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USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Nebraska offensive lineman named best-ever No. 74 draft pick in NFL history
A former Nebraska offensive lineman has been named the greatest draft pick at his draft slot. ESPN's Ben Solak selected Will Shields as the greatest No. 74 draft pick in NFL history. Shields played for the Cornhuskers from 1989 to 1992. He was a two-time All-American and the 1992 Outland Trophy winner. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the No. 74 pick in the 1993 NFL draft. He would play for the Chiefs for his entire career. During that time, he was a seven-time All-Pro and a 12-time Pro Bowler. He was also the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2003. "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." Shields is one of three Hall of Famers drafted with the No. 74 pick. Running back Curtis Martin and tight end Charlie Sanders were also taken with the No. 74 pick. Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Nebraska running back named best-ever No. 49 draft pick in NFL history
A former Nebraska running back has been named the greatest draft pick at his draft slot. ESPN's Ben Solak selected Roger Craig as the greatest No. 49 draft pick in NFL history. Craig was the first player in NFL history to have 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season (1985). The Davenport, Iowa native played at Nebraska from 1979-1982 and was a second-round selection in the 1983 draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He was a three-time Super Bowl winner in San Fransico with four Pro Bowl selections and an All-Pro selection in 1988. The former Husker is also a member of the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team and the 49ers Hall of Fame. "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." In his four seasons at Nebraska, he ran for 2,446 yards and 26 touchdowns on 407 carries. Craig's professional career ended with the Minnesota Vikings in 1993. Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
49ers' Brock Purdy Is No-Brainer On All-Time NFL Draft Ranking
49ers' Brock Purdy Is No-Brainer On All-Time NFL Draft Ranking originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy was selected with the No. 262 and final pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Advertisement Like many players picked that late in Day 3 of the Draft, there weren't many high expectations for the rookie or the eventual career arc he would follow. But just three short years later, look at where we are. Purdy has become the ultimate underdog. A folk hero. A cult classic. The epitome of a feel-good story. And his career is still just getting started. ESPN ranked the best NFL players of all time drafted from each of the 262 spots. To no surprise, Purdy is the greatest "Mr. Irrelevant" of all time. "Where else could our exercise end than with Purdy, who is the most famous seventh-round pick in modern history and perhaps ever?," writer Ben Solak said. Advertisement "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." With all due respect to Mr. Van Note and his impressive tenure, Purdy's list of accomplishments just three years since his Draft selection - with limitless possibilities for more - adds to his lore. Purdy is 23-13 as a starter for the 49ers with 9,518 career passing yards and 64 passing touchdowns. He has earned one Pro Bowl nod and finished in the top 10 of numerous awards ballots after the 2023 season, notably a fourth-place finisher for MVP. Perhaps his most impressive feats are his playoff success. Purdy led the Niners to two NFC Championship Games in his first two years, the second of which ended with a Super Bowl appearance in his first year as the full-time starter. Advertisement It was a storybook start to his career, but things have come back down to reality since the Niners' Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs two seasons ago. Last year, Purdy's 49ers were mauled by injuries on their way to one of the most disappointing season in recent memory - and certainly of the Purdy Era. This rare punch of failure for Mr. 262 should spark some serious motivation to succeed, a sense that might only be comparable to the feeling of 261 players getting chosen ahead of him in the 2022 Draft. Purdy enters this season having just signed a shiny new contract worth $265 million with $182 total in guarantees, $100 mil of which was guaranteed at signing. The deal is the richest contract in 49ers franchise history. Advertisement Regardless of how the 2025 season plays out, Brock Purdy has already done plenty to prove his relevancy. Related: 49ers' George Kittle Named Top 3 Tight End Draft Pick of Millennium Related: Insider Shares Brutally Honest Review Of Niners QB This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ravens icons of the past and present join elite draft company
One of the more unique lists of all-time draft greats is a celebration of Ravens excellence. There's nothing like the NFL Draft now. We've all seen MLB's version. We've seen the show the NBA put on at the end of June. The latter two selection meetings feel like cocktail parties, while pro football's feels like Mardi Gras without all of the... Well, you know... The draft is enormous now, so much so that we talk about what the Baltimore Ravens might be thinking all year. This isn't just April's event anymore. We've seen discussions about Baltimore's potential needs as recently as a month ago. We've read about potential steals in the most recent Ravens class. We have read early 2026 mock drafts, but we may have never seen a take resembling the one that was offered recently by ESPN. Ravens greats of the past and present land on one of the more unique lists of NFL draftees If there has ever been a list crafted like the following, it's hard to remember if we've read it. That being said, here's an apology if the idea was borrowed from another platform. ESPN's Ben Solak recently cooked up "The best NFL draft pick ever at every slot from No. 1 to 262". Five drafted Ravens of the past were named. Fans will be happy to know Ed Reed (24), Ray Lewis (26), Orlando Brown (83), Brandon Williams (94), and Tyrod Taylor (180) were included. If you noticed, Reed was selected over fellow 24th-overall draftee Aaron Rodgers. Lewis is an obvious addition to the list at 26. It's still hard to believe that Baltimore struck gold with both him and Jonathan Ogden in the same class (1996), but the fourth slot, Ogden's draft position, was won by Walter Payton. It's hard to argue with that, if we're being honest. Another former member of the Ravens mentioned is Anquan Boldin. The organization didn't draft him, but he eventually landed in Baltimore after being part of a trade that shipped the Ravens' third- and fourth-round picks to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for him and a fifth-round selection. He's the man named in the 54th slot. One current member of the franchise is also on the list, Derrick Henry (45). Congratulations to everyone who gets a mention.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Did Deion Sanders Make ESPN's List of Best NFL Draft Picks?
Did Deion Sanders Make ESPN's List of Best NFL Draft Picks? originally appeared on Athlon Sports. ESPN recently released a list of 'The best NFL draft pick ever at every slot from No. 1 to 262.' As expected, the best of the best were featured with a few surprises. Advertisement However, one name expected to be part of the greatest was on the list. Deion Sanders was given the title of best No. 5 pick in NFL history. The Colorado Buffaloes coach beat out a few all-time talent to be considered as the GOAT pick for the Atlanta Falcons. While there are a few inaccuracies with the list, ESPN's Ben Solak did an outstanding job putting it all together. Here was the reasoning behind his analysis. 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 Related: Nike Pays Homage to Deion Sanders' Untouchable 'Double Play' Feat Sanders went fifth overall in 1989 NFL Draft. He was 'Prime Time' for a reason and lived up to that nickname during his illustrious career Advertisement '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),' Solak writes. 'Does he also get a bump for providing excellent return on a sixth-round draft pick in the MLB draft? Who's to say?' Related: Lil Wayne Sees Deion Sanders During Trip to Texas Amid Growing Health Concerns Nobody can argue about Sanders' place on this list. He's one of the greatest athletes on the face of the planet with a mark in not only the NFL, but MLB as well. During his Prime (no pun intended), Sanders could've played in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks and was giving an opportunity to try out in the early 90s. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
