"Top Ten Draft Steals": no Bart Starr?

[Badgerinmaine]

I just saw a list of "Top Ten [NFL] Draft Steals" posted on ESPN (apparently it was originally put together by NFL.com last year). Most of the list are players that make a lot of sense (Tom Brady and Joe Montana are the top two), though I don't see how Ray Guy, as a first round pick, makes the cut. But this list leaves off Bart Starr completely, who was chosen in the 17th round in 1956. Now, one might say "well, there weren't as many teams then, so he was taken right about where Tom Brady was in terms of how many went ahead of him", and that's true--Brady was the 199th pick, Starr the 200th. But think of it this way--lots of sixth round picks like Brady make a team, but with only so many slots to go around, very few 17th round picks ever did. I think Starr would have been as good a choice as any to head the list, but leaving him off of it entirely is just silly.
(draft year corrected)

[KYPack]

I was thinking the same thing. Ray Guy doesn't belong on that list at all. A player who belongs in the HOF, but not a steal. There haven't been a lot of punters drafted #1. But if you do use the first pick on a guy, he supposed to be good, especially a punter.

Starr or HOF OT Rosie Brown of the Giants (a 27th round pick) would be a far better selection.

[oregonpackfan]

The selection of Starr was even more impressive when you consider that Starr sat on the bench his senior year at Alabama. He had been the starting QB prior to his senior year but Alabama had a new head coach.

The coach wanted to go with younger players so he benched the senior Bart Starr in favor of a younger quarterback.

[MJZiggy]

Wonder if he regrets THAT decision....

[Badgerinmaine]

I was thinking the same thing. Ray Guy doesn't belong on that list at all. A player who belongs in the HOF, but not a steal. There haven't been a lot of punters drafted #1. But if you do use the first pick on a guy, he supposed to be good, especially a punter.

Starr or HOF OT Rosie Brown of the Giants (a 27th round pick) would be a far better selection.

Exactly so. It's no rip on Ray Guy to say he shouldn't be on this list--he's one of the greatest at his position in the history of the game and was a genuine difference maker. Great pick? Bold pick? Absolutely. A steal? Not in the same class as the rest of that list or Starr or Roosevelt Brown.

That then brings up Dan Marino's place on the list. As the #27 pick overall, near the end of the first round, I don't think he is as great of a steal as Starr, either. But, I'm willing to consider him for the top ten steals more than Guy; he was taken later and played a far more important position, and was certainly one of the all-time greats. Plus, consider that he was the 6th QB taken (!!). John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, and Ken O'Brien all went ahead of him (not that choosing Elway or Kelly were bad picks... ) Wow--and what a draft it was, too--six Hall of Famers came out of that first round.

[Badgerinmaine]

Wonder if he regrets THAT decision....

That's J.B. Whitworth, the guy Bama fired to hire Bear Bryant. This coaching genius that benched Starr went 0-10 that year, and finished up two years later with a record at Alabama of 4-24-2. That kind of record these days would lead to an insurrection in Tuscaloosa.

[MJZiggy]

I'll take that as a 'yes.'

[Badgerinmaine]

I'll take that as a 'yes.'

More like "HELL, yes."

[Pugger]

The reason Bart wasn't on the list is because Starr was chosen back before 1960 and before those clowns on BSPN were born!

[falco]

Did they include Will Whiticker? How many 7th round picks start day one?

[cpk1994]

Did they include Will Whiticker? How many 7th round picks start day one?

Don't you mean Mark Tauscher?

[Fritz]

The whole idea of a draft "steal" seems odd to me. You're hardly "stealing" someone if everybody and his brother - you included - passed on a guy for sixteen rounds, or six rounds.

[Scott Campbell]

The whole idea of a draft "steal" seems odd to me. You're hardly "stealing" someone if everybody and his brother - you included - passed on a guy for sixteen rounds, or six rounds.

.......unless you're the Bears or Vikings and aren't picking until then.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Karl Mecklenburg. 12th round pick (310 overall) 6 Pro Bowls. Much bigger steal than Terrel Davis.

[MadScientist]

So which HOF'er had the highest draft position (not round, but slot)?

They should not have included anyone on the list in the first round. I'd say no player picked before slot 100-150 should have even been considered.