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NFL Draft Sleepers
There’s no bigger compliment to a NFL team’s scouts than tipping the GM
on a late-round gem that is on virtually no one’s draft board. Jimmy
Boyd takes a look at some of the most notable NFL draft sleepers
of all-time in this article.
QB Tom Brady – 6th round
Perhaps Tom Brady will be known as the best NFL draft sleeper of
all-time. The most decorated QB currently in the game was drafted in the
sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft and has gone on to win multiple Super
Bowls and MVP awards.
QB Joe Montana – 3rd round
How do you let Joe Montana slip to the third round? Scouts were not
impressed with Montana’s arm strength, that’s how. I guess there are a
few other attributes that make for a good QB. Montana is highly regarded
as the best QB of all-time because of his ability to win big games.
QB Johnny Unitas – 9th round
A ninth-round draft choice of the 1955 Pittsburgh Steelers, Unitas was
cut before he ever threw a pass in regular season play. Unitas then
played semi-pro football for $6 a game before former Baltimore Colts
head coach Weeb Ewbank found out about a "prospect" on the Pittsburgh
sandlots and signed Unitas for $17,000 on a make-the-team basis. When
Unitas finally got his chance to play, his very first pass was
intercepted and returned for a touchdown, but from that point on, for
the next 18 seasons, Unitas’ quarterbacking feats were seldom matched in
NFL history. It seems QB’s are the hardest to judge because some much of
the position has to do with decision making and having ice in your veins
– things the combine can’t project.
QB Bart Starr – 17th round
Let’s just keep the QB’s coming. You can’t be overlooked anymore than
Starr was. Teams should have just took his last name as an omen. The
statistics will never show what Starr brought to the game, but he did
lead the league in passing three times and was the NFL's Most Valuable
Player in 1966. He also won MVP honors in both Super Bowls I and II. Not
to shabby for an afterthought pick.
QB Roger Staubach – 10th round
How did the Heisman Trophy winner from the U.S. Naval Academy drop to
the 10th round? It’s happened before. Florida State’s Chalie Ward was
hadly given a NFL look after winning the honors of college football’s
best player. Well, to give teams the benefit of the doubt, they didn’t
want to wait on Staubach, who wouldn’t be available to play until 1969
(drafted in 1964), four years after he served his commitment to the
Navy. What foresight by the Cowboys which have been one of the best
draft franchises. For the nine seasons he was in command of the potent
Cowboys attack, the Cowboys played in six NFC championship games,
winning four of them, and recording victories in Super Bowls VI and XII.
WR John Stallworth – 4th round
Truly one of the best receivers of all-time, Stallworth was a dynamic
piece of the puzzle during Pittsburgh’s dominant run in the 1970’s. The
Hall of Famer was a complete steal and just another thing that went
right during the Steelers’ decade of dominance.
RB Terrell Davis - 6th round
Let’s do it this way. Here are some of the backs that were taken ahead
of Dais in 1995. Ki-Jana Carter (No. 1 overall) Larry Jones, Aaron
Hayden, and of course, and Travis Jervey. I’m guessing you haven’t heard
of too many of those names, but you know Mr. Davis. He led the Broncos
to two consecutive Super Bowl titles, winning MVP honors in Super Bowl
XXXII. He also gained a total of 5,296 yards over a three-season period,
including one season of 2,000 plus yards.
Make sure you check back to see who Jimmy thinks could be some of this
year's draft sleepers.
March 21st, 2008
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