Patulski won the Lombardi as best linemen-offense or defense

Patulski won the Lombardi as best linemen-offense or defense
by RJD (2021-03-24 16:14:54)
Edited on 2021-03-25 16:18:07

In reply to: On Patulski as #1 overall draft choice posted by tf86

and had great size and speed at 6-6 259 so I question how much regionalism was in play, if any. It was also a weak draft (from Wiki)

"A Fighting Irish captain, he finished ninth in that year's Heisman Trophy balloting. Selected the Nation's Lineman of the Year by UPI and Gridiron Magazine in 1971."

In 1971, "Patulski made 74 tackles, 22 more than his total for the 1970 season. Seventeen (17) of those stops resulted losses for the opposing team."

Seventy-one tackles as a defensive end in 1971? Are you kidding me?

He was a bust as the first pick but he had a decent NFL career. He was traded for a second round pick (below) after 4 years with the Bills More from Wiki:

"As a rookie, Patulski led the Bills with five sacks. In 1973 the Bills improved to a 9-5 record after going 4-9-1 in his rookie season of 1972, he recorded seven sacks, which was second on the team and was voted AP NFL Defensive Player of the Week November 28, 1973, after Week 11.

In 1974, the Bills recorded another 9-5 record and made the playoffs for the first time in eight years as he recorded 5.5 sacks.

The Bills were 8-6 during his third season, but did not advance to the AFC playoffs. He recorded four sacks, a career low, however, two came in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals offensive line, who gave up only eight sacks in 1975. He lined up against St. Louis all-pro and Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle Dan Dierdorf.

Patulski played four years (1972–1975) with the Bills, and then he was traded to the Cardinals for a second-round draft pick, and played one year with the St. Louis Cardinals (1977). He then suffered career-ending knee injury."

Click here for link at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Patulski

Thanks for the info

I hadn't looked up Patulski's NFL career info. My analysis was based more on a comparison to another guy the Bills took #1 overall a few years earlier. He did have a much better career, even though he later became more famous for something else.

For more of an apples-to-apples comparison, selecting DL extremely high in the NFL draft became in vogue for the NFL during the first half of the 1970's. A few years after Patulski, the Cowboys selected Too Tall Jones #1 overall, and Randy White #2 overall the year after that. Generally speaking, I think they're regarded as having better careers than Patulski, although both, of course, generally played on much better teams than Patulski did.

Buffalo News wrote about Patulski a few years ago

Long read, but worth it.

Click here for link at https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/after-40-years-in-the-n

.019 Sacks per pass 1973 = 11.5 sacks in 2015

Good read. Not as many opportunities to sack QBs back then, Hesburgh speaking polish to recruit Walt's mom, Al Cowlings at the other end, Saban being a dick...Rick