Who's your team's Brock Purdy? NFC's best seventh-round picks of Super Bowl era

A seventh-round pick and "Mr. Irrelevant" as the final selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Brock Purdy has impressed with stellar play over his first two seasons. 

Former Niners star Joe Montana is already a big fan of the San Francisco QB.

 "The thing I see [with Purdy] is something that I figured out early on in my career — what the offense is about," the Pro Football Hall of Famer said recently on ESPN’s "The Pat McAfee Show." "It wasn’t about me. It was about getting the ball to the people who knew what to do with it because I’m the mailman — [the football] doesn’t belong to me — I want to get it to somebody who knows how to run, knows how to catch."

Purdy — whose team will play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII —  is far from the only seventh-round draft pick to stand out in the NFL. As determined by Yardbarker NFL writers, here are the best seventh-round draft picks of the Super Bowl era (since 1966) for each NFC team. (The year drafted is in parenthesis.)

NFC East

DALLAS COWBOYS | DT/DE Leon Lett (1991) | Best known for a gaffe in Super Bowl XXVII against the Bills and another in a Thanksgiving Day game against the Dolphins in 1993, Lett played 11 seasons (one with Denver), made two Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowl rings with Dallas. Lett had 258 tackles and 22.5 sacks with the team and served as Dallas' assistant defensive line coach from 2011-2022.

NEW YORK GIANTS | RB Ahmad Bradshaw (2007)  | Bradshaw had a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons and won two Super Bowls in six seasons with the Giants. He had 17 carries for 72 yards and scored the winning touchdown against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES | WR Harold Carmichael (1971) | The Eagles got a seventh-round steal with former rugby player and current left tackle Jordan Mailata, but he’s no match for Philadelphia’s all-time leading receiver. Carmichael had 589 catches for 8,978 yards and 79 touchdowns in 13 seasons with the team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS | QB Gus Frerotte (1994) | Frerotte was the league’s sixth-leading passer and made the Pro Bowl in 1996. He had a 15-year NFL career but is best remembered for celebrating a touchdown (and spraining his neck) by slamming his head into a padded cement wall during a Sunday night game. — Bruce Ewing

NFC West 

ARIZONA CARDINALS | DB Pat Tillman (1998) | Tillman is best known for his military service after football, but he was also one heck of a player before walking away from the game. In four seasons with the Cardinals, he was a key starter on their defense, recording 374 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and three interceptions.

LOS ANGELES RAMS | DE Reggie Doss (1978) | You could make an argument for quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, but he only played five games with the Rams and had most of his success elsewhere. A longtime starter, Doss spent a decade with the Rams, recording 31 sacks.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | QB Brock Purdy (2022) | Purdy has already led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance (and may have two had he not been injured in the NFC Championship Game against Philadelphia a year ago). He's an MVP finalist this season after throwing for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns. 

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS | DB John Harris (1978) | Harris was an immediate starter in Seattle’s secondary, holding onto that spot for eight seasons. As a Seahawk, he intercepted 41 passes, including 10 during the 1981 season (two of which he returned for touchdowns). — Adam Gretz

NFC North 

CHICAGO BEARS | DT Jim Osborne (1972) | Osborne played 13 seasons with the Monsters of the Midway, starting 154 of 186 games. He recorded three seasons of 10 or more sacks and stands fourth (81) on the team's sacks list. In 2019, he was ranked No. 57 among the 100 greatest Bears of all time.

DETROIT LIONS | Kicker Eddie Murray (1980) | Murray served as the kicker in Detroit for 12 seasons and ranks second on the franchise's all-time scoring list (1,113 points). A one-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler, he earned a Super Bowl ring (XXVIII) with the Dallas Cowboys and is a member of the Lions' 75th-anniversary team and the NFL 1980s All-Decade team.

GREEN BAY PACKERS | WR Donald Driver (1999) | Driver played his entire 14-year NFL career with the Packers, ending it with a street named after him and a statue in downtown Green Bay along with a spot in the franchise's Hall of Fame. Retiring after the 2012 season, the four-time Pro Bowler is still Green Bay's all-time leader in receptions (743) and receiving yards (10,137).

MINNESOTA VIKINGS | DB Bobby Bryant (1967) | A two-time Pro Bowler over 13 seasons with the Vikings, Bryant is a member of the franchise's 25th- and 40th-anniversary teams and is on the team’s 50 greatest players list. He retired in 1980 with the 10th-most interceptions in NFL history (51), while his six career postseason picks still rank fourth all time. — Mike Santa Barbara

NFC South

ATLANTA FALCONS | Center Todd McClure (1999) Running back Jamal Anderson, drafted in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft, is an option here after being named All-Pro in 1998 after tallying 1,846 rushing yards on a league-high 410 carries. But McClure is Atlanta’s best seventh-rounder because of his consistency and longevity; he played every game from 2002-10, and his 195 starts are the most among centers drafted in the seventh round in NFL history. (h/t Stathead).

CAROLINA PANTHERS | CB Captain Munnerlyn (2009) | Munnerlyn had seven interceptions in his first five seasons with the Panthers (2009-13), including five returned for touchdowns — the most by a seventh-round defensive back in league history. He was also a skilled returner with 798 yards on punt and kick returns in seven seasons in Carolina.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS | WR Marques Colston (2006) | Running back Reggie Bush, the second overall pick in the same draft, was the headliner for New Orleans. However, the unheralded Colston, who played collegiately at Hofstra, carved out a better career with the Saints. He finished his career with 711 receptions — only Driver had more among seventh-round wideouts — for 9,759 yards and 72 touchdown catches. All the figures are franchise records.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS | Defensive lineman Curt Jarvis (1987) | Jarvis only lasted four years in the league, but he was a primary starter for the Bucs from 1988-89. He finished his career with 8.5 sacks, the most for a Tampa Bay seventh-round draft pick. — Eric Smithling