The first three rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft have come and gone, meaning all that’s left is the dreaded Day 3.
Most casual fans won’t even tune into the broadcast on Saturday, but true fans know that some of the best value is found during Day 3 of the Draft.
As a matter of fact, some of the best football players of the past 15 years have fallen to the third day of the NFL Draft, being overlooked for one reason or another.
Today, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the best Day 3 draft picks of all-time.
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To make it more interesting, I decided to only go as far back as when the NFL Draft split into three days (2010).
That means no Tom Brady or Shannon Sharpe. Sorry Pats and Broncos fans, but I had to make this a little more interesting.
Let’s dive in!
We start this list off with a bang, as undersized Georgia defensive tackle Geno Atkins was drafted in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
While he started out at the bottom of the Bengals’ depth chart, Atkins quickly made a name for himself, not only earning a starting role, but becoming a force to be reckoned with on the interior defensive line for years to come.
When it was all said and done, Atkins turned out to be one of the best defensive linemen of his era, earning eight Pro Bowl nods and five first-team All-Pro selections.
Not bad for a fourth-round defensive tackle who barely weighed 290 pounds coming out of college.
Where would the Legion of Boom be without its boisterous leader, Richard Sherman.
The lengthy cornerback out of Stanford was thought to be a depth piece when the Seattle Seahawks drafted him the fifth round of the 2011 Draft, but he would go on to prove everyone wrong.
Sherman was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro selection during his tenure along the Pacific coast, and he anchored one of the most fearsome defensive units of all time that helped the Seahawks win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Fifth round selections aren’t supposed to have the career Sherman had, which makes his accomplishments all the more impressive.
Here’s a more recent one for you guys just to show this isn’t some antiquated phenomenon.
Eastern Michigan edge rusher Maxx Crosby was an afterthought in the 2019 NFL Draft, so when the then-Oakland Raiders took him at pick 106 in the fourth-round, no one batted an eye.
It was assumed that Crosby would fight for a roster spot, and if he managed to make the team, would be scrapping for reps at the bottom of the depth chart.
Five Pro Bowls, two All-Pro selections, and nearly 70 sacks later, and it’s safe to say the Raiders have gotten the most out of their fourth-round draft pick.
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What makes Crosby’s career even more impressive is the fact that he has successfully beaten his personal demons (alcoholism) all while on a Hall of Fame career trajectory.
We love a success story ’round these parts!
You may know Jason Kelce nowadays as a Super Bowl winner and podcaster, but what you may not know is once upon a time he was just a lowly sixth-round pick out of Cincinnati fighting to make a roster.
Kelce walked on as a running back for the Bearcats before switching to fullback and then ultimately to the offensive line.
That move would pay dividends for his career… literally.
After the Eagles drafted him in the sixth round of the 2011 Draft, Kelce would go on to be a seven-time Pro Bowler and was named to six All-Pro teams while also winning a Super Bowl in 2018 for good measure.
He’s a lock to make the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible and is a legend in the City of Brotherly Love, and it all started for him on Day 3 of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Thanks to a domestic violence case and several character concerns, Tyreek Hill was projected to go undrafted in 2016 before the Kansas City Chiefs took a flier on him in the fifth round.
That turned out to be one of the franchise’s best decisions in recent memory.
Hill completely redefined what it meant to be a deep threat. With his diminutive stature and sub-4.3 speed, the Chiefs speedster showed you no longer needed a Megatron-like build to stretch the field vertically.
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Pairing Hill with quarterback Patrick Mahomes earned the Chiefs a Super Bowl ring and several passing records.
For Hill, his five first-team All-Pro selections and eight Pro Bowl nods put him in rare air among even the best receivers of all-time, and he did all of that as a fifth round pick.
You don’t need to be a first rounder to have a successful career in the NFL, so just keep that in mind as your team drafts some of its future stars on Saturday afternoon.
