Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The 2013 NFL Draft features quite a few different faces from the coaches and general managers overseeing franchises in 2010, but eerily similar results. It’s hard not to double-take when seeing that Mike Singletary and Josh McDaniels were still head coaches of two of the squads on this list of best 2010 draft hauls, though, current San Fran GM Trent Baalke had a hand in this one before his ascension.
Denver Broncos: Demaryius Thomas (first round) took a little while before heating up down the stretch in 2011, breaking onto the national scene in the wild-card win and fully asserting himself as one of the game’s most dangerous receivers with Peyton Manning in 2012. The Tim Tebow trade wouldn’t have worked out if they still had him instead of Manning, but they got a playoff bid out of it. Key starters in Zane Beadles (second), J.D. Walton (third) and Eric Decker (third) were also landed here.
San Francisco 49ers: The new regime didn’t build it’s bruising O-line and defense out of scratch in 2011, as Anthony Davis (first), Mike Iupati (second) and Navorro Bowman (third) were selected a year prior.
New England Patriots: Bill Belichick pulled off the great tight end heist in 2010, snagging Rob Gronkowski (second) and Aaron Hernandez (fourth). The Pats also found one of the league’s most versatile defensive backs in Devin McCourty (first) and a great downhill thumper in linebacker Brandon Spikes (second).
Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks came away with a killing in Coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider‘s first year in the Pacific Northwest, nabbing Russell Okung (first), Earl Thomas (first), Golden Tate (second) and Kam Chancellor (fifth).
More NFL Draft at Rant Sports: I analyzed which teams got the most and least out of their draft classes from 2012 (most, least), 2011 (most, least), 2010 (most, least) and 2009 (most, least), along with the kings of the draft over that span.
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
