defensive Player of the Year (2006) and Walter Payton Man of the Year (2007), Taylor had both a dominant prime and a long stretch of viable play. He even collected seven sacks in his final season at age 37, putting him at 139.5 for his career -- sixth most all-time.

Three Hall of Famers were selected with the 74th overall pick, including RB Curtis Martin and TE Charlie Sanders. But Shields, who never missed a game in 14 years for the Chiefs, cleared them both -- 224 games, 223 starts, never inactive. He made every Pro Bowl from 1995 to 2006. Bonkers stuff.

Tough break for OT Terron Armstead, who is one of the best third-round picks ever but isn't better than this Super Bowl-winning, Walter Payton Man of the Year-winning quarterback. Wilson never collected a ton of All-Pros, which isn't surprising given the era of quarterbacking in which he plays, but he has been a decade-long starter who won a ring, and that's just too valuable at pick No. 75.

Very, very tough hair to split here between Allen and RB Ahman Green. I gave Allen a little boost for doing most of his damage with the team that drafted him, whereas Green was a Seahawk for two seasons before landing with the Packers. Green is the leading rusher in Packers history, though, while Allen is just behind Antonio Gates in Chargers receiving (10,530 yards). Ugh. It's a tough one.

Pour one out for Demario Davis, now third in our list of "modern long-time Saints players and extremely good third-round picks who just happened to be beaten by a Hall of Famer" alongside Alvin Kamara and Terron Armstead. Bethea made the Hall for his 16-year career with the Houston Oilers and retired jersey with the Tennessee Titans, whereas Davis is a fringe Hall candidate.

Thuney has as many rings as All-Pro nods (four), which is impressive in both directions. At only 32 and coming off consecutive first-team All-Pro seasons, it's reasonable to expect him to pile onto his already impressive 146 games played and accumulate a truly towering NFL résumé by the time he chooses to hang 'em up.

Third all-time in rushing yards in Falcons history, Andrews played his entire eight-year career in Atlanta and made a couple of All-Pro teams before a devastating knee injury all but ended his NFL career. At pick No. 79, even his shortened career is more than enough to beat the field.

One of the true GOATs, Shell was a 15-year Raider, for whom he won three Super Bowls, made four All-Pro teams and was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Then he was the two-time head coach of the Raiders; he was first fired after going 10-6 and 9-7 in back-to-back seasons, which seems ridiculous! Anyway, he's the man.

Johnson won two Super Bowls with the Dolphins in the 1970s. There were no big accolades to note -- not even a Pro Bowl -- but he did have an interception in the Super Bowl VIII win over the Vikings. That works for me.

Put some respect on pick No. 82, which has produced Montana, John Lynch and John Stallworth -- three Hall of Fame standouts. Of course, Montana is going to get the win for the whole four-time Super Bowl champion, three-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time league MVP thing. If you're into that, I guess.

I gave Brown and his Pro Bowl appearances (four straight from 2019 to 2022) the lean over Ed McCaffrey and his Super Bowl wins (three rings but only one Pro Bowl). If we could graft full families into this debate, I think I'd lean back to the McCaffreys (Ed, Christian and Luke) over the Browns (Orlando Sr. and Jr.).

Mann played 11 of his 12 seasons with Washington and was an integral part of their Super Bowl runs in that era, as his two All-Pro nods and four Pro Bowl appearances show. Defensive line running mate Dexter Manley might have beaten him out for career sack production and overall name recognition, but Manley didn't win his pick slot (No. 119), so Mann can brag about that huge victory.

As we approach the 100s, we slowly enter the territory of happy memories of solid role players -- "That Guy!" ville, as I like to call it. Mebane was a reliable, space-gobbling defensive tackle for the Legion of Boom Seahawks (oh yeah, that guy!), and has a Super Bowl ring for his efforts. Good pick!

Another odd density of Hall of Famers, as pick No. 86 carries Reed, Rams OT Jackie Slater and Saints kicker Morten Andersen. Reed is an easy selection for his seven straight Pro Bowls and 16-year NFL career, 15 of which were in Buffalo. Don't worry -- my kicker picks come later.

Pick No. 87 is our slimmest crowd yet. My congratulations to Goad, who made the Patriots All-1990s team, vaulting him above journeyman WRs Jeff Graham and Eric Decker, along with Packers and Saints CB Mike McKenzie.

In the extremely imprecise science of picking the best player at a draft slot, measuring Foles' super weird career against Danielle Hunter's quiet, steady excellence was quite the challenge. Foles didn't just win a Super Bowl (and MVP) for the Eagles -- their first in franchise history. He also tied for the records for passing touchdowns in a game (seven) and consecutive completions (25). That feels good enough to me!

A five-time first-team All-Pro, Owens is only better known for his great touchdown celebrations than his production (153 touchdown receptions, No. 3 all-time). Owens only ever got to play in one Super Bowl, delivering one of the gutsiest performances of modern NFL history in the loss -- but the personal accolades are more than enough.

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T.O. emotional while thanking mom, grandmother

During his Hall of Fame acceptance speech at UT Chattanooga, Terrell Owens thanks his mom and his grandmother for their support.

The further we get down the list, the added weight quarterbacks get is even more inescapable -- we all know how remarkable it is to find a starting quarterback outside the first round. Schaub accordingly gets the edge over Antonio Freeman, if not just for that remarkable 2009 season: 4,770 yards with a 67.9% completion percentage. That'll play!

A tight race between three Hall of Very Good players here: Bowman, Brian Westbrook and Mike Vrabel. Bowman likely would have finished his résumé for the Hall if not for late-career injuries, but I weigh his four first-team All-Pros heavier than Vrabel's three Super Bowl championships. Couldn't have gone wrong either way.

A legendary receiver less for his production and more for his all-around toughness and intensity, Ward grabbed the Super Bowl XL MVP after snagging an Antwaan Randle-El trick-play touchdown pass to beat the Seahawks. An entire career spent in Pittsburgh -- even into the 2010s, when that became more and more rare -- is something worth highlighting as well.

An Oilers draft pick who found his home in San Diego with the Chargers, Joiner has his No. 18 jersey retired and a gold jacket on his shoulders for his longevity. He missed one game in his final 13 seasons. Joiner was dominant in the aggressive, pass-first offense captained by Dan Fouts in the late 1970s.

Another great "That Guy," Williams was a fierce nose tackle for some excellent Ravens defenses in the 2010s. He has a Super Bowl ring and a Pro Bowl, which is more than you can say for almost anyone else selected at pick No. 94.

Graham was exactly what a third-round pick should be: a big dart throw that paid dividends on the risk. His success in the end zone -- his 89 touchdowns rank fourth among all tight ends -- was his calling card. Well, either that or mentioning that he used to play basketball in college.

Only Tom Brady has more individual Super Bowl rings than Haley, who has five (a lot of players have four). Two came with the team that drafted him (49ers), and three came with the team he joined in free agency (Cowboys). For his efforts on multiple championship teams, Haley is enshrined in the Hall and enshrined here as the best-ever 96th overall pick.

Joseph is the most recently-drafted player on our list thus far, but what do you want from me -- the competition is not steep. Joseph just led the league in interceptions (nine) and got first-team All-Pro recognition. So long as he gets another All-Pro nod, he's almost certainly the best player taken with pick No. 97.

A bit of a tricky selection, as Branch had to go against Rich Gannon, an MVP-winning quarterback at the tail end of his career. Not an easy thing to do. But Branch made the Hall of Fame, had three first-team honors to go with three Super Bowl victories and, perhaps more importantly, is one of 13 players to catch a 99-yard touchdown pass.

Theismann doesn't have to fend off a Hall of Fame receiver like Gannon did and accordingly gets the win on the back of his late-career MVP award with Washington. Theismann did absolutely none of his damage with the team that drafted him, as he never signed with the Dolphins and elected to instead make the Grey Cup championship game with the Toronto Argonauts.

I really wanted to give this to Rocket Ismail just on the basis of how cool he was, but Griffen did make four Pro Bowls. You have to have journalistic standards in an exercise like this.

Evans gets the nod for his 169 starts with the Saints, which included four straight first-team All-Pros from 2009 to 2012. But a couple franchise cult heroes deserve mention below Evans -- Jaguars QB David Garrard (2002) and Jets WR Jerricho Cotchery (2004).

Mark No. 109 down as a legendary pick for offensive linemen, as Jon Runyan was taken by the Oilers with pick No. 109 in 1996 and T.J. Lang joined the Packers with this pick in 2009.

For the kids who don't know about Centers, he is second only to Marshall Faulk in career receiving yardage for a running back (6,797, less than 100 yards behind) and leads all backs in career receptions (827). He had 130 targets in 1996! Cool stuff.

A Bengals lifer and five-time All-Pro, Atkins was never going to lose this battle. But man, Asante Samuel Sr. (2003) makes a valiant effort. Two rings, two times leading the league in interceptions. He deserves his flowers.

A tricky debate here. Riley was selected in 1969, 47 years before the Cowboys took quarterback Dak Prescott with the very same pick. It took Riley 35 years to make the Hall of Fame, which he finally did posthumously in 2022. I don't think Prescott will make the Hall, but I'd argue his impact as a fourth-round quarterback in today's game is equivalent to Riley's impact on the Bengals of the 70s. Riley gets the edge as a Hall of Famer, but Prescott remains one of the best Day 3 picks in the history of the draft.

Not for nothing, but also at pick No. 135: Josh Sitton! Joe Horn! Rob Ninkovich! What a pick!

One of the most loaded picks outside of the top 50 is No. 146, which saw Vikings WR Stefon Diggs (2015), Ravens edge Matthew Judon (2016) and Kittle (2017) drafted in consecutive years. Throw in Eagles DE Trent Cole (2005) and Washington QB Mark Rypien (1986) and you have an unbelievable group of midround selections.

Kittle gets the nod for me. He has spent his entire career with the 49ers and has made the Pro Bowl in six of eight possible seasons and made an All-Pro team in five of the eight. The fact that Diggs and Judon both had their career-best seasons with teams other than the ones that drafted them makes a difference, too. Let's revisit in a few more years and debate it all again.

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Kittle tells McAfee what it's like playing for Shanahan

George Kittle joins "The Pat McAfee Show" and talks about head coach Kyle Shanahan's open-door policy with players.

Also selected at pick No. 154: Seahawks CB Richard Sherman (2011) and Eagles RB Wilbert Montgomery (1977). Thomas made the Hall of Fame in 2023 and represents all short kings, so I have to pick him here. But Sherman should make the Hall soon, and there's a legit debate between the two.

The further down this list we go, the more valuable special teams contributions become as an avenue for inclusion. Enter Parrish, who wasn't just a solid corner but also a lights-out returner. In eight seasons with Cincinnati, Parrish had 4 punt return touchdowns, 1 kick return touchdown, 4 pick-sixes and 3 scoop-and-scores. That's 12 touchdowns for someone who never played offense.

Or, as he is perhaps better known, "The Guy Who Recovered The Tuck Rule Fumble."

Jackson played only four seasons before his hip injury ended his career, but c'mon. What am I gonna do, not pick the Tecmo Bowl GOAT? Especially when you consider I get to steal Jackson at this pick, after the Buccaneers -- who drafted him first overall in the 1986 draft -- had to forfeit his rights.

No. 191 is a weirdly dominant pick, with Kelce just beating out Washington RB Larry Brown -- the 1972 league MVP! -- and Eagles DE Carl Hairston (1976). The long and the short of it is this: Kelce is going to be a Hall of Famer the moment he's eligible and was a franchise-defining player for a team that won its first ring with him in the middle of the O-line. Shoutout to Brown, though.

It was a close one between Brady and Ephraim Salaam, a 13-year journeyman at right tackle, but I decided to give it to the greatest football player of all time and his seven Super Bowl rings, five Super Bowl MVPs and litany of statistical records.

Here's a wild one: When Brown started in the playoffs for Washington on Jan. 14, 2006, he became the oldest player to start a playoff game since the 1970 merger (as far back as the data goes). He was 43 years old, and he kept that record for a long time ... until Tom Brady dethroned him in 2021.

Tough shakes for Antoine Bethea, the 207th overall pick for the Colts in 2006. He won a Super Bowl and made three Pro Bowls over his career, but Armstead had five Pro Bowls and a couple of All-Pro years. Bethea would have made this list were he picked at many other spots in the seventh round -- but not this one.

More than anyone else on this list, Tyree wins his spot on the back of one play. But what a play it was.

Extremely unlucky for safety Jordan Poyer, who was selected by the Eagles in 2013 at this slot and has had one of the best careers of any seventh rounder on this list. But Nalen started 188 games for the Broncos and turned in multiple All-Pro seasons.

I know times were different, but when Pridemore was playing in the 1980s for the Falcons, he was also a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Again, while playing in Atlanta, he was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Two fun facts here. In 1994, the Colts had Herrod down for 200 tackles in a single season. And also in 1994, tackles weren't an official stat yet, so there's a chance the Colts were lying.

Ask your pops why Clark is famous. He'll know.

Where else could our exercise end than with Purdy, who is the most famous seventh-round pick in modern history and perhaps ever? It could end on Jeff Van Note, technically -- an 18-year (wow!) Falcon who made two All-Pro lists at center. But Purdy gets a bump for being the last pick in his draft, whereas Van Note was the 262nd out of 442 selections. I don't know why that matters to me, but it does.

ESPN's T.J. Berka contributed to research for this ranking.