Dwight Clark among best late-round NFL draft picks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The NFL draft is a tricky thing.
Every front office wants the best possible pick – and for obvious reasons. A higher pick ensures that you can select the best players available, and no other team can scoop them up before you do.
But sometimes you’re better off picking later, even if you don’t know it at the time. There have been plenty of All-Pro and Hall of Fame players that dropped to the late rounds. These hidden gems aren’t easy to find, because if they were… well, they would’ve been drafted earlier.
Here’s a look at the 10 best NFL players ever selected in the sixth round or later:
Tom Brady, Patriots (6th round, 199th overall in 2000)
The best late-round NFL pick ever is also the greatest player in NFL history.
Brady’s story is well-known, but here’s a refresher on his accolades: seven Super Bowl wins in 10 appearances, five Super Bowl MVPs, three league MVPs, 15 Pro Bowl bids and nearly every major passing record. The list goes on and on. The soon-to-be 45-year-old quarterback will take the field for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this fall for his 23rd NFL season (20 with the Patriots, three with the Bucs).
Deacon Jones, Rams (14th round, 186th overall in 1961)
Before there was Aaron Donald, there was Deacon Jones. Selected in the 14th of 20 rounds in 1961, Jones gave the Rams more than they ever could’ve imagined when they drafted him out of Mississippi Vocational College. He played 11 seasons with the Rams, followed by two with the Los Angeles Chargers and one with Washington.
Jones retired with 173.5 unofficial sacks (the stat wasn’t official until 1982), a term that he is credited with coining. One of the best pass rushers of all-time, “the Secretary of Defense” won two Defensive Player of the Year awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.
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Shannon Sharpe, Broncos (7th round, 192nd overall in 1990)
Before Rob Gronkowski and…