Examining the Greatness of the NFL Draft Class of 1996

When you think about all-time drafts, the year 1996 rarely comes up. You might hear about the 1983 QB class or the 2004 QB class. You might hear about how the Steelers selected four future Hall of Famers in 1974, or even how the Chicago Bears selected Dick Butkus and Gayle Sayers with the greatest back-to-back picks in NFL history in 1965 (a draft that also featured Fred Biletnikoff and Joe Namath, by the way). But 1996? Not so much. But with the retirement Monday of Patriots great Tedy Bruschi, I decided to head back to that 1996 draft to see how it measured up. The answer: Pretty damn well. Now I would love to see a full tournament bracket of rosters made up from each year, but this isn’t the time for that. For now, let’s just take a look at the Class of 1996 and appreciate the vast contributions its members made to the last 13 years of the National Football League.Begin Slideshow