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First Pick Pressure
April 17 2002
By Bryan Hersh of 49ers Paradise
Every off-season there is constant debate over who the number one pick in the NFL draft should be. These players are supposed to be of the 'franchise' caliber. Players who teams can build around, players that will make a difference when the game is on the line. Unfortunately, the team that holds the number one pick in the the draft, rarely gets the return on their million dollar investment that they expected.

Only ten players who were picked first overall have been elected to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame - the benchmark for 'the best of the best'. Making the Hall of Fame distinguishes a player for eternity, as one of the best. Earl Campbell, Lee Roy Selmon, Terry Bradshaw, OJ Simpson, Ron Yary, Buck Buchanan, Paul Hornung, Chuck Bednarik, Charles Trippi and Bill Dudley are the select ten. These players were scouted as great and turned out to be great. It's surprising though, that such a situation does not arise more often.

It says a lot, or a little about the teams picking first overall. Is it that the team who holds the first pick generally is the worst team in the league -and thus often has a worse scouting department? Is it that until recently drafting was more of a 'crap shoot' than it a science? To be honest I'm not sure. It is however quite interesting that teams could miss out on so many future Hall of Famers when they have the entire draft crop in front of them.

Incidentally there are three schools that have had the most first picks overall selected from them. USC, Auburn and Notre Dame lead the pack. Certainly this says quite a bit about the football programs at these schools.

Talk about it in the 49ers Paradise Forum

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