Top Players In The NFL At Each Position Under The Age Of 27, ctd

When examining which teams have done the best job preparing for the future a little while ago, I started to believe that the Chiefs may have had the best work in the NFL Draft in the last four years.

Is this true?  Let’s do a quick recap over the past four years with some of the best drafting teams in the NFL, starting with our Kansas City Chiefs.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

2008
1. DT Glenn Dorsey
1. OT Branden Albert
2. CB Brandon Flowers
3. RB Jamaal Charles
3. TE Brad Cottam
3. S DuJuan Morgan
4. WR Will Franklin
5. CB Brandon Carr
6. OT Barry Richardson
6. WR Kevin Robinson
7. DE Brian Johnston
7. TE Mike Merritt

2009
1. DE Tyson Jackson
3. DE Alex Magee
4. CB Donald Washington
5. OT Colin Brown
6. WR Quentin Lawrence
7. RB Jamarris Williams
7. TE Jake O’Connell
7. K Ryan Succop

2010
1. S Eric Berry
2. RB Dexter McCluster
2. CB Javier Arenas
3. OG Jon Asamoah
3. TE Tony Moeaki
5. S Kendrick Lewis
5. OLB Cameron Sheffield

2011
1. WR Jonathan Baldwin
2. C Rodney Hudson
3. OLB Justin Houston
3. DE Allen Bailey
4. CB Jalil Brown
5. QB Ricky Stanzi
5. OLB Gabe Miller
6. NT Jerrell Powe
7. FB Shane Bannon

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

2008
1. ILB Jarod Mayo
2. CB Terrance Wheatley
3. OLB Shawn Crable
3. QB Kevin O’Connell
4. CB Johnathan Wilhite
5. WR Matthew Slater
6. ILB Bo Ruud, Nebraska

2009
2. S Patrick Chung
2. NT Ron Brace
2. CB Darius Butler
2. OT Sebastian Vollmer
3. WR Brandon Tate
3. OLB Tyrone McKenzie
4. OG Rich Ohrnberger
5. OG George Bussey
6. LS Jake Ingram
6. DT Myron Pryor
7. WR Julian Edelman

2010
1. CB Devin McCourty
2. TE Rob Gronkowski
2. OLB Jermaine Cunningham
2. ILB Brandon Spikes
3. WR Taylor Price
4. TE Aaron Hernandez
5. P Zoltan Mesko
6. C Ted Larsen
7. OT Thomas Welch
7. DE Brandon Deaderick
7. NT Kade Weston
7. QB Zac Robinson

2011
1. OT Nate Solder
2. CB Ros I-Dowling
2. RB Shane Vereen
3. RB Stevan Ridley
3. QB Ryan Mallett
5. OG Marcus Cannon
5. TE Lee Smith
6. DE Markell Carter
7. CB Malcolm Williams

GREEN BAY PACKERS

2008
2. WR Jordy Nelson
2. QB Brian Brohm
2. CB Patrick Lee
3. TE Jermichael Finley
4. DE Jeremy Thompson
4. OG Josh Sitton
5. OT Breno Giacomini
7. QB Matt Flynn
7. WR Brett Swain

2009
1. NT B.J. Raji
1. OLB Clay Matthews
4. OT T.J. Lang
5. FB Quinn Johnson
6. OT Jamon Meredith
6. DE Jarius Wynn
6. CB Brandon Underwood
7. ILB Brad Jones

2010
1. OT Bryan Bulaga
2. DE Mike Neal
3. S Morgan Burnett
5. TE Andrew Quarless
5. OG Marshall Newhouse
6. RB James Starks
6. DE C.J. Wilson

2011
1. OT Derek Sherrod
2. WR Randall Cobb
3. RB Alex Green
4. CB Davon House
5. TE D.J. Williams
6. OG Caleb Schlauderaff
6. ILB D.J. Smith
6. OLB Ricky Elmore
7. TE Ryan Taylor
7. DE Lawrence Guy

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

2008
1. RB Rashard Mendenhall
2. WR Limas Sweed
3. DE Bruce Davis
4. OT Tony Hills
5. QB Dennis Dixon
6. ILB Mike Humpal
6. S Ryan Mundy

2009
1. DE Ziggy Hood
3. OG Kraig Urbik
3. WR Mike Wallace
3. CB Keenan Lewis
5. CB Joe Burnett
5. RB Frank Summers
6. DE Ra’Shon Harris
7. C A.Q. Shipley
7. TE David Johnson

2010
1. C Maurkice Pouncey
2. OLB Jason Worilds
3. WR Emmanuel Sanders
4. DE Thaddeus Gibson
5. OT Chris Scott
5. CB Crezdon Butler
5. ILB Stevenson Sylvester
6. RB Jonathan Dwyer
6. WR Antonio Brown
7. DE Doug Worthington

2011
1. DE Cameron Heyward
2. OT Marcus Gilbert
3. CB Curtis Brown
4. CB Cortez Allen
5. OLB Chris Carter
6. OG Keith Williams
7. RB Baron Batch

IN REVIEW

In the last four drafts:

• The Chiefs selected 14 major contributors in ’08-’10 and had what I would call one of the Top 3 strongest draft hauls of 2011.
• The Patriots selected 11 major contributors in ’08-’10 and had what I would call one of the weakest draft hauls of 2011.
• The Packers selected 10 major contributors in ’08-’10 and had what I would call a very good draft haul in 2011.
• The Steelers selected 6 major contributors in ’08-’10 and had what I would call a weak draft haul in 2011.

Those three teams (and a few others — feel free to suggest them and I will research them in a future post!) are renouned league-wide for being strong drafting teams.

And since ’08, the Chiefs have smoked them all.

Maybe when future bloggers do these lists, the Chiefs will pop up as one of the teams that truly know what they’re doing.