The NFL's Top 50 Draft Clases of the Decade (1 Viewer)

[souza]

For the past month or two I have published the decade's top 50 NFL draft classes. The list is complete and based solely on the players' value to the franchise that drafted them (regular season, postseason, draft position, draft scarcity, trades, draft value amongst other factors also taken into consideration). Past performance trumps future projections because anything can happen and I will ultimately change the rankings down the road... Upon finishing the list, there are certainly some changes I would make in retrospect, so no need to nitpick every little problem you have the list... Its merely one man's rankings and yours could be entirely different depending on your criterion for success. Each link includes the team's draft picks, team statistics, player statistics and accolades, overall draft analysis, and the teams perfect draft in retrospect.

50. Green Bay Packers, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

49. San Francisco 49ers, 2007

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

48. Miami Dolphins, 2008

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

47. Atlanta Falcons, 2008

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

46. Tennessee Titans, 2006

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

45. Atlanta Falcons, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

44. Cincinnati Bengals, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

43. Arizona Cardinals, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

42. New York Jets, 2007

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

41. Buffalo Bills, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

40. Baltimore Ravens, 2008

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 39 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2006

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 38 Dallas Cowboys, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 37 New York Jets, 2006

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 36 Chicago Bears, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 35 Washington Redskins, 2000

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 34 Carolina Panthers, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 33 Indianapolis Colts, 2004

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 32 Seattle Seahawks, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 31 Tennessee Titans, 2008

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 30 Indianapolis Colts, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 29 Dallas Cowboys, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

No. 28 Indianapolis Colts, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

27. Houston Texans, 2006

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

26. Pittsburgh Steelers, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

25. Minnesota Vikings, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

24. Baltimore Ravens, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

23. New York Giants, 2004

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

22. Pittsburgh Steelers, 2004

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

21. Arizona Cardinals, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

20. New England Patriots, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

19. Denver Broncos, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

18. Baltimore Ravens, 2000

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

17. Chicago Bears, 2000

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

16. New England Patriots, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

15. Denver Broncos, 2006

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

14. Seattle Seahawks, 2000

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

13. Green Bay Packers, 2005

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

12. Carolina Panthers, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

11. Indianapolis Colts, 2003

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

10. New Orleans Saints, 2006

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

9. Green Bay Packers, 2000

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

8. Minnesota Vikings, 2007

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

7. Arizona Cardinals, 2004

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

6. Dallas Cowboys, 2005

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

5. Philadelphia Eagles, 2002

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

4. San Diego Chargers, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

3. San Diego Chargers, 2004

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

2. Cincinnati Bengals, 2001

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

1. New England Patriots, 2000

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2...the.html?cat=14

 

[Ridgelake]

Huh? Curious what criteria they use to select these. NE 2000 the best? Yes, they got Brady. But hardly anyone else did jack.

The Cowboys 2005 #6? Ware and Ratliff are All Pro players. Barber a pro bowler. Spears and Canty long time starters. Burnett now a starter after being a regular. Even Petitti started a year or so.

 

[awesomeness]

Outside of Tom Brady, the 2000 Patriots draft class was terrible. Granted they didn't have many high selections, but just by getting one diamond in the rough (granted it is one of the most beautiful diamonds of all time) isn't enough to make it the #1 draft class of the decade imo.

 

[SSOG]

Outside of Tom Brady, the 2000 Patriots draft class was terrible. Granted they didn't have many high selections, but just by getting one diamond in the rough (granted it is one of the most beautiful diamonds of all time) isn't enough to make it the #1 draft class of the decade imo.

If you think of Bill Belichick as the Patriots first round draft pick that season, the class looks a whole lot better. Any draft that nets you a 1st ballot HoF coach and a 1st ballot HoF QB goes down as a phenomenal draft, no matter what else you get.The '02 Denver Broncos, on the other hand... they got Portis and nothing else, yet it ranks just 4 slots behind the draft that produced Cutler, Scheffler, Marshall, Dumervil, and Kuper. I just don't see it.

 

[Adebisi]

Huh? Curious what criteria they use to select these. NE 2000 the best? Yes, they got Brady. But hardly anyone else did jack.The Cowboys 2005 #6? Ware and Ratliff are All Pro players. Barber a pro bowler. Spears and Canty long time starters. Burnett now a starter after being a regular. Even Petitti started a year or so.

Pretty sure Brady alone is worth more than all of those Cowboys combined.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

I'm not going to argue about any of it...damn good job on this!

 

[SSOG]

Huh? Curious what criteria they use to select these. NE 2000 the best? Yes, they got Brady. But hardly anyone else did jack.The Cowboys 2005 #6? Ware and Ratliff are All Pro players. Barber a pro bowler. Spears and Canty long time starters. Burnett now a starter after being a regular. Even Petitti started a year or so.

Pretty sure Brady alone is worth more than all of those Cowboys combined.

Pretty sure you're incredibly wrong. Ware's the best defensive player in the league today and has had a better first 5 years of his career than any LB this side of Lawrence Taylor. Jay Ratliff has as many career 1st team AP All Pros as Tom Brady does. Canty, Barber, Spears, and Burnett are hardly throwaways, either. The best defensive player in the league, an All Pro at a key position, and four quality starters are worth more than the 5th best QB in the league.Besides, when evaluating draft classes, the fact that 7 out of Dallas's 8 picks wound up outperforming their draft position compared to 2 out of 10 for New England is incredibly relevant.

 

[Chase Stuart]

The list is complete and based solely on the players' value to the franchise that drafted them (regular season, postseason, draft position, draft scarcity, trades, draft value amongst other factors also taken into consideration).

Well, then the 2004 Giants shouldn't get any credit for Eli Manning.

 

[SSOG]

The list is complete and based solely on the players' value to the franchise that drafted them (regular season, postseason, draft position, draft scarcity, trades, draft value amongst other factors also taken into consideration).

Well, then the 2004 Giants shouldn't get any credit for Eli Manning.

He was including the value of players who came to the team through trades of players or picks in that draft class, too. For instance, he counted Champ Bailey and Tatum Bell as part of the 2002 Broncos draft class because the Broncos traded Portis (their 2002 2nd rounder) for Bailey and Bell.Of course, maybe you knew this and were just saying that the 2004 Giants should only count half of Eli Manning and the 2005 Giants should count the other half, since the picks used to acquire Eli came from both drafts.