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ESPN ranks Peyton Manning as best No. 1 overall pick in NFL Draft history

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•07/06/25•

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Caitie McMekin | News Sentinel | USA TODAY NETWORK

Peyton Manning is the best No. 1 overall pick in NFL Draft history according to ESPN, which this week ranked the best player at every single spot in the draft, from No. 1 to No. 226.

“Fourteen Hall of Famers have been selected with the first overall pick since the draft began in 1936,” ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote, “including Bruce Smith, Orlando Pace, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw and Earl Campbell. (By the time Myles Garrett is done, we’ll be well on our way to the 15th.) 

“As such, selecting a winner for the best No. 1 pick ever is the splitting of fine hairs, but Peyton Manning gets my nod.”

After starring for four seasons at Tennessee — he threw for 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns over 45 games with the Vols — Manning was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Peyton Manning in the NFL: 2 Super Bowls, 5 MVPs, 14 Pro Bowls

He spent 17 seasons in the NFL, throwing for 71,940 yards and 539 touchdowns in 266 career games, winning two Super Bowls, five MVPs, making 14 Pro Bowls and named All Pro seven times. 

Those are the numbers that put Manning at the top of the top. 

“Five MVPs, two Super Bowl championships (with two different teams),” Solak wrote, “and still-standing records for single-season passing touchdowns (55) and single-season passing yardage (5,477) is an impossible résumé to knock.”

Manning wasn’t the only Tennessee representative on the list. Tight end Jason Witten was ranked as the best 69th overall pick in NFL Draft history and offensive lineman Trey Smith was named the best 226th overall pick ever.

Jason Witten at Tennessee: 68 receptions, 797 yards, seven touchdowns

“A weirdly tough group at pick No. 69,” Solak wrote, “where Witten goes against Hall of Famer Russ Grimm and a few strong active players, including Cooper Kupp. Assuming Witten — who becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in this upcoming cycle — makes the Hall in one or two ballots, I think he has a better résumé than Grimm (though three Super Bowl championships and four first-team All-Pros is pretty good stuff).”

Witten caught 1,228 passes for 13,046 yards and 74 touchdowns over his own 17-year career, playing in 271 career games. That was after he caught 68 passes for 797 yards and seven touchdowns in 36 games over three seasons at Tennessee, leading the Dallas Cowboys to select him in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. 

“Witten just has a level of era-defining play with those 2000s Cowboys that puts him a hair above,” Solak wrote.

TSmith’s NFL Draft stock was hurt by the blood clot issues he deal with during his time at Tennessee. The Kansas City Chiefs took a chance on him in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, selecting him at No. 226 overall, and have benefitted greatly from the risk. 

Kansas City found an elite offensive guard late in the draft, with Smith helping the franchise win Super Bowl LVII in 2022 and Super Bowl LVIII in 2023.

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