Top 5 West Virginia Mountaineers NFL Draft Classes of All-Time

2. 1958

CREDIT: si.com

1. Chuck Howley, G, 7th overall to Chicago Bears

2. Larry Krutko, B, 20th overall to Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Joe Nicely, G, 35th overall to Baltimore Colts

13. Mickey Trimarki, QB, 148th overall to Philadelphia Eagles

19. Bill Chancey, E, 221st to Chicago Bears

This class is one of the great Mountaineers draft classes of the Golden Era of West Virginia football from the mid-1950s. This period of West Virginia Mountaineers football is widely regarded as one of the greatest periods in WVU history and featured a handful of truly special players that transitioned into exceptional pro players.

One of those players was Chuck Howley. After washing out with the Chicago Bears after being the first round pick, Howley found his way to Dallas where he made a name for himself. Howley was named to the Pro Bowl 6 times, All-Pro 5 times, Super Bowl V MVP, Super Bowl VI champion, and is one of the greatest players in Dallas Cowboys history.

Howley really carried this class to our #2 ranking. This class still produced a #2 pick in Krutko and a #3 pick in Nicely. Neither player had what could be called an impactful career. Krutko played 3 seasons, totaling 334 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.

Nicely, along with Trimarki and Chancey, never registered regular seasons statistics in the NFL. So realistically outside of Howley, this draft class fell short. The greatness of Howley, combined with the three total selections in the top 35 picks still makes this the second best Mountaineers draft showing of all-time.

While WVU fans were high on their new professional players, the country was high on an Italian language hit.