You know who the best player was in the 2000 Draft: Tom Brady, who has a career AV of 171. Brian Urlacher (118) is the only other player with a career AV of over 100.

I looked at the 46 drafts from 1967 (the first AFL-NFL common draft) through 2012 (there’s no clear cut-off of when to stop, but 2012 is about as late as you can push it). Of those 46 drafts, the top overall pick had the most AV in 6 drafts, and in another 7 drafts, the top AV came from the 2nd or 3rd overall pick. In half of these drafts, the top AV came from a top-15 pick, while in four of 46 drafts, it came from a player outside of the top 100.

The graph below shows, for each year, the draft pick that produced the most career AV.

And here’s the full list in table form:

What stands out to you?