It is understandable that most of the attention with the NFL Draft and NFL Draft History will be on which player is taken number one overall – and who follows him in the rest of the first round. Jacksonville has the first pick again and a lot of the betting on the NFL Draft will be concentrated on whoever becomes the newest Jaguar.

But the draft is no guarantee of greatness. Of course there have been football stars that shone in college as well as the NFL. But there have also been plenty of players that didn’t really hit the headlines until they got into the big league. Here are five of the best late-round picks in NFL Draft history.

Tom Brady

Where else to start, but with possibly the greatest ever to play the game? Brady is the most successful player the NFL has ever seen, that’s for sure, but back in 2000 he wasn’t taken by the New England Patriots until the 6th round – and 199th overall. It’s fair to say that his career has picked up since then.

In his second season in the league, he took over the main QB duties from Drew Bledsoe and led the Pats to victory at Super Bowl XXXVI. He has gone on to become a seven-time champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP. He’s just announced that he isn’t retiring after all too – so there may be more success to come.

Terrell Davis

T.D. is another NFL star that wasn’t taken until the sixth round, ending up the 196th pick overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. But he impressed as soon as suited up for the Denver Broncos and formed a deadly alliance with quarterback John Elway at the Mile High Stadium.

Injuries plagued T.D.’s career and he was forced to retire before he even reached the age of 30. But he packed a lot into his short NFL career. He was a three-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowl champion and was named NFL MVP in 1998, as well as Super Bowl MVP the year before.

Antonio Brown

He may be as well known for his on and off-field controversies as for his playing. But there is no doubt that Antonio Brown is a supremely gifted wide receiver. The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to take him in the sixth round – and 195th overall – in the 2010 NFL Draft though.

He became the fastest ever WR to reach 700 receptions in 2017 and has been named as a Pro Bowler on seven occasions and as part of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. After storming out of Tampa Bay mid-game he is now officially a free agent, so whether he will win another Super Bowl ring or not is unknown

Figure 2 Not all NFL stars had glittering college careers

Bo Jackson

This one is a little different. Bo Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and was taken as the number one overall pick by Tampa Bay in 1996. But he didn’t want to be a Buc and started playing baseball with the Kansas City Royals instead. The LA Raiders gambled on him wanting to try the NFL and took him in the seventh round of the draft in 1987.

Jackson was electrifying with the ball in his hand as he was round the diamond. He excelled in both sports before a hip injury in 1990 ended his football career and significantly impeded his ability to perform in MLB. He is still the only person to make the Pro Bowl and the MLB All-Star Game.

Deacon Jones

Not drafted until the 14th round by the Rams back in 1961, Deacon Jones went on to revolutionize the game as a defensive end and popularized the term ‘sack’ during his career as one of the most brutal in the sport. Before he began playing the NFL didn’t even record sacks.

Jones was nicknamed ‘the Secretary of Defense’ and was part of the Fearsome Foursome, the Rams defensive line that is still considered to be one of the best of all time.