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Defensive Legends Unveiled: The Greatest NFL Draft Class Explored · Sports History Network

• 0:47
  In the past year, we've had quite a bit of shows on the National Football League drafts and some of the draft classes that came out of that.
• 0:53
  But I read a recent article by Bill Barnwell on ESPN.com that talks about what is the greatest class of defensive class in the NFL draft that's ever happened.
• 1:07
  Now, Barnwell brought up some very good points.
• 1:10
  He brought up some very good players.
• 1:12
  And, and his conclusion is that the 2011 he poses the question, is that the greatest defensive NFL draft class that's ever been conducted?
• 1:24
  Let's name some of the names from that class.
• 1:27
  You know, J.J.
• 1:28
  watt, the Texans and the Cardinals, a great hedge player.
• 1:32
  I don't know if I've ever seen one man swat as many balls down as J.J.
• 1:36
  watt did and really terrorized quarterbacks and running backs and everybody else on offense as well.
• 1:42
  Von Miller, another very special edge player drafted by the Broncos, also played on the Rams, Bills and Commanders over the years.
• 1:52
  He's still playing at a high level and, you know, played last year very well, still getting his takes.
• 1:58
  Richard Sherman, the great Seahawks cornerback, also played for the 49ers and the Buccaneers, super bowl champion, part of the doom patrol of the Seattle Seahawks back in the day.
• 2:15
  And Richard Sherman had his share of picks.
• 2:18
  A great big corner that could run and cover and really played aggressive.
• 2:23
  Another great cornerback is Patrick Peterson.
• 2:26
  The Cardinals, Vikings and Steelers, most of us remember him as a Cardinal and a Viking.
• 2:33
  You know, he was a tremendous defensive back himself.
• 2:37
  Quite the ball hawk and good tackler, too.
• 2:41
  Solid all the way around in that.
• 2:44
  Those are guys that are probably going to be going in the hall of Fame or already in a Hall of Fame.
• 2:51
  Alden Smith came out of that draft class.
• 2:54
  You know, who knows what he could have been in there.
• 2:58
  Marcus Gilchrist and Chris Conti, Da Norris Searcy, Raheem Moore.
• 3:05
  These are guys that came out of that draft.
• 3:08
  Prince Akamara, Byron Maxwell, Jimmy Smith, Chris Harris.
• 3:14
  You know, so many Pro Bowls out of these guys.
• 3:18
  They're, you know, just tremendous players, top defensive players on their team in many cases.
• 3:24
  And, you know, still, some of them are still playing very, very well.
• 3:31
  You know, it's.
• 3:31
  It's hard to argue against that class.
• 3:35
  You know, we're going to probably see a bunch of these guys be in the Pro Football hall of Fame someday, Bronze busts and all in that class.
• 3:44
  But I want to, you know, mention a couple other classes that maybe come close and maybe you could judge for yourself on that.
• 3:54
  Let's take a look at the class that Barnwell Himself mentions maybe somebody that has a little bit of contention to that is maybe the 2009 class.
• 4:08
  They had first team all pro nods for Clay Matthews.
• 4:12
  2010, eight different players earned first team all pro appearances.
• 4:17
  That class might produce a Hall of Famer.
• 4:20
  You know, Nadam Kun Su, Earl Thomas, Eric Berry, Devin McCourty, all had great careers.
• 4:27
  2012 had 21st team All Pro nods and already sent Luke Kechley to the hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner, he'll probably be in Canton one of these days.
• 4:40
  So, you know, those are some strong can cases.
• 4:44
  You have some great classes to pick from, but I think one that maybe has one of the strongest is that class that had the 1981 class and Barnwell does mention them.
• 5:05
  You have Lawrence Taylor, hall of Famer, 10 proof of 10 hall of Fame.
• 5:10
  I'm sorry, 10 Pro bowl appearances.
• 5:13
  Ronnie Lott, 10 Pro bowl appearances.
• 5:16
  Hall of Fame Mike Singletary, 10 Pro Bowls hall of Famer, Howie Long, eight Pro Bowls, hall of Fame, Ricky Jackson, six Hall of Fames, Dennis Smith, six.
• 5:27
  Duron Cherry, six.
• 5:29
  And he was a free agent that year.
• 5:32
  Kenny Easley, 5, Sam Mills, 5.
• 5:35
  Did it in multiple leagues.
• 5:37
  You know, the, if you count as USFL time and in multiple teams in the NFL.
• 5:42
  Everson Walls, 4.
• 5:43
  Another UDFA, you know, you compare that to the picks that they have on there.
• 5:50
  That's, you know, there's.
• 5:52
  They have more Pro bowl picks than the 2011 class.
• 5:57
  And let's go over them.
• 5:57
  Vaughn Miller, 8.
• 5:58
  Patrick Peterson, 8.
• 6:00
  Cameron Jordan, 8, Cameron Hayward, 6.
• 6:03
  I forgot to mention those two guys earlier.
• 6:05
  J.J.
• 6:06
  watt, 5.
• 6:07
  Richard Sherman, 5.
• 6:08
  Jarrell Casey, 5.
• 6:10
  Ryan Kerrigan, 4.
• 6:11
  Justin Houston, 4.
• 6:13
  Chris Harris Jr.
• 6:14
  Another free agent, 4.
• 6:17
  So those are some tremendous classes.
• 6:20
  I, maybe I would, you know, pick the 1981 draft class.
• 6:25
  You know.
• 6:25
  Lt certainly takes any draft class up.
• 6:29
  But I want to bring one up.
• 6:30
  That, you know, that Barnwell did not mention.
• 6:33
  And that's the 1969 National Football League draft.
• 6:37
  You had Joe Green, round one pick number four, Pittsburgh Steelers, Roger Worley, cornerback,.
• 6:45
  Round one pick number 19 with the Cardinals.
• 6:49
  Green had 10 Pro Bowls, two NFL defensive players of the year, four time Super bowl champion, Hall of Fame, whirly.
• 6:57
  Inducted in hall of fame 2007, seven.
• 6:59
  Pro Bowls, three first team all pros.
• 7:03
  Ted Hendricks, second round pick of the Colts, went into the hall of Fame, 1998 Pro Bowls, four time Super bowl champion was Hendrix.
• 7:13
  Ken Riley, cornerback, went to the Bengals, just inducted a few years ago.
• 7:18
  20, 23, 65 career interceptions and a Hall of Famer.
• 7:23
  Notoriously never selected to a Pro Bowl.
• 7:26
  Big travesty there.
• 7:27
  I don't know what they were thinking not having Riley be on an all pro team or on a Pro Bowl.
• 7:36
  Some other notable defensive Pro Bowlers from that draft 1969 Bill Stanfill, defensive end, Miami Dolphins 5 Pro Bowls 2 time Super bowl champion Bill Bill Berge, a linebacker, Cincinnati Bengals, five Pro Bowls another second round pick, L.C.
• 7:54
  Greenwood, a 10th round pick by the Steelers.
• 7:58
  Six Pro Bowls, four time Super bowl champion.
• 8:00
  And I believe if you look at the unofficial sack totals, remember sacks were not counted until the 1980s.
• 8:08
  Greenwood had more quarterback sacks than Joe Green.
• 8:13
  Unbelievable.
• 8:14
  Playing on the same defensive line.
• 8:16
  Jim Marsalis, first round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs, two Pro Bowls AFL All Star also the boot.
• 8:24
  So make that three All Star games, Super bowl four champion.
• 8:29
  How about Fred Dreier, first round pick of the New York Giants had won Pro bowl and played on some great Giants and Rams teams back in the day.
• 8:39
  I would almost say that they would have a voice here when you're talking about some of the greatest NFL classes of all time.
• 8:48
  And I think you know Barnwell is not far off.
• 8:51
  I think he's right.
• 8:52
  2011 deep respect for it.
• 8:54
  1981 maybe head and shoulders above them all, But I think 1969 needs its due and people need to remember this great and amazing draft class that we just mentioned with some great players there.
• 9:12
  Next time you're reading an article like that, do a little bit of homework and research and do some thinking on that and maybe you will come up with a draft class of your own.
• 9:20
  If you do, let us know about it.
• 9:22
  Pigskindispatch@gmail com.
• 9:25
  Till next time everybody have a great gridiron day.