This is only the 17th time in 68 drafts the Bears have had a top-five pick.
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It may seem like more because the last one, running back Curtis Enis in 1998, was such a memorable flop. And in 1970, it was a disaster after they lost a coin flip. Instead of getting quarterback Terry Bradshaw, they traded for three average players from Green Bay.
But the Bears’ overall record is excellent in the top five.
Before Enis, there were Jim McMahon, Dan Hampton, Walter Payton, Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Mike Ditka and Sid Luckman: six Hall of Famers and the last quarterback to win a title.
The fourth spot is an especially good omen–Hampton, Payton, Sayers and quarterback Johnny Lujack. So there was Waymond Bryant in 1974, picked No. 4 to succeed Butkus. You try it.
The Bears can expect immediate help from their first pick Saturday based not only on their own tradition but also recent NFL history. Top-five picks are paid and expected to produce sooner rather than later, even though they usually get stuck on poor teams.
Over the last 10 drafts, 33 of the 50 top-five picks have contributed significantly as rookies. Of the 17 who didn’t blossom in their first year, five came on soon thereafter. That leaves only 12 flops, or at least underachievers, although four of the immediate contributors soon faded, such as quarterback Rick Mirer. He never matched his first season in Seattle, to the Bears’ subsequent chagrin.
Of the five who paid dividends after nondescript first seasons, three were quarterbacks–Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick–illustrating that patience is required at that position. Of the 50 top-five picks, 13 were quarterbacks and four didn’t make it. The other nine are starters, and three have been to Super Bowls: McNair, Drew Bledsoe and Kerry Collins. None has won one. Bledsoe and Collins have been traded from their original teams.
Surprisingly, defensive linemen selected in the top five have the worst success ratio over the last 10 years. Only six of the 11 can be considered worth the money, and the vote on Cleveland’s Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren wouldn’t be unanimous.
The best position for top-five success has been the offensive line, where all six taken in the last 10 years contributed right away and have lasted.
Running backs have been good high picks six of eight times, with Enis and Ki-Jana Carter the only exceptions. Both are from Penn State, the graveyard of running backs.
Linebackers have produced four out of five times, cornerbacks three out of four and receivers two out of three.
The era of free agency started in 1993, but the draft remains the lifeblood of every team. Because players are eligible to become free agents after four years, draft picks are forced to show what they can do quickly, so teams know whether to invest long-term.
“What you want when you’re at the top is you want `special,'” Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. “Who’s the surest special player, because the only way that you’re going to get special is when you’re up there. So take advantage of it.”
Even before free agency, it didn’t take the Bears long to find out whether their top-five picks were special.
McMahon started in Week 2. Hampton started all 16 games and made the all-rookie team. Payton led the league in kickoff returns. Sayers scored an NFL-record 22 touchdowns. Butkus sent Hall of Fame predecessor Bill George packing.
Ditka led the team in receptions and caught 12 touchdown passes. He also got into a fight with a teammate on opening day after accusing him of not trying hard. Luckman waited a year behind Bernie Masterson but took over the T-formation his second season and won the title 73-0.
Bears’ top-5 picks
Tribune pro football reporter Don Pierson sizes up the Bears’ all-time top-five picks in the NFL draft.
%% YEAR PLAYER POS. NO. COMMENT
1939 Sid Luckman QB 2 Hall of Famer was winner of four
NFL titles in 1940s; from Columbia.
1941 Tom Harmon HB 1 Michigan great didn’t play in NFL
until 1946-47 with L.A. Rams
1946 Johnny Lujack QB 4 Notre Dame legend played four years;
followed Luckman.
1947 Bob Fenimore HB 1 Oklahoma State phenom played only one
year, gaining 189 yards.
1950 Chuck Hunsinger HB 2 Played three years as backup and kick
returner; from Florida.
1951 Bob Williams QB 2 From Notre Dame; played three years backing
up Lujack, Steve Romanik, George Blanda.
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1961 Mike Ditka TE 5 Hall of Famer from Pitt played six years;
traded to Philadelphia for QB Jack Concannon.
1965 Dick Butkus MLB 3 Hall of Famer from Illinois played nine
years, many of them with injuries.
1965 Gale Sayers RB 4 Hall of Famer from Kansas limited by injury
to only 68 games, many of them spectacular.
1970 * 2 Bears lost coin flip with Pittsburgh for
rights to draft QB Terry Bradshaw No. 1.
1972 Lionel Antoine OT 3 Outstanding prospect from Southern Illinois;
six-year career limited by knee injury.
1974 Waymond Bryant MLB 4 Drafted from Tennessee State to follow
Butkus; lasted only four years.
1975 Walter Payton RB 4 Relative unknown from Jackson State broke
all-time rushing record; made Hall of Fame.
1979 Dan Hampton DL 4 Hall of Famer from Arkansas played 12 years
and was All-Pro six times.
1982 Jim McMahon QB 5 Polished BYU passer won 1985 title before
injuries limited him; played for five other
teams.
1998 Curtis Enis RB 5 Out of Penn State, played only three years;
often injured.
%% *–Traded to Green Bay for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey, running back Elijah Pitts and center Bob Hyland