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The Best No. 1 Overall NFL Draft Picks Of All Time, Ranked

Updated July 25, 2019 22.7k votes 1.2k voters 7.3k views53 items

List RulesVote for players who had the most success with the franchise that drafted them. Only in Super Bowl era (since 1967).

Every No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft is a potentially franchise-changing player. Sometimes that player leads his team to multiple Super Bowls like Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman, two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Other times, he leads another franchise to multiple Super Bowls like John Elway and Eli Manning, neither of whom played a snap for the team that drafted them.

Nine Hall of Famers have gone been the top overall pick in the NFL draft and five league MVPs.

But who has been the best No. 1 overall draft pick for his franchise. Stats below reflect only a player's time with the team that drafted him, unless otherwise noted, and that's how these players should be ranked. How much did they help the team that spent a No. 1 pick on them?

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754
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Peyton Manning
Draft year: 1998
Team: Indianapolis Colts

Achievements
4-time NFL MVP with Colts (2003-2004, 2008-2009)
2004 Offensive Player of the Year
2005 Walter Payton Man of the Year
2006 Super Bowl MVP
2006 Super Bowl champion with Colts

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#10 of 150 Athletes You Didn't Know Were Conservative#147 of 269 The Most Trustworthy Celebrities in the World
2
530
257
John Elway
Draft year: 1983
Team: Baltimore Colts

Achievements
Never played for Colts
2004 Hall of Fame inductee
1987 NFL MVP
1992 Walter Payton Man of the Year
2-time Super Bowl champion (1997-1998)

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#392 of 403 Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person#1 of 49 The Best Stanford Football Players of All Time
3
442
225
Earl Campbell
Draft year: 1978
Team: Houston Oilers

Achievements
1991 Hall of Fame inductee
1979 NFL MVP
3-time Offensive Player of the Year (1978-1980)
1978 Offensive Rooke of the Year
5-time Pro Bowl selection (1978-1981, 1983)
3-time first-team All-Pro (1978-1980)

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#10 of 206 The Best NFL Running Backs of All Time#1 of 27 The Best NFL Running Backs of the 70s
4
456
239
Terry Bradshaw
Draft year: 1970
Team: Pittsburgh Steelers

Achievements
1989 Hall of Fame inductee
1978 NFL MVP
2-time Super Bowl MVP (1978-1979)
3-time Pro Bowl selection (1975, 1978-1979)
1978 first-team All-Pro
4-time Super Bowl champion (1974-1975, 1978-1979)

More Terry Bradshaw
#192 of 439 Famous Men You'd Want to Have a Beer With#7 of 39 The Best NFL Quarterbacks of the 1970s
5
395
211
Bruce Smith
Draft year: 1985
Team: Buffalo Bills

Achievements
2009 Hall of Fame inductee
2-time Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1996)
11-time Pro Bowl selection (1987-1990, 1992-1998)
8-time first-team All-Pro (1987-1988, 1990, 1993-1997)

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#25 of 28 The Best NFL Players With The Most Pro Bowl Appearances#1 of 162 The Best Buffalo Bills of All Time
6
501
293
Bo Jackson
Draft year: 1986
Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Achievements
Never played for Buccaneers

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#413 of 708 The Best Hitters in Baseball History#195 of 582 The Greatest Baseball Players Of All Time
7
401
248
Troy Aikman
Draft year: 1989
Team: Dallas Cowboys

Achievements
2006 Hall of Fame inductee
1997 Walter Payton Man of the Year
6-time Pro Bowl selection (1991-1996)
3-time Super Bowl champion (1992-1993, 1995)

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#1 of 44 The Best UCLA Football Players of All Time#6 of 41 The Best NFL Quarterbacks of the '90s
8
324
213
Ed Jones
Draft year: 1974
Team: Dallas Cowboys

Achievements
3-time Pro Bowl seletion (1981-1983)
1982 first-team All-Pro
1977 Super Bowl champion

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#8 of 80 The Best NFL Player Nicknames#39 of 432 The Greatest Defenders in NFL History
9
360
300
O. J. Simpson
Draft year: 1969
Team: Buffalo Bills

Achievements
1985 Hall of Fame inductee
1973 NFL MVP
1973 Offensive Player of the Year
6-time Pro Bowl selection (1969, 1972-1976)
5-time first-team All-Pro (1972-1976)

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Facts About OJ Simpson That Will Make Your Skin Crawl#118 of 904 Celebrity Death Pool 2021
10
276
253
Orlando Pace
Draft year: 1997
Team: St. Louis Rams

Achievements
2016 Hall of Fame inductee
7-time Pro Bowl selection (1999-2005)
3-time first-team All-Pro (1999, 2001, 2003)
1999 Super Bowl champion

More Orlando Pace
#3 of 83 The Best Ohio State Buckeyes of All Time#9 of 110 The Best Los Angeles Rams of All Time
11
310
318
Michael Vick
Draft year: 2001
Team: Atlanta Falcons

Achievements
3-time Pro Bowl selection (2002, 2004-2005)

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#6 of 66 The Most Controversial Athletes in Sports History#11 of 106 The Fastest NFL Players of All Time
12
342
362
Eli Manning
Draft year: 2004
Team: San Diego Chargers

Achievements
Never played with Chargers

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#20 of 34 The Most Overpaid Professional Athletes Right Now#36 of 70 The Best Quarterbacks in the NFL Right Now
13
316
337
Andrew Luck
Draft year: 2012
Team: Indianapolis Colts

Achievements
2018 Comeback Player of the Year
4-time Pro Bowl selection (2012-2014, 2018)

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#7 of 26 NFL Players Whose Careers Ended Too Soon#16 of 73 The Best Quarterbacks to Never Win a Super Bowl

14
270
307
Matthew Stafford
Draft year: 2009
Team: Detroit Lions

Achievements
2011 Comeback Player of the Year
2014 Pro Bowl selection

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#11 of 119 The Best Detroit Lions of All Time#35 of 119 The Greatest College Football Quarterbacks of All Time
15
194
224
Bubba Smith
Draft year: 1967
Team: Baltimore Colts

Achievements
2-time Pro Bowl selection (1970-1971)
1971 first-team All-Pro
16
221
261
Jim Plunkett
Draft year: 1971
Team: New England Patriots

Achievements
Played with Patriots from 1971-1975
1980 Comeback Player of the Year
2-time Super Bowl champion (1980, 1983)

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#1181 of 1,427 The Best Athletes Of All Time#24 of 83 The Best Heisman Trophy Winners of All Time
17
178
214
Lee Roy Selmon
Draft year: 1976
Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Achievements
1995 Hall of Fame inductee
1979 Defensive Player of the Year
6-time Pro Bowl selection (1979-1984)
1979 first-team All-Pro

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#3 of 77 The Best Tampa Bay Buccaneers of All Time#1 of 36 The Best NFL Players From Oklahoma
18
169
205
Ron Yary
Draft year: 1968
Team: Minnesota Vikings

Achievements
2001 Hall of Fame inductee
7-time Pro Bowl selection (1971-1977)
6-time first-team All-Pro (1971-1976)
19
277
345
Cam Newton
Draft year: 2011
Team: Carolina Panthers

Achievements
2015 NFL MVP
2015 Offensive Player of the Year
2011 Offensive Rookie of the Year
3-time Pro Bowl selection (2011, 2013, 2015)
2015 first-team All-Pro

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#85 of 85 The Best University of Florida Football Players of All Time#41 of 329 The Most Obnoxious Athletes
20
195
239
Jake Long
Draft year: 2008
Team: Miami Dolphins

Achievements
4-time Pro Bowl selection (2008-2011)
2010 first-team All-Pro

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#7 of 87 The Best Michigan Football Players of All Time#43 of 246 The Best Miami Dolphins of All Time
21
221
281
Jadeveon Clowney
Draft year: 2014
Team: Houston Texans

Achievements
3-time Pro Bowl selection (2016-2018)
22
155
202
Billy Sims
Draft year: 1980
Team: Detroit Lions

Achievements
1980 Offensive Rookie of the Year
3-time Pro Bowl selection (1980-1982)

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#3 of 74 The Best Oklahoma Sooners of All Time#12 of 26 The Best NFL Running Backs of the 80s
23
183
247
Myles Garrett
Draft year: 2017
Team: Cleveland Browns

Achievements
2018 Pro Bowl selection

24
189
269
Drew Bledsoe
Draft year: 1993
Team: New England Patriots

Achievements
3-time Pro Bowl selection (1994, 1996-1997)
2001 Super Bowl champion

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#51 of 120 The Best Quarterbacks Of All Time#206 of 322 People Who Should Be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
25
167
241
Kyler Murray
Draft year: 2019
Team: St. Louis Cardinals