Look, the 2009 NFL draft was weird. There’s no other way to put it. If you were a GM back then, you were probably looking for the next franchise savior, a guy like Matthew Stafford or maybe a lockdown defender. What you actually got was a draft class that basically split the league in half. You had legendary, gold-jacket talent at the top and absolute, soul-crushing busts right next to them.
It’s been over fifteen years. That's a lifetime in football years. Yet, we’re still feeling the ripples of what happened that weekend in New York.
When people talk about the 2009 NFL draft, they usually start with the quarterbacks. It makes sense. It’s a quarterback league. But honestly? The real story of this class is the sheer volume of "what ifs" that littered the first round. We’re talking about a year where the Detroit Lions finally stopped the bleeding by taking Stafford at number one, while the Raiders... well, the Raiders did exactly what everyone feared they would do.
The Matthew Stafford Gamble That Actually Paid Off
Detroit was coming off the first 0-16 season in NFL history. They were the punchline of every joke in sports. They needed a guy who wouldn’t just play well but would actually survive the culture of losing. Entering the 2009 NFL draft, Matthew Stafford was the consensus "big arm" from Georgia. He had the "it" factor, but he was also walking into a total disaster zone.
Stafford threw 20 interceptions as a rookie. He got hurt. A lot. Critics called him "Glass Matt" for the first couple of seasons. But then he threw for 5,000 yards in 2011 and everything changed. He proved that even a cursed franchise could find a pillar if they just got the first pick right. His eventual trade to the Rams—where he immediately won a Super Bowl—was basically the final validation for a guy who spent a decade dragging a mediocre roster to relevance.
But here is where the draft gets messy.
Right after Stafford, you had the St. Louis Rams taking Jason Smith. A tackle from Baylor. He played a handful of games, struggled with concussions, and was out of the league faster than you can say "bust." That’s the 2009 experience in a nutshell: a Hall of Fame arm at one, and a total whiff at two.
The Jets, The Sanchize, and the Great QB Lie
If you’re a Jets fan, the 2009 NFL draft is a painful memory disguised as a party. They traded up to the fifth spot to grab Mark Sanchez. At the time, it felt like a masterstroke. Sanchez was Hollywood. He was the "Sanchize." And to be fair, he went to two straight AFC Championship games.
But let’s be real for a second.
Sanchez didn’t lead those teams; he was a passenger on a bus driven by Rex Ryan’s defense and a massive offensive line. His career completion percentage was hovering in the mid-50s. While he provided the most iconic "Butt Fumble" in history later on, his selection over guys like Josh Freeman (who also busted, but had a higher ceiling) or waiting for the next year was a pivot point for the AFC East. It gave the Jets a false sense of security that took them a decade to recover from.
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The Defensive Monsters Nobody Expected
While the QBs were hogging the headlines, the defensive side of the 2009 NFL draft was quietly building a collection of some of the meanest players to ever strap on a helmet.
Think about these names:
- Brian Orakpo: A relentless pass rusher for Washington.
- Malcolm Jenkins: A guy who started at corner, moved to safety, and became the literal soul of two different defenses in New Orleans and Philly.
- Clay Matthews III: Green Bay moved back into the first round to get him at 26. All he did was become the face of the Packers' defense for a generation.
- Vontae Davis: Despite the weird way he retired at halftime years later, he was a shutdown corner for a long stretch.
The middle of the first round was a gold mine for defense. It's kinda funny how the "safe" picks like Aaron Curry—who was billed as the "safest linebacker prospect in a decade"—turned out to be complete non-factors, while the guys with "character concerns" or "tweener size" like Matthews became legends.
The Darrius Heyward-Bey Sized Hole in Oakland
We have to talk about it. We just have to. Al Davis was still running the show for the Raiders, and he still had his obsession with speed. Michael Crabtree was the best receiver in the draft. Everyone knew it. He was a technician from Texas Tech with hands like glue.
The Raiders picked seventh. They took Darrius Heyward-Bey.
DHB was fast. He ran a 4.3. But he couldn't catch a cold in a walk-in freezer during his early years. Passing on Crabtree for DHB is one of those "Raiders being Raiders" moments that defined the late-2000s era of the silver and black. It wasn't just a bad pick; it was an organizational philosophy failing in real-time. Crabtree eventually ended up on the Raiders years later, which is a weird sort of poetic justice, I guess.
LeSean McCoy and the Second Round Steals
The 2009 NFL draft didn't stop being interesting after the first 32 picks. In fact, you could argue the best value was found on Friday night.
LeSean "Shady" McCoy went 53rd overall to the Eagles. Think about that. Fifty-two players were taken before one of the most elusive backs in the history of the game. McCoy finished his career with over 11,000 rushing yards and two rings. He was a human highlight reel.
Then you had Max Unger going to Seattle. He became the literal center of the "Legion of Boom" era offense. Or Jairus Byrd, who for a three-year stretch in Buffalo, was arguably the best ball-hawk safety in the league.
The success of these second-rounders really highlights why teams today are so obsessed with "draft capital." They realized that the difference between a first-round talent and a second-round talent in 2009 was basically non-existent. It was all about the scheme fit.
What Most People Get Wrong About 2009
The biggest misconception is that this was a "weak" draft. People look at the QBs—Stafford, Sanchez, Freeman, Pat White—and see a lot of failure. But if you look at the longevity of the non-QBs, it’s actually an incredible class.
You had guys like Alex Mack (center) and Louis Vasquez (guard) playing at an All-Pro level for years. These aren't the names that sell jerseys, but they're the names that win playoff games. The 2009 NFL draft was a "trench draft." If you built your lines that year, you were set for the next seven seasons. If you chased the "skill position" high, you probably fired your coach by 2011.
Real Lessons for Today's Front Offices
When modern GMs look back at the 2009 NFL draft, they see a cautionary tale about the "safe" prospect. Aaron Curry is the name that still gets whispered in draft rooms. He had no red flags. He was productive, athletic, and humble. And he just... didn't have the NFL gear.
It taught the league that "safe" is a myth.
It also taught teams that a franchise QB like Stafford is worth the wait. The Lions were terrible for a long time, but Stafford kept them from being irrelevant. That’s the value of the number one pick.
Honestly, the 2009 class was a bridge between the old-school NFL and the modern, pass-heavy era. You saw the last gasp of the "workhorse" RB strategy and the beginning of the "move tight end" era with guys like Jared Cook being drafted.
How to Evaluate Draft Classes Yourself
If you want to really understand if a draft was "good," don't look at the Pro Bowlers. Look at the "Second Contract" rate.
- Check how many players from the first round signed a second deal with the team that drafted them. In 2009, that number was surprisingly low for the top 10.
- Look for "Starters per Round." A great draft finds three starters. 2009 had several teams that found zero.
- Weight the QB success heavily. A draft with one Hall of Fame caliber QB (Stafford) is automatically better than a draft with five "okay" starters.
The legacy of the 2009 NFL draft is defined by its extremes. It gave us the brilliance of LeSean McCoy’s cuts and the confusion of the Darrius Heyward-Bey reach. It gave us a Super Bowl-winning QB and a linebacker who retired before his rookie contract was even meaningful.
Next time you see your team trade up into the top five, just remember the 2009 class. It’s a reminder that in the NFL, nobody—not the scouts, not the experts, and definitely not the fans—actually knows what’s going to happen until the lights come on.
To get a better sense of how these players aged, go back and watch the 2011 season highlights. That was the year the 2009 class hit their "third-year jump," and you'll see just how much guys like Stafford, McCoy, and Clay Matthews were absolutely dominating the league at their peak. It puts the whole "bust" narrative into a much clearer perspective.