NFL Draft: All Time Top Picks

So if your team could draft any player from its past to play today, who would it be? Not the best player in your team's history, but the player who would help the team most today?

That is, if your Chicago Bear fan and consider Matt Forte a suitable runner would it be prudent to skip Gale Sayers and Walter Payton to shore up the defense? Or if you're a Green Bay Packer fan, would you skip Brett Favre and plug in a 1960s standout on defense or offense? Does John Elway sit because Jay Cutler is capable? Is he?

Let's roll the mythical dice and see what legendary players are conjured from the mists of football past to save your current teams. Being draft-mania time, we shall roll in draft order.

1) Detroit Lions — QB Bobby Layne

What better player to lift the Curse of Bobby Layne then Bobby Layne? The Lions have not had a championship since Layne left. That would not amaze Layne much, but he would be shocked to see that a beer at a Lions game costs as much as four or five shares of General Motors stock.

2) St Louis Rams — DE Deacon Jones

The Rams are a mess, so at least the Deacon would bring the heat. Quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Norm Van Brocklin or running back Eric Dickerson are possibilities, but that Rams defense is horrid.

3) Kansas City Chiefs — QB Len Dawson

Dawson is tough enough to take the beatings necessary while the Chiefs rebuild.

4) Seattle Seahawks — WR Steve Largent

The Seahawks really need a wide receiver, a running back and an offensive tackle.

5) Cleveland Browns — RB Jim Brown

Who else? The Browns have been a team in need of toughness since Brown left.

6) Cincinnati Bengals — OT Anthony Munoz

The Bungles line is a mess. Left tackles are at a premium and Munoz was the prototype tackle.

7) Oakland Raiders — OT Art Shell

The Raiders have had so many great players and now have so many poor players there's a plethora of possible players to pick to help this talent-deprived bunch. Skip the Snake and start with a tackle. Take Shell the player, not the coach. Look for Gene Upshaw in the second round.

8) Jacksonville Jaguars — OT Tony Boselli

The Jags have been looking for a left tackle since injuries and bad doctors shortened his career. Its a tackle run.

9) Green Bay Packers — RB Paul Hornung

Oh no, not Brett! Aaron Rodgers is capable and the Pack needs a back. Hornung would be a fantasy-football beast. He led the league in scoring three years in a row and once scored 176 points in 12 games. And he kicks, too!

10) San Francisco 49ers — QB Joe Montana

Who else?

11) Buffalo Bills — RB OJ Simpson

The Juice on the loose, and what a felonious tandem with well-armed Marshawn Lynch. Based on pure football ability, not gore-filled post-football lore, the Juice was one of the greatest players in NFL history.

12) Denver Broncos — RB Terrell Davis

An Elway pass? Elway was, of course, much better then Cutler. But Cutler is, usually, semi-capable and Elway did not win the big one until Davis began tearing up the league. 

13) Washington Redskins — QB/S/P Sammy Baugh

If Albert Haynesworth, who has never played a complete season, gets $115 million what would Baugh, a Pro Bowl player at three positions, be worth? Well, Daniel Snyder would be slashing a lot more then low-paid Redskin staff. Lil Dan would have to say hello, partner to sign Slinging Sammy.

14) New Orleans Saints — LB Ricky Jackson

The Saints need defense and a pass rush. Jackson, who the Hall of Fame always overlooks, could pressure the quarterback and play the run well.

15) Houston Texans — RB Earl Campbell

The franchise jumping and expansion causes confusion. It's Houston and it's Big Earl, the Tyler Rose.

16) San Diego Chargers — WR Lance Alworth

Its either offensive tackle Ron Mix or Alworth. But the Chargers really need a deep threat to help Antonio Gates. Alworth is the only player to be on the All-Time All-AFL Team and the NFL's 75th anniversary team.

17) New York Jets — QB Joe Namath

Again, like Montana, who else represents the Jets? And the Jets really need a quarterback, as usual since Broadway Joe left.

18) Chicago Bears — LB Dick Butkus

The Bears have so many holes and so many Hall of Famers. Defensive tackle Dan Hampton, the key to the Bears' great defenses of the 1980s, would lift the current sinking defense. Defensive end Doug Atkins, all 6-foot-8 of him, would terrorize today's pampered, perfumed quarterbacks, but Butkus is Butkus. The Bears defense lacks a killer instinct and Don Shula once said if he had to build a football team, he would take eleven of Butkus.

19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers — DE Lee Roy Selmon

Selmon is the best player in Bucs history and with a Tampa team lacking talent everywhere, that's not a bad place to start.

20) Detroit Lions — RB Barry Sanders

The Lions have life! Layne and Sanders will fill the stands. Though cornerback Dick "Night Train" Layne is tempting just to see the Night Train Neck Tie, his vicious clothesline tackle, used on Terrell Owens.

21) Philadelphia Eagles — DE Reggie White

The Eagles need defense and they need a pass rusher, so why not White? White was the key on Buddy Ryan's great Philadelphia defenses and would instantly upgrade the entire Eagles team.

22) Minnesota Vikings — QB Fran Tarkenton

The Vikings are only a quarterback away from the Super Bowl? Who else but the scrambling, nine-time Pro Bowler Tarkenton?

23) New England Patriots — CB Mike Haynes

Tom Brady begs for guard John Hannah, but Bill Belichick takes the lockdown cornerback he craves.

24) Atlanta Falcons — LB Tommy Nobis

The Hall of Fame shuns the All-Decade linebacker Nobis, but he be perfect for a young, developing Falcon squad.

25) Miami Dolphins — QB Dan Marino

The Tuna would jump to land the Hall of Fame quarterback.

26) Baltimore Ravens — QB Johnny Unitas

The hell with the NFL, Johnny U belongs in Baltimore and would revive that sluggish offense. If I'm forced to pick a Raven, offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden would be the man.

27) Indianapolis Colts — DE Gino Marchetti

Colts, Colts, everywhere Colts? It's my mythical game and the Colts can be used at both places. Peyton Manning is whining for tight end John Mackey, guard Jim Parker, or running back Lenny Moore, but defense wins championships. Take the NFL's 75th anniversary team's pass-rushing, run-stuffing defensive end Marchetti, but remember Moore would be magic working with Manning.

28) Philadelphia Eagles — LB/C Chuck Bednarik   

Andy Reid's Eagles have always been soft at crunch time, so why not pour some Concrete Charlie on the Eagles to toughen them up?

29) New York Giants — LB Lawrence Taylor

The greatest Giant of them all and today's Giants need a defensive upgrade. Taylor would dominate today's players, much as he did players in his prime. 

30) Tennessee Titans — DT Elvin Bethea

Jeff Fisher is angry the Texans took Earl Campbell and has filed a protest. Meanwhile, the Titans try to fill the massive hole left by DT Albert Haynesworth. Maybe they move for quarterbacks Warren Moon or Steve McNair instead, though? Jeff Fisher goes defense.

31) Arizona Cardinals — RB/KR Ollie Matson

Matson was an all-time great kickoff returner and All-Decade running back. He also won a silver medal in the 400 meters at the Olympics. If he was added to their already- explosive offense, Kurt Warner would be very, very happy.

32) Pittsburgh Steelers — DT Joe Greene 

The Steelers need some defensive linemen, so who's better then Joe Greene? Mean Joe makes the entire defense better.

Two teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers out of the first round.

The Cowboys need quarterback Roger Staubach to stabilize their floundering traveling circus. Or if Jerry Jones loves Tony Romo that much, maybe take defensive tackle Bob Lilly.

The Carolina Panthers haven't been around that long, so the best player available has to be taken. Linebacker Sam Mills is the only player in their Ring of Honor.