8 NFL Draft reaches, including Josh Allen and A.J. Terrell, who paid off for the teams smart enough to pick them

It’s extremely difficult to analyze any NFL Draft in the days, or even years, that follow. Prospects careers take twists and turns. Some flame out immediately and surge upward from those ashes. Others fight for rookie of the year honors and crumble into dust. Most are some semblance of adequate en route to useful but ultimately forgettable careers.

This doesn’t stop the hype cycle that screams from the wake of each draft and echoes off the walls of a cavernous offseason. One of the easiest things to complain about is when a team’s selection fails to match up with a pundit’s big board. Taking someone tagged as a third round talent on Day 1 is an easy way to get lambasted for your judgment before that player even dons his pads.

And that makes it all the more satisfying for maligned general managers when these guys pan out. Let’s look at some of the league’s most notable examples since 2010.