2008 NFL Draft Primer #4 - A Brief History Of Pick #42

Denver’s second-round choice in the 2008 NFL Draft comes at No. 42, a position it has selected at three times in club history.  Most notably, the Broncos in 1980 selected Utah State DE Rulon Jones at that spot.

Jones went on to play 129 career games (100 starts) for Denver from 1980-88 and earned Pro Bowl honors for the club in consecutive years from 1985-86. He also started on Broncos teams that advanced to Super Bowl XXI in 1986 and XXII in 1987.

BRONCOS ALL-TIME DRAFT CHOICES AT NO. 42 OVERALL
Year                Player                                 Pos.           School
1981            Clay Brown                           TE             Brigham Young
1980            Rulon Jones                         DE                Utah State
1974            Carl Wafer                            DT             Tennessee Tech

Below is a look at the last 10 players selected with the 42nd overall pick in the NFL Draft. Among the players selected at No. 42 during this time were Arkansas G Tony Ugoh (2007, Ind.), who started 11 games at tackle as a rookie last year, and Washington DT Larry Tripplett (2002, Ind.), who has started 16 games in each of the last two years with Buffalo.

LAST 10 NFL DRAFT CHOICES AT NO. 42 OVERALL
Year    Team                     Player                     Pos.            School
2007   Indianapolis          Tony Ugoh                G              Arkansas
2006   Chicago                 Danieal Manning     S              Abilene Christian
2005   Dallas                     Kevin Burnett          LB            Tennessee
2004   Tennessee           Travis LaBoy            DE            Hawaii
2003   Seattle                   Ken Hamlin               S              Arkansas
2002   Indianapolis          Larry Tripplett         DT            Washington
2001   St. Louis                Tommy Polley          LB            Florida State
2000   N.Y. Giants             Cornelius Griffin     DT             Alabama
1999   Atlanta                    Reggie Kelly            TE             Mississippi State
1998   Baltimore               Patrick Johnson   WR             Oregon

The 42nd overall pick in the NFL Draft also has produced UCLA
C Randy Cross (S.F., 1976), who was named to three Pro Bowls
and helped the 49ers to three Super Bowl championships during
his 13-year career.