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JaMarcus Russell's demise as an NFL player is back in the news, shining light upon the perils of investing millions in unproven prospects.

The 2007 NFL draft was about more than Russell, of course.

That draft also produced Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Darrelle Revis and Lawrence Timmons among the top 15 choices.

For as much criticism as the Arizona Cardinals have taken for selecting tackle Levi Brown fifth overall, Brown has started 59 regular-season games, second only to Willis (63) among NFC West draft choices that year. He has also started six playoff games, including a Super Bowl, and coach Ken Whisenhunt expects good things from him.

I've put together a couple charts showing what NFC West teams have gotten from their draft choices that year. More on those in a bit.

First, I've taken a team-by-team look at the players selected, whether they remain with their original teams and how many games each has started for his drafted team.

The 49ers had the best draft among NFC West teams. They also had the most draft capital to work with, selecting twice in the first round. The Seattle Seahawks had no first-rounder that year thanks to the Deion Branch trade, so expectations were lower.

Arizona Cardinals

Total picks: five

Still with team (4): Brown (59), Steve Breaston (26), Ben Patrick (20), Alan Branch (3)

No longer with team (1): Buster Davis (0)

Comment: The Cardinals had fewer total selections than any team in the division. Hitting on Breaston in the fifth round was outstanding, but the Cardinals haven't gotten enough from their top three selections that year. Branch never panned out as a second-rounder. Davis, the third-rounder, didn't make it out of camp. Whisenhunt takes pride in making roster decisions with less regard for draft status. He wasn't going to give Davis or anyone a free pass. That's admirable, but in the bigger picture, Arizona still came up short in this draft.

San Francisco 49ers

Total picks: nine

Still with team (5): Willis (63), Joe Staley (50), Ray McDonald (9), Dashon Goldson (34), Tarell Brown (5)

No longer with team (4): Jason Hill (2), Jay Moore (0), Joe Cohen (0), Thomas Clayton (0)

Comment: Former general manager Scot McCloughan gets credit for selling former coach Mike Singletary on Willis as an elite prospect. That seems odd given Singletary's background as a Hall of Fame linebacker, but the 49ers got the right guy, so the "how" part matters less. That one selection makes this draft the best in the division for 2007. Staley is the starting left tackle. McDonald has been a solid rotation player. Goldson became a starter. All in all, this was a strong draft.

Seattle Seahawks

Total picks: eight

Still with team (2): Brandon Mebane (53), Will Herring (7)

No longer with team (6): Josh Wilson (24), Steve Vallos (8), Mansfield Wrotto (5), Courtney Taylor (4), Jordan Kent (1), Baraka Atkins (0)

Comment: Not having a first-round selection severely hurt this class' overall potential. Wilson seemed like a solid selection in the second round given the playmaking value he offered, but multiple changes in organizational leadership left him on the outside in terms of fit. Mebane was a solid choice in the third round. Vallos and Wrotto remain in the league elsewhere.

St. Louis Rams

Total picks: eight

Still with team (1): Clifton Ryan (27)

No longer with team (7): Adam Carriker (25), Brian Leonard (7), Jonathan Wade (6), Dustin Fry (0), Ken Shackleford (0), Keith Jackson (0), Derek Stanley (0)

Comment: This draft was a disaster for the Rams and made worse by massive organizational changes. On the bright side, the Rams might not have been in position to select Sam Bradford first overall in 2010 without selecting so many non-contributors in 2007.

Now, on to the charts. The first one takes a round-by-round look at the number of starts each team has gotten from its 2007 selections. I have used dashes instead of zeroes to show when teams did not have a selection in a specific round.

The second chart divides the number of starts by the values of the selections each team held, using the draft-value chart.

For example, the value chart said the Seahawks' picks that year were worth 669.2 points, far less than the picks for other NFC West teams were worth. Using this measure, Seattle got more bang for its buck if we valued all starts equally (and we should not value them all equally, but we can still use this as a general guide).

Some of the choices were compensatory and could not be traded, so the chart would not have valued them for trading purposes. I assigned values to them for this exercise, however, because we were not considering the picks for trading purposes.

Adam Carriker's trade from the Rams to the Redskins -- rumored for weeks and now a done deal, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter -- reflects what happens when teams change coaching staffs. The Rams and Redskins swapped fifth-round choices.


The move reunites Carriker with former Rams interim coach and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, now with the Redskins. I never sensed the Rams' current leadership disliked Carriker, but neither was the leadership ever personally invested in Carriker's career. Haslett has a better feel for what Carriker can become. Perhaps Carriker will fit better at defensive end in the Redskins' 3-4 scheme than at defensive tackle in the Rams' 4-3. A shoulder injury prevented Carriker from playing last season, perhaps hastening his departure.

The Rams made Carriker the 13th player chosen in the 2007 draft. His departure leaves restricted free agent Clifton Ryan, a fifth-round choice, as the only 2007 Rams choice still with the team. The current leadership previously traded second-round choice Brian Leonard. Other members from that class -- Jonathan Wade, Dustin Fry, Ken Shackleford, Keith Jackson and Derek Stanley -- are also gone.

Victor Adeyanju and Mark Setterstrom are the Rams' only 2006 choices still with the team.

The dismantling continues in St. Louis.

Pick 2008 2007 2006 2005 4 Darren McFadden Gaines Adams D. Ferguson Cedric Benson 37 Curtis Lofton Eric Weddle Jimmy Williams Shaun Cody 68 Chevis Jackson Quincy Black Claude Wroten Courtney Roby 105 Will Franklin A.J. Davis Ko Simpson Ray Willis 137 John David Booty Le'Ron McClain Terna Nande Ronald Fields 178 Taylor Mehlhaff Nick Folk Keith Ellison Anthony Bryant 213 Chaun. Washington Chase Pittman James Wyche Derek Anderson 245 Lionel Dotson Marcus Hamilton Spencer Toone Kurt Campbell 247 Kirk Barton Mike Elgin Anthony Cannon Keyonta Marshall 248 Marcus Monk Keith Jackson Aaron Merz Patrick Estes

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

The Seahawks hold the fourth, 37th, 68th, 105th, 137th, 178th, 213th, 245th, 247th and 248th choices in the 2009 draft. For perspective, I've singled out the last four players chosen in those spots.

Seattle drafted one of those players: offensive lineman Ray Willis, taken 105th in 2005, Tim Ruskell's first season as team president.

The Seahawks have four seventh-round choices this year. Ruskell's teams have fared well drafting in the seventh round. The last five players his teams have drafted in the round remain on NFL rosters, all drafted since 2006: Justin Forsett, Brandon Coutu, Steve Vallos, Ryan Plackemeier and Ben Obomanu.

Ninety-five of the 132 seventh-round choices drafted by other teams during the same span remain on NFL rosters.