What is the best way to build a football team? It has been said that the foundation of the team must be built through the draft to achieve year in and year out success. Makes sense, everyone loves home cooking.
The end of the 2010 season will come later this evening and a Super Bowl champion will be crowned. Will it be the NFC Champion Packers? Will it be the Steelers from the AFC? The world will be watching, but until then let's take a look at how these two teams were built and compare it to how the Eagles were crafted this season.
A couple of notes. The Associated Press provided the information for the Steelers and Packers. For the Steelers, I know that center Maurkice Pouncey was placed on injured reserve this week but I included him on the list because he was an integral part of the team's success. For the Eagles, the information was courtesy of the Eagles Media Relations Department. I decided to include certain players who ended up on injured reserve like defensive end Brandon Graham and cornerback Ellis Hobbs.
It's interesting to see how long a draft class really lasts on a team. 2004 isn't that long ago, but the Packers have one seventh-round pick on their roster from that class and the Steelers have one draft choice suiting up tonight. Of course, that pick was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
| Green Bay Packers | |||
| Draft | |||
| 1999 | WR Donald Driver (7th) | ||
| 2000 | OT Chad Clifton (2nd) | ||
| 2004 | C Scott Wells (7th) | ||
| 2005 | QB Aaron Rodgers (1st), S Nick Collins (2nd) | ||
| 2006 | LB A.J. Hawk (1st), G Daryn Colledge (2nd), WR Greg Jennings (2nd), C/G Jason Spitz (3rd) | ||
| 2007 | RB Brandon Jackson (2nd), WR James Jones (3rd), FB Korey Hall (6th), LB Desmond Bishop (6th), K Mason Crosby (6th) | ||
| 2008 | WR Jordy Nelson (2nd), CB Pat Lee (2nd), G Josh Sitton (4th), QB Matt Flynn (7th), WR Brett Swain (7th) | ||
| 2009 | NT B.J. Raji (1st), LB Clay Matthews (1st), T/G T.J. Lang (4th), FB Quinn Johnson (5th), DE Jarius Wynn (6th), CB Brandon Underwood (6th) | ||
| 2010 | T/G Bryan Bulaga (1st), TE Andrew Quarless (5th), RB James Starks (6th), DE C.J. Wilson (7th) | ||
| Free Agency | |||
| 2004 | DE Cullen Jenkins | ||
| 2005 | S Atari Bigby, TE Donald Lee | ||
| 2006 | CB Tramon Williams | ||
| 2008 | LS Brett Goode | ||
| 2009 | TE Tom Crabtree | ||
| 2010 | C/G Evan Dietrich-Smith, LB Robert Francois, CB Josh Gordy, QB Graham Harrell, P Tim Masthay, G Nick McDonald, RB Dimitri Nance, S Charlie Peprah, CB Sam Shields, LB Erik Walden, LB Matt Wilhelm, LB Frank Zombo | ||
| Unrestricted Free Agency | |||
| 2006 | DE/NT Ryan Pickett (STL), CB Charles Woodson (OAK) | ||
| Waivers | |||
| 2006 | CB Jarrett Bush (CAR) | ||
| 2007 | RB John Kuhn (PIT) | ||
| 2010 | LB Diyral Briggs (Denver), NT Howard Green (NYJ) | ||
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |||
| Draft | |||
| 1998 | WR Hines Ward (3rd) | ||
| 1999 | DE Aaron Smith (4th) | ||
| 2001 | NT Casey Hampton (1st) | ||
| 2002 | DE Brett Keisel (7th) | ||
| 2003 | S Troy Polamalu (1st), CB Ike Taylor (4th) | ||
| 2004 | QB Ben Roethlisberger (1st) | ||
| 2005 | TE Heath Miller (1st), G Trai Essex (3rd), G Chris Kemoeatu (6th) | ||
| 2007 | LB Lawrence Timmons (1st), LB LaMarr Woodley (2nd), TE Matt Spaeth (3rd), CB William Gay (5th) | ||
| 2008 | RB Rashard Mendenhall (1st), OT Tony Hills (4th), RB Jonathan Dwyer (6th), S Ryan Mundy (6th) | ||
| 2009 | DE Ziggy Hood (1st), WR Mike Wallace (3rd), CB Keenan Lewis (3rd), TE David Johnson (7th) | ||
| 2010 | C Maurkice Pouncey (1st), LB Jason Worilds (2nd), WR Emmanuel Sanders (3rd), OT Chris Scott (5th), CB Crezdon Butler (5th), LB Stevenson Sylvester (5th), WR Antonio Brown (6th) | ||
| Free Agency | |||
| 2001 | NT Chris Hoke | ||
| 2002 | QB Charlie Batch | ||
| 2004 | LB James Harrison | ||
| 2005 | C Greg Warren | ||
| 2007 | DE Nick Eason | ||
| 2008 | C Doug Legursky | ||
| 2009 | G Ramon Foster, CB Anthony Madison, DT Steve McLendon, RB Isaac Redman | ||
| 2010 | OT Flozell Adams, P Jeremy Kapinos, WR Antwaan Randle El, OT Jonathan Scott, K Shaun Suisham | ||
| Unrestricted Free Agency | |||
| 2002 | LB James Farrior (NYJ) | ||
| 2006 | S Ryan Clark (WAS) | ||
| 2008 | RB Mewelde Moore (MIN), LB Keyaron Fox (KC) | ||
| 2010 | S Will Allen (TB), WR Arnaz Battle (SF), LB Larry Foote (DET) | ||
| Trades | |||
| 2010 | QB Byron Leftwich (TB), CB Bryant McFadden (ARI) | ||
| Philadelphia Eagles | |||
| Draft | |||
| 2005 | DT Mike Patterson (1st), G Todd Herremans (4th), DE Trent Cole (5th) | ||
| 2006 | DT Brodrick Bunkley (1st), OT Winston Justice (2nd), G Max Jean-Gilles (4th), WR Jason Avant (4th), LB Omar Gaither (5th) | ||
| 2007 | QB Kevin Kolb (2nd), LB Stewart Bradley (3rd), TE Brent Celek (5th) | ||
| 2008 | DT Trevor Laws (2nd), WR DeSean Jackson (2nd), C/G Mike McGlynn (4th), OT King Dunlap (7th) | ||
| 2009 | WR Jeremy Maclin (1st), RB LeSean McCoy (2nd), LB Moise Fokou (7th) | ||
| 2010 | DE Brandon Graham (1st), FS Nate Allen (2nd), DE Daniel Te'o-Nesheim (3rd), CB Trevard Lindley (4th), LB Keenan Clayton (4th), QB Mike Kafka (4th), TE Clay Harbor (4th), WR Riley Cooper (5th), LB Jamar Chaney (7th), S Kurt Coleman (7th) | ||
| Free Agency | |||
| 1999 | K David Akers | ||
| 2003 | C Jamaal Jackson, SS Quintin Mikell | ||
| 2005 | DE Juqua Parker | ||
| 2006 | G Nick Cole, CB Joselio Hanson, LS Jon Dorenbos | ||
| 2007 | P Sav Rocca, LB Akeem Jordan | ||
| 2009 | CB Dimitri Patterson, QB Michael Vick | ||
| 2010 | WR Chad Hall, OT Austin Howard, FB Owen Schmitt, S Colt Anderson, KR Gerard Lawson, DT Jeremy Clark, DE Bobby McCray, S Jamar Adams, CB Brandon Hughes | ||
| Unrestricted Free Agency | |||
| 2008 | CB Asante Samuel (NE) | ||
| 2009 | FB Leonard Weaver (SEA) | ||
| Trades | |||
| 2009 | OT Jason Peters (BUF), CB Ellis Hobbs (NE) | ||
| 2010 | DE Darryl Tapp (SEA), LB Ernie Sims (DET), CB Jorrick Calvin (ARI), G Reggie Wells (ARI), RB Jerome Harrison (CLE) | ||
| Waivers | |||
| 2009 | RB Eldra Buckley (SD), DT Antonio Dixon (WAS) | ||
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 10:00 a.m., February 6*
