Most successful NFL Draft Mr. Irrelevant besides Brock Purdy

With the NFL Draft now behind us, and all the top picks set to sign multi-million dollar contracts, the majority of new players in the NFL will be battling to find their place in the league. That’s especially true of Kobee Minor, this year’s Mr. Irrelevant.

Minor is a cornerback out of Memphis who had a decent college career. But getting taken with the last pick of the NFL Draft doesn’t guarantee anybody a comfortable level of job security.

Plenty of press has been given to Brock Purdy for being the best Mr. Irrelevant the NFL has ever seen. But having that honor after just three seasons means the list of successful players who’ve come from that draft slot isn’t very distinguished.

There are a handful of final picks who’ve beaten the odds and gone on to have successful NFL careers. Some Pro Bowlers, Super Bowl winners, and even Hall of Famers. Just not any who ended up in Canton.

These are the best Mr. Irrelevants not named Brock Purdy.

5. Jim Finn, FB, Bears (1999)

The Bears were able to find some talent with their final selection in back-to-back drafts, with Finn being the first of the two. The bruising Ivy League blocking back from Penn played eight years and 106 games in the league, a majority of which came in New York, leading the way for Tiki Barber. He was even part of the team’s Super Bowl 42 roster, although he was hurt and couldn’t play in the game. However, because he also spent time on the Colts, he has the distinction of being one of only two players to ever catch a pass from both Peyton and Eli Manning.

4. Marty Moore, LB, Patriots (1994)

Moore also played eight seasons in the NFL and became the first Mr. Irrelevant to both play in a Super Bowl and win one as well. In his first stint with the Pats, he played in their loss to Brett Favre and the Packers in Super Bowl 31. After a year away from the team, he returned just in time for the beginning of the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady era, all of whom won their first ring together in Super Bowl 36. Moore retired after that win, along with 173 career tackles, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles. He’d later be inducted into the Kentucky Football Hall of Fame.

3. Mike Green, DB, Bears (2000)

The second half of the Bears Irrelevant duo had a far better career statistically than Finn did, lasting nine seasons, with two of them being amongst the best in the league. In his third season in Chicago, his 130 tackles ranked 10th in the NFL and were the most of any non-linebacker. It was his first of two 100-tackle campaigns, to go along with four picks, seven forced fumbles, and eight fumble recoveries.

2. Ryan Succop, K, Chiefs (2009)

Only one final pick came within 100 games of Succop’s career total in the NFL. In his 14 seasons, he played in every game 13 times, while kicking 320 field goals at an 82.9% clip. He set a Titans record by making 56 straight field goals under 50 yards. But his crowning moment came in 2020, when he made the smart decision of signing with the Buccaneers at the same time as Tom Brady.

During Tampa Bay’s playoff run, Succop went 9-9 in field goals, then made all five of his kicks in Super Bowl 55 (4-4 XP, 1-1 FG) to help the Bucs win their second Lombardi Trophy and give Brady his seventh. Succop played two more seasons after that, retiring in 2023.

1. Jacque MacKinnon, FB/TE, Eagles (1961)

Not only was MacKinnon the final pick of the NFL Draft. He was also the eighth-to-last selection of the AFL Draft, which is where he eventually decided to play most of his career.

A mainstay on the San Diego Chargers for the duration of the 1960s before closing his career out with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, MacKinnon was a two-time AFL All-Star, was a big part of their 1963 AFL championship team, and scored a Mr. Irrelevant-high 22 touchdowns across 10 seasons. A year after his untimely death in 1975, he was one of the Chargers’ first class of players inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame.