PAIR REVIEW
History of teams with two top-10 picks isn’t always pretty
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s tailor doesn’t need to come to New York to measure four rookies for gold jackets just yet.
The NFL draft that is supposed to simultaneously revive the Jets and Giants begins Thursday. The two losingest teams over the past five years (tied at 22-59) both have two top-10 picks, which is extremely rare: Only seven teams since 1990 have held two top-10 picks, and only one of those last 32 drafts has included two teams with two top-10 picks.
Now, the epicenter of the first round is a 30-mile stretch of highway and the possibilities feel endless. What if a future Hall of Famer comes to each team? What if one team or the other nails both picks and gets two perennial Pro Bowlers? One team can’t whiff twice, right? Here’s a dose of cold water. The Post reviewed the last seven teams in the same position as the Jets and Giants and found that it is just as likely — or more so — to miss on both picks as to hit on both picks. Of the 14 picks, two won major individual awards at any point, seven made Pro Bowls and two made the Hall of Fame (two are active).
There is no perfect comparison for the Giants — a first-year general manager and first-year head coach — so perhaps it’s no surprise that decision-makers responsible for creating the mess of picking in the top 10 then failed to fully capitalize on premium picks.
“It’s OK to have high expectations,” one longtime NFL executive said. “They should get two of their better players for the next 10 years. Especially the Jets, who have had multiple years under the same GM.”
History suggests that if the Jets and Giants each get one elite player, it could be called a “win” and the second pick is house money. Pessimists afraid of one-team, twobusts have five years of constant losing to blame.
Here’s a look at the last seven teams to have a pair of top-10 picks.
2018 Browns: No. 1 QB Baker Mayfield, No. 4 CB Denzel Ward
GM/ lead executive: John Dorsey (2nd year); Coach: Hue Jackson (3rd year)
The Browns used 28 quarterbacks in 19 seasons before Mayfield arrived. He directed the franchise’s first playoff win since reincarnation in 1999, but he hasn’t been as good as No. 7 pick Josh Allen. The Browns just traded a boatload of picks to replace Mayfield with Deshaun Watson. Ward, a two-time Pro Bowler, signed a five-year, $100.5 million extension to become the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback.
Grade: C 2000 Commanders: No. 2 LB LaVar Arrington, No. 3 OT Chris Samuels
GM/lead executive: Vinny Cerrato (1st year); Coach: Norv Turner (7th year)
The two franchise cornerstones combined for nine Pro Bowl selections in a decade when Washington went to the playoffs twice. But both careers ended prematurely because of injury — Arrington’s after seven seasons (and disputes with multiple head coaches) and Samuels’ after 10. Samuels started 141 games all in the same city and has a borderline Hall of Fame case.
Grade: A
2000 Ravens: No. 5 RB Jamal Lewis, No. 10 WR Travis Taylor
GM/lead executive: Ozzie Newsome (5th year); Coach: Brian Billick (2nd year) The two rookies combined for nearly 2,000 yards from scrimmage for a defenseled Super Bowl winner. Lewis ranks No. 25 in career rushing yards (10,607) and was the 2003 Offensive Player of the Year, but Taylor surpassed 42 catches and three touchdowns in just one of five seasons in Baltimore.
Grade: B
1997 Seahawks: No. 3 CB Shawn Springs, No. 6 OT Walter Jones
GM/lead executive: Randy Mueller (3rd year); Coach: Dennis Erickson (3rd year)
This is the gold standard. Jones spent his entire 12-year career with the Seahawks and is one of four Hall of Famers from the class. Springs spent the first seven of his 13 seasons in Seattle, making a Pro Bowl and the Seahawks’ 35th Anniversary Team. They helped end a 10-year playoff drought.
Grade: A
1994 Colts: No. 2 RB Marshall Faulk, No. 5 Trev Alberts
GM/lead executive: Bill Tobin (1st year); Coach: Ted Marchibroda (3rd year)
Faulk is in the Hall of Fame because of his Rams years, but he won Offensive Rookie of the Year and lifted the Colts out of a fog to the 1995 AFC Championship game. He was traded for two draft picks during a contract holdout in 1999. Alberts totaled four career sacks in 29 games before retiring due to injury.
Grade: C
1992 Colts: No. 1 DL Steve Emtman, No. 2 LB Quentin Coryatt
GM/lead executive: Jim Irsay (9th year); Coach: Ted Marchibroda (1st year)
The only time in the history of the four major sports that one team has held the top two draft picks was a major disappointment. Emtman played 19 games for the Colts, finishing each of his three seasons on injured reserve. Coryatt started 77 games over six years. There are no Hall of Famers from the 1992 class.
Grade: F
1990 Patriots: No. 8 LB Chris Singleton, No. 10 DL Ray Agnew
GM/lead executive: Pat Sullivan (8th year); Coach: Rod Rust (1st year)
Singleton started 26 games for the Patriots but was cut midway through his fourth season after Bill Parcells arrived. Agnew never became a dominant pass-rusher but played his best after leaving the Patriots in 1995. The 1990 Patriots went 1-15 and fired Rust.
Grade: F