With the NFL Draft kicking off Thursday night, Devils Digest's Joe Healey wraps up his comprehensive Sun Devil draft review as he analyzes the defensive backs to make it to the NFL from Arizona State.

Note: This analysis reflects the position played in the NFL.

History in the NFL Draft: Beginning in the 1960s, Sun Devil defensive backs such as Henry Carr, Hal Lewis, John Pitts and Ken Dyer made their way into the NFL.

A fourth round selection (43rd overall) in the 1965 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, Carr, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1964 Summer Olympics, played with the Giants from 1965-67.

Lewis played for the Denver Broncos in 1968, while Pitts, selected 22nd overall in 1967 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, played professionally from 1967-75 with the Bills, Broncos and Browns, appearing in 115 games with 44 starts.

Dyer, a standout tight end with the Sun Devils, moved to safety in the NFL after being selected in the fourth round (100th overall) in 1968. Dyer was in the league until 1971, when he suffered a broken neck attempting to make a tackle.

In the early 1970's, players such as Windlan Hall, Ron Lumpkin and Prentice McCray advanced from the elite Sun Devil teams into the NFL.

A fourth round pick (96th overall) by San Francisco in 1972, Hall played from '72-'77 with the 49ers, Vikings and Redskins, appearing in 81 games with 26 starts. McCray, picked in the eighth round (200th overall) by Detroit in 1973, also enjoyed a solid pro career with the Patriots and Lions, playing in 88 games with 65 starts from 1974-80.

Lumpkin, a 12th round selection (303rd overall) of the Giants in 1973 saw limited time his rookie season.

Undoubtedly the best defensive back every to play for ASU, Mike Haynes' illustrious list of accomplishments is far from limited to his time in Tempe as his NFL career rivals the best to play his position at the pro level as well.

The fifth overall selection in the 1976 NFL Draft by New England, Haynes immediately made his impact felt in the NFL as he was the 1976 NFL and UPI Defensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowl selection when he intercepted a career-high eight passes. A nine-time Pro Bowler and the 1984 NEA NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Haynes played 177 games with 158 starts over 14 seasons split with the Patriots and Raiders, totaling 46 career interceptions. In 1997, Haynes was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Shortly after Haynes entered the NFL, another eventual member of the ASU Sports Hall of Fame started his pro career in safety John Harris. A seventh round selection (173rd overall) by Seattle in 1978, Harris played 11 seasons with the Seahawks and Vikings, playing in 160 games with 149 starts and registering 50 career interceptions.

The early years of Arizona State in the Pac-10 Conference produced pros such as Kim Anderson, Kendall Williams, Paul Moyer, and one of the program's top safeties of all time, Mike Richardson.

A third round selection (69th overall) by the Baltimore Colts in 1980, Anderson played five seasons with the Colts, appearing in 56 games with 12 starts. Williams also played for the Cots in 1983 as a returns specialist and defensive back.

Moyer played seven seasons with Seattle from 1983-89, appearing in 98 games with 30 starts, while Richardson, a second round pick (33rd overall) of Chicago in 1983, started 80 of 91 games played from 1983-89 with the Bears and 49ers and was a starter on the vaunted 1985 Bears defense.

One of the most gifted safeties to play for the Sun Devils, David Fulcher was picked in the third round (78th overall) in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Bengals. Fulcher, a three-time Pro Bowler from 1988-90, played seven seasons with the Bengals and one with the Raiders, appearing in 103 games with 98 starts.

After falling undrafted following his college career, Billy Robinson spent a short bit of time with Cleveland in 1987.

The starting cornerback duo during the era in which ASU played in the Rose Bowl, Eric Allen and Anthony Parker both enjoyed lengthy NFL careers.

Allen, an excellent player at ASU, emerged into an outstanding pro after being selected in the second round (30th overall) by Philadelphia. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Allen played with the Eagles, Saints and Raiders over his 14-year career, playing in 216 games with 213 starts - the second-most games played in the NFL by a former Sun Devil defender behind Jim Jeffcoat's 227.

Despite not being drafted, Parker entered the NFL in 1989 and spent nine seasons in the league with the Vikings, Rams, Buccaneers, Colts and Chiefs, appearing in 104 total games with 69 starts from 1989-98.

A fifth round pick by the San Diego Chargers in 1991, Floyd Fields played three seasons with the Chargers and appeared in 30 games with 16 starts.

Teammates at Phoenix's Maryvale High School as well as at ASU, in the 1992 NFL Draft, Phillippi Sparks and Darren Woodson were separately by just a few draft selections as Woodson was chosen 37th overall and Sparks 41st overall.

Though he never earned higher than Honorable Mention All-Pac-10 recognition as a linebacker at ASU, Woodson turned into a truly elite defender with the Dallas Cowboys as he played his entire 13-year career with Dallas, earning five Pro Bowl selections and winning three Super Bowls while totaling 178 games played with 162 starts at safety.

Sparks played eight seasons with the Giants before joining Woodson on the Cowboys in 2000, starting 95 of 115 career games played.

Cornerbacks Kevin Miniefield and Lenny McGill also made their way to the NFL after Arizona State, with Miniefield being drafted in the eighth round (201st overall) by Detroit before playing five seasons with the Bears and Cardinals, totaling 51 games played and 10 starts. McGill entered the league undrafted but appeared in 62 games with nine starts in five seasons spent with the Packers, Falcons and Panthers.

As head coach Bruce Snyder's tenure continued at ASU, defensive backs such as Eddie Cade, Craig Newsome, and later Lee Cole worked their way into professional duty.

Cade and Cole each played one season in the NFL, while Newsome, a former junior college transfer to ASU, was a first-round pick (32nd overall) by Green Bay in 1995, where he played four seasons and won a Super Bowl before his fifth and final season in San Francisco. Overall, Newsome started 48 of 53 games played.

A trio of standouts from ASU's 1996 Pac-10 Champion squad were picked in the 1998 NFL Draft and would ultimately play defensive back in the NFL.

Jason Simmons was picked in the fifth round (137th overall) by Pittsburgh and went on to a 10-year pro career with the Steelers and Texans, playing in 121 games with 12 starts. A sixth round pick (165th overall) by Carolina, Damien Richardson appeared in 77 games with 10 starts from 1998-2002 with the Panthers.

In a move that at the time appeared to be somewhat of a PR gesture to draft a local fan favorite in the draft's final round, it is safe to say the Arizona Cardinals had no idea what they were getting when they picked Pat Tillman 226th overall in 1998.

In four short seasons, Tillman surely made his presence felt on the field after moving to safety in the NFL from playing linebacker at ASU - before selflessly making an even greater name for himself away from the field - as he started 39 of 60 games played from 1998-2001 before retiring from football to join the military.

Like Tillman and Woodson before him, Adam Archuleta successfully transitioned from a star outside linebacker at ASU to safety in the NFL. An NFL Draft Combine superstar, Archuleta was ultimately picked 20th overall by defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams in 2001.

Over his seven-year career with the Rams, Redskins and Bears, Archuleta started 85 of 103 total games played.

Also a senior on ASU's 2000 team, Nijrell Eason made his way into the NFL as an undrafted rookie free agent and spent time with the Cardinals.

Under head coach Dirk Koetter's tutelage a pair of defensive backs made it to the NFL in safety Jason Shivers and cornerback Chris McKenzie . Shivers bypassed his senior season at ASU to enter the 2004 NFL Draft, where he was taken in the fifth round (158th overall) by St. Louis, but he wound up playing that season with the Chicago Bears.

Though McKenzie fell undrafted, he signed with the Houston Texans and saw game action as a rookie in 2005.

After head coach Dennis Erickson's 10-win debut season in 2007 a pair of Devil defensive backs were drafted in Josh Barrett and Justin Tryon. A fourth round pick of the Washington Redskins, Tryon appeared in 63 games with eight starts from 2008-12 with the Redskins, Colts and Giants, while Barrett, picked in the seventh round by Denver, played in 25 games with seven starts in four seasons split with the Broncos and Patriots.

The next season, Troy Nolan would hear his name called at the draft when he was picked in the seventh round by Houston. From 2010-12, Nolan appeared in 38 games with seven starts with the Texans, Bears and Dolphins.

A wide receiver who simply could not stay healthy at ASU, Brandon Smith reinvented himself under the tutelage of Pete Carroll in Seattle in the same mold of Richard Sherman by transitioning to a cornerback in hopes of etching out a pro career. To Smith's credit, the move created some dividends as he saw regular season action with the Bills in 2013.

LeQuan Lewis, another defensive back to fall undrafted, made his way into pro duty as he has played in nine games with the Cowboys, Buccaneers and Jets in 2012 and '14.

One of the better cornerbacks in Sun Devil history, though Omar Bolden missed the 2011 season due to injury, he was picked in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by Denver, where he has converted to safety while also excelling on kick returns. In total, Bolden has appeared in 47 games with one start from 2012-14.

From the early Todd Graham years at ASU, three defensive backs made their way to the NFL despite not being drafted in Deveron Carr, Keelan Johnson and Robert Nelson.

Carr, who appeared in nine games for Tampa Bay in 2013, recently signed with the Colts, while Johnson, who played two games for the Eagles in 2013, signed with the Cowboys this offseason.

Nelson, an undrafted rookie free agent last season, saw action in seven games for the Browns in 2014.

Top NFL Players: In terms of the absolute best players from Arizona State both at the college and pro levels, Mike Haynes is always a name that is discussed with the likes of Randall McDaniel and Terrell Suggs.

Though Haynes, both a College and Pro Football Hall of Fame member, is atop the list of the best defensive backs to come from Arizona State, there are other very worthy names such as Eric Allen, David Fulcher and Darren Woodson, while Pat Tillman surely is in a category all his own and was trending toward perennial yearly accolades prior to his retirement from football.

Best Not to Make It: Mike Martinez and Kory Schuknecht both received All-America recognition under Frank Kush in the 1970s but did not appear at the NFL level.

One of the top defensive backs ever to play for ASU, Nathan LaDuke was drafted by the Cardinals but did not appear in game action.

Courtney Jackson was a four-year contributor and a First-Team All-Pac-10 cornerback but did not play in the NFL, neither did Riccardo Stewart, one of the better safeties to play for ASU in the past decade and an all-league honors recipient as well.

Most recently, Osahon Irabor starred at cornerback but did not continue his playing career after ASU.

Currently in the NFL: Omar Bolden (Broncos), LeQuan Lewis (Jets) and Robert Nelson (Browns) were the only three former Sun Devil defensive backs to see NFL game action in 2014, but Deveron Carr (Colts) and Keelan Johnson (Cowboys) signed with pro franchises this offseason after not playing in 2013.

2015 NFL Draft Prospects: No Sun Devil - and perhaps no other prospect in the draft - has gained recent momentum at the rate Damarious Randall has over the past couple weeks. Initially believed to be a mid-round pick, reports of late have Randall as a possible first round selection with multiple analysts having him as the top rated safety in the entire draft.

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