A look back at the best and worst picks of the first draft of the previous decade:
Steals
Tom Brady, QB, Michigan
Patriots: Round 6, Pick 199
Let’s see, he has three Super Bowl rings, is the only man in NFL history to throw for 50 touchdowns in a single season. Quarterbacks taken ahead of Brady include Giovanni Carmazzi, Tee Martin and Spergon Wynn. New England got away with grand larceny here.
Brady on Brady before the 2000 draft: "I think my best asset as a player is that in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, I have the desire to win and the feeling that our team is not going to lose."
Adalius Thomas, OLB, Southern Miss
Ravens: Round 6, Pick 186
Things haven’t quite worked out for Thomas with the Patriots in recent years, but before joining them, he was a two-time Pro Bowl player alongside Ray Lewis in Baltimore.
Dante Hall, WR, Texas A&M
Chiefs: Round 5, Pick 153
Hall (5-8, 187) was too undersized to hold up at his college position of running back. But with his great quickness and elusiveness, "The Human Joystick" found his niche on kickoff and punt returns and racked up 12,397 career return yards and 10 touchdowns.
Mark Tauscher, RT, Wisconsin
Packers: Round 7, Pick 224
The Packers took a flyer on the Wisconsin product, and he and Chad Clifton (Round 2, Pick 44 in 2000) started immediately as bookend tackles. Tauscher has battled injuries but has stuck with the team.
Brian Waters, G, North Texas
Chiefs: Undrafted
Throughout the decade, the four-time Pro Bowl guard was the dominant force behind Kansas City’s prolific rushing machine, paving the way for monster seasons by Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson.
Stinkers
Courtney Brown, DE, Penn State
Browns: Round 1, Pick 1
Cleveland had the misfortune of taking its namesake, who was derailed by knee injuries after his rookie season, limiting him to only 19 career sacks.
R. Jay Soward, WR, Southern Cal
Jaguars: Round 1, Pick 29
Jacksonville officials overlooked his off-field problems in taking him here, and he didn’t even make out it of training camp as a rookie, succumbing to several suspensions that stemmed from alcohol and drug abuse.
Erik Flowers, DE, Arizona State
Bills: Round 1, Pick 26
He started only six games for Buffalo before being released after only two seasons. He ended up as journeyman with five sacks over his six bad NFL years.
Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin
Giants: Round 1, Pick 11
Dayne came in as a Heisman winner and the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher, but the New Jersey native was best known for being "Thunder" to Tiki Barber’s "Lightning" for a few seasons before falling out of shape—and the team’s favor. He also is known as the back New York drafted instead of Shaun Alexander.
Travis Taylor, WR, Florida
Ravens: Round 1, Pick 10
Taylor was one of five wide receivers drafted in the first round, none of whom made the Pro Bowl. After five mediocre seasons in Baltimore, he bounced around, playing for five other teams before failing to find a seventh NFL home in 2009.
First round
1. Cleveland—Courtney Brown, DE, Penn State
2. Washington—LaVar Arrington, OLB, Penn State
3. Washington—Chris Samuels, OT, Alabama
4. Cincinnati—Peter Warrick, WR, Florida State
5. Baltimore—Jamal Lewis, RB, Tennessee
6. Philadelphia—Corey Simon, DT, Florida State
7. Arizona—Thomas Jones, RB, Virginia
8. Pittsburgh—Plaxico Burress, WR, Michigan State
9. Chicago—Brian Urlacher, MLB, New Mexico
10. Baltimore—Travis Taylor, WR, Florida
11. N.Y. Giants—Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin
12. N.Y. Jets—Shaun Ellis, DE, Tennessee
13. N.Y. Jets—John Abraham, LB, South Carolina
14. Green Bay—Bubba Franks, TE, Miami (Fla.)
15. Denver—Deltha O’Neal, CB, Cal
16. San Francisco—Julian Peterson, OLB, Michigan State
17. Oakland—Sebastian Janikowski, K, Florida State
18. N.Y. Jets—Chad Pennington, QB, Marshall
19. Seattle—Shaun Alexander, RB, Alabama
20. Detroit—Stockar McDougle, OT, Oklahoma
21. Kansas City—Sylvester Morris, WR, Jackson State
22. Seattle—Chris McIntosh, OT, Wisconsin
23. Carolina—Rashard Anderson, FS, Jackson State
24. San Francisco—Ahmed Plummer, CB, Ohio State
25. Minnesota—Chris Hovan, DT, Boston College
26. Buffalo—Erik Flowers, DE, Arizona State
27. N.Y. Jets—Anthony Becht, TE, West Virginia
28. Indianapolis—Rob Morris, LB, Brigham Young
29. Jacksonville—R.Jay Soward, WR, USC
30. Tennessee—Keith Bulluck, LB, Syracuse
31. St. Louis—Trung Canidate, RB, Arizona
Second round
32. Cleveland—Dennis Northcutt, WR, Arizona
33. New Orleans—Darren Howard, DE, Kansas State
34. Cincinnati—Mark Roman, CB, Louisiana State
35. San Francisco—John Engelberger, DE, Virginia Tech
36. Philadelphia—Todd Pinkston, WR, Southern Miss
37. Atlanta—Travis Claridge, G, USC
38. Pittsburgh—Marvel Smith, OT, Arizona State
39. Chicago—Mike Brown, FS, Nebraska
40. Denver—Ian Gold, LB, Michigan
41. Arizona—Raynoch Thompson, OLB, Tennessee
42. N.Y. Giants—Cornelius Griffin, DT, Alabama
43. San Diego—Rogers Beckett, S, Marshall
44. Green Bay—Chad Clifton, OT, Tennessee
45. Denver—Kenoy Kennedy, S, Arkansas
46. New England—Adrian Klemm, OT, Hawaii
47. Oakland—Jerry Porter, WR, West Virginia
48. San Francisco—Jason Webster, CB, Texas A&M
49. Dallas—Dwayne Goodrich, DB, Tennessee
50. Detroit—Barrett Green, LB, West Virginia
51. Tampa Bay—Cosey Coleman, G, Tennessee
52. Seattle—Ike Charlton, CB, Virginia Tech
53. Miami—Todd Wade, OT, Mississippi
54. Kansas City—William Bartee, CB, Oklahoma
55. Minnesota—Fred Robbins, DT, Wake Forest
56. Minnesota—Michael Boireau, DE, Miami (Fla.)
57. Carolina—Deon Grant, S, Tennessee
58. Buffalo—Travares Tillman, FS, Georgia Tech
59. Indianapolis—Marcus Washington, LB, Auburn
60. Jacksonville—Brad Meester, G, Northern Iowa
61. Philadelphia—Bobbie Williams, G, Arkansas
62. St. Louis—Jacoby Shepherd, DB, Oklahoma State
This story appears in the April 1 edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only sports digital daily, sign up today.