Top 10 No. 1 overall picks in NFL Draft history

These top prospects lived up to the hype, and then some.
New York Giants v Indianapolis Colts
New York Giants v Indianapolis Colts / Andy Lyons/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next

6. OJ Simpson, Buffalo Bills (1969)

Simpson's post-football life will always be discussed before anything he did on the field at USC or with the Bills, and deservedly so. Before his life away from football cast an indelible ink stain over the rest of his accomplishments in life, Simpson made his money as one of the game's premier running backs.

Simpson, the first player to run for 2,000 yards in a season and the only to do so in a 14-game season, won MVP in 1973 and was the league's leading rusher four times in a five-year span between 1972 and 1976. To this day, Simpson holds the record for rushing yards per game in a season with 143.1 in 1973.

Terry Bradshaw was a nice use of the No. 1 overall pick

5. Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh Steelers (1970)

Bradshaw played so poorly at the start of his career that the late Joe Gilliam took the starting job from him. The Louisiana Tech alum eventually became the trigger man for one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the sport by utilizing the strongest downfield arm of his era and a cavalier, gunslinger attitude.

Bradshaw, who won MVP in 1978, has four Super Bowl rings in a six-year span to boast about, winning MVP of the game twice in that span. He may not have the gaudiest numbers in the world due to Chuck Noll's ultra-conservative offense, but he has all the talent he needed to hit John Stallworth and Lynn Swann down the field.