Think of the best-of-the-best superstars in today’s NFL. Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Justin Jefferson, Aaron Donald, Nick Bosa, Sauce Gardner, Micah Parsons… All of these guys were first-round picks.
But remember kids, it’s not always about where you’re selected in the draft — or if you were even drafted at all! Because there is no shortage of NFL greats — past and present – who weren’t taken until one of the later rounds of the draft. Lo and behold, these players ended up faring much better than even the vast majority of first-round picks from their draft year.
Before we start, we just want to clarify: We are strictly looking at active players who were drafted in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds.
So, without further ado, here are 10 late-round picks who are now NFL superstars
Jason Kelce
It is impossible to comprehend how the best center of his era went undrafted through the first five rounds of the 2011 NFL Draft. That class went down as one of the all-time best, and it’s not just because of the many superstars who came out of round one.
Two future Hall of Famers in Richard Sherman and Jason Kelce were among the late-round gems to emerge from 2011 as well. Kelce, a standout center out of Cincinnati, was a sixth-round draft choice by the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 191 overall.
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Kelce has been the backbone of a consistently-dominant Eagles’ o-line going back to his rookie year. He has also enjoyed the luxury of playing with other grade-A pass-blockers like Lane Johnson, Jason Peters and Brandon Brooks, among others.
Without Kelce, the Eagles probably don’t complete the Cinderella story in 2017 as Super Bowl 52 champions. Remember, that unit didn’t allow a single sack against Bill Belichick’s mighty New England Patriots defense in the big game.
The ageless Kelce, as a 35-year-old, earned his sixth career Pro Bowl and fifth first-team all-pro nod in the 2022 season. The Eagles went back to the Super Bowl that season and narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
That’s okay, though. The first ring is the most important one. Anything Philly accomplished with Kelce after Super Bowl 52 was just gravy.
The Eagles are really gonna miss Kelce when he steps away. He’s the best center of his generation, and quite frankly, it’s not up for debate.
Tyreek Hill
Hill was dismissed from the Oklahoma State Cowboys football team following a disturbing December 2014 arrest for domestic violence.
The West Alabama Tigers gave Hill a second chance, and he spent his final collegiate season there in 2015. Many didn’t even expect Hill to be drafted. Even ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t have Hill on his final “Big Board” of the top 300 prospects of 2016.
The Chiefs, who are no strangers to taking players with well-documented character issues and off-the-field troubles, took Hill in round five with the No. 165 selection.
On the field, Hill has been one of football’s premier wideouts. He was named to the 2010s All-Decade Team even though he didn’t turn pro until the back half of the decade. A consistent 1,000-yard machine, “Cheetah” was instrumental in helping Kansas City to a Super Bowl 54 championship — along with another big game appearance in the 2020 season.
Nobody projected Hill to be a top-five wideout after the Chiefs drafted him. Character issues aside, he didn’t exactly “wow” in his college days. But he had the fortunes of landing in Andy Reid’s high-octane offense, and the legendary coach was able to turn Hill into a superstar right away.
Proving that he could produce without Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, Hill had a career year with the Miami Dolphins in 2022 — his first year in South Beach. Love him or hate him, Hill is unquestionably on his way to the Hall of Fame.
George Kittle
Raise your hand if, back in 2017, you made a big deal about the San Francisco 49ers taking Kittle in the fifth round at No. 146 overall.
Yeahhh,… nobody. That’s what I thought.
But it only took a year for every other team to regret passing on Kittle. If there was a 2017 NFL draft do-over, Kittle would most definitely be a top-10 selection.
In 2018, Kittle racked up 1,377 receiving yards — the most ever by a tight end in a single season at the time — on a lowly 49ers team. A year later, Kittle powered the 49ers to a Super Bowl 54 appearance, where they fell to the chiefs.
Kittle has been arguably the NFL’s second-best tight end since that 2018 season, behind only Travis Kelce. The 49ers have reached three NFC Championship games thanks to his slick receiving skills, bone-crushing blocks and big-game performances.
It’s not too early to prepare Kittle’s gold jacket. He’s on a Hall of Fame trajectory just six years into his career…just like absolutely no one predicted back in 2017 when he was a fifth-round draft choice.
Micah Hyde
Few teams have drafted better than the Green Bay Packers over the past 30 or so years. Case in point: Current Buffalo Bills star safety Micah Hyde.
The former Iowa standout was taken in the fifth round at No. 159 overall by the Packers in what turned out to be a fairly uninspiring 2013 draft class. Now, Hyde had a stellar four-year run with the Pack — helping them to NFC Championship Game appearances in the 2014 and 2016 seasons.
But Hyde has taken his game to another level since joining the Bills in 2017, earning one Pro Bowl and a pair of second-team all-pro nods.
Hyde and Jordan Poyer have been football’s best safety duo since joining forces in 2017, turning the Bills into an annual playoff team.
Would’ve been nice to see what Hyde could have done alongside a star corner like Jaire Alexander in Titletown.
Aaron Jones
Speaking of the Packers finding late-round gems…
Back in 2017, the Packers drafted UTEP product Aaron Jones in round five at No. 182 overall. He and Jamaal Williams shared the workload for much of 2017 and 2018, but Jones finally went off when he became the lead back in year three.
In 2019, Jones rushed for 1,084 yards and racked up a league-leading 16 rushing touchdowns. He helped the Cheeseheads to consecutive NFC title game appearances in 2019 and 2020, both resulting in losses.
The 2020 Pro Bowler had 1,000 rushing yards in three of his last four seasons with Aaron Rodgers. Jones also surpassed 300 yards receiving every year from 2019 to 2022, asserting himself as one of the game’s premier do-it-all running backs.
Jones already sits third all-time in rushing among Packers. Not bad for a former fifth-round draft choice.
Grady Jarrett
The Atlanta Falcons seem to hit on their first-round picks more often than not, but finding cornerstone players on days two and three of the draft have been an issue for a while now.
There is a notable exception, however. The Falcons found a future star in Clemson product Grady Jarrett, a fifth-round selection at No. 137 overall back in the 2015 draft.
Jarrett really introduced himself to the world in Super Bowl 51 with a performance for the ages — one that would have likely won him Super Bowl MVP honors if not for the Falcons’ historic collapse against the Patriots.
In that game, Jarrett sacked Tom Brady three times and hit him four times. If not for Jarrett, the Falcons probably wouldn’t have jumped out to that 28-to-3 lead in the first place.
Jarrett built off that game and has remained one of football’s premier defensive tackles ever since, earning Pro Bowl nods in 2019 and 2020. He’s been largely overlooked because of the Falcons’ long-term mediocrity, but make no mistake: Jarrett is one of the game’s top interior defensive linemen.
Wyatt Teller
It’s hard to make a case about any of the other 31 teams being better at drafting from top to bottom than the Baltimore Ravens. They’re always finding stars in round one. And finding hidden gems beyond round three hardly seems to be an issue, either.
One of the more recent examples includes current Patriots star Matt Judon. But remember, Judon was a star in Baltimore long before he arrived in Foxborough.
Judon was taken in round five at No. 146 overall by the Ravens in 2016. After recording four sacks as a rookie, Judon posted six or more in each of the next four seasons with John Harbaugh’s club.
Coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl nods, Judon signed a lucrative four-year deal with New England worth $54.5 million in 2021 free agency. He then turned in a career-high 12.5 sacks, followed by a new career-high 15-and-a-half in 2022.
From 2019 to 2022, only TJ Watt, Myles Garrett and Cameron Jordan tallied more sacks than Judon in that four-year span. Judon and Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald were tied for fourth-most with 43.5.
That’s some pretty elite company right there. Not bad for a former fifth-rounder.
Darren Waller
It’s always a cool story when a late-round pick develops into an NFL superstar. It’s even cooler when they do it with a new team after a disappointing tenure with their first NFL club.
Such is the case with Darren Waller. The Ravens selected the Georgia Tech product in round six at No. 204 overall in 2015. Waller was actually a wide receiver in college, but the Ravens moved him to tight end in the 2016 season.
Nonetheless, the position change did nothing for Waller, who couldn’t find his footing with the Ravens. Late in the 2018 season, the Oakland Raiders signed him to their practice squad. Hey, Jon Gruden did a couple of things right in his second tenure with the Silver and Black!
Waller recorded back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons for the Raiders in 2019 and 2020, earning a Pro Bowl nod in the latter year. Injuries unfortunately limited Waller to 20 total games over his final two years in Sin City, and he was traded to the New York Giants in the 2023 offseason.
But make no mistake: When healthy, Waller is one of the biggest game-changing tight ends in the game right now. What a feel-good story, considering that 203 players were selected ahead of him in 2015.
Stefon Diggs
We conclude this list with…wait for it…yeah, yet another 2015 late-round selection that totally exceeded expectations.
The Minnesota Vikings used their 2015 fifth-round pick, No. 146 overall, on Maryland wide receiver Stefon Diggs. The Vikings clearly saw something that others didn’t, because Diggs didn’t exactly light it up at college. He never eclipsed 60 catchs, 900 yards or six touchdowns over his three years with the Terrapins.
But that’s okay. Diggs was more than happy flying under the radar. And now look where the creator of the Minneapolis Miracle is: At this point in his NFL career, he’s really only a few more productive years away from earning a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Diggs was great during his five years in The Gopher State, but he’s been a top-five NFL receiver since his trade to the Bills in 2020. In his first year working alongside Josh Allen, Diggs led the NFL in receptions with 127 and in receiving yards with 1,535.
The only thing missing now is a Super Bowl championship ring. Diggs has done everything else for the Bills up to this point. Will he and Allen finally break through in the crowded AFC? That’s all for another day.
Even if they don’t, the fact Diggs is already in the Hall of Fame debate despite being a fifth-round pick is a win in itself. Only so many fifth-rounders make names for themselves, let alone become superstars, at the NFL level.
Which other players were late-round picks that developed into NFL superstars?
