Best Drafting Teams of the Last Decade

By Cooper Girolamo

There are different ways to build a team in the NFL. The main wone is through the draft. If teams are able to hit on their picks, they can set themselves up for many years of success. Drafting solid, contributing players is a skill. There are many teams that are below average at it and then there are teams that are excellent at evaluating talent. Those organizations scour all rounds of the draft, picking the best available players to add to their squad. This will cover the Top 3 teams in the NFL based on how they have done adding talent to their roster through the draft in the last decade.

The first team that has killed it in the draft in the last ten years is the San Fransicisco 49ers. They hit on a majority of their first-rounders such as Nick Bosa, Brandon Aiyuk, Mike McGlinchey, and Javon Kinlaw. All of which are contributing, successful NFL players. Their primary strength when it comes to the draft is hitting on their later-round selections. In recent years they have drafted Deebo Samuel, Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, George Kittle, and Talanoa Hufanga in the third round or later. All are top players are their respective positions. Lastly, a few years back with the last pick in the draft they grabbed Brock Purdy, who turned into their franchise QB and led them to a Super Bowl appearance. They do a fantastic job evaluating talent at the college level and bringing the best available players to their team come draft night. This has led to two Super Bowl appearances in the last five years. Selections like Mykel Williams, Nick Martin, and Alfred Collins highlighted their draft haul this year and if history repeats itself, they could be in for stellar careers in the Bay Area.

The second team that has knocked it out of the park at drafting is the Baltimore Ravens. Over the last decade they have consistently hit on their first-round selections, drafting top-end talent like Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey, Zay Flowers, Patrick Queen and Tyler Linderbaum. They also took the guy that other organizations passed on at the time, Lamar Jackson, in the first round. Jackson is their franchise QB and maybe the best player in the NFL, winning two MVP awards in recent years. They have also done a good job later in the draft snagging players like Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Odafe Oweh to name a few in the third round or later. This year, they drafted two of the best overall defensive players in the entire draft in Malaki Starks and Mike Green. These two, along with their other draft selections, look to continue bringing great success through the draft to the juggernaut that is the Baltimore Ravens.