Lee Roy Selmon's Legacy: Which Young Players Shoulder the Biggest Burden?

The late Lee Roy Selmon, who passed away last weekend at the age of 56, was a football legend before he set foot in the NFL. The two-time consensus All-American anchored an Oklahoma team that won back-to-back national championships. He won both the Outland and Lombardi trophies his senior year.

I never saw Selmon play; I was three years old when he played his last competitive snap. I was surprised by the outpouring of love and grief after news of his passing broke. I took the occasion to find out more about who he was, what he did and what he accomplished. I was surprised to see how as a very young man, he anchored one of the most dramatic worst-to-first turnarounds in NFL history.

Selmon entered the league as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers very first draft pick: the No. 1 overall selection in 1976. Even a rookie with Selmon's prodigious talent couldn't make the expansion Bucs competitive; they went 0-14. In Selmon's second year, the Bucs started the season 0-12 before winning their last two games. In 1978, they went 5-11. In 1979, they won the NFC Central with a 10-6 record, defeated the Eagles in the Divisional Round and lost a defensive battle at home to the underdog Rams in the NFC Championship Game.

More than ever, college standouts are expected to step in and make a big impact on their team's bottom line. Which recent top picks could lead their bottom-scraping franchise to the playoffs in 2011?

In 2008, the St. Louis Rams hit rock bottom. They started the season 0-4, lost star running back Steven Jackson in the process, fired their coach Scott Linehan and skidded all the way to 2-14. Then, in 2009, that bottom dropped out.

With a lack of talent and a scheme switch on both sides of the ball, the Rams managed to win just one game in 2009. They found themselves holding the No. 1 overall pick and spent it as the 1976 Bucs spent theirs: on an Oklahoma Sooner, quarterback Sam Bradford.

Bradford boasted a Davey O' Brien award and Heisman Trophy on his mantle. Like Selmon, he'd also led the Sooners to the national mountaintop—though the Florida Gators prevented them from planting their flag there. Once Bradford took over the hapless Rams, though, it seemed like he had an even higher mountain to climb.

Incredibly, Bradford stepped in and led his team to a share of the NFC West division title. His 60 percent completion percentage and 18 TDs were impressive enough; that he threw just 15 interceptions on 590 attempts is incredible. His precocious rookie campaign earned him the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

The 7-9 Rams were a tiebreaker away from making the playoffs last season; with more talent (like former Jaguars wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker) around Bradford, they should have the inside track on winning their division—just two years removed from 3-29.

Like Lee Roy Selmon, Matthew Stafford was drafted No. 1 overall by a team that went winless the year before. Like Selmon's Bucs, Stafford's Lions won only two games his rookie year. In his second year, Stafford's Lions won six games, much like Selmon's Bucs won five. However, Selmon was a stalwart performer throughout; Stafford has only played 13 games since entering the league.

Stafford has passed the "eyeball test" whenever he's stepped on the field, from childhood to today. In high school, he led football powerhouse Highland Park to the Texas state championship, and was the No. 1 overall quarterback recruit in the nation.

At Georgia, things didn't quite go according to plan; Stafford did not win the Heisman or lead the Dawgs to a national championship. But throughout his three years between the hedges, Stafford's tools and ability were evident. Mel Kiper predicted Stafford would become the No. 1 overall pick before he even started a game for the Dawgs; in the draft evaluation cycle—the NFL Combine, Georgia's Pro Day and Stafford's "flawless" private workout with the Lions—those tools were proven.

Now, though, the pressure is on: the Lions have invested heavily in offensive weapons to maximize Stafford's talent and built a fearsome defensive line to keep opponents from keeping pace with his output. The Lions expect to make the playoffs this season, and Matthew Stafford must be the one to lead them there.

Perhaps the player most closely following in Lee Roy Selmon's footsteps, though, is Gerald McCoy. McCoy is also a two-time All-American defensive tackle from Oklahoma and he was also a high first-round pick of the Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay had, surprisingly, fired head coach Jon Gruden on the heels of a 9-7 season. To replace him, they promoted defensive coordinator Raheem Morris—promoted to that position from defensive backs coach just a month before. Morris, with no prior head coaching experience at any level, led the Bucs to a disastrous 3-13 finish. However, owning the No. 3 overall draft slot gave them the chance to draft McCoy.

McCoy was deployed all over the line as a rookie. He saw snaps as a 1-technique tackle, 3-technique tackle, even at defensive end. He often drew double-teams as the Buccaneers tried to deploy him for maximum effect, but he still had three sacks and 21 solo tackles in the first 13 games.

Despite losing the last three games to a torn biceps muscle, he led the turnaround of a Bucs defense that went from the 27th-best scoring defense in 2009 to ninth-best in 2010. Though the Bucs amassed a 10-6 record, they weren't able to make the playoffs last season. With a healthy, fitter McCoy in his second season, the Bucs look ready to take that next step.

Lee Roy Selmon was a legendary player, in both college and the pros. He was named first team All-Pro three times and second-team All-Pro twice. He was a six-time Pro Bowler, the 1979 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

The weight of those expectations is great indeed—but if these young players want to pull their respective franchises from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the mountain, they'll have to shoulder the same load Selmon did.