Top 11 players from the 2001 Draft

11. Kris Jenkins


A huge player, Kris Jenkins has been a consistent run stuffing DT since his entrance into the league. His has been able to use his better than average quickness (for a guy his size) to provide pressure up the middle of the field and change blocking schemes to account for his presence. The effect of this can be seen in how the Jets went from being the 27th ranked run defense to the 7th ranked run defense in the year after they added him. In addition to his prowess at playing as run stuffer, he has the ability to push the pocket and create an interior pass-rush that rarely creates sacks for him, but always creates pressure and sacks for his teammates. A game-changer at the position.





10. Steve Smith

A speed demon with underrated strength, Steve Smith has become one of the premier wide receivers in the league. His size has long been a concern; however he has continued to prove his critics wrong through his play. From his rookie season until he broke his leg and missed the entire season in 2004, he consistently increased his receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns from 10 rec. 154 yards and 0 TDs to 88 rec. 1110 yards and 7 TDs in 2003. Since returning from the broken leg he has averaged 88 rec. 1288 yards and 8 TDs a season. His speed and ability to avoid tacklers has made him a defensive coordinator’s nightmare. He’s a great rout runner and is as dynamic in running a bubble screen as he is running a post. He also has been doing this, in spite of how often he is double teamed and lacking a threat opposite to him. One of the main knocks on him is his anger issues. He is a passionate player and he will sometimes allow that passion to override his good judgment. But that’s only a bad thing when the team is losing; otherwise it’s usually considered a good thing.





9. Adrian Wilson

An underrated defender if there has ever been one. Adrian Wilson is a play maker equal to that of players like Troy Polamalu and Kerry Rhodes. His ideal size allows him to be one of the most punishing hitters in the run game and his underrated athletic ability allows him to be a roaming center-fielder who can deliver a punch to receivers who don’t pay attention. He has an excellent understanding of the passing game and of how to cover in the passing game. He does have some problems matching up with speedy receivers down the field, but is excellent against most tight ends and playing near to the line. While his overall stats for interceptions (18) and sacks (18.5) aren’t overwhelming, his ability to force fumbles (11), his consistency and his ability to just be a game changer as a tackler are more than enough to justify his ranking in this list. He also has taken four turnovers (2 interceptions and 2 fumbles) back to the house for scores.





8. Shaun Rogers

Much like Kris Jenkins, Shaun Rogers is a huge player who plays like it. Even though he is known for his inconsistent play and his seeming inability to main a fair weight, when he plays at his best, he is simply one of the best. He as the ability to push the pocket and split double-teams to provide his 33.5 sacks for his career is a good amount for someone playing at his position. Much like Jenkins, one of his strengths is that he takes up space and allows other players to play better. Another underrated aspect of his game is that he is an excellent kick blocker. Through his career, his has blocked more than 10 kicks. In spite of some effort issues, he still is one of the best DTs when he puts his full effort forth.





7. Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson

Chad Ochocinco’s production is unquestionable. With the exception of his rookie season, Chad Ochocinco has averaged 91 rec, 1225 yards and 7 TDs every year. He did have a down year last year, however this can be attributed to injuries to Carson Palmer. The backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick, was more comfortable throwing to T. J. Houshmanzahdeh and didn’t throw down the field as much as Palmer. However, looking at Chad’s career, he is still one of the best receivers to come into the league in the past decade. He isn’t a great tackle breaker, however his speed and crisp, fluid route-running allows him to get open down field and make the catch. His hands are some of the best in the NFL, he has the ability to make the acrobatic catch and generally will fight for the catch. While I know some will bring up his antics off the field, I noticed that when the Bengals where playing well, it was fun. However, once he demanded more money and the Bengals stopped playing well overall, his antics became “a problem” and he became “a troublemaker.” He’s no different than most other receivers in that regard and I don’t think it’s a problem. He’s just been on that team too long and doing the same things for so long that the team is used to it. He’s consistent excellence as a receiver puts him up at this spot.





6. Drew Brees

While many may think that he deserves to higher on this list, his early production is what keeps him down this far on the list. Though he has been an excellent passer and excels at reading coverages, his first three years with San Diego were nothing spectacular. I mean there’s a reason they drafted Eli Manning and traded for Phillip Rivers during the 2004 Draft. In his early (first 3) years his TD-INT ratio was 29-31 and his average completion percentage was 58%. However, because Rivers held out for his entire rookie preseason, Brees was the incumbent starter going into 2004 and he took full advantage of that opportunity. His play during that season and the following season was fantastic. Then he moved to New Orleans was the rest his history. Since going to New Orleans, he has averaged 4636 yards, a 65.6 completion percentage and 29 TDs a season. In spite of his size, he is able to finding passing lanes a make accurate throws at all levels. He is also a deadly red zone passer, easily being able to recognize favorable matchups and take advantage. Though his early numbers keep him down on this list, he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.







5. Marcus Stroud

Marcus Stroud has been a dominant interior defensive lineman for the majority of his career in the NFL. He has been able to consistently draw double teams and pull the attention away from the other the defenders on the team. He hasn’t been a great interior pass rusher, however this can partially be attributed to lack of other good rushing. In the early years when he had 6.5, 4.5 and 4.5 sacks for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively, he was teamed with another dominant defensive tackle in John Henderson and a respectable pass rush with a team of defensive ends. Following that season, the Jaguars were not a great pass rushing team from the ends, so he and Henderson got more attention in the blocking scheme. This led to fewer sacks for both Stroud and Henderson. However, when one observed the difference in the Bills rush defense after Stroud joined the team, one observed that the Bills defense was able to run more freely to the ball, because Stroud was taking up multiple blocks and creating pressure up the middle. While his effort is inconsistent at times, he still is a difference maker on defense.







4. Reggie Wayne

Reggie Wayne has been perhaps the best number 2 receiver in the NFL over the course of the past 5 years. While the numbers he put up in his first 3 years were pedestrian, he continued to improve with each passing season and was eventually was putting up the consistently great numbers you would expect of a pro bowl receiver. Over the past five years (2004 and on) he has averaged 86 catches, 1246 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns a year. While that can be considered a bit of misleading stat, he was still putting the majority of those numbers up while playing second fiddle to Marvin Harrison and competing with Dallas Clark for catches. When Marvin Harrison was hurt for the majority of the season and Reggie Wayne had to step up as the main receiver, he led the NFL in receiving yards. While there is the legitimate argument that playing alongside Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison has benefited him greatly, he still had to be good enough to get open and make those catches on his own. He has also showed over the last two seasons that he is more than capable of being as good as Marvin Harrison was. He has a knack for making catching hard passes look easy, which is the mark of great hands. He has a great size, speed and acceleration combination which allows him to fight against most coverages and break away down the field. His ability to recognize coverage and do what is necessary to produce offense is excellent as well. His high level of consistency in spite of numerous other options is what puts him at this spot above Steve Smith and Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson.





3. Richard Seymour

Richard Seymour has been one of the best defensive linemen in the league for the length of his career. He plays well in one-on-one matchups and has the strength and agility to beat double teams. While he doesn’t have a great number of sacks, this can be attributed to him playing defensive end in a 3-4 defense and not getting as many favorable pass-rushing match-ups. Despite this he still has been able to rack up more than 40 sacks through his career, impressive for a hybrid defensive tackle and defensive end. He has had consistency through his career and is considered one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the league. He provides a great pass rush even though he doesn’t get many sacks and has the ability to push the pocket, forcing QBs outside and into the pass-rush of the outside linebackers. He is likely to head to Canton at the end of his career.





2. Steve Hutchinson

Steve Hutchinson is a player almost without peer in the NFL today. He is a punishing run and pass defender with a great mean streak. Since joining the NFL, teams he has played on have consistently been near the top of the league in rushing and total offense. The majority of Shaun Alexander’s dominant statistical seasons came when he ran behind Steve Hutchinson and since signing with the Minnesota Vikings, the Vikings rushing attack has been in the upper half of the NFL. Some critics will say that it was because of Adrian Peterson, however if you look at the season Chester Taylor had the year before Adrian Peterson was drafted (1200 yards), it is easy to till that the running game was not a major concern for the Vikings that year. They draft AP because he was the best player available at the time. Conversely, since the Seahawks lost Hutchinson, Alexander was beset by injuries and the Seahawks haven’t been able to produce a consistently good running game since. Also, Hutchinson’s pass protection doesn’t get discussed too much because of the poor play of Vikings quarterbacks, but he still excels the way he did when he played for the Seahawks. This guard is bound for Canton.



1. LaDainian Tomlinson

LT, what else can you say. This runningback has never has less than 1100 yards rushing in his eight years in the NFL. Six times he has surpassed 1300 yards rushing and three times he surpassed 1500 yards rushing. The 2006 league MVP broke the single season touchdown mark during that same year with 31 total touchdowns (28 rushing and 3 receiving). He has also never has a season with less than 50 catches, including a 100 catch season in 2003. The lack of playoff success is considered one of the few weaknesses on his resume; however that is a product of team failures and not the failures of one player. His is arguably one of the three greatest runningbacks in the history of football, with Jim Brown and Barry Sanders. The mileage he has put on his legs over the course of his career has led to the injuries that are being seen now. He is Hall of Famer no doubt and the best player from the 2001 draft.





Other Big Names from this Draft:

Nate Clements

Santana Moss

Casey Hampton

Justin Smith

Kyle Vandenbosch

T.J. Houshmanzadeh

Michael Vick