While we know that the NFL does not allow COVID-19 to change who is allowed to participate in this year’s additional draft, we do not yet know when this will take place. But this usually happens during the second full week of July.
And this year’s crop is not touted – in fact, at the moment, we don’t know who’s ready to enter – but in the past, a collection of additional choices has gone on to enjoy productive careers in the NFL.
Who were the best? We are glad you asked. Here are the top 10 top picks in league history.
10. Jared Gaither, OT, Maryland
Selected by: Baltimore Ravens, 5th round, 2007
Reason for entering the additional project: Declared inadmissible academically
Maryither’s huge 6 foot 9 inch 340 pound Gaither bounced around the league after a scary injury in Baltimore with the Ravens in 2009, but did an admirable job of filling the massive vacancy left by the future member Jonathan Hall of Fame The Ogden Retreat.
After a three-year stint with the Ravens and spending the entire 2010 campaign in the casualty reserve, Gaither played with the Chiefs and spent a three-year stint with the Chargers. In total, he started 37 games in his NFL career, and was generally one of the most stable, albeit unspectacular, tackles in the league.
9. Terrelle Pryor, QB / WR, State of Ohio
Selected by: Oakland Raiders, round 3, 2011
Reason for entering the additional project: Suspended by NCAA for improper benefits
The Raiders took a size / speed flyer in 2011, with plans for him as a quarterback after an illustrious career with the Buckeyes that included 57 touchdown passes and 26 interceptions. He had a decently long but odd career in the NFL during which he played with five different teams and changed positions after signing with the Browns during the 2016 free agent period.
Pryor threw nine touchdowns and threw 11 picks with the Raiders, and given its massive size and incendiary speed, switching to a wide receiver made sense. And although he never really lived up to his high school hype in the NFL, we have to hand him over to Pryor for overshadowing the 1,000-yard mark in 2017 as wide in Cleveland, just his second season to play this position. He shot 77 passes on 140 targets that year, but injuries ultimately sapped some of his juices, and Pryor’s last season in 2018 only included 22 catches and 252 receiving yards.
8. Bobby Humphrey, RB, Alabama
Selected by: Denver Broncos, Tour 1, 1989
Reason for entering the additional project: Decided not to return for his last year of eligibility after the normal project
Humphrey rushed to the ground after participating in the first round of the additional draft in 1989. With the Broncos, he rushed for 1,151 yards and followed with a 1,202 yards to 4.2 yards rushing attempt. 1990, this last year having earned him a place. in the Pro Bowl. He became the first Bronco to run for more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
Oddly enough, Humphrey held out in 1991 and did not report until the end of the season. At that time, former replacement Gaston Green was in full swing as a starter and had his own 1000 yard season. After that, Humphrey played for the Dolphins and was effective – 4.6 yards per carry in 1992 – but he had only 102 attempts this season playing behind Mark Higgs.
7. Ahmad Brooks, LB, Virginia
Selected by: Cincinnati Bengals, round 3, 2006
Reason for entering the additional project: Rejected from the university team
Brooks participated in the third round of the 2006 additional draft and had an 11-year career in the NFL with the Bengals, 49ers and Packers. A huge, 6-4. 259-pound hybrid linebacker, Brooks did not explode until he signed for San Francisco after being cut by Cincinnati in 2008.
With the 49ers, he played 120 regular season games and collected 51.5 sacks, 28 pass deflections and 11 forced fumbles. He was a key cog in the clubs led by Jim Harbaugh who played in the Super Bowl and NFC games in consecutive seasons. In fact, Brooks had 4.5 bags in the 2013 playoffs.
6. Josh Gordon, WR, Baylor
Selected by: Cleveland Browns, Tour 2, 2012
Reason for entering the additional project: Rejected by team for failed marijuana test
Gordon gave us a glimpse of his transcendent talent – and I mean that – in 2013, when, at 22, he led the NFL with 1,646 yards in just 14 games while catching passes from Jason Campbell, Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer, a feat that doesn’t seem possible given everything. It was a first All-Pro team that year, and rightly so.
But Gordon’s problems with drug addiction have unfortunately followed him since entering the league and have hampered his chances of reaching his limit again. However, after missing two full NFL seasons due to a suspension, he averaged over 18 yards per catch in 2017 and 2018 with the Browns and Patriots, and Gordon won a Super Bowl with New Brunswick. England.
In 2019, he caught seven passes for 139 yards with the Seahawks, but was suspended for breaking the league’s drug policy in December.
5. Mike Wahle, OG, Marine
Selected by: Green Bay Packers, Series 2, 1998
Reason for entering the additional project: Suspended by NCAA for testing positive for steroids
After participating in the second round of the 1998 additional draft, Wahle continued with an 11-year NFL tenure, which included 152 games played and a 2005 All-Pro wink with the Panthers.
But it was with these good Packers teams in the late 1990s and early 2000s that Wahle got his teeth. He was the club’s full-time starter from 2001 to 2004 before signing in Carolina.
4. Rob Moore, WR, Syracuse
Selected by: New York Jets, round 1, 1990
Reason for entering the additional project: Did not report in time for a normal draw
Moore participated in the first round of the 1990 additional draft and flew under the radar for five seasons with the Jets, regularly improving most of his stats each season before signing with the Cardinals in 1995 at the age of 27. Then he really took off.
After a campaign of more than 900 yards in his first season in the desert, Moore exploded with 1,584 yards in 1997, a total that led the league and represented 40% of the receiving yards of the Cardinals. It was named the first All-Pro team after this season, and its 208 targets that year remain the most important in NFL history since the statistics began in 1992.
In 10 years in the league, Moore has 9368 yards and 49 touchdowns. A rock solid career.
3. Bernie Kosar, QB, Miami
Selected by: Cleveland Browns, round 1, 1985
Reason for entering the additional project: Graduated after his junior year
Kosar entered the league with great fanfare after an illustrious two-year career in Miami with the Hurricanes in which the team won its first national title and won the Fiesta Bowl the following season.
After much controversy, the Browns were able to choose Kosar in the first round of the 1985 draft draft, and in his second season he met his hype, while Cleveland went 12-4, and the young quarterback back averaging 7.3 yards per attempt with a pass mark of 83.8, the seventh highest rate in the league.
He did the Pro Bowl twice – in 1987 and 1989 – and threw more than 20,000 yards during his NFL career. After nine years in Cleveland, Kosar played with the Cowboys for one season and ended with a three-year stint in Miami with the Dolphins.
2. Jamal Williams, DT, State of Oklahoma
Selected by: San Diego Chargers, Round 2, 1998
Reason for entering the additional project: Deemed inadmissible academically
Williams is probably the most underrated additional choice in NFL history, having occupied the grainy and easy to ignore nose tackle position for 13 years and been an All-Pro three times, from 2004. to 2006 with the Chargers.
Twice he hit the double-digit mark in loss tackles and ended his career with 55 of those impact withdrawals. The 6-3 and 350 ish pounder has been anchored on the Chargers’ defensive line for over a decade and played a season in Denver with the Broncos. Without being glamorous, Williams has long been an immutable force in the middle.
1. Cris Carter, WR, State of Ohio
Selected by: Philadelphia Eagles, 4th round, 1987
Reason for entering the additional project: Signed with an agent
As the only additional former draft pick in the Hall of Fame, it was an easy selection for first place. Carter had three productive but tumultuous seasons with the team that drafted him in the fourth round in 1987, and after his release from the Eagles, the Vikings claimed him in 1990. The rest is history.
Carter has had a phenomenal streak of eight consecutive seasons of over 1,000 yards – which rightly ended with Pro Bowl caps – and a pair of All-Pro first team honors in 1994 and 1999. He has led the league once in receptions and three times had the most touchdowns in football. His 130 scoring career still ranks fourth in NFL history, and he is one of 18 pass catchers with 13,000 or more yards in his career.
