By Darin The second overall pick in the NFL draft is often regarded as a tantalizing opportunity, yet it frequently embodies a duality of triumph and calamity, as this episode elucidates. We delve into the historical significance of this pivotal selection, examining the careers of both celebrated legends, such as Lawrence Taylor and Eric Dickerson, and notorious busts, including Ryan Leaf and Tony Mandarich. The discourse traverses the profound impact these selections have had on their respective franchises, raising questions about whether the second overall pick serves as a golden ticket or a perilous wager. Through an analytical lens, we rank the most illustrious successes alongside the cautionary tales that have punctuated the narrative of NFL drafts. Join us as we navigate this intricate tapestry of football history, celebrating the stars and scrutinizing the missteps associated with the coveted number two draft position.
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Transcript
They say the first overall pick is the prize, but the number two spot, well, that's where things truly get interesting.
Speaker A:It's a position that's birthed undisputed legends who'd redefined their positions and colossal busts that changed the course of the franchises for a decade.
Speaker A:We're talking about the slot that gave us the sheer dominance of Lawrence Taylor and the record breaking speed of Eric Dickerson, yet somehow also delivered the cautionary tales of Ryan Leaf and Tony Manders.
Speaker A:Is the second overall pick guaranteed golden ticket?
Speaker A:Or is it the league's most dangerous gamble?
Speaker A:Today we're digging in through the gridiron archives to rank the greatest stars and the biggest disasters ever taken at the number two slot.
Speaker A:Let's get into the history of the NFL draft Silver medalists here on Pigskin Dispatch.
Speaker B:Hello, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome.
Speaker B:We are two days before the NFL draft and we are counting down the days as we get there by celebrating the past drafts and picks of the days, you know, of the picks of the day.
Speaker B:So we have number two picks today.
Speaker B:We're talking about overall and it'll make more sense as we get into it, but we have a lot of great players to talk about.
Speaker B:I'm joined by Ed Cleese.
Speaker B:As always, Ed, welcome back to the Pig Pen.
Speaker C:Hey, Darren, how are you today?
Speaker C:We're down.
Speaker C:I can't believe it.
Speaker C:We've done this for 30 days in a row.
Speaker C:Oh my gosh.
Speaker B:30 Days in a row.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm sure you're tired of looking at my face here.
Speaker C:Came up with that horrible idea.
Speaker B:I think the guy I'm looking at had that.
Speaker B:It was a brilliant idea because we get to talk a lot about a lot of great football, a lot of.
Speaker C:Great football players, a lot of fun.
Speaker C:And this top five has been.
Speaker C:Been really fun.
Speaker B:That's been very enlightening and let you remember some players that maybe we wouldn't remember otherwise in this draft season.
Speaker B:So what's your overall take on the number two pick in the history of the NFL?
Speaker C:So it's really an incredible list for both, both reasons.
Speaker C:I mean, there's so many names on here that you're like, whoa.
Speaker C:And for both kind of woes, you know, there's so many hall of Famers or hall of Fame caliber players and so many massive busts recently.
Speaker C:We've got some guys to keep an eye on that would be like Travis Hunter, Jaden JD5.
Speaker B:You mean the full, the full time cornerback?
Speaker C:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:C.J.
Speaker C:Stroud, Aiden Hutchinson.
Speaker C:So guys that are off to good Starts, but have a long way to go before we talk about them any more in depth than that.
Speaker C:There were so many busts to choose from, Darren, that I had a very hard time coming up with a top five, to be honest.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I'm sure that you found your way through it.
Speaker B:So you want to discuss some of those now?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:We're gonna start with number five.
Speaker C:And I felt bad for this guy because there was like a string of, of offensive tackles taken second overall in like an eight year span and they were all terrible, like just bust after bust.
Speaker C:chose Jason smith, drafted in:Speaker C:He only had 26 career starts and didn't, didn't stick in the league for very long.
Speaker C:He may have had some injuries, but, you know, it wasn't.
Speaker C:He just.
Speaker C:It didn't work out.
Speaker C:It didn't work out and there was a lot of guys like that.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:Poor Jason.
Speaker C:I chose him to represent.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I'm sure he'll be thrilled.
Speaker B:All right, so who do you have after him?
Speaker C:Number four.
Speaker C:homas, running back, taken in:Speaker C:He hung around for six years, but the last three he barely had 500 yards combined.
Speaker C:In those three years he topped out at 728 yards and he didn't catch passes either.
Speaker C:So he wasn't really a threat there.
Speaker C:He had seven career touchdowns.
Speaker C:I remember him very well.
Speaker C:Penn State, right?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, Penn State guy.
Speaker C:I remember him very well.
Speaker C:It just did not turn out good for Blair Thomas.
Speaker C:He just wasn't good.
Speaker C:I mean, I don't know what else to say there.
Speaker C:There was no like tragic backstory or anything.
Speaker C:Just didn't work out.
Speaker B:Yeah, sometimes what you can do in college at that level and the offenses back then were so much different from each other, from the pro game, the NFL.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's hard to transcend into the next level.
Speaker C:Yep, for sure.
Speaker B:All right, so who's next?
Speaker C:h, office of lineman taken in:Speaker C:Really talk about a guy we all remember.
Speaker C:Cause I think you remember he was on the COVID of Sports Illustrated with his shirt off.
Speaker C:And it was called the Incredible Bulk is the COVID of this very famous Sports Illustrated cover.
Speaker C:And then when you do some research on Mandarich, he basically Will admit it, his whole Persona was a fraud.
Speaker C:Like, everything he did and everything that he put into was to make himself seem larger and better than he was.
Speaker C:He gets to the NFL and basically he just got roasted.
Speaker C:Like, he just couldn't really play.
Speaker C:You know, he was the whole like, what was the old, you know, looks like Jane play or looks like Tarzan plays like Jane thing.
Speaker C:I think that was sort of the thing.
Speaker C:And then there was, you know, steroid era.
Speaker C:I think very later in his career, like, I'm sorry, past his career, he finally admitted that he did do roids.
Speaker C:He was not the only one in that era for sure.
Speaker C:But he kind of basically admitted that his whole thing, the whole, like, incredible bulk, was kind of just fake and kind of like almost like he duped everybody and they all fell for it and he just couldn't really play.
Speaker C:He did have a little bit of a come.
Speaker C:He missed like four full years in the league.
Speaker C:He was gone.
Speaker C:He did come back and play, I think two or three seasons for the Colts and he started a bunch of games was okay.
Speaker C:So he had a little bit of like a redemption arc a little bit later in his career.
Speaker C:But the incredible bulk to the incredible bust.
Speaker B:Okay, glad he had a little bit of maturity issues.
Speaker B:Maybe came back and had some success later on.
Speaker B:That's always a good sign.
Speaker B:Okay, so who'd you have before him, number three?
Speaker C:I think these guys went to the same school.
Speaker C:Sorry, Spartans.
Speaker C:It's Charles Rogers, taken in:Speaker C:Oof.
Speaker C:This One hurts there.
Speaker C:Nine career starts, 36 career catches, four career touchdowns for the second pick in the draft.
Speaker C:And his career was marred by injuries, suspensions.
Speaker C:There was a lawsuit involved.
Speaker C:I think that the Lions sued him for like, part of his bonus.
Speaker C:Basically saying, like, you did not fulfill your contract.
Speaker C:You know, it was ugly, it was not good.
Speaker C:And Charles Rogers is one.
Speaker C:I mean, the definition of a bust.
Speaker B:Yeah, it doesn't sound too impressive there, does it?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Okay, who did you have before him as you're on your bus list?
Speaker C:I think if you looked at this list, Darren, I think you know who I'm going to mention right now.
Speaker C:verall is Ryan Leaf, taken in:Speaker C:His rookie year, he went 3 and 6, but his touchdown to interception ratio was 2 to 15.
Speaker C:Like, oh, my gosh.
Speaker C:He then missed his entire second season with an injury.
Speaker C:Then he was 1 in 11 the rest of his career.
Speaker C:So immaturity to the max is.
Speaker C:Was what marred his career, really.
Speaker C:And I've got a little quote I'm going to read for you.
Speaker C:This is comes from Bobby Beathard talking to Rodney Harrison who is on the Chargers at the time.
Speaker C:Time Bobby Beathard said, guys can be jerks, but I've never seen a guy that worked harder at alienating his teammates.
Speaker C:Junior say out Rodney Harrison.
Speaker C:They came to me and said, Bobby, this guy is killing me.
Speaker C:Harrison described the:Speaker C:He said, I have to go through another year like that.
Speaker C:I probably quit playing.
Speaker C:So he was a big mess.
Speaker C:His career after that was marred by prison rehab, over 20 years of things like that.
Speaker C:nk it sounds like since about:Speaker C:He's got a podcast, he calls games on Westwood One.
Speaker C:He does a lot of speaking about addiction and all of his problems and uses himself as an example.
Speaker C:So I think it appears he's really come out.
Speaker B:I think he's on serious NFL radio too.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And he's really good.
Speaker C:If you listen to him.
Speaker C:He's, he knows the game.
Speaker C:He basically admits, hey, I totally blew my career.
Speaker C:You know, learn from me.
Speaker C:And so really nice that, you know, he went through like a 20 year run of terrible decisions, immaturity, blowing things left and right.
Speaker C:But it looks like he's turned out okay.
Speaker C:And it never helped that he had the juxtaposition of being taken right after Peyton Manning, you know, so like you could not have a different career arc than those two.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:But, but if you remember back at 98 draft, you know, two days before the 98 draft, people were sitting there thinking, you know, who's going to go number one?
Speaker B:Is it going to be Ryan Leaf or is it going to be Peyton Manning?
Speaker B:I mean there was definitely arguments and people on both sides.
Speaker B:Today we look back and say, you know, Peyton Manning, who wouldn't take him number one.
Speaker B:But that's not what it was.
Speaker B:The draft.
Speaker B:And looking at these collegians that were coming out that, that year, it was quite debatable at the time.
Speaker C:Darren, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a big man.
Speaker C:So I can admit this.
Speaker C:I admitted some very embarrassing things yesterday.
Speaker B:About things I said Orion Leaf draft hat.
Speaker B:Did you?
Speaker C:I didn't have a Ryan Leaf draft hat, but I did argue to the, to the death with my friends that the Colts should take Ryan Leaf over Peyton.
Speaker C:So there's my case.
Speaker B:My case.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker C:I'm one of those guys that you Just described.
Speaker B:Well, maybe you can.
Speaker B:Ryan Leaf can give you some redemptive qualities here that you've gone through.
Speaker C:I know we'd eventually work it out.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right, well, maybe he's a better analyst of football than Peyton Manning is, so.
Speaker B:Well, I guess we watch Monday night Football.
Speaker B:You can't probably say that because he's very entertaining.
Speaker C:The Manning cast is great.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:Choose your play.
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Speaker B:Chunk of yardage.
Speaker A:This isn't just a quiz.
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Speaker A:Hesitation is the enemy of the end zone.
Speaker A:Keep those chains moving.
Speaker A:Cross that yellow line to reset your downs and earn a critical audible.
Speaker A:Stuck on a tough defensive look.
Speaker A:Use those audibles to strip away two wrong answers and find your open receiver.
Speaker A:Watch the play clock.
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Speaker A:Take too long, and it's a five yard penalty for delay a game.
Speaker A:It's game action.
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Speaker A:Step up to the line.
Speaker A:Your drive starts now on pigskindispatch.com the trivia drive.
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Speaker A:Try the pigskin trivia drive on pigskindispatch.com and.
Speaker A:And now let's get back into our program.
Speaker B:All right, well, I think now we have some.
Speaker B:You're gonna have some special guests.
Speaker C:I do have some special guests.
Speaker C:We have three honorable mentions, so I thought I'd bring in my three honorable mentions.
Speaker C:They have been asking to be on the pod for a while, and I finally found a way to get them here.
Speaker C:So it's my three kids.
Speaker C:They're each gonna read off a little bit of a honorable mention, and this is their big chance, so hopefully they don't blow it.
Speaker B:Okay, well, I'm excited to talk to them.
Speaker C:We're gonna go.
Speaker C:We're gonna go in reverse order.
Speaker C:So this here is.
Speaker C:Is Caroline.
Speaker D:Hi.
Speaker B:Hi, Caroline.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker E:Good.
Speaker B:I'm doing great.
Speaker B:Are your parents big Neil diamond fans?
Speaker B:Is that how you got the name Caroline?
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:I figured.
Speaker B:So I hear that Maybe you like to watch a little bit of football with your dad on Sundays.
Speaker B:Is that true?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:And I also hear that you have some aspirations, maybe getting a Hall of Fame yourself.
Speaker B:We've been talking a lot about hall of Famers tonight.
Speaker B:Why don't you tell me a little bit about it?
Speaker D:Basketball and pickleball.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Wow, you play both those sports, huh?
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker C:First pick in the pickleball draft.
Speaker B:In the pickleball draft.
Speaker B:Okay, we'll be watching.
Speaker B:When that draft comes up, we'll be watching.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:Well, she's got an honorable mention for you that didn't quite make the top five.
Speaker C:I wanted.
Speaker C:I wanted to tell you about it.
Speaker B:Okay, let's go.
Speaker D:ebacker taken by the Bills in:Speaker D:He plays for the Falcons and Colts later in his career, but it.
Speaker D:But is remembered mostly as a standout during the Bills glory years, and he started for all four super bowl teams.
Speaker D:He made plays all over the field.
Speaker D:He may not be in the hall of Fame, but belonged in the hall of.
Speaker D:Oh, so close.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, he.
Speaker B:He definitely does.
Speaker B:And have you ever had breakfast at McDonald's?
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker B:Well, I. I live near Buffalo and we used to.
Speaker B:I don't know if you had it down where you're at, but they had a Cornelius Bennett biscuit sandwich that.
Speaker B:At the McDonald's around here, so he was very famous for breakfast sandwiches, too, at the time.
Speaker C:Excellent.
Speaker C:Yeah, Biscuit was.
Speaker C:It was a heck of a player.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Not a top five guy.
Speaker B:Not a top five guy, but Honorable mention.
Speaker B:And, Caroline, we will be looking for you in your pickleball and basketball career here shortly as we'll be watching the newspapers.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:So that was Caroline.
Speaker C:So now here comes number two in a lot of ways.
Speaker C:Let me introduce you to.
Speaker C:To Sam.
Speaker B:Hi, Sam.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker E:Good, how are you?
Speaker B:I'm doing great.
Speaker B:Looks like you have a football jersey on there.
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker B:Whose jersey?
Speaker B:I can only see the top of the numbers here.
Speaker E:Oh, Sean Payton.
Speaker B:Oh, Sean.
Speaker B:Sean Payton.
Speaker B:I didn't realize he had a jersey, but okay.
Speaker B:Sean Taylor.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:That's a great pick.
Speaker B:So I hear maybe you have some aspirations to, you know, be maybe wearing one of those jerseys with the NFL emblem on it someday.
Speaker E:Yeah, Hopefully I'm the first pick.
Speaker B:Be the first pick.
Speaker E:Yeah, yeah, hopefully.
Speaker E:I'm blocking for Jane Daniels.
Speaker B:Okay, so you're.
Speaker B:So you're playing on the line, huh?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay, well, you on the line, you probably won't be able to wear that number 21.
Speaker B:With the reds?
Speaker B:With the Commanders.
Speaker B:I'm sorry, Not Redskins.
Speaker C:The Commanders.
Speaker E:They'll give me whatever they want.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker B:Well, that's a good way to do it.
Speaker B:You won't have to pay the extra money for that.
Speaker C:A humble lineman.
Speaker B:A humble lineman.
Speaker B:All right, well, we like that.
Speaker B:So who.
Speaker B:What honorable mention can you bring us today?
Speaker E:in Johnson, who was picked in:Speaker E:A running back?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker C:Receiver.
Speaker C:Sorry.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker E:My.
Speaker E:My script got rigged.
Speaker E:But receiver, who was compared to Barry Sanders because he retired early.
Speaker D:Huh?
Speaker E:Because he retired early, but he put up really good numbers in all the seasons he played.
Speaker E:But he retired really early, and that's really the reason he didn't get to the hall of Fame and didn't make the top five.
Speaker C:Didn't make it a Hall of Fame.
Speaker C:He didn't make it to the top five.
Speaker B:I know you had a bad writer, Sam.
Speaker B:I will give you credit for that.
Speaker C:I'm gonna blame the talent on this one, not the writer.
Speaker B:Well, I think maybe I might have an argument against this.
Speaker B:Not against you, Sam, but your writer that picked this because I think maybe you know.
Speaker B:You know what his nickname was, Sam?
Speaker B:Calvin Jones, Megatron from.
Speaker B:You ever watch the Transformers?
Speaker B:They were.
Speaker B:They would always call him Megatron because he was just such a beast and a sort of a villain in the end zones.
Speaker B:He was a hard person to stop because he's a big guy and quarterbacks would just throw the ball up, and he was very catch those combative catches.
Speaker B:So I would personally have him in the top five, but I'll argue with your.
Speaker B:Your dad later on here.
Speaker B:All right, thank you.
Speaker C:They call you Megaphone, don't they?
Speaker B:Yeah, they do, but because I'm very quiet.
Speaker C:Yeah, fair enough.
Speaker C:We'll take a pic.
Speaker C:Take a good look, because eight years from now, he's going to be walking across that stage.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:We'll be having that football card with that mug on it here real soon, so.
Speaker B:All right, well, thank you, Sam.
Speaker E:Bye.
Speaker C:All right, last.
Speaker C:You ready?
Speaker B:I'm ready.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:Welcome in Abby.
Speaker F:Hello.
Speaker B:Hi, Abby.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker E:I'm good.
Speaker F:How are you?
Speaker B:I am doing great.
Speaker B:So I hear you.
Speaker B:You maybe have some plans to be covering more about football other than on the show?
Speaker C:Yeah, sure.
Speaker F:I'm a junior in high school right now, and I want to go to college for journalism and become a sports reporter.
Speaker F:It's my dream.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker C:So what.
Speaker B:What schools are you thinking about going to?
Speaker F:Definitely.
Speaker F:OU is top of my list.
Speaker F:I've also.
Speaker B:Ohio State.
Speaker B:Huh.
Speaker C:Oh, see.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker F:Boomer.
Speaker F:Sooner, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker F:Yeah, so that's probably my top.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:I won't say Oregon and either.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:All right, so what.
Speaker B:What hall of Famer can.
Speaker C:Or.
Speaker B:I'm sorry, honorable mention.
Speaker B:Can you bring us today?
Speaker F:Yeah.
Speaker F:So I have Tony Bacilli.
Speaker F:He was taken in:Speaker F:He is in the hall of Fame, but several people have come to question it because he only played seven seasons and made only three All Pro teams.
Speaker F:And I am a loyal listener to the Pigskin Dispatch, so I know that there's a hot debate on.
Speaker F:On how much longevity matters versus peak performance.
Speaker F:Um.
Speaker F:And yeah, my dad was pretty fired up about Jimbo Covert and Baselli in that same category.
Speaker C:They're the same.
Speaker C:Same deal.
Speaker B:Yeah, he.
Speaker B:He is.
Speaker B:Got kind of a little bit of raw deal.
Speaker B:Has some injury problems.
Speaker B:Originally, he wasn't even a Jaguar.
Speaker C:I for.
Speaker B:I think he was a Colt or somebody.
Speaker B:And they.
Speaker B:He got in the supplemental draft.
Speaker B:I think when Jags came in in 95, I think he was one of those ones where the teams had to release players.
Speaker C:I thought he was just the second pick.
Speaker B:Okay, maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe it didn't be.
Speaker B:I was thinking maybe he was.
Speaker C:Yeah,.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe he wasn't.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:But thank you for being a loyal listener to the Pixie and Dispatch.
Speaker B:We appreciate that.
Speaker B:So maybe we'll be watching you.
Speaker B:We'll be big fans of you when you're doing your media career here in the next few years.
Speaker F:I appreciate it.
Speaker F:Yeah, be on the lookout.
Speaker B:All right, well, we appreciate.
Speaker B:Abby.
Speaker B:Thank you very much.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's three honorable mentions for you.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:We'll have to talk about the.
Speaker B:I can sort of agree with some of the names that are going to be coming up here, but I don't know, Megatron, we might have to discuss here a little bit.
Speaker B:So why don't you give me.
Speaker B:Give me your top five.
Speaker C:My top five.
Speaker C:at is Vaughn Miller, taken in:Speaker C:He had nine seasons of dominance.
Speaker C:Dominance.
Speaker C:He was the best player on a team that won the Super Bowl.
Speaker C:He was the super bowl mvp.
Speaker C:He had two and.
Speaker C:Two and a half sacks in the AFC Championship game that year and two and a half sacks in the Super Bowl.
Speaker C:t of an ordinary player since:Speaker C:He's still compiling stats.
Speaker B:He had.
Speaker C:He had nine sacks last year for the Commanders, I can tell you that.
Speaker C:Those weren't like hugely impactful plays or anything, but he still has a knack to get back there.
Speaker C:He's number nine all time in sacks.
Speaker C:He can easily get to about number six.
Speaker C:I think if he just plays one more year.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker C:I think he recently signed with the Raiders.
Speaker C:He might even wind up in the top five all time.
Speaker C:But the reason he makes this list is because he's going to wind up with like a 15 year career.
Speaker C:But like that first nine seasons, Darren, he was dominant on great defenses, very good.
Speaker C:He was the best player on a very good defense that won the Super Bowl.
Speaker C:He was a major disruptor.
Speaker C:The reason I have him over Calvin Johnson is they kind of had similar careers in terms of like their first nine or ten years, but then Miller just kept going, whereas Calvin Johnson called it quits.
Speaker C:So we don't know what we don't know.
Speaker C:So that's kind of how I broke that tie.
Speaker B:All right, so who do you have at number four?
Speaker C:Number four is a guy.
Speaker C:It's funny, as a kid I always thought he was a little soft and a little overrated.
Speaker C:But you know, kids are dumb.
Speaker C:So number four for me is Eric Dickerson.
Speaker C:Taken in:Speaker C:He was so dynamic.
Speaker C:He was the offensive rookie of the year and then he had four first team all pros in his first five seasons.
Speaker C:yard season in:Speaker C:So he was, he's all over the all time rushing lists.
Speaker C:He was not the same after that trade from the Rams to the Colts.
Speaker C:He did have a couple good years there in Indy.
Speaker C:A couple thousand yard seasons kind of fell off.
Speaker C:He only played one playoff game with the Colts in his first year and then never got back on the team that made the playoffs again.
Speaker C:So he sort of, once that trade happened, I feel like he was out of the consciousness of the football fans.
Speaker C:Whereas in the 80s, the mid-80s especially, goodness, I feel like Dickerson was an it thing.
Speaker C:No doubt.
Speaker C:Like everybody knew Eric Dickerson with the goggles and the Jheri curl and the very unique upright running style.
Speaker C:And in an era when we still really had so much aura and love of the running back and he was a very dynamic one to watch and an awesome player.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it was part of that pony express backfield at SMU those college days.
Speaker B:Still people are talking about.
Speaker B:So yeah, great, great athlete, great running back.
Speaker C:Yes, very Much so.
Speaker B:So who do you have next?
Speaker C:Number three is this, is this, this, this is my guess about the one that you think shouldn't be here.
Speaker C:But number three.
Speaker C:outside linebacker, taken in:Speaker C:What puts him over the top for me, Darren, is 17 years of incredible consistency.
Speaker C:17.
Speaker C:He was good for the Panthers.
Speaker C:He was good for the Bears.
Speaker C:He was good for the Packers.
Speaker C:He did not miss many games at all.
Speaker C:He had 11 interceptions as a defensive end, outside linebacker.
Speaker C:Edge guy.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:He was the defensive rookie of the year.
Speaker C:He had a bunch of all pros kind of spread out throughout his career.
Speaker C:He's fourth all time in sacks, but he was also.
Speaker C:We talked about Derek Thomas a little bit yesterday and you thought I didn't, I needed to have him a little bit higher or early.
Speaker C:I can't remember if it was yesterday.
Speaker C:The day before we talk about Derek Thomas a little bit bit.
Speaker C:And you thought that maybe I didn't have him quite high enough.
Speaker C:And I never you thought of.
Speaker C:Derek Thomas is like a sideline to sideline guy.
Speaker C:So much more of that, like pure elite rusher.
Speaker C:Whereas Peppers kind of did it both.
Speaker C:So he was, he made a lot of plays all over the field and he was the guy that got after the quarterback and he did it at a very high level for well over 15 years.
Speaker C:So that breaks some ties for me.
Speaker B:Okay, interesting.
Speaker B:I, I think he's in the hall of Fame.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's all about all good players.
Speaker B:I'm not, not, not complaining about that.
Speaker C:So go ahead.
Speaker B:Who do you have next?
Speaker C:Number two is a guy that I love and a guy that I will fight for on the hill.
Speaker C:It's another Rams running back number two.
Speaker C:ve got Marshall Falk taken in:Speaker C:He had nine, I just put nine years of elite weaponry.
Speaker C:He played a little bit longer than that, but that was sort of like his, the bulk of his career from ages 25 through 29.
Speaker C:He caught 80 or more passes in each of those seasons and had 1,000 yard rushing in all but one of them.
Speaker C:And he barely missed it the one year he didn't.
Speaker C:So we're talking about the guy that's running for 1,000 yards and catching 80 plus passes and pushing 1,000 yards receiving as well.
Speaker C:I thought he was the key to the greatest show on turf.
Speaker C:Hall of Famers everywhere on the skill positions there, but he was their guy.
Speaker C:He was their key he was the one that kind of the glue that brought it all together and, and made them impossible to defend.
Speaker C:Because you're like, you have this brilliant quarterback.
Speaker C:You have two.
Speaker C:You have one hall of Fame receiver, another guy, Tori Holt, that I think should be in the hall of Fame.
Speaker C:And now we have this running back who is both a Hall of Fame running back and a Hall of Fame receiver, essentially.
Speaker C:How do we deal with this?
Speaker C:You don't.
Speaker C:That's how.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker C:That's how it worked for them.
Speaker C:He's seventh all time in total touchdowns in the history of the NFL.
Speaker C:He is.
Speaker C:That's more than Jim Brown.
Speaker C:That is more than Adrian Peterson.
Speaker C:That is more than Walter Payton.
Speaker C:That is more than John Riggins.
Speaker C:He is also fifth all time in scrimmage yards.
Speaker C:He's one of the best players.
Speaker C:He's one of the best skill position players we've ever seen.
Speaker B:Yeah, he did very good on a couple different teams, too, so.
Speaker B:Made him.
Speaker B:Made both of the teams he played on much better.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:And I think I. I did mess it up.
Speaker C:He wasn't taken by the Rams.
Speaker C:He was taken by the Colts.
Speaker B:By the Colts.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Sorry about that.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, not a problem.
Speaker B:No problem.
Speaker B:Okay, so who do you have ahead of him?
Speaker C:Number one.
Speaker C:There'll be no controversy here, Darren.
Speaker C:You know, several picks back, I guess it was pick 16 when we talked about Jerry Rice, where I said I didn't.
Speaker C:Not only was he the best 16th pick ever, not only was he the best receiver ever, that I felt he was the best football player of all time.
Speaker C:is Lawrence Taylor, taken in:Speaker C:Hit the last three years of his career, he was no longer dominant, but he was okay.
Speaker C:But the first 10 years, I think he was the best defensive player ever.
Speaker C:He was the defensive rookie of the year.
Speaker C:He was the defensive player of the year twice, probably should have been more.
Speaker C:And he was first team all pro eight times.
Speaker C:But that doesn't tell the story, Darren.
Speaker C:The eyes tell the story.
Speaker C:I had a team that went up against him twice a year and it got to a point sometimes, Darren, where I said, I love my Redskins.
Speaker B:They're great.
Speaker C:Joe Gibbs is, I think, the best, smartest coach in the NFL.
Speaker C:But we can't win this game against the Giants because of Lawrence Taylor.
Speaker C:We can't win.
Speaker C:We can't beat them because of number 50.
Speaker B:Six.
Speaker B:Especially when he's taken and breaking your quarterback in two.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:And that was obviously unfortunate.
Speaker C:I know he's very much remembered for that, as is Theisman.
Speaker C:That fateful play on that fateful night, it was obviously just a bad luck.
Speaker C:Certainly.
Speaker C:LT was doing nothing wrong there except terrorizing the backfield like he always was.
Speaker B:On Monday Night Football when everybody's watching.
Speaker C:It was, yep, one of a very sharp memory.
Speaker C:So he ended Joe Theisman's career.
Speaker C:But he.
Speaker C:Darren, there was just.
Speaker C:Nobody ever like him on defense in terms of the way he could wreck the game.
Speaker C:We talked about Von Miller.
Speaker C:Von Miller was awesome.
Speaker C:He was lt, like in a lot of ways or.
Speaker C:But just missing that extra LT gear.
Speaker C:That was just where you watched and you were overwhelmed by him.
Speaker C:You know, Joe Gibbs created a position.
Speaker C:He created the H Vac to deal with Lawrence Taylor and didn't work all that well.
Speaker C:You know, it was.
Speaker C:They threw it.
Speaker C:We had one of the best offensive lines in the league for years and years.
Speaker C:Couldn't handle him.
Speaker C:But it wasn't just us.
Speaker C:It was every team he played against.
Speaker C:He was a ball hawk.
Speaker C:He was a quarterback hawk.
Speaker C:He made plays everywhere he could cover.
Speaker C:He had the famous interception return for a touchdown on Thanksgiving, I think his rookie year in Detroit.
Speaker C:He was incredible.
Speaker C:And now that we know that he was also a little bit of a loose cannon off the field, it also makes you wonder, like, wow, was there even more in that tank?
Speaker C:I don't know how there could have been.
Speaker C:But you wonder if maybe there was even some left on the field.
Speaker C:You know, I don't know.
Speaker B:Or maybe there was a fuel additive in his tank and maybe that's part of.
Speaker C:Maybe that was the key.
Speaker B:Yeah, but.
Speaker C:Yeah, we're just talking about that most iconic defensive player in the history of the National Football League.
Speaker C:I know there's a lot of great ones, but you'll never convince me that there's been anybody on defense better than.
Speaker B:Lt. And I've heard many people rate who the best defensive player and every single one of them to a T. And I agree.
Speaker B:It's lt, you know, it's.
Speaker B:He was that dominant of a player that, you know, you people can talk, you know, Reggie Waits and things like that, but I don't think Reggie White was as dominant as what LT was.
Speaker B:You know, he changed the face of the game and changed what offenses could do and.
Speaker B:And what they had to try to run away from him or whatever.
Speaker B:You know, it was nothing.
Speaker B:Nothing seemed to work very well.
Speaker C:No, there's.
Speaker C:There's one guy that we're going to talk about tomorrow that I think is on the radar, but.
Speaker C:Lt's in a classicism.
Speaker B:All right, well, great, great selections.
Speaker B:I still think I would make an argument a little bit for Calvin Johnson.
Speaker B:You know, just pulling up his stats here.
Speaker B:You know, Guy had 731 receptions in nine seasons.
Speaker B:Didn't miss a whole lot of games.
Speaker B:He had one season where he had 13 games and a couple replayed 14.
Speaker B:Most of the time, he would play most of the games.
Speaker B:You know, his touchdowns.
Speaker B:83 Touchdowns in that time.
Speaker B:So that's a.
Speaker B:It's a good amount of touchdowns.
Speaker B:It's almost eight, nine touchdowns a season going through there.
Speaker B:,:Speaker B:So that's who you're leaving off a list.
Speaker B:I. I don't know.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker C:He cut his own career short, Darren.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, it's like, again, I think he's that impactful of a player, I don't know that I would leave him off a top five.
Speaker C:Yeah, but here's the deal.
Speaker C:If you look at like, you know, receiving yards, receiving, you know, he's these.
Speaker C:He doesn't really show up on a lot of those lists.
Speaker B:So I'm not saying I'd put him in the top five receivers of all time, but I think in.
Speaker B:In this instance of talking to number twos, I think maybe he'd make that on a list of if I was doing it, but.
Speaker B:All right, I'm not even sure who I'd take off there, but I think.
Speaker C:I'd find a way for him that takes somebody.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:All right, well, we had 13 hall of Famers in all here.
Speaker B:about many of them, but since:Speaker B:But before:Speaker B:White, Another Dallas Cowboy,:Speaker B:Tom Mack of the Rams,:Speaker B:Bob Brown with the Philadelphia Eagles in 64.
Speaker B:And Les Richter, who played for the Dallas Texans, who later became the Baltimore Colts.
Speaker B:They ended up transferring into them.
Speaker B:1952, We had George McAfee of Philadelphia.
Speaker B:Luckman by the Chicago Bears,:Speaker B:of Fame, but Earl Morale was:Speaker B:And John David Crow, another Heisman winner, was taken by the Cardinals in 58.
Speaker B:So they're in the College Football hall of Fame.
Speaker B:Both of them.
Speaker B:So some great players all around here, but definitely I think there's another day where I think the modern players win out and dominate the top five.
Speaker B:That takes us to our draft stat of the day.
Speaker B:This is a little bit of a lengthy one, so we gotta follow this a little bit.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:ck, rivaled maybe only by the:Speaker B:Its reputation cemented by three future icons.
Speaker B:Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, who we talked about the other day.
Speaker B:They were taken in the first 11 picks today.
Speaker B:This trio ankled anchored their respective franchises for roughly 16 seasons and each brought home a total of four Super bowl rings.
Speaker B:Of course, I was two by Manning, two by Roethlisberger.
Speaker B:Beyond the star power atop:Speaker B:A staggering 17 quarterbacks were drafted in in that, that season, those seven rounds and never even close any other year.
Speaker B:So kind of an amazing fact there.
Speaker B:People were crazy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's, you know, half the teams would have got a quarterback that year.
Speaker C:Name them all.
Speaker B:Go, no, I don't think I can.
Speaker B:But that's, that's our draft stat of the day.
Speaker B:And that sort of wraps up our day.
Speaker B:Number two, our pick number two.
Speaker B:We have one day left in this journey that we've been taking.
Speaker B:I'd love to talk to you tomorrow about pick number one.
Speaker C:Pick number one.
Speaker C:Darren, we've come a long way.
Speaker B:All right, see you then.
Speaker C:See you tomorrow.
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