Draft Revisited 2007

You go far enough back on these and you find a draft class with a ton of talent and future Hall of Fame players. The 2007 class is one of those, this thing is loaded. With just a quick glance I got 6 Hall of Famers minimum in this group. This might be my favorite of the newer classes I've done, if you search the archives I got 2004-06 done as well, and I think '06 and '04 compare with this class, and 2010 belongs in the conversation as well. It doesn't start great but things get better pretty rapidly.

Pick #1 Oakland Raiders: JaMarcus Russell QB, LSU. Oh boy, all that celebration about the greatness of this draft and we start with probably the biggest bust of the 2000s. Russell rose to the top with a stellar Junior year and outplayed presumptive #1 QB Brady Quinn (who didn't turn out much better) in the Sugar Bowl. A QB from LSU having 1 great year and going #1, never heard of that happening before.

Pick #2 Detroit Lions: Calvin Johnson WR, Georgia Tech. Detroit had such a terrible record of drafting WRs in the top 10 in the 3 drafts from 2005-2007 (Charles Rodgers, Roy Williams, and Mike Williams) that when they took Megatron they were universally panned. How could Detroit go the that well again? Well it worked out this time, Tron is the conversation of best WR of the decade, and was on his way to Canton before he hung em up prematurely. He is probably my favorite player in this draft, he was my guy in fantasy football, I didn't have many teams he wasn't on. Still think he gets to Canton but it isn't a slam dunk like a couple more years would've made him.

Pick #3 Cleveland Browns: Joe Thomas OT, Wisconsin. They are already making his bust in Canton and putting it in a storage room till he's eligible. Joe Thomas was the best Left Tackle in the NFL for a very long time. This was one of the few great picks Cleveland ever made, and honestly Thomas was made for Cleveland, he went to work, did his job and went home. Didn't need the spotlight, even on draft day he went fishing instead of going to the draft, do you remember that, of course you do, it's all anyone talked about. He's the best player in this draft and probably should've gone first.

Pick #4 Tampa Bay Buccanneers: Gaines Adams DE, Clemson. Gaines Adams was pretty good his first couple years in the league, had 6+ sacks each of his first 2 seasons. In 2009 Adams was traded from Tampa to Chicago after a few games. He finished the season with the Bears and tragically died from an enlarged heart that January. Adams could've been a beast with the Bears and that defense, instead he's was lost to soon.

Pick #5 Arizona Cardinals: Levi Brown OT, Penn State. This draft has probably 4 Hall of Fame offensive lineman, and Brown isn't one of them. Oh what could have been had Arizona just taken Adrian Peterson, instead they took Brown. He made it 6+ years with the Cardinals and half a season in Pittsburgh before being released. In a draft this loaded, any miss is a big deal.

Pick #6 Washington Redskins: LaRon Landry S, LSU. I LOVED this pick at the time. The Redskins getting Landry to pair with Sean Taylor and give them a couple of guys you feared if you came across the middle. I thought hell yeah, we got the secondary covered, next we can help the rest of the team. Little did I know Sean Taylor only had a few games left, and well Landry was alright. He did well in Washington aside from a couple injury problems. He left after his first contract and made a Pro Bowl with the Jets. Then went to the Colts for a couple years before being kicked out of the league for PEDs which was no shock to anyone, the dude was jacked. I still wonder what if with Taylor and Landry.

Pick #7 Minnesota Vikings: Adrian Peterson RB, Oklahoma. I said Joe Thomas was the best player in this draft, well the competition is stiff. All Day was an absolute force at Oklahoma, he broke his collar bone his Junior year, but still almost broke the all time rushing record for the school. Peterson didn't let up in Minnesota, he had 1,000 yards rushing in all but 1 of his 8 full seasons for the Vikings (he did miss 1 year to injury and was traded after 3 games his final year). In 2012 he ran for 2,000 yards and was named MVP of the league which is monumental that a QB didn't win it. Peterson had some off field issues, but all in all Minnesota made the most of this pick. It's 13 years later and Peterson is still doing it, which for a RB is down right amazing.

Pick #8 Atlanta Falcons: Jamaal Anderson DE, Arkansas. Atlanta tried to get the monopoly on Jama(a)l Andersons in NFL history, sadly this one didn't work out like the RB. Double A racked up 4.5 sacks in 4 seasons for the Falcons and was out of the league by 2012. Very hard to miss in this draft and Atlanta missed terribly.

Pick #9 Miami Dolphins: Ted Ginn Jr. WR, Ohio State. On first thought he's one of the better return specialists in the NFL of the last decade, on the other hand you don't use a top 10 pick on a kick return guy. Ginn has been consistent, but that's about it, never had a 1,000 yard receiving season. He's done most of his damage outside of Miami, and is still doing it.

Pick #10 Houston Texans: Amobi Okoye DT, Louiseville. When Okoye was drafted I remember him being a great workout guy, well winning the underwear olympics doesn't make you a good defensive tackle. Okoye never really panned out. He had decent rookie year but nothing more after that. He was out of the league by 2012, and again with this great of a draft it's hard to miss.

So the top 10 was a mixed bag, some Hall of Famers and some flat out busts. The rest of the top 20 had some firepower. Patrick Willis went 11th to the 49ers and Marshawn Lynch went 12th to Buffalo. Both turned out to be studs. Darrelle Revis went 14th to the Jets, he'll be in the Hall of Fame. Lawrence Timmons 15th to Pittsburgh, he made the Pro Bowl once. One of my favorites in this draft Michael Griffin went to the Titans at 19, I really thought he was going to be awesome. Couple of decent corners in Leon Hall (Bengals) and Aaron Ross (Giants) went 18 and 20.

In the last part of the 1st round the talent doesn't end. Reggie Nelson went 21 to Jacksonville. Brady Quinn went 22nd, he sucked. 23 to 29 in order Dwayne Bowe (Chiefs), Brandon Meriweather (Patriots), Jon Beason (Panthers), Anthony Spencer (Cowboys), Robert Meachem (Saints), Joe Staley (49ers), and Ben Grubbs (Ravens). That's 6 Pro Bowl players, and I think Staley has a Hall of Fame shot. That's just an awesome group of talent. The Bears took Greg Olsen at 31, he was a force for a while, mostly in Carolina.

2nd round featured Eric Weddle at 37 and Zach Miller at 38. Vikings hit another good pick with Sidney Rice at 44 and Pittsburgh got another LB in LaMarr Woodley at 46. Non face puncher Steve Smith, (the USC one) was picked by the Giants at 51. Ryan Kalil went to Carolina at 59.

Future Super Bowl hero Jacoby Jones went in the 3rd round to Houston, sadly for them his Super Bowl moment came with Baltimore.

The Ravens landed Marshall Yanda in the 3rd round, all he did was become the best Guard of the 2010s and will likely be in Canton. Starting to see where Baltimore could win a Super Bowl in the near future.

4th round Jermon Bushrod and Dashon Goldson went back to back, this is a great secondary class, I'm starting to think I should've been mad the Redskins went with Landry.

Le'Ron McClain probably the last good Fullback went to the Ravens with the last pick of the 4th round.

If you're a college football nerd like me, you recognize the name Josh Gattis, who was taken as a Safety by the Jags in the 5th round. He's currently the OC at Michigan and was previously at Alabama.

Bears got Corey Graham in the 5th, man they made some nice moves.

Mason Crosby was drafted by the Packers in the 6th, he did alright.

That's a hell of a class, those first 3 rounds are loaded with talent. Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Megatron, Joe Staley, Marshall Yanda, Darrelle Revis, and Patrick Willis were all considered the best at their position for a time in the league, and all could end up in Canton.

JaMarcus Russell is the obvious bust of the draft.

Joe Thomas and Adrian Peterson can argue over who was better.

The Ravens had a great draft as did Pittsburgh.

That was a fun one, I'll be doing 2011 next so come back for that one, and if you want go back in the archives to 2014 and read my first 3 of these.