NFL Draft: Hall of Famers and the Draft Since 1967

Around draft time you hear a lot of the draft pundits bring up the fact that talented players can be found in the later rounds.  They bring up the fact that Tom Brady was a sixth round selection, and Joe Montana was a third round selection.  However finding great talent in the later rounds of the draft is certainly the exception, not the rule.

Since the 1967 draft, when the AFL and NFL first hosted the draft together, 52 future Hall of Fame players were selected in the first round (59%), while 36 such players were selected in the later rounds/undrafted (41%).

If a team is interested in finding a Hall of Fame RB they should probably select one in the first round.  Since the 1967 draft, 13 out of the 14 drafted RB’s to make it to the Hall of Fame were selected in the first round.  The exception was Thurman Thomas in 1988 (2^nd Round, 40^th pick).  In general Hall of Fame talent at the skilled positions is found in the first round.  Seven out of the ten Hall of Fame QB’s, and five out of eight Hall of Fame WR’s have been selected in the first round since 1967.  If a team is looking for a Hall of Fame LB, the second round or later is the place to look; eight out of ten Hall of Fame LB’s have been selected in the second round or later since 1967.

Most teams know when they have a good thing.  Out of then 83 Hall of Fame players selected in the draft/USFL supplemental draft, 73 of them spent the majority of their careers with the team that selected them.

Nine players selected with the #1 overall pick in the draft (since 1967) have made it to the Hall of Fame;  QB Troy Aikman, QB Terry Bradshaw, RB Earl Campbell, QB John Elway, DE Lee Roy Selmon, RB O.J. Simpson, DE Bruce Smith, T Ron Yary, and QB Steve Young (selected 1^st in the NFL’s 1984 USFL supplemental draft).

The 1967 NFL-AFL draft produced eight Hall of Fame players, and the 1983 NFL draft produced seven Hall of Fame players.  In 1974 draft the Pittsburgh Steelers selected four Hall of Fame players.

Legend: Pos (Position), Career Team (The team the player had the most games with), Rnd (Round)

1984 U: In 1984 the NFL held a draft distributing the rights of current USFL players not already claimed by NFL teams.

Pos	Player	Career Team	Drafted	Drafted By	Rnd	Pick
RB	Marshall Faulk	Rams	1994	Colts	1	2
RB	Emmitt Smith	Cowboys	1990	Cowboys	1	17
TE	Shannon Sharpe	Broncos	1990	Broncos	7	192
QB	Troy Aikman	Cowboys	1989	Cowboys	1	1
RB	Barry Sanders	Lions	1989	Lions	1	3
LB	Derrick Thomas	Chiefs	1989	Chiefs	1	4
CB	Deion Sanders	Falcons	1989	Falcons	1	5
WR	Michael Irvin	Cowboys	1988	Cowboys	1	11
G	Randall McDaniel	Vikings	1988	Vikings	1	19
RB	Thurman Thomas	Bills	1988	Bills	2	40
CB	Rod Woodson	Steelers	1987	Steelers	1	10
DE	Bruce Smith	Bills	1985	Bills	1	1
WR	Jerry Rice	49ers	1985	49ers	1	16
QB	Steve Young	49ers	1984 U	Buccaneers	1	1
T	Gary Zimmerman	Vikings	1984 U	Giants	1	3
DE	Reggie White	Eagles	1984 U	Eagles	1	4
QB	John Elway	Broncos	1983	Colts	1	1
RB	Eric Dickerson	Rams	1983	Rams	1	2
G	Bruce Matthews	Oilers	1983	Oilers	1	9
QB	Jim Kelly	Bills	1983	Bills	1	14
QB	Dan Marino	Dolphins	1983	Dolphins	1	27
DB	Darrell Green	Redskins	1983	Redskins	1	28
DE	Richard Dent	Bears	1983	Bears	8	203
G	Mike Munchak	Oilers	1982	Oilers	1	8
RB	Marcus Allen	Raiders	1982	Raiders	1	10
LB	Andre Tippett	Patriots	1982	Patriots	2	41
LB	Lawrence Taylor	Giants	1981	Giants	1	2
S	Ronnie Lott	49ers	1981	49ers	1	8
LB	Mike Singletary	Bears	1981	Bears	2	38
DE	Howie Long	Raiders	1981	Raiders	2	48
LB	Rickey Jackson	Saints	1981	Saints	2	51
G	Russ Grimm	Redskins	1981	Redskins	3	69
T	Anthony Munoz	Bengals	1980	Bengals	1	3
WR	Art Monk	Redskins	1980	Redskins	1	18
C	Dwight Stephenson	Dolphins	1980	Dolphins	2	48
DE	Dan Hampton	Bears	1979	Bears	1	4
TE	Kellen Winslow	Chargers	1979	Chargers	1	13
QB	Joe Montana	49ers	1979	49ers	3	82
RB	Earl Campbell	Oilers	1978	Oilers	1	1
WR	James Lofton	Packers	1978	Packers	1	6
TE	Ozzie Newsome	Browns	1978	Broncos	1	23
RB	Tony Dorsett	Cowboys	1977	Cowboys	1	2
DE	Lee Roy Selmon	Buccaneers	1976	Buccaneers	1	1
CB	Mike Haynes	Patriots	1976	Patriots	1	5
T	Jackie Slater	Rams	1976	Rams	3	86
LB	Harry Carson	Giants	1976	Giants	4	105
WR	Steve Largent	Seahawks	1976	Oilers	4	117
DT	Randy White	Cowboys	1975	Cowboys	1	2
RB	Walter Payton	Bears	1975	Bears	1	4
DE	Fred Dean	Chargers	1975	Chargers	2	33
WR	Lynn Swann	Steelers	1974	Steelers	1	21
TE	Dave Casper	Raiders	1974	Raiders	2	45
LB	Jack Lambert	Steelers	1974	Steelers	2	46
WR	John Stallworth	Steelers	1974	Steelers	4	82
C	Mike Webster	Steelers	1974	Steelers	5	125
G	John Hannah	Patriots	1973	Patriots	1	4
G	Joe DeLamielleure	Bills	1973	Bills	1	26
QB	Dan Fouts	Chargers	1973	Chargers	3	64
RB	Franco Harris	Steelers	1972	Steelers	1	13
RB	John Riggins	Redskins	1971	Jets	1	6
DE	Jack Youngblood	Rams	1971	Rams	1	20
LB	Jack Ham	Steelers	1971	Steelers	2	34
T	Dan Dierdorf	Cardinals	1971	Cardinals	2	43
QB	Terry Bradshaw	Steelers	1970	Steelers	1	1
CB	Mel Blount	Steelers	1970	Steelers	3	53
RB	O.J. Simpson	Bills	1969	Bills	1	1
DT	Joe Greene	Steelers	1969	Steelers	1	4
CB	Roger Wehrli	Cardinals	1969	Cardinals	1	19
LB	Ted Hendricks	Raiders	1969	Colts	2	33
WR	Charlie Joiner	Chargers	1969	Oilers	4	93
T	Ron Yary	Vikings	1968	Vikings	1	1
RB	Larry Csonka	Dolphins	1968	Dolphins	1	8
TE	Charlie Sanders	Lions	1968	Lions	3	74
DE	Elvin Bethea	Oilers	1968	Oilers	3	77
T	Art Shell	Raiders	1968	Raiders	3	80
QB	Bob Griese	Dolphins	1967	Dolphins	1	4
RB	Floyd Little	Broncos	1967	Broncos	1	6
DT	Alan Page	Vikings	1967	Vikings	1	15
G	Gene Upshaw	Raiders	1967	Raiders	1	17
CB	Lem Barney	Lions	1967	Lions	2	34
LB	Willie Lanier	Chiefs	1967	Chiefs	2	50
T	Rayfield Wright	Cowboys	1967	Cowboys	7	182
S	Ken Houston	Redskins	1967	Oilers	9	214
C	Jim Langer	Dolphins	Undrafted	-	-	-
DT	John Randle	Vikings	Undrafted	-	-	-
G	Larry Little	Dolphins	Undrafted	-	-	-
K	Jan Stenerud	Chiefs	Undrafted	-	-	-
QB	Warren Moon	Oilers	Undrafted	-	-	-

Reference: Pro-Football-Reference Draft Finder

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