2007 NFL Draft History: JaMarcus Russell, Megatron, and Hall of Fame Legends

The 2007 NFL Draft remains one of the most polarizing weekends in gridiron lore. It gave us the quintessential “draft bust” at the very top, immediately followed by one of the most dominant physical specimens to ever lace up a pair of cleats. From the Oakland Raiders’ gamble on an LSU powerhouse to the Detroit Lions striking gold with “Megatron,” the ripples of this draft are still felt across the league today.

The original cropped image was taken by Darin Hayes at AT&T Stadium in 2022.

Draft Storyline

April 28, 2007, NFL Draft: LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell was the first pick by the Oakland Raiders. Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Calvin Johnson, “Megatron,” was the second overall selection by the Detroit Lions, according to the website Pro-Football-Reference.com. So far, Mr. Johnson is the only player from this class in Canton, but I would keep my eyes open for Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Darelle Revis, and others to be in the discussion very soon!

A Class for the Ages

While JaMarcus Russell’s career became a cautionary tale of missed potential, the rest of the 2007 first round was essentially a factory for future legends. As of 2026, the Hall of Fame conversation for this class has expanded significantly beyond Calvin Johnson. Joe Thomas and Darrelle Revis have since joined the ranks in Canton, while Adrian Peterson and Marshal Yanda remain locks for future induction. It was a year where teams that avoided the quarterback trap found cornerstone players that defined their franchises for over a decade.

Complete List of Players in the 2007 NFL Draft

Pick	Tm	Player	Pos
1	OAK	JaMarcus Russell	QB
2	DET	Calvin Johnson HOF	WR
3	CLE	Joe Thomas HOF	T
4	TAM	Gaines Adams	DE
5	ARI	Levi Brown	T
6	WAS	LaRon Landry	DB
7	MIN	Adrian Peterson	RB
8	ATL	Jamaal Anderson	DE
9	MIA	Ted Ginn Jr.	WR
10	HOU	Amobi Okoye	DT
11	SFO	Patrick Willis HOF	LB
12	BUF	Marshawn Lynch	RB
13	STL	Adam Carriker	DE
14	NYJ	Darrelle Revis HOF	DB
15	PIT	Lawrence Timmons	LB
16	GNB	Justin Harrell	DT
17	DEN	Jarvis Moss	DE
18	CIN	Leon Hall	DB
19	TEN	Michael Griffin	DB
20	NYG	Aaron Ross	DB
21	JAX	Reggie Nelson	DB
22	CLE	Brady Quinn	QB
23	KAN	Dwayne Bowe	WR
24	NWE	Brandon Meriweather	DB
25	CAR	Jon Beason	LB
26	DAL	Anthony Spencer	DE
27	NOR	Robert Meachem	WR
28	SFO	Joe Staley	T
29	BAL	Ben Grubbs	G
30	SDG	Craig Davis	WR
31	CHI	Greg Olsen	TE
32	IND	Anthony Gonzalez	WR
33	ARI	Alan Branch	DT
34	BUF	Paul Posluszny	LB
35	TAM	Arron Sears	G
36	PHI	Kevin Kolb	QB
37	SDG	Eric Weddle	DB
38	OAK	Zach Miller	TE
39	ATL	Justin Blalock	G
40	MIA	John Beck	QB
41	ATL	Chris Houston	DB
42	IND	Tony Ugoh	T
43	DET	Drew Stanton	QB
44	MIN	Sidney Rice	WR
45	CAR	Dwayne Jarrett	WR
46	PIT	LaMarr Woodley	DE
47	NYJ	David Harris	LB
48	JAX	Justin Durant	LB
49	CIN	Kenny Irons	RB
50	TEN	Chris Henry	RB
51	NYG	Steve Smith	WR
52	STL	Brian Leonard	RB
53	CLE	Eric Wright	DB
54	KAN	Turk McBride	DT
55	SEA	Josh Wilson	DB
56	DEN	Tim Crowder	DE
57	PHI	Victor Abiamiri	DE
58	DET	Ikaika Alama-Francis	DE
59	CAR	Ryan Kalil	C
60	MIA	Samson Satele	C
61	DET	Gerald Alexander	DB
62	CHI	Dan Bazuin	DE
63	GNB	Brandon Jackson	RB
64	TAM	Sabby Piscitelli	LB
65	OAK	Quentin Moses	DE
66	NOR	Usama Young	DB
67	DAL	James Marten	T
68	TAM	Quincy Black	LB
69	ARI	Buster Davis	LB
70	DEN	Ryan Harris	T
71	MIA	Lorenzo Booker	RB
72	MIN	Marcus McCauley	DB
73	HOU	Jacoby Jones	WR
74	BAL	Yamon Figurs	WR
75	ATL	Laurent Robinson	WR
76	SFO	Jason Hill	WR
77	PIT	Matt Spaeth	TE
78	GNB	James Jones	WR
79	JAX	Mike Sims-Walker	WR
80	TEN	Paul Williams	WR
81	NYG	Jay Alford	DT
82	KAN	Tank Tyler	DT
83	CAR	Charles Johnson	DE
84	STL	Jonathan Wade	DB
85	SEA	Brandon Mebane	DT
86	BAL	Marshal Yanda	T
87	PHI	Stewart Bradley	LB
88	NOR	Andy Alleman	G
89	GNB	Aaron Rouse	DB
90	PHI	Tony Hunt	RB
91	OAK	Mario Henderson	DT
92	BUF	Trent Edwards	QB
93	CHI	Garrett Wolfe	RB
94	CHI	Michael Okwo	LB
95	IND	Dante Hughes	DB
96	SDG	Anthony Waters	LB
97	SFO	Ray McDonald	DE
98	IND	Quinn Pitcock	DT
99	OAK	Johnnie Lee Higgins	WR
100	OAK	Michael Bush	RB
101	JAX	Adam Podlesh	P
102	MIN	Brian Robison	DE
103	DAL	Isaiah Stanback	QB
104	SFO	Jay Moore	DE
105	DET	A.J. Davis	DB
106	TAM	Tanard Jackson	DB
107	NOR	Antonio Pittman	RB
108	MIA	Paul Soliai	DT
109	ATL	Stephen Nicholas	LB
110	OAK	John Bowie	DB
111	BUF	Dwayne Wright	RB
112	PIT	Daniel Sepulveda	P
113	JAX	Brian Smith	DE
114	CIN	Marvin White	DB
115	TEN	Leroy Harris	C
116	NYG	Zak DeOssie	LB
117	DET	Manuel Ramirez	G
118	CAR	Ryne Robinson	WR
119	GNB	Allen Barbre	T
120	SEA	Baraka Atkins	DE
121	DEN	Marcus Thomas	DT
122	DAL	Doug Free	T
123	HOU	Fred Bennett	DB
124	SEA	Mansfield Wrotto	G
125	NOR	Jermon Bushrod	T
126	SFO	Dashon Goldson	DB
127	NWE	Kareem Brown	DT
128	TEN	Chris Davis	WR
129	SDG	Scott Chandler	TE
130	CHI	Josh Beekman	C
131	IND	Brannon Condren	DB
132	PIT	Ryan McBean	DT
133	ATL	Martrez Milner	TE
134	BAL	Antwan Barnes	LB
135	SFO	Joe Cohen	DT
136	IND	Clint Session	LB
137	BAL	Le’Ron McClain	RB
138	OAK	Jay Richardson	DE
139	STL	Dustin Fry	C
140	CLE	Brandon McDonald	DB
141	TAM	Greg Peterson	DE
142	ARI	Steve Breaston	WR
143	WAS	Dallas Sartz	LB
144	HOU	Brandon Harrison	DB
145	NOR	David Jones	DB
146	MIN	Aundrae Allison	WR
147	SFO	Tarell Brown	DB
148	KAN	Kolby Smith	RB
149	JAX	Uche Nwaneri	G
150	JAX	Josh Gattis	DB
151	CIN	Jeff Rowe	QB
152	TEN	Antonio Johnson	DT
153	NYG	Kevin Boss	TE
154	STL	Clifton Ryan	DT
155	CAR	Dante Rosario	TE
156	PIT	Cameron Stephenson	G
157	GNB	David Clowney	WR
158	DET	Johnny Baldwin	LB
159	PHI	C.J. Gaddis	DB
160	KAN	Justin Medlock	K
161	SEA	Will Herring	LB
162	PHI	Brent Celek	TE
163	HOU	Brandon Frye	T
164	CAR	Tim Shaw	LB
165	OAK	Eric Frampton	DB
166	JAX	Derek Landri	DT
167	CHI	Kevin Payne	DB
168	CHI	Corey Graham	DB
169	IND	Roy Hall	WR
170	PIT	William Gay	DB
171	NWE	Clint Oldenburg	T
172	SDG	Legedu Naanee	WR
173	IND	Michael Coe	DB
174	BAL	Troy Smith	QB
175	OAK	Oren O’Neal	FB
176	MIN	Rufus Alexander	LB
177	NYJ	Jacob Bender	T
178	DAL	Nick Folk	K
179	WAS	H.B. Blades	LB
180	NWE	Justin Rogers	LB
181	MIA	Reagan Maui’a	RB
182	TAM	Adam Hayward	LB
183	HOU	Kasey Studdard	G
184	BUF	John Wendling	DB
185	ATL	Trey Lewis	DT
186	SFO	Thomas Clayton	RB
187	CIN	Matt Toeaina	DT
188	TEN	Joel Filani	WR
189	NYG	Adam Koets	T
190	STL	Ken Shackleford	T
191	GNB	Korey Hall	LB
192	GNB	Desmond Bishop	LB
193	GNB	Mason Crosby	K
194	ATL	David Irons	DB
195	DAL	Deon Anderson	FB
196	KAN	Herbert Taylor	T
197	SEA	Courtney Taylor	WR
198	ATL	Doug Datish	C
199	MIA	Drew Mormino	C
200	CLE	Melila Purcell	DE
201	PHI	Rashad Barksdale	DB
202	NWE	Mike Richardson	DB
203	ATL	Daren Stone	DB
204	TEN	Jacob Ford	DE
205	WAS	Jordan Palmer	QB
206	TEN	Ryan Smith	DB
207	BAL	Prescott Burgess	LB
208	NWE	Justise Hairston	RB
209	NWE	Corey Hilliard	T
210	SEA	Jordan Kent	WR
211	NWE	Oscar Lua	LB
212	DAL	Courtney Brown	DB
213	CLE	Chase Pittman	DE
214	TAM	Chris Denman	T
215	ARI	Ben Patrick	TE
216	WAS	Tyler Ecker	TE
217	MIN	Tyler Thigpen	QB
218	HOU	Zach Diles	LB
219	MIA	Kelvin Smith	LB
220	NOR	Marvin Mitchell	LB
221	CHI	Trumaine McBride	DB
222	BUF	Derek Schouman	TE
223	TEN	Michael Otto	T
224	NYG	Michael Johnson	DB
225	MIA	Brandon Fields	P
226	CAR	C.J. Wilson	DB
227	PIT	Dallas Baker	WR
228	GNB	DeShawn Wynn	RB
229	JAX	John Broussard	WR
230	CIN	Dan Santucci	G
231	KAN	Michael Allan	TE
232	SEA	Steve Vallos	G
233	MIN	Chandler Williams	WR
234	CLE	Syndric Steptoe	WR
235	NYJ	Chansi Stuckey	WR
236	PHI	Nate Ilaoa	RB
237	DAL	Alan Ball	DB
238	MIA	Abraham Wright	DE
239	BUF	C.J. Ah You	DE
240	SDG	Brandon Siler	LB
241	CHI	Aaron Brant	G
242	IND	Keyunta Dawson	DE
243	GNB	Clark Harris	TE
244	ATL	Jason Snelling	RB
245	TAM	Marcus Hamilton	DB
246	TAM	Kenneth Darby	RB
247	NWE	Mike Elgin	G
248	STL	Keith Jackson	DT
249	STL	Derek Stanley	WR
250	NYG	Ahmad Bradshaw	RB
251	JAX	Chad Nkang	LB
252	JAX	Andrew Carnahan	T
253	CIN	Nedu Ndukwe	DB
254	OAK	Jonathan Holland	WR
255	DET	Ramzee Robinson	DB

Thank you. Goes to Pro-Football-Reference.com

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2007 NFL Draft History: JaMarcus Russell, Megatron, and Hall of Fame Legends

Draft Storyline

A Class for the Ages

Complete List of Players in the 2007 NFL Draft

By Darin