I just made a cursory check of the 1st round picks for the 1969 draft, 40 years ago. Some teams had traded away their 1st pick so I counted the 2nd (or 3rd) choice as the first. There were 15 white players picked 1st in 1969 and 11 black. Three of the blacks (Grady Caveness, Eugene Epps, and Leroy Keyes) were busts, Keyes a very big one. Eddie Hinton played for several years but was a mediocre WR. The Colts 2nd pick after Hinton was Ted Hendricks.
Of the white players that year, only Rich Moore of the Packers was a bust. Some were average, but many were outstanding. Greg Cook had a great rookie year at QB for the Bengals, but hurt his arm. Oddly, some of them were traded and did well for other teams. I haven't checked that closely, but my memory is that there were fewer 1st round busts back in those days. Why did scouting seem to be better 40 years ago?
