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The smartest-drafting teams are often the most successful, but an eye for talent and a capacity to develop aren't the only factors. Coaches, GMs, and front offices need ammunition in order to acquire the most talent for their clubs each year.
So, which team is best positioned heading into the draft? It's a question of value vs. volume. Are the Titans, who sit at the top of every round, best equipped? There's a tremendous amount of value in being one of those teams picking really early on, sure. That's where the absolute top talent lives.
But, for the teams with keen scouting eyes, having a higher number of picks can mean they're stocking their team with depth for years to come, and they have some built-in allowance for errors. Does that mean the 49ers, with 12 total picks, are prepped to improve the most? Even if they only "hit" on six of their 12 picks, those six starters or key role players will be under club control for four years at bargain rates. Think about what that does for the health of your salary cap. The Titans, who have just eight picks, don't have that same margin for error. They've got to hit on closer to 100 percent of their picks.
The first round is notoriously rife with busts. First-round picks come with great expectations — with good cause, those picks are worth a lot according to the trade value chart — and there have been too many failures therein to even mention here. Some teams have had a lot of luck, others have had nothing but bad luck, and other teams are just bad when it comes to making their selections in that first round. It is undoubtedly still the most important round.
CASE FOR QUANTITY
Some of the best teams of the past five or 10 years employ a volume drafting strategy. Green Bay, Seattle, New England, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver and San Francisco tend to look to accumulate draft picks in order to build out the depth on their roster. The idea here is to try to stay out of the risky waters of big-time free agency and build a home-grown nucleus to depend on.
This season, you see a lot of those familiar names among the teams with the most total draft picks. The 49ers, despite a few down years, continue to employ the volume strategy and lead the NFL with 12 total picks. That haul includes one pick in the first, second and third rounds, two picks in the fourth, three picks in the fifth and four sixth-round picks. It skews toward the middle and late rounds, but Trent Baalke has the potential to add 12 talented players to his roster, filling out some starter positions while bolstering depth, both things San Francisco desperately needs.
Next up on that list is New England, with 11 total picks, which is pretty remarkable considering they had their first rounder taken from them in the Deflategate scandal. A big portion of their capital comes in the form of compensatory picks (four), and the Patriots' selections skew toward the back of the draft. Bill Belicheck and the Patriots scouting team will have the chance to make hay in the sixth (five picks) and seventh rounds (two picks).
The smartest-drafting teams are often the most successful, but an eye for talent and a capacity to develop aren't the only factors. Coaches, GMs, and front offices need ammunition in order to acquire the most talent for their clubs each year.
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/4/...al-picks-every-team-jimmy-johnson-trade-chart
So, which team is best positioned heading into the draft? It's a question of value vs. volume. Are the Titans, who sit at the top of every round, best equipped? There's a tremendous amount of value in being one of those teams picking really early on, sure. That's where the absolute top talent lives.
But, for the teams with keen scouting eyes, having a higher number of picks can mean they're stocking their team with depth for years to come, and they have some built-in allowance for errors. Does that mean the 49ers, with 12 total picks, are prepped to improve the most? Even if they only "hit" on six of their 12 picks, those six starters or key role players will be under club control for four years at bargain rates. Think about what that does for the health of your salary cap. The Titans, who have just eight picks, don't have that same margin for error. They've got to hit on closer to 100 percent of their picks.
The first round is notoriously rife with busts. First-round picks come with great expectations — with good cause, those picks are worth a lot according to the trade value chart — and there have been too many failures therein to even mention here. Some teams have had a lot of luck, others have had nothing but bad luck, and other teams are just bad when it comes to making their selections in that first round. It is undoubtedly still the most important round.
CASE FOR QUANTITY
Some of the best teams of the past five or 10 years employ a volume drafting strategy. Green Bay, Seattle, New England, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver and San Francisco tend to look to accumulate draft picks in order to build out the depth on their roster. The idea here is to try to stay out of the risky waters of big-time free agency and build a home-grown nucleus to depend on.
This season, you see a lot of those familiar names among the teams with the most total draft picks. The 49ers, despite a few down years, continue to employ the volume strategy and lead the NFL with 12 total picks. That haul includes one pick in the first, second and third rounds, two picks in the fourth, three picks in the fifth and four sixth-round picks. It skews toward the middle and late rounds, but Trent Baalke has the potential to add 12 talented players to his roster, filling out some starter positions while bolstering depth, both things San Francisco desperately needs.
Next up on that list is New England, with 11 total picks, which is pretty remarkable considering they had their first rounder taken from them in the Deflategate scandal. A big portion of their capital comes in the form of compensatory picks (four), and the Patriots' selections skew toward the back of the draft. Bill Belicheck and the Patriots scouting team will have the chance to make hay in the sixth (five picks) and seventh rounds (two picks).
The smartest-drafting teams are often the most successful, but an eye for talent and a capacity to develop aren't the only factors. Coaches, GMs, and front offices need ammunition in order to acquire the most talent for their clubs each year.
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/4/...al-picks-every-team-jimmy-johnson-trade-chart
