In 1936, the NFL instituted the first player draft in an effort to better distribute the talent coming out of college throughout the league. A halfback by the name of Jay Berwanger holds the distinction of being the very first NFL draft pick and the first Heismann Trophy winner. Following is a list of every number one pick, from Berwanger's big day to the most recent draft day!
| 1936 |
Philadelphia |
Jay Berwanger, HB, Chicago |
| 1937 |
Philadelphia |
Sam Francis, FB, Nebraska |
| 1938 |
Cleveland Rams |
Corbett Davis, FB, Indiana |
| 1939 |
Chicago Cardinals |
Ki Aldrich, C, TCU |
| 1940 |
Chicago Cardinals |
George Cafego, HB, Tennessee |
| 1941 |
Chicago Bears |
Tom Harmon, HB, Michigan |
| 1942 |
Pittsburgh |
Bill Dudley, HB, Virginia |
| 1943 |
Detroit |
Frank Sinkwich, HB, Georgia |
| 1944 |
Boston Yanks |
Angelo Bertelli, QB, Notre Dame |
| 1945 |
Chicago Cardinals |
Charley Trippi, HB, Georgia |
| 1946 |
Boston Yanks |
Frank Dancewicz, QB, Notre Dame |
| 1947 |
Chicago Bears |
Bob Fenimore, HB, Oklahoma A&M |
| 1948 |
Washington |
Harry Gilmer, QB, Alabama |
| 1949 |
Philadelphia |
Chuck Bednarik, C, Penn |
| 1950 |
Detroit |
Leon Hart, E, Notre Dame |
| 1951 |
NY Giants |
Kyle Rote, HB, SMU |
| 1952 |
LA Rams |
Billy Wade, QB, Vanderbilt |
| 1953 |
San Francisco |
Harry Babcock, E, Georgia |
| 1954 |
Cleveland |
Bobby Garrett, QB, Stanford |
| 1955 |
Baltimore |
George Shaw, QB, Oregon |
| 1956 |
Pittsburgh |
Gary Glick, DB, Colorado A&M |
| 1957 |
Green Bay |
Paul Hornung, QB, Notre Dame |
| 1958 |
Chicago Cardinals |
King Hill, QB, Rice |
| 1959 |
Green Bay |
Randy Duncan, QB, Iowa |
| 1960 |
LA Rams |
Billy Cannon, HB, LSU |
| 1961 |
NFL - Minnesota |
Tommy Mason, HB, Tulane |
| |
AFL - Buffalo |
Ken Rice, G, Auburn |
| 1962 |
NFL - Washington |
Ernie Davis, HB, Syracuse |
| |
AFL - Oakland |
Roman Gabriel, QB, North Carolina State |
| 1963 |
NFL - LA Rams |
Terry Baker, QB, Oregon State |
| |
AFL - Kansas City |
Buck Buchanan, DT, Grambling |
| 1964 |
NFL - San Francisco |
Dave Parks, E, Texas Tech |
| |
AFL - Boston |
Jack Concannon, QB, Boston College |
| 1965 |
NFL - NY Giants |
Tucker Frederickson, FB, Auburn |
| |
AFL - Houston |
Lawrence Elkins, E, Baylor |
| 1966 |
NFL - Atlanta |
Tommy Nobis, LB, Texas |
| |
AFL - Miami |
Jim Grabowski, FB, Illinois |
| 1967 |
Baltimore |
Bubba Smith, DT, Michigan State |
| 1968 |
Minnesota |
Ron Yary, T, USC |
| 1969 |
Buffalo |
O.J. Simpson, RB, USC |
| 1970 |
Pittsburgh |
Terry Bradshaw, QB, Louisiana Tech |
| 1971 |
New England |
Jim Plunkett, QB, Stanford |
| 1972 |
Buffalo |
Walt Patulski, DE, Notre Dame |
| 1973 |
Houston |
John Matuszak, DE, Tampa |
| 1974 |
Dallas |
Ed Jones, DE, Tennessee State |
| 1975 |
Atlanta |
Steve Bartkowski, QB, California |
| 1976 |
Tampa Bay |
Lee Roy Selmon, DE, Oklahoma |
| 1977 |
Tampa Bay |
Ricky Bell, RB, USC |
| 1978 |
Houston |
Earl Campbell, RB, Texas |
| 1979 |
Buffalo |
Tom Cousineau, LB, Ohio State |
| 1980 |
Detroit |
Billy Sims, RB, Oklahoma |
| 1981 |
New Orleans |
George Rogers, RB, South Carolina |
| 1982 |
New England |
Kenneth Sims, DT, Texas |
| 1983 |
Baltimore |
John Elway, QB, Stanford |
| 1984 |
New England |
Irving Fryar, WR, Nebraska |
| 1985 |
Buffalo |
Bruce Smith, DE, Virginia Tech |
| 1986 |
Tampa Bay |
Bo Jackson, RB, Auburn |
| 1987 |
Tampa Bay |
Vinny Testaverde, QB, Miami-FL |
| 1988 |
Atlanta |
Aundray Bruce, LB, Auburn |
| 1989 |
Dallas |
Troy Aikman, QB, UCLA |
| 1990 |
Indianapolis |
Jeff George, QB, Illinois |
| 1991 |
Dallas |
Russell Maryland, DT, Miami-FL |
| 1992 |
Indianapolis |
Steve Emtman, DT, Washington |
| 1993 |
New England |
Drew Bledsoe, QB, Washington State |
| 1994 |
Cincinnati |
Dan Wilkinson, DT, Ohio State |
| 1995 |
Cincinnati |
Ki-Jana Carter, RB, Penn State |
| 1996 |
NY Jets |
Keyshawn Johnson, WR, USC |
| 1997 |
St. Louis |
Orlando Pace, OT, Ohio State |
| 1998 |
Indianapolis |
Peyton Manning, QB, Tennessee |
| 1999 |
Cleveland |
Tim Couch, QB, Kentucky |
| 2000 |
Cleveland |
Courtney Brown, DE, Penn State |
| 2001 |
Atlanta |
Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech |
| 2002 |
Houston |
David Carr, QB, Fresno State |
| 2003 |
Cincinnati |
Carson Palmer, QB, USC |
| 2004 |
San Diego |
Eli Manning, QB, Mississippi |
| 2005 |
San Francisco |
Alex Smith, QB Utah |
| 2006 |
Houston |
Mario Williams, DE North Carolina State |
| 2007 |
Oakland |
JaMarcus Russell, QB LSU |
