StaTuesday: Recent No. 27 overall picks in the NFL Draft
There's one sure thing about the NFL Draft -- there is no sure thing.
The draft is littered with players performing up to, below and beyond expectations. And this includes the first round, the most glamorous of all the picks. No player is guaranteed to be a star, no matter when they were taken. Another thing to keep in mind is immediate impact. Only half of last year's 32 first-round picks could be considered starters last season.
But what is the history of the No. 27 overall pick -- where the Green Bay Packers are scheduled to select this year -- in the NFL Draft?
We took a look back to the 2002 draft, the year Houston entered the NFL to give the league its current 32-team structure. The findings show a number of solid players, including two All-Pros, but also a few who did not live up to the first-round hype (and four of whom are no longer in the league).
The majority of players taken at No. 27 have been or were a starter for the majority of their career, including former Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler, who was selected in 2012 in Cincinnati. Other standouts made with the 27rd overall pick are DeAndre Hopkins (2013), Devin McCourty (2010) and Roddy White (2005).
Of the past 14 players selected at No. 27 (dating back to that 2012 draft), six have made the Pro Bowl (White four times, Jason Babin and Larry Johnson twice, Hopkins, McCourty and DeAngelo Williams once) and two -- White and Johnson -- have been first-team All-Pro selections.
In 2015, Dallas took defensive back Byron Jones with the No. 27 overall pick. He played in 16 games with 11 starts for the Cowboys as a rookie with 66 tackles and nine passes defensed. Two years ago, Arizona chose safety Deone Bucannon, who has emerged as a star, recording 195 tackles in two years with five sacks.
The Packers are widely thought to be targeting a linebacker or defensive tackle the first round. No defensive linemen have been selected with the No. 27 overall pick since 2002 and just one linebacker, Babin (although Bucannon now plays a linebacker spot with the Cardinals).
Below is a list of all the players selected at No. 27 since 2002 which includes the year, player, position, drafting team, length of career, first-team All-Pro selections (API), Pro Bowl selections (PB), number of years as primary starter and weighted career approximate value, the latter two as computed by pro-football-reference.com.
For comparison's sake, here are the highest weighted career approximate value of the top offensive and defensive player from every draft since 2002: 2015 -- Jameis Winston (13) & Marcus Peters (11); 2014 -- Aaron Donald (30) & Odell Beckham Jr. (23); 2013 -- Eddie Lacy (32) & Ezekiel Ansah (26); 2012 -- Russell Wilson (65) & Luke Kuechly (53); 2011 -- J.J. Watt (81) & Cam Newton (76); 2010 -- Ndamukong Suh (65) & Antonio Brown (60); 2009 -- Clay Matthews (70) & Matthew Stafford (64); 2008 -- Matt Ryan (96) & Calais Campbell (61); 2007 -- Patrick Willis (92) & Adrian Peterson (88); 2006 -- Jahri Evans (103) & Haloti Ngata (97); 2005 -- Aaron Rodgers (112) & DeMarcus Ware (99); 2004 -- Phillip Rivers (121) & Jared Allen (99); 2003 -- Carson Palmer (100) & Kevin Williams (99); 2002 -- Julius Peppers (126) & Clinton Portis (71).
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