Pro Football Reference Blog

My friends Sigmund Bloom and Cecil Lammey from the world's best football podcast are fond of saying that Al Davis likes shiny things. I don't know if it's original to them, but it's catchy.

I don't know why this thought popped into my head, but last night I wondered what team had the most former first-round picks on its roster. So I ran the query, and it provided more evidence of this post's title.

There have been three teams in NFL history with 18 former first-round picks on the roster at some point. Two of those three are Raider teams: 1997 and 2003. Both were 4-12. They're separated by only six years but have almost no overlap. In fact, 39 different former first-round picks played for Oakland in the seven-year span from 1997 to 2003. The average NFL team suited up about 22 different first-round picks during that span.

1997 Raiders

+----------------------+------+
| Aundray Bruce        |    1 |
| Russell Maryland     |    1 |
| Jeff George          |    1 |
| Darrell Russell      |    2 |
| Eric Turner          |    2 |
| Desmond Howard       |    4 |
| David Klingler       |    6 |
| Tim Brown            |    6 |
| Rickey Dudley        |    9 |
| Terry McDaniel       |    9 |
| Lincoln Kennedy      |    9 |
| Pat Harlow           |   11 |
| Anthony Smith        |   11 |
| Chester McGlockton   |   16 |
| Napoleon Kaufman     |   18 |
| Lester Holmes        |   19 |
| Harvey Williams      |   21 |
| Rob Fredrickson      |   22 |

2003 Raiders

+----------------------+------+
| Rick Mirer           |    2 |
| Sean Gilbert         |    3 |
| Charles Woodson      |    4 |
| Tim Brown            |    6 |
| Lincoln Kennedy      |    9 |
| Rod Woodson          |   10 |
| Trace Armstrong      |   12 |
| Jerry Rice           |   16 |
| Tyrone Wheatley      |   17 |
| Phillip Buchanon     |   17 |
| Sebastian Janikowski |   17 |
| Matt Stinchcomb      |   18 |
| Mo Collins           |   23 |
| Napoleon Harris      |   23 |
| Dana Stubblefield    |   26 |
| Derrick Gibson       |   28 |
| Nnamdi Asomugha      |   31 |
| Tyler Brayton        |   32 |

Here is the non-Raider team with 18 first-round picks:

1995 Dolphins

+----------------------+------+
| Steve Emtman         |    1 |
| Irving Fryar         |    1 |
| Terrell Buckley      |    5 |
| Troy Vincent         |    7 |
| Chris Singleton      |    8 |
| Richmond Webb        |    9 |
| Keith Byars          |   10 |
| Eric Moore           |   10 |
| Trace Armstrong      |   12 |
| Marco Coleman        |   12 |
| Dan McGwire          |   16 |
| Tim Bowens           |   20 |
| Eric Green           |   21 |
| Randal Hill          |   23 |
| Louis Oliver         |   25 |
| O.J. McDuffie        |   25 |
| Billy Milner         |   25 |
| Dan Marino           |   27 |

And the fourth-place team: the 2007 Bucs

+----------------------+------+
| Gaines Adams         |    4 |
| Cadillac Williams    |    5 |
| Ryan Sims            |    6 |
| Kevin Carter         |    6 |
| Ike Hilliard         |    7 |
| Joey Galloway        |    8 |
| Michael Clayton      |   15 |
| Phillip Buchanon     |   17 |
| Luke Petitgout       |   19 |
| Davin Joseph         |   23 |
| Chris Hovan          |   25 |
| Michael Bennett      |   27 |
| Anthony Becht        |   27 |
| Derrick Brooks       |   28 |
| Jerramy Stevens      |   28 |
| Sammy Davis          |   30 |

Since 1980, there have been eight teams with only three former first-rounders. The most recent of these were the Texans in the first two years of their existence, and the 2001 Dolphins.