Here we discuss the top five best, and worst, first-round draft picks to ever come out of Auburn football.
With the NFL Combine now over and Auburn football scheduled to hold its Pro Day on Friday at the Auburn Athletic Complex, let’s look at former Tigers drafted in the first round by an NFL team.
In total, there have been 30 Auburn football players drafted in the first round, with the first being quarterback Travis Tidwell selected seventh overall in the 1950 draft by the New York Giants. The last two selected in the first round were in 2014, when the St. Louis Rams selected offensive lineman Greg Robinson and the Kansas City Chiefs selected defensive lineman Dee Ford in the first round.
Not every first-round pick, however, is a guarantee for success, as we all know. That’s what NFL teams are trying to ensure by closely watching players at the Combine and by attending the Pro Day workouts at universities across the country.
The higher the pick in the first round, the more money a team must pay the player as well, so there’s a financial incentive to make the best selection.
Here’s a look at five first-round picks from Auburn that worked out beautifully for NFL teams, and five first-round picks that were total duds.
First, the best first-round picks of Auburn players:
1. Cam Newton, selected first overall in 2011 by the Carolina Panthers
Teams are looking for a franchise player when they have the first pick in the draft, a player who can turn around that team’s fortunes. There’s a reason why a team picks first — it had the worst record the previous year.
In selecting Cam Newton — who led Auburn to the national championship in 2010 — in 2011, the Carolina Panthers got themselves their starting quarterback for the next 15 years. He’s led them to three consecutive NFC South titles and a Super Bowl after the 2015 season, when Newton was named the league’s most valuable player.
Newton had a down year in 2016, and the Panthers missed the playoffs by going 6-10. But give him a better offensive line to protect him, and Newton should get the Panthers back in the playoffs in 2017 and beyond.
2. James Brooks, selected 24th overall by the San Diego Chargers in 1981
James Brooks spent 12 years in the NFL and rushed for more than 1,000 yards three times in his career. He also made four Pro Bowls.
When you’re picking near the end of the first round, you’re looking for value, and the Chargers got its punt and kick returner for the next three years in Brooks as well as a backup running back who offered a change of pace. He later thrived with the Cincinnati Bengals and played in the Super Bowl after the 1988 season.
Brooks finished his career with 79 touchdowns and nearly 8,000 rushing yards, as well as another 3,621 receiving yards. That’s production that any NFL team would have been happy to have acquired with the 24th pick in the first round.
3. Willie Anderson, selected 10th overall in 1997 by the Cincinnati Bengals
In selecting Willie Anderson with the 10th pick in 1996, the Bengals acquired its starting right tackle for 11 seasons and a four-time Pro Bowler.
Anderson blocked for quarterbacks such as Jon Kitna and Carson Palmer, and the team’s running back during the latter part of his time with the Bengals was Rudi Johnson, another Auburn product. Johnson rushed for more than 1,400 yards in 2004 and 2005 with Anderson blocking for him.
After refusing to take a pay cut, Anderson asked the Bengals to release him. He then played one more year with the Baltimore Ravens. He ended up playing 195 games in the NFL. The average first rounder has a career that lasts 9.3 years, and Anderson surpassed that by playing 13 years.
4. Takeo Spikes, drafted 13th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1998
Two years after picking Anderson in the first round, the Bengals returned to the Plains to pick Takeo Spikes with the 13th overall pick in 1998 and plugged him into the starting lineup for the next five seasons.
Spikes then spent three years with the Buffalo Bills, where he made the Pro Bowl twice. He also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers in a 15-year career where he had more than 1,400 tackles, the most of any Auburn player who played in the NFL.
Spikes retired after the 2012 season. Since then, he has published a book about linebackers called “Behind the Mask.” Among his subjects is former Auburn linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene.
5. Forrest Blue, selected 15th overall by the San Francisco 49ers in 1968
Forrest Blue played for Auburn’s football team from 1965 to 1967 at a time when freshmen were not eligible to play on the varsity, and he also played for the baseball team while he was on the Plains.
Drafted 15th overall by the San Francisco 49ers, Blue played on three consecutive division winning teams in the early 1970s, and he was named to the Pro Bowl from 1971 to 1974. He was also named an All Pro in 1971 and 1972.
After leaving the 49ers, Blue played for the Baltimore Colts for four years before ending his 11-year career after the 1978 season. He died in 2011 at the age of 65 due to brain damage likely suffered during his football career.
Now, here are the five worst first-round picks from Auburn:
1. Aundray Bruce, drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 1988
When a team drafts a player with the first pick in the NFL draft, it wants a Pro Bowl player whose career is filled with outstanding plays and playoff appearances. The Atlanta Falcons got one of the greatest No. 1 pick busts of all time with Aundray Bruce.
Bruce was an All-American in 1987 and garnered national attention after he intercepted three passes in one game that year against Georgia Tech. He played his first four seasons with the Falcons and started 29 of the first 32 games in his career but totaled just 136 tackles during the first two years.
Bruce played eight more years in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders, but he started just 41 of 151 career games and had just 264 career tackles, or about 1.5 per game.
For a player expected to be the next Lawrence Taylor, Bruce’s career was a disappointment, especially for an overall No. 1 pick. The NFL Network last year selected Bruce as the No. 6 all-time NFL Draft bust.
2. Travis Tidwell, selected seventh overall in 1950 by the New York Giants
Travis Tidwell was Auburn’s first great quarterback, leading the Southeastern Conference in total offense in 1946. Three years later, he led the Tigers to a stunning 14-13 upset over rival Alabama in the second game after the series was renewed.
The Giants then selected Tidwell seventh overall in the first round. Even back then, an NFL team expected big things out of its top draft picks. But Tidwell lasted just two years with the Giants, starting just four games and playing in just 14 games. In his NFL career, Tidwell completed just 43 percent of his passes.
Tidwell threw for five touchdowns and rushed for two more. That’s not exactly the output a team expects from a first-round pick. An argument could be made that Tidwell was a worse pick than Bruce because of his short tenure.
3. Terry Beasley, selected 19th overall by the San Francisco 49ers in 1972
Terry Beasley was an All-American at Auburn in 1970 and 1971, catching 141 passes and 29 touchdowns from Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Terry Sullivan during their time at Auburn. That led to the San Francisco 49ers picking him in the 1972 draft to catch passes from another SEC star in Steve Spurrier.
But in three seasons with the 49ers, Beasley caught just 38 passes for three touchdowns and started just six games. Injuries forced an early end to his career.
Beasley has spent most of the last 40 years struggling with the effects of those injuries. While his first-round pick was a mistake, his No. 88 remains one of only three football jerseys retired by Auburn.
4. Brent Fullwood, selected fourth overall by the Green Bay Packers in 1987
The Green Bay Packers likely thought they were getting the next Bo Jackson when they drafted Brent Fullwood with the fourth overall pick in the 1987 draft. In 1986, Fullwood rushed for 1,391 yards for the Tigers, finishing sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting and rushing for an astonishing 8.3 yards per carry.
But Fullwood lasted slightly more than three seasons with the pre-Brett Favre Packers and just four seasons in the NFL. His best season was in 1989, when he rushed for 821 yards and started 15 games. But 1990 would be his last year in the NFL.
His 1,702 career rushing yards should be considered a disappointment for a player drafted fourth overall. Future Hall of Famer Rod Woodson was drafted six picks later by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
5. Bo Jackson, selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986
This selection was an extremely bad pick because the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner refused to sign with the Buccaneers after owner Hugh Culverhouse promised him that a trip to visit the team wouldn’t hurt his eligibility for the Tigers baseball team in 1986.
After that happened, Jackson signed with the Kansas City Royals and played minor league baseball for the Memphis Chicks before a late-September call-up to the Royals.
A year later, the Oakland Raiders took a flyer by picking Jackson in the seventh round, and he promptly signed with them. His four-year NFL career was cut short by his hip injury, but 2,782 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns was well worth the selection.
Next: All-Time Top 10 NFL Auburn Players
No team likes to waste the No. 1 overall pick. The Buccaneers would have at least 10 losses in nine of the next 10 seasons and not make the playoffs for more than a decade.