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The 10 best draft classes by one NFL team

One team, one draft, and how much of a championship roster came out of it.

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This is a let's-have-an-argument list. Ten draft classes, each from one team in one year, ranked on what the players did for the team that drafted them: Hall of Famers, Pro Bowls, starters and championships won together. Undrafted free agents signed the same year don't count, and neither does anything a player did after he left. Pittsburgh shows up twice, which says more about how the Steelers built the 1970s than about any bias here. If you think a better class is missing, or that one of these is ranked too high, say so. Every case below is there to be argued with.

  1. 1

    1974 Pittsburgh Steelers

    Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Mike Webster: four Hall of Famers, four Super Bowls

    Pittsburgh drafted four Hall of Famers in 1974: receiver Lynn Swann in the first round, linebacker Jack Lambert in the second, receiver John Stallworth in the fourth, 82nd overall, and center Mike Webster in the fifth, 125th overall. All four won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII and XIV. Lambert was Defensive Rookie of the Year and made nine Pro Bowls, Swann was MVP of Super Bowl X, and all four were inducted between 1990 and 2002. Safety Donnie Shell, also a Hall of Famer, joined the Steelers that year as an undrafted free agent, so he doesn't count here, and the class is still No. 1 by a distance. There's no serious counterargument. This is the class every other one gets measured against.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1974 Steelers draft · Wikipedia: 1974 Steelers season · Steelers.com · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Lambert.

  2. 2

    1958 Green Bay Packers

    Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Jerry Kramer: three Hall of Famers, five NFL titles

    Green Bay's 1958 draft produced three Hall of Famers: fullback Jim Taylor in the second round, 15th overall, linebacker Ray Nitschke in the third, 36th, and guard Jerry Kramer in the fourth, 39th. Taylor was the NFL's MVP in 1962, the same season Nitschke was MVP of the championship game. Nitschke and Kramer won five NFL titles, in 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967, and the last two were followed by wins in Super Bowls I and II. The counterargument is that none of it paid off until Vince Lombardi arrived: the 1958 Packers went 1-10-1, Lombardi was hired the next year, and the first title came in 1961. Kramer also waited until 2018 for his Hall of Fame call. Both true. Three Hall of Famers and five championships still put this class second.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 1958 Packers season · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Kramer · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Taylor · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Nitschke · Wikipedia: Ray Nitschke.

  3. 3

    1964 Dallas Cowboys

    Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes, Roger Staubach: three Hall of Famers, two of them future picks

    Dallas drafted three Hall of Famers in 1964, two of them as future picks who wouldn't arrive right away. Defensive back Mel Renfro went in the second round and made 10 Pro Bowls. Receiver Bob Hayes, a seventh-round future pick, joined in 1965. Quarterback Roger Staubach, taken in the 10th round, served in the Navy first and didn't join the Cowboys until 1969. He won Super Bowls VI and XII and was MVP of the first. The counterargument is patience: two of the three took one and five years to show up, and a class that makes you wait that long can't rank with the ones that won right away. It can rank third. All three are in Canton.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1964 Cowboys draft · Wikipedia: 1964 Cowboys season · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Staubach · Wikipedia: Roger Staubach · DallasCowboys.com.

  4. 4

    1970 Pittsburgh Steelers

    Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount: two Hall of Famers, four Super Bowls each

    Pittsburgh took Terry Bradshaw first overall in 1970 and cornerback Mel Blount in the third round, and both went into the Hall of Fame in 1989. Each won four Super Bowls: IX, X, XIII and XIV. Blount, the 53rd pick, was the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 1975. Bradshaw was the league MVP in 1978 and MVP of Super Bowls XIII and XIV. The counterargument is depth. After the two Hall of Famers there isn't much, and Bradshaw made only three Pro Bowls. That keeps the class behind the three above it. A quarterback and a cornerback with four rings each is still enough for fourth.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1970 Steelers draft · Wikipedia: 1970 Steelers season · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Blount · Wikipedia: Mel Blount.

  5. 5

    1983 Chicago Bears

    Jim Covert, Richard Dent and five more: seven Super Bowl XX starters

    Chicago's 1983 draft put seven starters on the field for Super Bowl XX: left tackle Jim Covert, left guard Mark Bortz, right guard Tom Thayer, receiver Willie Gault, defensive end Richard Dent, cornerback Mike Richardson and safety Dave Duerson. Two made the Hall of Fame, Dent in 2011 and Covert in 2020. Covert was the sixth overall pick and Gault the 18th. Dent went in the eighth round, 203rd overall, and was MVP of the Super Bowl. Bortz was an eighth-rounder too. The counterargument is that the class won one title, and the classes above it won several. That's why it's fifth and not higher.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1983 Bears draft · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XX · ChicagoBears.com.

  6. 6

    1981 San Francisco 49ers

    Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright, Carlton Williamson: three rookie starters in a Super Bowl win

    San Francisco drafted three defensive backs in the first three rounds of 1981, Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson, and all three started as rookies in Super Bowl XVI, which the 49ers won. Lott, the eighth overall pick, made 10 Pro Bowls and went into the Hall of Fame in 2000. Lott and Wright each won four Super Bowls with San Francisco: XVI, XIX, XXIII and XXIV. The counterargument is that only one of the three made the Hall of Fame, and several classes below this one have two. True. But this class rebuilt a secondary in one spring and won a title the same season.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1981 49ers draft · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XVI · San Francisco Chronicle · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Lott · Wikipedia: Eric Wright.

  7. 7

    1996 Baltimore Ravens

    Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis: two Hall of Famers from one first round

    The Ravens' first draft, in 1996, produced two Hall of Famers in the first round: tackle Jonathan Ogden at No. 4 and linebacker Ray Lewis at No. 26. Ogden made 11 Pro Bowls. Lewis was Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 and 2003 and MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, the franchise's first title, and he won a second ring in Super Bowl XLVII. The counterargument is depth. After the two stars the class thins out quickly, and one shared title is less than the classes above it won. It's seventh because getting two players of that quality in the same first round almost never happens.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1996 Ravens draft · Wikipedia: 1996 Ravens season · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Lewis · Wikipedia: Ray Lewis.

  8. 8

    1986 San Francisco 49ers

    Charles Haley, John Taylor, Tom Rathman and five more: eight Super Bowl XXIII starters

    The 49ers had no first-round pick in 1986, and their draft still went eight deep. Larry Roberts, Tom Rathman, Tim McKyer, John Taylor, Charles Haley, Steve Wallace, Kevin Fagan and Don Griffin all started in Super Bowl XXIII, and San Francisco won that one and the next. All eight came from rounds two through six. Haley, a fourth-rounder, was the NFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1994 and made the Hall of Fame in 2015. The counterargument is that only Haley made Canton, and three of his five rings came after he left for Dallas. That's fair, and it's why the class is eighth. For sheer numbers of starters on a champion, nothing else here matches it.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1986 49ers draft · Wikipedia: Super Bowl XXIII · NBC Sports Bay Area · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Haley.

  9. 9

    1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks: two Defensive Players of the Year from one first round

    Tampa Bay took defensive tackle Warren Sapp at No. 12 and linebacker Derrick Brooks at No. 28 in the first round of 1995. Both were named Defensive Player of the Year, Sapp in 1999 and Brooks in 2002, and both are in the Hall of Fame. Brooks made 11 Pro Bowls. Together they anchored the defense that won Super Bowl XXXVII, in which Brooks returned an interception for a touchdown. The counterargument is the one the Ravens face: two players and one title. That's why it's ninth. Two Defensive Players of the Year from the same first round is still rare enough to put it here.

    Sources: FootballDB: 1995 Buccaneers draft · Wikipedia: 1995 Buccaneers season · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Brooks · Wikipedia: Warren Sapp.

  10. 10

    1968 Oakland Raiders

    Ken Stabler, Art Shell, George Atkinson: two Hall of Famers, three Super Bowl XI winners

    Oakland's 1968 draft produced two Hall of Famers and a safety for its first Super Bowl winner. Quarterback Ken Stabler went in the second round, 52nd overall, tackle Art Shell in the third, 80th, and George Atkinson in the seventh, 190th. Stabler was the league's MVP in 1974 and made four Pro Bowls. Shell made eight Pro Bowls and went into the Hall of Fame in 1989; Stabler followed in 2016. All three won Super Bowl XI together, 32-14 over Minnesota, and Shell won again in Super Bowl XV. The counterargument is timing. Stabler didn't become the starter until 1973, five years after he was drafted, and the class won one title together, fewer than most above it. That's why it's 10th. Two Hall of Famers and a third contributor on a champion are enough to get it here.

    Sources: Wikipedia: 1968 Raiders season · Pro Football Reference: Stabler · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Stabler · Pro Football Hall of Fame: Shell · Wikipedia: George Atkinson · Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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