Is the 2011 NFL draft the best defensive class ever? - ESPN

For decades, identifying the best defensive draft class in NFL history has been easy. The vaunted Class of 1981 sent six players to the Hall of Fame, with legendary second overall pick Lawrence Taylor leading the way. Fellow top-10 picks Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott patrolled secondaries throughout the 1980s. Legendary Bears linebacker Mike Singletary was the leader on what might be the best defense of all time. And beyond Taylor, the 1981 class enshrined two more edge rushers with Howie Long and Rickey Jackson.

That's six Hall of Famers before the end of the second round, a list which doesn't even include undrafted linebacker Sam Mills, who would join the group posthumously after being inducted in 2022. No other draft class since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 has sent more than three defenders to Canton, let alone challenge the 1981 class by producing six.

Over the past 15 years, though, I've been tracking another draft year that seemed poised to compete with the greatest defensive class of all time. I wrote about the Class of 2011 in August 2013 and then again in 2016, as many of its players hit stardom and reached their peaks.

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Now, a decade later, the class is down to two or potentially three players still on the field. Cameron Heyward continues to excel with the Steelers. Cameron Jordan has re-signed with the Saints. And while Von Miller remains a free agent, the eight-time Pro Bowler is coming off a nine-sack season and could continue his career somewhere in 2026. But everybody else from a banner crop of star defenders has retired.

Heyward and Jordan might play a key role in determining where their draft class lands in the annals of NFL history. I would expect the Class of 2011 to