Matt Cassel and the other biggest USC Trojans football NFL Draft gems since 2000

While at USC, defensive lineman Everson Griffen racked up 18 sacks and 84 total tackles over three years. That resulted in his being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

Similar to quarterbacks, defensive ends usually go off the board rather early in drafts given how critical pass rushers are to any team's success. Thus, most impact DEs are gone by the time the middle rounds arrive.

Griffen bucked that trend though. He managed to play 12 years in the NFL making 403 tackles and sacking the QB 85.5 times.

Along the way, Griffen was a second-team All-Pro in 2017 and a four-time Pro Bowl selection (2015-17, 2019). In three seasons (2014, 2015, and 2017) he had double-digit sacks including a career-high 13 in 2017.

Griffen is one of the best defensive linemen to play for the Vikings in the modern era and he likely goes down as one of the best Minnesota defensive ends ever. That's quite the value for a fourth-round pick.