I put out my first draft guide in 1979. This year will be No. 35. That first guide was a full six years before the first NFL scouting combine. Back then, there were no online prospect guides and no recruiting rankings to track talent down to the high school level, and the draft looked something like this. For me, evaluating prospects was all about getting as much tape as I could find (there was no ESPN GamePlan), and making hundreds and hundreds of phone calls (no cellphones, either!) to coaches, scouts and front-office folks who would listen, and to evaluators at every level. You couldn't watch a verified 40-yard dash time on live TV; instead, you had to triangulate and weed out truth from fiction. It wasn't easy.
Mel Kiper's all-time draft grades
• Top 10 QBs »
• Top 10 RBs »
• Top 10 WR/TEs »
• Top 10 OLs
• Top 10 DE/DTs »
• Top 10 LBs »
• Top 10 S/CBs »
• Top 10 K/Ps »
But all this time, I've kept the same 10-point grading scale, so even as the athletes changed, we can compare today where players stood among their prospect peers over a generation.
So, some parameters for what you see below:
1. The ranking is based on the final draft grade before the draft, and it goes back to 1979, my first draft guide. It's clear to me now I graded a little easier when I was younger. I didn't have the point of reference I do today.
2. The grades do not reflect NFL performance. (You'll see.) I printed these grades and simply went back through every book. I have to live with the busts.
3. There are some ties on grades, so I had to break those ties without a great deal of science. But again, I didn't break ties based on NFL production.
That said, here they are. For this group, there are great ones, but it's sad the degree to which injuries took their toll.
1. Bruce Smith, Virginia Tech (No. 1 pick, 1985)
Grade: 9.9
Well, No. 1 is a keeper. Smith finished his NFL career with exactly 200 sacks, and had 13 seasons with double-digit sacks. And this was no surprise. Smith was a relentlessly disruptive defensive player for the Hokies, and -- I love this stat -- finished his career with tackles behind the line of scrimmage that totaled more than 500 yards in losses. It was as if teams occasionally had to hand the ball off the wrong way. Smith was a big edge rusher -- he played between 265 and 280 pounds -- and had great reach and long arms at 6-foot-4, but he had a great burst and could chase you down. He could run the 40 in the 4.7-seconds range.
2. Steve Emtman, Washington (No. 1 pick, 1992)
Grade: 9.9
To watch Emtman's college tape during his junior season at Washington was to witness a guy who seemed totally unblockable. It was as if he and the offensive lineman were the magnets of the same pole -- the O-lineman just bounced into the backfield. For perspective, Emtman was No. 4 in the Heisman voting -- as a defensive tackle.
The Colts had the top two picks in 1992, and decided to remake their defense by going with Emtman at No. 1 and Quentin Coryatt No. 2. It didn't happen. Emtman blew out his left knee as a rookie, tore a patellar tendon in his right knee the next season, then dealt with nerve damage after a disk problem. I hate to call him a bust, because his body simply betrayed him in the end.
3. Andre Wadsworth, Florida State (No. 3 pick, 1998)
Grade: 9.8
Initially a defensive tackle, the Seminoles eventually moved Wadsworth to the edge and unleashed a pass-rushing monster. He was a sack machine as a senior, and cemented his prospect status by running 4.65 at nearly 280 pounds, while also displaying great strength, agility and the ability to bend on the edge. Wadsworth might be a statistical bust, but his knees also didn't allow him to succeed. By his third and last season, he was having another major knee surgery, the third of his career on his right knee.
4. Kenneth Sims, Texas (No. 1 pick, 1982)
Grade: 9.8
A tall defensive tackle, Sims was 6-5 and "big" for that era at 275 pounds. He was one of those guys where you wonder about how the modern scouting environment would have viewed him. At the time, coaches raved about his intangibles and attitude -- I heard about how he was the guy to go visit other players in the hospital after injuries and surgery -- and combine that with All-American production, and you had a great prospect. But his NFL career was merely average, and he developed a reputation as being uninterested. He has just 17 career sacks.
5. Ray Childress, Texas A&M (No. 3 pick, 1985)
Grade: 9.8
There was a thought he could go No. 1 to Buffalo, but the Bills probably made the right call in taking Bruce Smith. Childress was no slouch, however. He was a great sack artist at A&M, and was extremely versatile. His NFL sack totals could have been higher, but when Houston asked him to move inside in a 4-3 it was implementing, he did, and was extremely effective. Childress went to four straight Pro Bowls as a D-tackle.
6. Tony Casillas, Oklahoma (No. 2 pick, 1986)
Grade: 9.8
A great D-tackle for the Sooners, Casillas was something of a legend for his strength. I was told by multiple witnesses that Casillas had benched 475 pounds, a huge number at the time. And I had him at just 277 pounds. He wasn't a star in the NFL, but he got off to a great start. He was really active and had a great knack for finding the ball amid the chaos. His 152 tackles in 1989 is pretty extraordinary for a D-tackle.
7. Dan Wilkinson, Ohio State (No. 1 pick, 1994)
Grade: 9.8
"Big Daddy" was an exceptional prospect as a disruptive interior force with great burst, power and agility. He was productive, but also put on a show for scouts in running a 40 in under 4.8 at more than 310 pounds. I hear him described as a bust, but that's really only based on the hype. The guy played 195 games and racked up 54½ sacks from the defensive tackle position. He never became the star I thought he'd be, but his natural talent kept him around a long time.
8. Mike Bell, Colorado State (No. 2 pick, 1979)
Grade: 9.7
He was the best player in the 1979 draft. I had him listed at just 262 pounds –- but I say "just" because he was plenty big for a defensive end in that era. I compared him in the guide to Bob Lilly, a longtime great for the Cowboys. Bell finished his NFL career with just 40 sacks, but for perspective, they weren't keeping the stat officially until 1983, his fifth NFL season. And Bell had 23½ sacks in the first two seasons the stat was counted. He played in 135 NFL games and started 100, all for the Chiefs.
9. Peter Boulware, Florida State (No. 4 pick, 1997)
Grade: 9.7
He was on the radar pretty early. No program churned out NFL talent in the 1990s like Florida State, and Boulware jumped on the scene by leading the ACC in sacks as a sophomore. He simply dominated as a junior and had every trait you would want out of a pass-rusher. He was the NFL defensive rookie of the year, and retired after eight seasons (and some injury trouble) as Baltimore's all-time sacks leader. He's a revered veteran of the franchise.
10. Darrell Russell, USC (No. 2 pick, 1997)
Grade: 9.7
Russell really belonged on a football field, because things fell apart when he was elsewhere. A freakish athlete for his size, Russell could run sub-4.9 at about 320 pounds, and he was a great blend of power and quickness on the defensive interior. By his second year in the NFL, you could argue nobody was better. But that was the high point for Russell. He went to one more Pro Bowl in 1998, then his performance started to dip and suspensions for banned substances started to pile up. He was essentially out of football at just 29 when he was killed in a car accident.
Next best defensive linemen
• Jerome Brown (Miami, 1987): Could have been a Pro Hall of Fame player. Died too young in a car accident at age 27.
• Courtney Brown (Penn State, 2000): A bust based on where he was taken; the traits never turned into production.
• Mario Williams (North Carolina State, 2006): He has justified the much-debated selection ahead of Reggie Bush.
• Jon Hand (Alabama, 1986): Never an NFL star, he had a decent career in nine seasons.
• Cortez Kennedy (Miami, 1990): A Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest Seahawks player ever, up there with Steve Largent.
• Bryant Young, Marty Lyons, Jacob Green and Neil Smith are a few others who were close.