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NFL draft: Best/worst first-round picks for all 32 slots (17-20)

Best/worst first-round picks: 32-29 | 28-25 | 24-21 | 20-17 | 16-13 | 12-9 | 8-5 | 4-1

CFB 24/7 continues its countdown of the best and worst first-round picks at all 32 slots during the Super Bowl era. We will do four spots per day, until we end up with the three best -- and three worst -- No. 1 picks.

No. 20 pick

Who picks here in 2015:Philadelphia Eagles
Overview: A lot of misses and not a lot of hits. One miss who is not here: RB Jim Detwiler, the Baltimore Colts' first-rounder in 1967, out of Michigan. He had a bad knee to begin with and injured it during training camp as a rookie. He missed the 1967 season and tried to return in 1968 but wasn't 100 percent and was cut. Detwiler, who became a dentist, is the most recent first-rounder never to play in an NFL game. We left him out because of his injury history. Trust us: There were a number of guys to choose from who didn't have injury issues.

HITS

S Steve Atwater: Taken in 1989 by the Denver Broncos out of Arkansas. Atwater was one of the biggest hitters of his era (1989-99). He was a two-time All-Pro pick and an eight-time Pro Bowler. He had at least 129 solo tackles in each of his first five seasons.

G/T Will Wolford: Taken in 1986 by the Buffalo Bills out of Vanderbilt. He played 13 seasons, for three teams, and he started all 191 games he appeared in. He was a three-time Pro Bowler who started his career at right guard, moved to left tackle, then played left guard late in his career.

DE Jack Youngblood: Taken in 1971 by the Los Angeles Rams out of Florida. He was a five-time All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowler in the 1970s and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. He started every game for the Rams from 1973-81.



MISSES

WR Dennis Homan: Taken in 1968 by the Dallas Cowboys out of Alabama. He played five NFL seasons and had 37 total receptions. He did play well in 1975 in the World Football League, though.

DT Ken Novak: Taken in 1976 by the Baltimore Colts out of Purdue. He started two games in two seasons, and that was it for his NFL career.

LB Michael Taylor: Taken in 1972 by the New York Jets out of Michigan. Taylor, who was an All-American at Michigan, started eight games in two seasons with the Jets, then left to play in the WFL. He wasn't really missed.

No. 19 pick

Who picks here in 2015:Cleveland Browns
Overview: Two guys already in the Hall of Fame, and one who will be, highlight the No. 19 picks. There were some bad ones, too, but on the whole, No. 19 picks have panned out.

HITS

WR Marvin Harrison: Taken in 1996 by the Indianapolis Colts out of Syracuse. He played 13 NFL seasons and was a three-time All-Pro pick and an eight-time Pro Bowler. He is third all-time with 1,102 receptions, seventh all-time with 14,580 receiving yards, and fifth all-time with 128 receiving TDs. Harrison had four seasons with at least 100 catches and eight with at least 1,000 receiving yards.

G Randall McDaniel: Taken in 1988 by the Minnesota Vikings out of Arizona State. He played in 222 games, starting 220 of them, in his 14-season career. He was a seven-time All-Pro selection and a 12-time Pro Bowler and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

CB Roger Wehrli: Taken in 1969 by the St. Louis Cardinals out of Missouri. Wehrli was a Missouri native who didn't leave his home state for college or the NFL. He was a fixture in the Cardinals' secondary for more than a decade and was a three-time All-Pro pick and a seven-time Pro Bowler. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

MISSES

RB Harry Jones: Taken in 1967 by the Philadelphia Eagles out of Arkansas. He started five games and rushed for 85 yards in four NFL seasons.

QB Steve Pisarkiewicz: Taken in 1977 by the St. Louis Cardinals out of Missouri. While Wehrli was a Missouri native and a Mizzou alum who panned out for the Cardinals, Pisarkiewicz did not. He was a St. Louis native, but his return home was disastrous. He started four games in two seasons with the Cardinals before finishing his career by appearing in one game for the Packers in 1979. His final NFL stat line: 64-of-143 for 804 yards, three TDs, and seven interceptions.

WR Perry Tuttle: Taken in 1982 by the Buffalo Bills out of Clemson. Tuttle was a key member of the Clemson team that won the national title in 1981, but he had just 25 career receptions in three NFL seasons. He made four starts in his NFL career.

No. 18 pick

Who picks here in 2015:Kansas City Chiefs
Overview: Flameout city at No. 18. It's tough to find three hits -- as a group, the No. 18 picks might be the most ordinary of any spot in the first round -- but not hard to find three misses. What is hard? Winnowing down the misses to just three.

HITS

QB Joe Flacco: Taken in 2008 by the Baltimore Ravens out of Delaware. He has started every game in his seven-season career and has led the Ravens into the playoffs six times, including a Super Bowl title in the 2012 season. He has thrown 148 TD passes in his career.

WR Eddie Kennison: Taken in 1996 by the St. Louis Rams out of LSU. Kennison enjoyed a 14-season career and eight times caught more than 50 passes in a season. He also was a good punt returner, with three career TDs.

WR Art Monk: Taken in 1980 by the Washington Redskins out of Syracuse. He lacked elite speed, but he was big (6-3, 210) and physical, with good hands, and he knew how to get open. Monk finished his 16-season career with 940 receptions, which is 15th-most in NFL history, and his 12,721 career receiving yards are 18th-most in NFL history. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.



MISSES

LB Bobby Carpenter: Taken in 2006 by the Dallas Cowboys out of Ohio State. He played eight NFL seasons for four teams but made just 10 career starts and only twice had more than 30 total tackles in a season.

OT Ernest Dye: Taken in 1993 by the Phoenix Cardinals out of South Carolina. Drafted as a tackle, Dye started just 16 games in a five-season NFL career -- and all the starts came at guard in 1994. But while he started all 16 games that season, he played in just 27 more over the next three years, and his career ended after the 1997 season.

G Steve Schindler: Taken in 1977 by the Denver Broncos out of Boston College. He made four starts in his two NFL seasons, and that was it for his career.

No. 17 pick

Who picks here in 2015:San Diego Chargers
Overview: Two of the best players at their positions in NFL history were chosen with the No. 17 pick. The flipside? There was no shortage of misses to choose from, either.

HITS

G Steve Hutchinson: Taken in 2001 by the Seattle Seahawks out of Michigan. He played in 169 games in his 12-season career and started every one of them. Hutchinson was a five-time All-Pro selection and a seven-time Pro Bowler.

RB Emmitt Smith: Taken in 1990 by the Dallas Cowboys out of Florida. Some schools considered him too slow coming out of high school, and some teams considered him too slow coming out of college. Oh, well. Smith rushed for a league record 18,355 yards in his career and also is the all-time leader in rushing TDs with 164. He was a four-time All-Pro pick and an eight-time Pro Bowler. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

G Gene Upshaw: Taken in 1967 by the Oakland Raiders out of Texas A&I. Upshaw is one of the best guards in league history. He played for 15 seasons, starting every game in his first 14, and was a five-time All-Pro pick and a seven-time Pro Bowler. His first All-Pro selection came in 1968, when he was 23, and the last came in 1977, when he was 32. Upshaw started 24 playoff games in his career, which is third-most in league history. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

MISSES

WR Clyde Duncan: Taken in 1984 by the St. Louis Cardinals out of Tennessee. He caught only 39 passes in his college career, but he had good size (6-1, 200) and was fast. Alas, he held out as a rookie, not signing until early September, and his NFL career never amounted to much. He played in 19 games in two seasons and had four receptions.

DE Jarvis Moss: Taken in 2007 by the Denver Broncos out of Florida. Moss supposedly had an upside as a pass rusher, but it never came to fruition. He played for six seasons with two teams and made two career starts, finishing with six career sacks.

RB Lee White: Taken in 1968 by the New York Jets out of Weber State. His NFL career covered five seasons with three teams, and he finished with 389 rushing yards and zero rushing TDs. White is the only Weber State player ever picked in the first round.

Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.

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