Teams Win Championships by Drafting Well After the First Two Rounds of the Draft

on
Throughout NFL history, championship teams usually have a franchise player that was drafted after rounds 1 and 2 of the NFL draft. Taking a star with your first overall pick is not always a guarantee for a team to be successful.

Stafford gets traded to the Los Angeles Rams who have developed late-round talent extremely well. He is the same player, but in a different environment. He was surrounded by other players who could enable him to showcase his talent and reach his full potential.
Throughout NFL history, championship teams usually have a franchise player that was drafted after rounds 1 and 2 of the NFL draft. Taking a star with your first overall pick is not always a guarantee for a team to be successful. A good example is Matthew Stafford when he played for the Detroit Lions. He was a great player, but the Detroit Lions could not draft well enough for them to be a contender. They were not able to bring in players to support him and make him and the team successful.

Stafford gets traded to the Los Angeles Rams who have developed late-round talent extremely well. He is the same player, but in a different environment. He was surrounded by other players who could enable him to showcase his talent and reach his full potential. Key players for the 2021 championship squad included players like Cooper Kupp (Round 3, pick 69), who was coming off debatably the best season by a wide receiver in NFL history, and Darius Williams (undrafted), who played on the opposite side of Jalen Ramsey at cornerback. Without those 2 players, the Rams would not have won the Super Bowl. There were other talented players to support Stafford and the team.

The defensive team, The Legion of Boom, for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2013-2014 season is another prime example. They had Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, both of whom were picked in the fifth round.
There are other instances of late round picks that made a huge impact for teams in previous years. The defensive team, The Legion of Boom, for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2013-2014 season is another prime example. They had Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, both of whom were picked in the fifth round. Also, seven-time Super Bowl champion and the greatest player of all time, Tom Brady, was picked in the sixth round. Travis Kelce, drafted in the third round, and Tyreek Hill, drafted in the fifth round, both were primary reasons why the Chiefs won a Super Bowl after their 50-year championship drought in the 2019-2020 season. Those are just a few examples in recent memory of players getting passed on multiple times by many teams, during the draft, and then making a huge impact and becoming vital pieces for their teams.

Also, seven-time Super Bowl champion and the greatest player of all time, Tom Brady, was picked in the sixth round.
So, the key to success in the NFL is looking beyond the first round and finding players that fill a niche within the team system and flourish in the team’s environment. A first round pick does not guarantee success, but a late round pick doesn’t guarantee failure either. Late round NFL draft picks are the foundation to building championship NFL teams.


What are other examples of late round draft picks that made an NFL team great?

Comments

Post a Comment