Ranked: The 10 Best Team Draft Classes

Here’s how you build a juggernaut.

Former Chargers teammates Drew Brees (L) and LaDanian Tomlinson are future Hall-of-Famers and were taken by the team in the 2001 NFL Draft. Robert B. Stanton/NFLPhotoLibrary

There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the NFL draft—and for good reason. Rookie contracts are team-friendly and if you happen to find a few Pro Bowlers—let alone Hall-of-Famers—in the draft, you can go from basement-dweller to contender in a hurry.

Here are the 10 best team drafts since NFL went to a seven-round format in 1994.

10. (tie) 1998 Minnesota Vikings: WR Randy Moss (1st Round), C Matt Birk (6th); 1998 Pittsburgh Steelers: G Alan Faneca (1st), WR Hines Ward (3rd)

The Vikings got one of the best receivers in the history of the game when character concerns helped Randy Moss slide all the way to 21st overall. The sixth-round choice Birk made six Pro Bowls. Meanwhile, Faneca was a six-time All-Pro at guard for the Steelers, and Ward was a four-time Pro Bowler and the heart and soul of the team until he retired in 2011.

9. 1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: RB Warrick Dunn (1st), CB Ronde Barber (3rd)

Dunn was an ultra-quick back who made three Pro Bowls and rushed for over 10,000 yards in his career. Barber made five Pro Bowls at corner and was a three-time All-Pro selection, who played his entire 16-year career for Tampa Bay.

Warren Sapp (bottom) and Derrick Brooks helped Tampa Bay form one of the best defenses in the NFL in the late 90s and early 2000s. AP Photo/John Amis