Opinions can be like great regional barbecue: Each one can be amazing in its own way. Central Texas is all about brisket with a long smoke and no sauce. Kansas City’s got the meats, but the sauces are the stars … thick with brown sugar and molasses. Memphis is all about pulled pork shoulders and firm ribs, served with tomato-based sauces.
NFL Draft classes can be seen in the same way. Sometimes you’ll see an offensive lineman go No. 1 overall, like Orlando Pace in 1997. And, every once in a while, you’ll get a draft class that has a sampling of everything.
Von Miller Debates Which NFL Draft Class Lays Claim to the Best Ever?
Linebacker Von Miller went on the “St. Brown Podcast” and let everyone know that he thinks his class is the best. Not surprisingly, Miller called the Class of 2011 “No. 1 ever.” He was the second overall pick that year, one spot behind Cam Newton.
“No. 1; No. 1 ever,” Miller said. “The only one that can rival with that is the class of Peyton Manning and Charles Woodson and those guys [1998 NFL Draft]. That’s the only one that can rival with that class.”
“It’s not even a hot take, it’s not even an argument,” Miller continued. “We had Justin Smith. We had Justin Houston; he went in the second round. Uh, Richard Sherman was in that class, too. It’s not even an argument.”
Is he right? No one from that class is in the Hall of Fame yet because we’re still a few years away from these players even being voted on. Newton and Miller going one-two is pretty insane. They were named Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, respectively, in 2011 and are strong Hall of Fame candidates.
The top 31 is packed with Pro Bowl talent, including linebackers Marcell Dareus and J.J. Watt, plus wide receivers A.J. Green and Julio Jones, defensive back Patrick Peterson, and offensive linemen Tyron Smith and Mike Pouncey. Not bad.
But is it the greatest of all time? That’s debatable at best.
The 1998 draft class he mentioned, with Manning and Woodson, was a pretty good one. Meanwhile, the 2004 class has a strong case with Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger just at quarterback. That class produced 30 total Pro Bowlers.
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However, the 1983 NFL Draft is among the best ever. There were 42 Pro Bowlers from the 1983 NFL Draft class.
Quarterbacks John Elway, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly top the 1983 list, aided in greatness by running back Eric Dickerson, defensive back Darrell Green, defensive end Richard Dent, and offensive linemen Jim Covert and Bruce Matthews — all of those players ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Only Richard Dent (eighth round) was not a first-rounder.
The 1983 class also produced Hall-of-Very-Good players like running back Curt Warner, wide receivers Willie Gault and Henry Ellard, defensive ends Jim Jeffcoat and Jim Marshall, along with centers Dave Rimington and Don Mosebar.