FIRST PICK OVERALL

A MIXED BAG AT BEST

The last time the Eagles had the NFL's first draft pick overall was 1949 - 76 years ago. It went rather well.

The Eagles drafted Chuck Bednarik from Penn. Bednarik, football's last great "60-minute man," excelled as both linebacker and center throughout his 14-year NFL career with the Birds. He earned 8 Pro Bowl selections, made the All-Pro 1st Team 6 times (and the 2nd Team 3 times), played on not one but two Eagles championship teams (1949 and 1960), and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was arguably the greatest Eagle of all time.

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The reason the Eagles - the 1948 NFL champions - ended up with the first pick in 1949 is that the NFL had a "bonus pick" lottery in place at that time. The Eagles just happened to luck out and win the lottery.

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Nowadays, at least in theory, the first pick overall represents that historic moment when the NFL's worst team gets to change its fortunes by acquiring a college superstar who will help lead it to a Super Bowl title. In reality, however, that is seldom the case. In the 56 drafts since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, it has happened only 4 times:

1970: Terry Bradshaw (Steelers)

1989: Troy Aikman (Cowboys)

1998: Peyton Manning (Colts)

2013: Eric Fisher (Chiefs)

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Maybe this is not as surprising as it seems. NFL teams that finish dead last often get there by being poor judges of talent, a fact not likely to change on draft day.

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Since 1970, 49 (88%) of the 56 first-overall picks have been either quarterbacks (29), defensive linemen (14), or running backs (6). Rounding out the rest of the list are 3 offensive linemen, 2 linebackers, and 2 wide receivers.  To date, only 8 of these 56 picks have made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.