Some NFL teams have made the decision to avoid free agency with one thing in mind, adding another draft pick to their haul the following season. The Green Bay Packers and general manager Ted Thompson made that a point this offseason, even with a lot of money to spend on the open market.
In fact, Green Bay’s major free-agent acquisition this offseason, Julius Peppers, won’t cost it in the complex compensatory selection algorithm. See, this formula was created to counteract free agency and create some competitive balance around the league. In short, if a team loses more quality free agents than it signs, that team will be awarded compensatory picks. In Green Bay’s case, Peppers was previously released by the Chicago Bears. This means that it doesn’t count against the Packers moving forward.
Okay, now that I have done my best to explain the format to you, let’s take a look at the best NFL draft compensatory selections of the last 10 years.
Scott Wells, Center, Green Bay Packers (Seventh Round, 251st Pick in 2004)
Wells started 100 games in eight seasons with the Packers, earning a Pro Bowl trip in his last season with the team back in 2011. Wells performed so well (pun intended) with Green Bay that he earned a four-year, $24 million deal with the St. Louis Rams as a free agent following the 2011 season. He was the 10th and final center selected in the draft that season. Only Nick Hardwick, who was selected early in the second round, has more career starts than Wells out of that group. In fact, the other eight centers selected have less career starts than Wells.
LeRoy Hill, Linebacker, Seattle Seahawks (Third Round, 98th Pick in 2005)
It didn’t take Hill that long to get acclimated to the NFL after the Seahawks took him in the third round of the 2005 draft. He recorded 7.5 sacks as a situation pass rusher his rookie season and became their starting left outside linebacker for the next six seasons before injuries and off-field issues caught up with him. All said, Hill recorded over 500 tackles and 20 sacks in seven full seasons with Seattle.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Quarterback, St. Louis Rams (Seventh Round, 250th Pick in 2005)
Jim Brown, USA Today: Ryan Fitzpatrick has turned in a rather decent NFL career.
As the sixth-t0-last pick in the 2005 NFL draft, Fitzpatrick has made quite the career for himself. While he started just three games in two seasons with the Rams before being cut, the Harvard alum has put up 74 starts in the last six seasons, including as the Buffalo Bills regular starter from 2010-2012. He boasts 106 career touchdown passes compared to 93 interceptions.
Fitzpatrick was the 14th and final quarterback taken that season, going directly behind Matt Cassel, who was also a seventh-round selection. The likes of Andrew Walter, David Greene, Stefan Lefors, Adrian McPherson and James Kilian all went ahead of Fitzpatrick in the 05 draft. Still in the league, Fitzpatrick just recently signed with the Houston Texans and should be competing for a starting gig in training camp.
Willie Colon, Guard, Pittsburgh Steelers (Fourth Round, 131st Pick in 2006)
As the 131st pick in 2006 from Hofstra, Colon was slated to play tackle out of the gate. And he did a darn good job of that for three seasons before being injured early in the 2011 campaign. Since then, Colon has moved inside and continued to be a consistent force along the offensive line. He started 67 games in four full seasons (missing most of 2006 and 2011) for the Steelers before moving on to the Jets last offseason.
The likes of Guy Whimper and Ryan O’Callaghan were the two offensive tackles that Colon was sandwiched between in the draft that season. They have 44 career starts between them compared to 83 for Colon.
Antoine Bethea, Safety, Indianapolis Colts (Sixth Round, 207th Pick in 2006)
After being selected 207 picks in during the 2006 NFL draft, Bethea ended up starting all 123 games that he played for the Colts during his eight-year career with the team, earning Pro Bowl selections in 2007 and 2009. He’s also racked up 100-plus tackles in five of his last six seasons. Not too shabby for someone who was taken at a cornerback from Howard with the second-to-last pick of the sixth round.
While Bethea has a 96-game consecutive start streak, the five defensive backs selected immediately prior to him have a combined 12 career NFL starts. Bethea now joins the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive backfield and will team up with 2013 Pro Bowler Eric Reid to form one heck of a tandem.
Marques Colston, Wide Receiver, New Orleans Saints (Seventh Round, 252nd Pick in 2006)
Derick E. Hingle, USA Today: Colston is the Saints’ all-time leading receiver.
The fourth-to-last pick in the 2006 NFL draft is New Orleans all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. It honestly doesn’t get much better than that. Interestingly enough, a ton of quality NFL players were taken in the later rounds that season. Colston’s teammate with the Saints, Zach Strief, joins the likes of Cortland Finnegan and Fred Evans as others to go in the final round of the 2006 draft.
For his part, Colston has put up six 1,000-yard seasons and five different campaigns with a minimum of eight touchdown receptions. The receivers who went ahead of Colston in the 2006 draft, include David Anderson, Ben Obomanu, Devin Aromashodu, Bennie Brazell and Todd Watkins have a combined 433 less catches than him in their careers.
Ray McDonald, Defensive End, San Francisco 49ers (Third Round, 97th Pick in 2007)
McDonald may not get noticed all too often in San Francisco’s star-studded defensive front, but he’s been an anchor next to Justin Smith for some time now. As more of a run-stuffing five-tech defensive end that lines up at defensive tackle in the 49ers scheme, McDonald hasn’t put up sexy sack numbers (16.5 in seven seasons). But he’s made a name for himself against both the run and actually causing issues for the quarterback in the offensive backfield. It took a while for McDonald to find his role in San Francisco…once he did, it was over. He’s started 45 of a possible 48 games for the best defensive in the NFL over the past three seasons.
McDonald was taken with the third-to-last pick in the third round. Interestingly enough, Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl defensive end Charles Johnson was the lineman taken immediately prior to McDonald that year. Not a bad third round for those in the trenches, aye?
Ahmad Bradshaw, Running Back, New York Giants (Seventh Round, 250th Pick in 2007)
Geoff Burke, USA Today: Bradshaw was important part of two titles in NY.
It’s still hard to believe, but Bradshaw was the last running back selected back in 2007. Coming from Marshall where he put up over 1,600 yards and 21 touchdowns in his final season, there were concerns over Bradshaw’s lack of size. Those concerns were real, as he played mostly on special teams in his first two seasons with the Giants. Forced into a more important role in the backfield in 2009 due to the departure of Derrick Ward in free agency, Bradshaw proved all skeptics wrong. He amassed nearly 1,000 total yards and seven scores while averaging over five yards a touch.
It was then that we knew and started to get familiar with Thunder and Lightning, as it was known in 2010. Teaming up with Brandon Jacobs, this smallish running back tallied over 1,500 total yards and eight scores in 2010 before putting up 11 touchdowns in the Giants Super Bowl-winning campaign in 2011. After putting up another 1,ooo-yard season the next year, New York decided to change directions and didn’t bring Bradshaw back. He caught on with the Indianapolis Colts last year, but was injured early in the season.
Bradshaw is set to enter his eighth NFL season after Indianapolis signed him to a one-year deal lost month. Not a bad career for someone who was the sixth-to-last pick in the draft and was selected behind nearly two dozen other running backs who, outside of Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch, haven’t amounted to much in the National Football League.
Pierre Garcon, Wide Receiver, Indianapolis Colts (Sixth Round, 205th Pick in 2008)
This small-school product, a son of Haitian immigrants, is likely one of the most surprising story of this article. He played at small Norwich University in Vermont before transferring to Mount Union College in Ohio. He was nowhere near the radar of the mainstream scouting community when Indianapolis “reached” for him in the sixth round of the 2008 draft. Despite this, Garcon earned a spot on the Colts roster in training camp and played sparingly his rookie campaign. After the Colts were setback due to injuries at wide receiver the following season, Garcon found his way in their regular rotation. He put up nearly 800 yards and four touchdowns in 13 starts that year.
Believed to be more of a product of Peyton Manning in Indianapolis, Garcon moved on to the Washington Redskins a couple years later. All he has done is up his game to Pro Bowl status. The former sixth-round pick led the entire NFL with 113 receptions last season and will now be teaming up with DeSean Jackson to form a great receiver tandem for Robert Griffin III in 2014.
The wide receivers selected immediately prior to Garcon included: Jaymar Johnson, Paul Hubbard and Kevin Robinson, who have a combined two career receptions. That’s a BAD game for Garcon himself.
Other Notables
Photo: Matthew Emmons, USA Today: Just a backup LB who won Super Bowl MVP this February.
Malcolm Smith, Linebacker, Seattle Seahawks (Seventh Round, 242nd Pick in 2011): Super Bowl XLVIII MVP
Mike Daniels, Defensive End, Green Bay Packers (Fourth Round, 132nd Pick in 2012): 6.5 sacks for the Packers in 2013.
Marcus Lattimore, Running Back, San Francisco 49ers (Fourth Round, 131st Pick in 2013): Likely top-20 pick in 2013 NFL draft before ACL tear.
Marcus Cooper, Cornerback, San Francisco 49ers (Seventh Round, 252nd Pick in 2013): Six starts, three interceptions and a TD as a rookie.
Photo: Chris Humphreys, USA Today