Patriots Top Five Best All-Time Draft Classes
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#3 – Patriots Draft Class 1973:
Chuck Fairbanks first draft with the Patriots was a home run, he nailed a Pro Football Hall of Fame member with his first pick. After drafting poorly for years, the Patriots were building a team for the future and Fairbanks laid the ground work for some of the franchise’s best teams outside of the Super Bowl years with this first draft.
John Hannah, OG, Alabama, 1st round 4th Overall:
Hannah became the first Patriots player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sports Illustrated called him the best OL ever back in the 1970’s. He and Leon Gray were the cornerstones to a devastating NE rushing attack during the Fairbanks years. He was selected as a Pro Bowl guard nine times. He played in 183 regular season games, seven playoff games, including Super Bowl XX
Sam Cunningham, RB, USC 1st round 11th Overall:
Sam “Bam” Cunningham played in 107 games with 94 starts from 1973-79 and 81-82 for the Patriots and is still the franchise leader with 5,453 career rushing yards. His 43 rushing touchdowns are second all-time behind Jim Nance (45). He also added 210 receptions out of the backfield.
Cunningham was the Patriots leading rusher for six seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1978 after totaling 1,065 combined yards with 768 rushing yards with 297 yards on 31 receptions. That Patriots team set the NFL record for most rushing yards in a season with 3,165 total yards which is still an NFL record. His 49 overall touchdowns are third in team history and he ranks eighth on the Patriots all-time scoring list with 294 points.
Darryl Stingley, WR, Purdue, 1st round 19th Overall:
Stingley was a very talented wide receiver whose career was cut short after just 60 games when he suffered a spinal cord injury in a pre-season game against the Oakland Raiders.
In 60 games for the Patriots with 53 starts, he had 110 receptions for 1,883 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also had 28 carries for 244 yards and two touchdowns, 19 punt returns for 136 yards and eight kickoff returns for 187 yards. His too-short NFL career ended with 2,450 combined yards rushing, receiving and returning both punts and kickoffs.
Ray Hamilton, DT, Oklahoma, 14th round 342nd Overall:
‘Sugar Bear’ Ray Hamilton played for Fairbanks at Oklahoma and became the nose tackle in the Patriots 3-4 defense that Fairbanks installed in New England. The Patriots defense under Bill Belichick was very much the same one with minor tweaking that the team installed in 1973 and Hamilton was the key cog in the middle.
Hamilton played in 132 regular season games with 117 starts over nine seasons and two playoff games for the Patriots He notched 54 career sacks which for a nose tackle in the interior was very impressive. He’s also recovered 14 fumbles, one for a touchdown, and blocked two field-goal attempts in his Patriots career.
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