The 2022 NFL Draft is mere days away. The team here at CBS Sports is continuing our countdown to when the are officially on the clock by ranking the best of the best to ever be selected in the top 32 spots. We’ve now entered the top five, where things get incredibly tough due to the ridiculous volume of excellent players selected at each spot.Today we’ll be diving into the No. 3 overall selection.This year, the Houston Texans own the No. 3 pick, and we have absolutely no idea what direction Yuli Gurriel Jersey they’ll be going in because we still don’t really know who’s going to be picked at Nos. 1 or 2. Among the likely selections, according to our esteemed mock-drafters, are Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker, Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, and North Carolina State tackle Ikem Ekwonu. Pick Six Newsletter Crafted By The Best NFL Experts Get the day’s big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings. I agree to receive the “Pick Six Newsletter” and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pre sing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the and acknowledge Paramount’s . Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Sorry! There was an error proce sing your subscription. There’s always a chance that in a decade or so from now, whichever player is the pick at No. 3 this year can ascend into this top five, but in the meantime (and with apologies to Cortez Kennedy, Charlie Taylor, Cris Carter, and Dick Butkus), here’s who made the cut.2007 : Round 1, No. 3 (Wisconsin)Team(s): (2007-2017) The aforementioned quartet of players all received serious consideration, but ultimately lost out to Thomas because he was the single best player at the league’s second-most important position for a decade, and they weren’t. Thomas entered the as a phenom, and left it as a legend despite spending his entire career with the saddest-sack franchise in the NFL. He was that good.Thomas played 11 seasons. In the first 10, he made the Pro Bowl. In six of those 10, he was a First Team All-Pro. In two of them, he was a Second Team All-Pro. He would have been each of those things in Year 11 as well, but his season was cut short by injury. Prior to that, he played and started in 160 of 160 po sible games. He holds the unofficial NFL record for consecutive snaps, having played 10,363 in a row before suffering a Craig Biggio Jersey torn triceps seven games into the 2017 season.According to Pro Football Focus, Thomas allowed just 30 total sacks and 49 quarterback hits in his 11 NFL seasons. Among qualified tackles, he ranked seventh, eighth, first, seventh, 19th, 11th, sixth, third, third, third, and third in their grading system, indicating that he played at a consistently elite level throughout his career. The only thing working against Thomas is longevity, and as we’ll get into a bit further down, that’s not enough to keep him off the list. 1962 NFL Draft: Round 1, No. 3 (Utah State)Team(s): (1962-1976)Olsen entered the NFL in 1962 and immediately emerged as a dominant force on the interior of the Rams defensive line. He remained one Dallas Keuchel Jersey until… well, until he retired.Let’s start with the accomplishments: Olsen played 15 NFL seasons and made the Pro Bowl in the first 14 of them. Those 14 Pro Bowls remain an NFL record, though he shares it with , , Tony Gonzalez, and Bruce Matthews. (Those four guys all played offense, though, so no defender has ever made more Pro Bowls than Olsen.) He was a First Team All-Pro five times and a Second-Teamer thrice. He made the NFL’s All-1960s Team and All-1970s Team, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982. Along with Deacon Jones, Rosey Grier, and Lamar Lundy, Olsen was part of The Fearsome Foursome, the great Rams defensive line that terrorized opposing offenses through the 1960s. Butkus at one point called them “the most dominant Carlos Beltran Jersey line in football history,” and they were collectively the subject of a terrific NFL Films documentary. When NFL Films listed the 100 greatest players in NFL history, Olsen himself No. 27 on the list.Olsen also had a long post-playing career as both a broadcaster and an actor. He worked NBC broadcasts covering the AFC in the 1970s and 1980s (and was the lead commentator on four Super Bowls), then with Dick Stockton at CBS in the early 1990s. He had long-running roles both and , and co-starred in several movies as well.Olsen pa sed away in 2010 after a yearlong bout with cancer, but before that he was elected to the California Sports Hall of Fame, and his alma mater (Utah State) named its field in his honor and put a statute of him outside the building. Given his career and far-reaching influence, all of that seems well-deserved. 2004 NFL Draft: Round 1, No. 3 (Pittsburgh)Team(s): (2004-2021)The living legend with perhaps the strongest hands in NFL history is still doing it, though he finally slowed down a bit toward the end of his career. He’s yet to officially retire, but he’s also stated that he won’t return to the field. Fitzgerald ranks second in NFL history with 1,432 career catches and 17,492 receiving yards, and sixth with his 121 receiving touchdowns. His five 100-catch seasons are second all-time, while his nine 1,000-yard seasons are fourth.Perhaps the most impre sive thing about Fitzgerald’s career as a wide receiver, though, is that he basically had two careers and two different receiver positions, and dominated in both roles. Early on, Fitzgerald was a prototypical perimeter wideout who won on contested catches and deep balls and in the red zone. As he got older, he shifted into the slot, where his route-running, physicality, and blocking made him an electric player and extended his prime for several years. He has the distinction of being the youngest player in NFL history to accomplish several receiving-related feats, largely because he entered the league after just two years of college. He succe sfully petitioned to have the time he spent at Valley Forge Military Academy counted as being a year spent removed from high school, and so he was allowed to enter the NFL after two dominant seasons at Pitt.Fitzgerald, like the rest of the players on today’s list, has Brian McCann Jersey racked up Pro Bowls (11) and All-Pro appearances (one First Team, two Second Team) and was on an All-Decade Team (2010s). He, too, has played for an incredibly long time with just one franchise. He’s the Cardinals’ all-time leader in basically everything, and probably will be for quite some time. He is going to walk into the team’s Ring of Honor and the Hall of Fame, presumably as soon as he’s eligible, and he’s going to deserve it.1980 NFL Draft: Round 1, No. 3 (USC)
