Recent history of the #2 pick

I went over to drafthistory.com and put together this list, the second player taken in the first three rounds for the last 20 years.

2007 Calvin Johnson, Paul Posluszny, Usama Young
2006 Reggie Bush, D'Qwell Jackson, Eric Winston
2005 Ronnie Brown, Brodney Pool, OJ Atogwe
2004 Robert Gallery, Chris Snee, Nate Kaeding
2003 Charles Rogers, Boss Bailey, Corey Redding
2002 Julius Peppers, DeShaun Foster, Matt Schobel
2001 Leonard Davis, Quincy Morgan, Adrian Wilson
2000 LaVar Arrington, Darren Howard, Lloyd Harrison
1999 Donovan McNabb, Charles Fisher, Doug Brzezinski
1998 Ryan Leaf, Jerome Pathon, Jon Ritchie
1997 Darrell Russell, Nathan Davis, Troy Davis
1996 Kevin Hardy, Leeland McElroy, Aaron Beasley
1995 Tony Boselli, Terrance Shaw, William Henderson
1994 Marshall Faulk, Tre Johnson, Jason Mathews
1993 Rick Mirer, Chris Slade, Billy Joe Hobert
1992 Quentin Coryatt, Steve Israel, Clayton Holmes
1991 Eric Turner, Ed King, James Jones
1990 Blair Thomas, Darian Conner, Oliver Barnett
1989 Tony Mandarich, John Ford, Matt Brock
1988 Neil Smith, Chris Spielman, Kevin Walker

What can we take away from this? There are a TON of busts taken #2 overall. QB is a bust position, with McNabb overwhelmed by Leaf and Mirer. At tackle, Boselli is badly outnumbered by Mandarich, Gallery and Davis, who busted with the Big Dead but has become a force at OG in Dallas. LB is a major bust with Hardy and Coryatt washing out Arrington.

On the plus side, RB is pretty safe. Faulk may be the only Hall of Famer in this bunch; he, Brown and Bush more than make up for Blair Thomas. The safest position is -ahem- defensive end. They may not be HoFers, but Julius Peppers and Neil Smith have both been dominating DEs, and Russell was an almost immediate Pro Bowler on a great career path until drugs took him down.

It's eye-opening how few impact players are selected with the second pick in the second round. WRs Morgan and Pathon aren't really distinguished. The offensive line contingent of King, Johnson and Snee is decent, though hardly world-beating. The best positions seem to be LB and DE, though they don't come without their share of busts. Darren Howard's probably the best player taken in that slot the last 20 years, though Jackson is quickly on his way up.

Usama Young, Atogwe, Wilson and Beasley all make very good cases for grabbing a DB in the third round, especially when the 2nd round CBs are pretty bust-y. Outside of d-backs, and bizarrely, fullbacks and kickers, the slot's a total crapshoot, with emphasis on the first syllable.

The best position to draft at #2 in the 4th round is arguably guard (John Welbourne, Hunter Goodwin, Max Jean-Gilles), though Derrick Mason was drafted in that slot in 1997. DB and DT would be the positions to tend to avoid.

If we're to use the history of the #2 pick as a guide, the Rams would be better served to draft a DE in the first round, an o-lineman, LB or DE in the 2nd and a DB in the third.

I swear the eerie similarities between this analysis and my thoughts on who the Rams should draft in 2008 are coincidental.