HOW THE TOP PICKS HAVE FARED

NFL’s top draft picks the last 20 years . . . and how they panned out.

Year Player Pos. School Team 1967 Bubba Smith DE Michigan Baltimore State Colts 1968 Ron Yary OT USC Minnesota Vikings 1969 O.J. Simpson RB USC Buffalo Bills 1970 Terry Bradshaw QB Louisiana Pittsburgh Tech Steelers 1971 Jim Plunkett QB Stanford N. England Patriots 1972 Walt Patulski DE Notre Dame Buffalo Bills 1973 John Matuszak DE Tampa Houston Oilers 1974 Ed Jones DE Tennessee Dallas State Cowboys 1975 Steve Bartkowski QB California Atlanta Falcons 1976 Lee Roy Selmon DE Oklahoma Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1977 Ricky Bell RB USC Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1978 Earl Campbell RB Texas Houston Oilers 1979 Tom Cousineau LB Ohio State Buffalo Bills 1980 Billy Sims RB Oklahoma Detroit Lions 1981 George Rogers RB South N.Orleans Carolina Saints 1982 Kenneth Sims DT Texas N.England Patriots 1983 John Elway QB Stanford Baltimore Colts 1984 Irving Fryar WR Nebraska N.England Patriots 1985 Bruce Smith DE Virginia Tech Buffalo Bills 1986 Bo Jackson RB Auburn Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Year How they did 1967 Played five years, then with Played five years, then with Raiders in ‘73-74; All-Pro, two Pro Bowls. 1968 Played 15 years, All-Pro, seven Pro Bowls. 1969 Played nine years, then with San Francisco ‘78-79; All-Pro, single-season rushing record (since broken), five Pro Bowls, Hall of Fame. 1970 Played 14 years, All-Pro, three Pro Bowls. 1971 Played five years, AFC rookie of year, then with San Francisco ‘76-77 and Raiders ‘78-present. 1972 Played four years, then with St. Louis ‘76-77. 1973 Played one season, suspended for trying to jump to World Football League, then with Kansas City ‘74-75 and Raiders ‘76-82. 1974 Played 13 years to present; three Pro Bowls. 1975 Played 11 years, then with Washington last two games of ’85 and Rams ‘86; one Pro Bowl. 1976 Played nine years; All-Pro, defensive player of year, six Pro Bowls. 1977 Played five years, then with San Diego ’82. 1978 Played seven years, then with New Orleans ‘84-85, All-Pro, six Pro Bowls. 1979 With Montreal (CFL) ‘79-81, Cleveland ‘82-85, San Francisco ‘86-present. 1980 Played five years, injured ’84 and retired ‘85; three Pro Bowls. 1981 Played four years, then with Washington ‘85-present; two Pro Bowls. 1982 Played five seasons to present. 1983 Traded to Denver ‘83, played four seasons to present; one Pro Bowl. 1984 Played three seasons to present; one Pro Bowl. 1985 Played two seasons to present. 1986 Playing baseball with the Kansas City Royals.