We’ve come a long way together, looking at the bottom three quarters of the NFL draft class of 2005. There were a lot of good players in there, even a few Pro Bowlers, but a lot more busts, bad picks, and worse trades. Today we finally get to the best teams.

You’re going to notice a trend here. Of the 8 best drafts from the ’05 class, all but one of them was in the playoffs this season, and the only one that missed out was Cleveland with a 10-6 record. You’ll also notice that every other one of the teams in the top 13 made the playoffs either or both of the last two seasons.

It turns out that the draft is pretty important to a team’s success. Imagine that! Of the bottom 19 drafts, I count only 6 teams that have made the playoffs either this year or last. And you thought this whole draft thing was just a fun way to pass the offseason…

32. Minnesota
31. Carolina
30. Buffalo
29. Houston
28. Detroit
27. Washington
26. Baltimore
25. Kansas City
24. Denver
23. Oakland
22. Chicago
21. Arizona
20. Jacksonville
19. Pittsburgh
18. St. Louis
17. Cincinnati
16. San Francisco
15. Atlanta
14. Miami
13. Indianapolis
12. Philadelphia
11. Tampa Bay
10. New Orleans
9. NY Jets

8. Green Bay
Notables – QB Aaron Rodgers, S Nick Collins, WR Terence Murphy, RB Samkon Gado, S Atari Bigby, RB Ryan Grant
Amazingly, the Packers did more damage after the 2005 draft event was done than many teams did during the actual draft. Samkon Gado was an undrafted free agent who filled in for a great half season to end 2006’s playoff push, before being traded for a good third down RB in Vernand Morency. Ryan Grant was another undrafted FA who is now starring at RB and as the focal point of the Packers’ offense, and Atari Bigby is a very good safety for Green Bay as well. Nick Collins is the other starting safety for one of the best secondaries in the league. And none of that even accounts for potential franchise QB Aaron Rodgers, who has been groomed and finally has his shot this season with Brett Favre gone.

7. Seattle
Notables – C Chris Spencer, LB Lofa Tatupu, QB David Greene, LB Leroy Hill
Seattle doesn’t seem to sign many big time free agents, instead choosing to focus on improving each offseason through the draft. Something is working. Chris Spencer was considered a reach in the 1st round but has been a stabilizer on the Seattle interior line. But the real difference makers were at LB with both Leroy Hill and Lofa Tatupu reenergizing the defense during the Seattle Super Bowl run and in subsequent seasons. Tatupu in particular is the stimulant of this underrated defense and one of the best young playmakers in the league. When Seattle drafted these players, many including myself called them one of the worst drafts. Looks like Seahawks management still knows what it’s doing.

6. Cleveland
Notables – WR Braylon Edwards, S Brodney Pool, QB Charlie Frye, CB Antonio Perkins, KR Josh Cribbs
You probably saw the first name on the list and it was all you needed to know. And it’s true. Braylon Edwards took awhile to get healthy and adjust to the NFL, but now he looks like the best young WR in the league, lighting up corners this year to the tune of 1289 yards and 16 TDs. He was probably the biggest breakout star of the season on a team full of breakout guys and maybe the story of the year in the NFL. But Josh Cribbs is just as big of a star on this team as Braylon. He is the best kick returner in the league, every bit as good as Devin Hester, and consistently sets his team up in good position to score. And that doesn’t even account for Derek Anderson, a player the Browns signed off waivers during the following September, so he doesn’t officially count toward this draft class.

5. Tennessee
Notables – CB Pacman Jones, OT Michael Roos, WR Courtney Roby, WR Brandon Jones, OT David Stewart, RB Damien Nash, WR Roydell Williams, TE Bo Scaife, CB Reynaldo Hill
It is truly saying you had a special draft when your 1st round pick was a guy like Pacman Jones. And let’s be fair. Pacman, when he kept his head on straight and stayed on the field, was the best player on this team’s defense and a huge special teams player to boot. But even if you discount him and also account for the tragic death of FB Damien Nash, you still have a slew of difference makers. Count among them the team’s bookend offensive tackles, two of the top three WRs, the starting tight end, and a starting cornerback. Look at the list again – that is an astounding number of difference makers on a team that has had back to back winning seasons.

4. Dallas
Notables – DE/OLB DeMarcus Ware, DE Marcus Spears, ILB Kevin Burnett, RB Marion Barber, DE Chris Canty, RB Tyson Thompson
You may have noticed that two of the teams that had a pair of 1st round picks in the 2005 draft were among my six worst overall. Well, you’re about to find the other two in the top six. It goes to show that if you have a pair of picks that high, you better make them count. Dallas certainly did that and more. Marcus Spears and Chris Canty are the starting DEs in this 3-4 defense. DeMarcus Ware is probably the best player on the defense, certainly the best pass rusher and the toughest to defend against. And Marion Barber has turned out to be an absolute steal on the second day as he finally looks to get his shot to star at RB for Dallas this season.

3. San Diego
Notables – DE/OLB Shawne Merriman, DT Luis Castillo, WR Vincent Jackson, RB Darren Sproles
I probably don’t need to say much about any of these guys, because they’re all so good that you know them already. Castillo has been moved to 3-4 DE and has been a rock on this defense the last few years. Vincent Jackson has never quite seemed to reach his potential but is still developing and is a better NFL player than fantasy football pick. Darren Sproles has been a dynamic kick returner and spark plug on this team and looks like he will be Tomlinson’s backup this season. And Shawne Merriman, steroid issues aside, may be the single best defensive player in football already with his ability to rush the quarterback from anywhere on the field and change an entire team’s strategy. No wonder the Chargers turned things around so quickly!

2. NY Giants
Notables – CB Corey Webster, DE/OLB Justin Tuck, RB Brandon Jacobs
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Super Bowl champion New York Giants! Do you think they would have been here without these three players? Without even one of them? I sure don’t. Brandon Jacobs is a horse who chews up a lot of yardage and wears defenses down in a big way when healthy. He had 4 TDs during the playoffs. Corey Webster started most of the year at cornerback and had the interception that ended Brett Favre’s career. And Justin Tuck was a backup pass rusher who had 10 sacks this season, plus 2 sacks against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. And oh yeah, the Giants didn’t even have a first round pick in this draft, since they traded up the previous year for Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. And THAT is how you build a Super Bowl team.

1. New England
Notables – G Logan Mankins, CB Ellis Hobbs, G Nick Kaczur, S James Sanders, QB Matt Cassell
Come on, did you expect the Lions or Cardinals here? It’s hard to believe the way the Patriots continue to dominate the draft landscape, but the team simply knows the guys that will fit its team and goes out to get them. No one thought much of this draft class when it happened, and New England was drafting from the #32 spot. But Logan Mankins and Nick Kaczur were beasts on the offensive line this year, probably the true NFL MVP this year with the way they protected Tom Brady and gave him all the time he could ever want in the pocket all season. On the other side of the ball, Ellis Hobbs and James Sanders made up half of a very good secondary, and Hobbs will be the #1 corner now with Asante Samuel gone. Plus the team, as they always do, traded out of a few picks to gain some draft picks for the ’06 draft. Hey, when a team almost goes undefeated in this day and age, they have to be doing a lot of things right. And that is why the New England Patriots are your 2005 NFL Draft champions!

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Hired Guns: Wheaton Thunder
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Nice article. Disagree a bit on NE, they are good players but have not had the impact that this draft had on teams like Dallas and San Diego.

But top 5 would be:
1. San Diego
2. Dallas
3. New York Giants
4. Cleveland
5. New England

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Banner by Mark Clapper

a couple things that bumped NE up higher, despite that your statement is true:

1) the 18 game win streak
2) the fact that they were drafting out of the 32 spot with basically no expectations

plus the future picks they earned to boot.

though IMO, the top 4 for me was very hard to rank. a clear top 4 for me, so i kind of went by degree of difficulty. the pats had the 32 hole and the giants had no 1st, so thats why they moved up ahead.

Looking at players only, I would agree with Miller. But to further what Bomb mentioned above about the Pat's future picks... trading out of the 2nd into the 3rd to get Hobbs ('05) plus additional picks yielded Cassell ('05) plus Ryan O'Callahan ('06) and Chad Jackson ('06) via OAK and GBP. Cassell appears to be a solid backup and O'Callahan has filled in well on the O-line. The jury's still out on CJax with spot duty at WR and KR, but if he doesn't produce this season he could be labeled a bust.

Dallas had one hell of a draft that year. I believe all those guys are still on the team

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2008 Black Knights Football - 12 wins isn't enough

Guess it's all how your looking at it. When grading a draft class I am looking at just that. The impact of that class. Not future picks they got, or the position they drafted from. The fact they are up there out of the 32 spot says enough. I also don't look at the winning streak, just these players impact on it. You can also argue that NE has much more around these players to make them look better then others teams have.

Cleveland for example, these players are high impact players on a teams resurgence, hence why I move them into the top 5.

In the end your correct though, it's all subjective and how you look at it. All these teams are very close.