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With NFL draft day 2009 rapidly approaching, I always find it fun to look back at past drafts and see how teams really did. The day after any draft there will be grades for every team, everywhere you look. However, I'm a firm believer that you really can't judge a draft for at least five seasons.
Keeping that in mind, every day from now until the day before the draft we'll take a look at a past NFL draft & see how teams really did. We'll start with the 1993 NFL Draft (click here).
The recently retired Drew Bledsoe was the #1 overall pick, selected by the New England Patriots. Though I don't think he's a HOF caliber QB, he had a very nice career. He even led the Pats to a SB appearance & had a hand in getting them to another. You could do a lot worse with the first pick.
Pretty solid 1st round that included Garrison Hearst, Curtis Conway, Willie Roaf, Lincoln Kennedy, Jerome Bettis, Dana Stubblefield & a number of others who made a mark on the league.
As usual the QB position provided the biggest bust as #2 overall pick Rick Mirer never panned out. On the other hand, one of the better QB's in this draft, Mark Brunell went in the 5th rd to Green Bay. He was selected 2 full rounds after "star" QB Billy Joe Hobert. More on this position, later.
Michael Strahan went in the 2nd round to the NY Giants & was the 5th DE taken overall.
Tampa Bay nabbed John Lynch at the end of the 3rd rd. A little earlier in that round, the Broncos got K Jason Elam who developed kicking in Mile High Stadium to an artform.
New England drafted one of the best receivers in team history, Troy Brown in the 8th rd.
That 8th round was pretty strong (yes, there were 8 rounds back then) as it also included Jessie Armstead, Blaine Bishop, Elvis Grbac & Trent Green who was taken by San Diego 3rd pick from the bottom. That's more significant this season because the 8th was now the final round.
I love quarterbacks. With so many intangibles that go into making a successful one, It's also the hardest position to draft. So I really like to see how that position fared in the draft more than any other.
Ranking the QBs in the 1993 draft:
1. Drew Bledsoe (Rd 1, 1st overall to New England Patriots)
2. Mark Brunell (Rd 5, 118th overall to Green Bay Packers)
3. Trent Green (Rd 8, 222nd overall to San Diego Chargers)
4. Elvis Grbac (Rd 8, 219th overall to San Francisco 49ers)
5. Rick Mirer (Rd 1, 2nd overall to Seattle Seahawks)
6. Billy Joe Hobert (Rd 3, 58th overall to Los Angeles Raiders)
7. Alex Van Pelt (Rd 8, 216th overall to Pittsburgh Steelers)
8. Gino Toretta (Rd 7, 192nd overall to Minnesota Vikings)
With Green & Grbac both being drafted in the 8th round but both having decent careers (plus Brunell in the 5th) it was a better draft for QBs than people thought it would be. Still, half the class of '93 was dead weight.
Keeping that in mind, every day from now until the day before the draft we'll take a look at a past NFL draft & see how teams really did. We'll start with the 1993 NFL Draft (click here).
The recently retired Drew Bledsoe was the #1 overall pick, selected by the New England Patriots. Though I don't think he's a HOF caliber QB, he had a very nice career. He even led the Pats to a SB appearance & had a hand in getting them to another. You could do a lot worse with the first pick.
Pretty solid 1st round that included Garrison Hearst, Curtis Conway, Willie Roaf, Lincoln Kennedy, Jerome Bettis, Dana Stubblefield & a number of others who made a mark on the league.
As usual the QB position provided the biggest bust as #2 overall pick Rick Mirer never panned out. On the other hand, one of the better QB's in this draft, Mark Brunell went in the 5th rd to Green Bay. He was selected 2 full rounds after "star" QB Billy Joe Hobert. More on this position, later.
Michael Strahan went in the 2nd round to the NY Giants & was the 5th DE taken overall.
Tampa Bay nabbed John Lynch at the end of the 3rd rd. A little earlier in that round, the Broncos got K Jason Elam who developed kicking in Mile High Stadium to an artform.
New England drafted one of the best receivers in team history, Troy Brown in the 8th rd.
That 8th round was pretty strong (yes, there were 8 rounds back then) as it also included Jessie Armstead, Blaine Bishop, Elvis Grbac & Trent Green who was taken by San Diego 3rd pick from the bottom. That's more significant this season because the 8th was now the final round.
I love quarterbacks. With so many intangibles that go into making a successful one, It's also the hardest position to draft. So I really like to see how that position fared in the draft more than any other.
Ranking the QBs in the 1993 draft:
1. Drew Bledsoe (Rd 1, 1st overall to New England Patriots)
2. Mark Brunell (Rd 5, 118th overall to Green Bay Packers)
3. Trent Green (Rd 8, 222nd overall to San Diego Chargers)
4. Elvis Grbac (Rd 8, 219th overall to San Francisco 49ers)
5. Rick Mirer (Rd 1, 2nd overall to Seattle Seahawks)
6. Billy Joe Hobert (Rd 3, 58th overall to Los Angeles Raiders)
7. Alex Van Pelt (Rd 8, 216th overall to Pittsburgh Steelers)
8. Gino Toretta (Rd 7, 192nd overall to Minnesota Vikings)
With Green & Grbac both being drafted in the 8th round but both having decent careers (plus Brunell in the 5th) it was a better draft for QBs than people thought it would be. Still, half the class of '93 was dead weight.
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