American Football
The best NFL draft classes ranked ahead of 2025 instalment
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Excitement is building ahead of the 2025 NFL draft, with fans salivating over the prospect of getting to watch the best youngsters from this year’s crop hold up the jersey of their favourite team.
Top-rated quarterback Cam Ward, standout edge rusher Abdul Carter and two-way star Travis Hunter are considered the top prospects of the 2025 class.
And this year’s intake will do well even to come close to matching the depth of talent and production the 2024 class delivered, after the likes of Jayden Daniels, Brock Bowers and Malik Nabers headlined a stellar cast of high-performing rookies.
But which draft class is considered the greatest of them all?
The 1958 draft is one of the earliest classes that deserves consideration. It delivered nine future Hall of Famers and a whopping 37 Pro Bowlers, most notably three-time MVP Jim Brown.
And the most recent draft class worthy of all-time recognition was the 2011 group, which included three-time Defensive Player of the Year JJ Watt and two-time receiving yards leader Julio Jones.
The 2004 class is another contender from this century. That year saw the New York Giants trade up to take top pick Eli Manning, who went on to win two Super Bowl MVPs with Big Blue.
Another two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, was also in that year’s crop, as well as star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
- Read next | Abdul Carter 2025 NFL Draft Profile: The most dominant defensive prospect in the draft class
Other classes deserving of mention came from the drafts in 1996 (Marvin Harrison, Ray Lewis, Terrell Owens), ’89 (Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders), ’81 (Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary, Ronnie Lott) and ’64 (Roger Staubach, Leroy Kelly, Paul Krause).
But the best of them all was the draft class of 1983. That year’s intake was headlined by a much-hyped quarterback who delivered on all expectations – John Elway, the one-time MVP and two-time Super Bowl-winning Denver Broncos icon.
It also included another all-time-great signal caller in Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino, as well as running back Eric Dickerson, who still holds the NFL record for the most rushing yards in a single season (2,105).
In total, the ’83 class provided a stunning 41 Pro Bowlers and eight Hall of Famers.
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