This offseason I am taking a position-by-position look at the best NFL draft values of the millennium: In short, which teams received the most bang for their draft-pick buck?
Higher draft picks were not dismissed for this exercise, but I tended to side with the highest-achieving lower selections. Extra weight was also given to longevity and the value those players provided for the teams that drafted them.
Narrowing it down to five offensive linemen over 25 years was a daunting task. For instance, Trent Williams might be the most dominant blocker of his era, but given that he was the fourth overall selection in 2010, it’s tough calling him a true value pick. I tried to focus on lower-round picks who reasonably were considered among the very best at their positions, and it wasn’t too hard culling a strong pool of candidates from which to choose.
Drafted: Round 6 (No. 191 overall), 2011.
Jason’s brother, Travis, rightfully earned his spot on the best draft value list at tight end, and Jason can easily claim the top spot for the offensive linemen. Quite the family legacy for the duo that -- even after Jason’s retirement -- keeps on cranking out the hits with the Kelces’ popular podcast, New Heights.
The Eagles took a chance on the undersized Kelce late in the 2011 draft, with their eighth selection that year. In fact, he was their third OL pick in 2011. First-rounder Danny Watkins was only in the league for a few seasons, with fifth-rounder Julian Vandervelde sticking around a little longer than Watkins did. But Kelce planted a flag in the middle of the Philly offensive line as a 16-game rookie starter and held that role for 13 years.
One of the most decorated blockers of his generation, Kelce used his IQ, quickness and technique to earn seven Pro Bowl nods and six first-team All-Pro honors. He led the way to the Eagles’ first championship with the rousing victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. He would have been a candidate for this list as a second- or third-round pick, but achieving all of this as a late sixth-rounder puts him on a different tier.
Drafted: Round 4 (No. 108 overall), 2006.
If you are following this draft values series, you’ve been reminded of just how well Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton drafted for the first decade of their time together in New Orleans. Evans is another shining example, plucked from tiny Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, which has produced only a handful of NFL players. Evans is clearly the best of that lot.
He deserves mention among the best interior blockers of the new millennium, too. Evans stepped right in as a rookie starter at right guard for a team that reached the NFC Championship Game, making the cavernous jump from D-II competition immediately and seamlessly. Three years later, Evans earned the first of his four first-team All-Pro honors and six Pro Bowl invitations. He also helped the Saints to a victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
Payton always placed more emphasis on his interior blockers with Drew Brees at quarterback, and the sturdy Evans -- who missed only seven games in 11 seasons in New Orleans -- was one of the high-powered Saints’ most reliable and effective blockers for the bulk of his time with the team.
Drafted: Round 3 (No. 86 overall), 2007.
The Ravens rightfully have earned a reputation as one of the best drafting teams of the century because of picks such as Yanda. Although primarily a guard in his terrific 13-year career, Yanda also occasionally played outside, including starting most of his rookie season at right tackle.
Once he shifted inside, Yanda developed into an elite blocker, earning eight Pro Bowl nods, seven first- or second-team All-Pro honors and a spot on the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. Even with injuries wiping out nearly two full seasons of his career, he became a model of versatility, technical mastery and physicality (especially as a run blocker). He was a tone-setter as one of the club’s most trusted leaders.
Interior linemen certainly can drift into the lower reaches of the draft, with a lower positional value than offensive tackle and many other spots. But Yanda’s ascension into one of the league’s most dependable blockers as a late third-round selection makes him one of the more remarkable value picks of his era.
Drafted: Round 4 (No. 109 overall), 2013.
The 2013 draft produced some terrific players, including Travis Kelce, Lane Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. But it was a spotty class overall, with relatively few Day 3 picks turning into true difference-makers.
Bakhtiari was one of the notable exceptions. He left Colorado with injury questions and a lack of ideal OT size (6-foot-4, 299 pounds), and he registered a shockingly poor 25 1/2-inch vertical at the NFL Scouting Combine. But Bakhtiari shined with the pads on in Green Bay, earning the left tackle job as a rookie in 2013 and becoming a rock there for most of the next decade.
Injuries once again sunk their teeth, shortening Bakhtiari’s career, especially on the back end. But he was one of the game’s true brick walls as a pass protector, technically pristine and able to mirror and wash out many of the game’s best pass rushers. Several tackles were drafted ahead of him, including the first two picks in 2013, but only Johnson and Terron Armstead reasonably can claim to have had comparable careers from that OT class.
Drafted: Round 2 (No. 55 overall), 2006.
I considered Joe Thuney, a 2016 third-rounder who has been part of four Super Bowl winners, but Whitworth’s longevity -- and value to the club that drafted him -- was the ultimate separator here.
Whitworth was more of a solid player early in his career, and the Bengals never won a Super Bowl with him, but he developed into a top-tier left tackle in his time in Cincinnati. A bedrock of stability, Whitworth earned three Pro Bowl bids before signing with the Rams -- and continued his great career in Los Angeles for five more productive seasons, eventually winning a ring in his final NFL game.
He finished his career with two first-team All-Pro honors, missing fewer than 10 games to injury over his first 14 seasons. Whitworth has earned more fame in recent years as a broadcaster and occasional commercial actor, but his underrated body of work on the field earns him a spot on this list.