http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/08/nfl-draft-teams-lifestyle-sports-nfl-draft.html Best And Worst NFL Draft Teams Monte Burke, 04.08.09, 06:00 PM EDT How choices played out on the field. image In Pictures: Best And Worst NFL Draft Teams What's almost as anticipated as the Super Bowl? The annual National Football League Draft. This year, it will be held April 25-26 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. That's when all 32 professional teams will select newly eligible players for their rosters. The event has become, in effect, a second season for football fans, who obsess over which teams drafted the best players. Article Controls Emailemail imageprint imagereprint imagenewsletter comments (7) imageshare imagedel.icio.us imageDigg It! imageyahoo imageFacebook imagerss Yahoo! Buzz Here's a thought: Instead of looking at how many draftees make the team's active roster, a better barometer of success might be a survey of the last three years of drafts for all 32 NFL teams. To judge them, we looked at the percentage of players from those three draft classes who were still listed as active members of the team. The results were surprising. In Pictures: Best And Worst NFL Draft Teams Topping the list of the best drafting teams: the Houston Texans, who have kept on their current roster an amazing 85% of the players they've drafted in the last three years. The Texans have also produced two All-Pros (linebacker DeMeco Ryans and defensive end Mario Williams). But the Texans' record over the last three years is a less-than-mediocre 22-26. The Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants placed second and third, respectively. The bottom five will surprise fans most. The worst drafting team in the past three years, holding on to only a little more than half of its drafted players: the New England Patriots. With three Super Bowl wins since 2001, the Patriots are the team of the decade so far. They boast a 39-9 record in the past three years. How have they maintained that excellence? Though saddled with low draft picks, the Patriots have been the masters of picking up useful veterans via trades to fill holes in their lineup (see: receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker). Behind the Numbers To find the NFL's best and worst teams at drafting, we looked at the last three years of drafts for all 32 NFL teams. To judge the success or failure of the drafting teams, we looked at the percentage of players from those three draft classes who were still listed as active members of the team. We gave a little extra weight to players who had made the Associated Press' All-Pro first and second teams--the players deemed as that year's best at their respective positions. Membership in this elite group is difficult to crack for a young player, as many long-tenured veterans make the All-Pro team year after year based only on reputation (take the N.Y. Jets' Alan Faneca). Guessing Game The NFL draft is all about potential, a stock market of big men in pads and helmets. Despite all of the scouting, speed trials, interviews and intelligence tests that teams require of potential draft picks, there is no surefire way to know if a player just out of college will be able to make it in the NFL. Read on for more lists and rankings including golf, baseball and college sports towns. The eight-round draft is rife with mistakes on both ends of the spectrum: Ryan Leaf, the first pick of the San Diego Chargers in 1998, turned out to be fool's gold and was out of the NFL within four years. Tom Brady, the three-time Super Bowl winner for the New England Patriots and one of the best quarterbacks of all time, was the 199th player chosen in the 2000 draft, a hidden gem passed over by every NFL team multiple times. With skyrocketing rookie contracts, the pressure to get a draft pick right is more acute now than ever. When Jake Long, last year's overall No.1 pick, signed a five-year $57.5 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, he became the highest-paid offensive tackle in the league without ever having played an NFL game. How It Works To help with competitive balance, the NFL organizes the draft positions in a reverse-record manner. That is, the team with the worst record gets the first draft pick going all the way down to the Super Bowl winner, which drafts 32nd. The Texans, with their poor record over the past three years, have continually had a favorable drafting position (average spot: 12th). Successful teams--those with excellent win-loss records--have also succeeded in finding NFL-caliber players. Take the Indianapolis Colts, with a 37-11 record and a Super Bowl title in the 2006 season. The Colts average drafting position: 40. The New York Giants, winners of the 2007 season Super Bowl, are another successful franchise. The Giants have held on to 90% of their draft picks from the past three years. The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, two teams who have experienced up-and-down seasons of late, round out the list of best drafters. After the Patriots, the next team from the bottom makes more intuitive sense: The lowly St. Louis Rams, who have logged a ghastly 13-35 record in the last three years. Though the Rams' average draft position is 10th, they have retained little more than half of their draftees. Third worst is another surprise: the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers, with only 58% of their drafted players still on the team and no All-Pros among them. Like the Patriots, the perennially contending Steelers usually have a low draft spot, but they have fulfilled their needs by finding and developing excellent undrafted rookies over the years, like running back Willie Parker and linebacker James Harrison, the 2008 defensive player of the year. Rounding out the bottom five are the Miami Dolphins and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Dolphins had pitiful drafts until guru Bill Parcells stepped in as the de facto head of football operations. Parcells' talent-evaluation skills have turned the team around. The Bengals (19-28-1), by contrast, just can't seem to get out of their ugly rut. The bottom line: Drafting NFL-caliber players is very important, but it doesn't necessarily equal success on the field. Finding other strategies to plug the gaps, like the Patriots and Steelers have done, is essential. So don't judge your team's success at the end of draft day. Wait to see how it all plays out--and watch for what your team does to boost draft deficiencies. In Pictures: Best And Worst NFL Draft Teams
I don't know, I would say that the better the team, the harder it is for rookies to stick, unlike teams like the Texans who do not have the talent base to turn guys away.
Of course the Texans hold onto their draft picks more frequently (which is a crappy criteria to base "drafting skill" anyway)... they can't exactly afford to let most of them go.
"less-than-mediocre 22-26." I wouldn't say it's less than mediocre. Yes, the record suggests that, but the new regime had to undo 4 years of incompetence in the later rounds. This is the breakthrough season, I have a good feeling this time.
That's exactly what I was thinking. It might be more telling to see how many players who could not stick with teams like the Pats are still on someone else's roster.
Houston's done a decent job drafting players in the last 3 years. The problem was during the first 5 years they've had debacles like David Carr, Tony Hollings, Jason Babin, Dave Ragone, etc.
Damn, I forgot about that guy. He was awful. And I think we gave up a 2nd and 3rd for him. Here's another blast from the past: Bennie Joppru. Houston's 2nd rounder in 2003 never took a snap.
3rd round pick which was way more than he was worth. We took Kirk Morrison with that pick, who has pretty much anchored the Raiders' LB corps since he was drafted. Of course then we traded Randy Moss for a guy who will never play anything but special teams at the most.
We gave up a crap load for Babin too I hate when the media makes it seem like it was primarily Casserly's decision to draft Mario Williams. I heard this again the other day on ESPN i think. Drafting Mario was Kubiak's decision mainly imo
At least with Joppru he was injured all the time. Who was the guy we drafted in the 2nd (maybe 3rd?) round the first or second year who couldn't even make the team? Something Hill? That was embarassing.
I don't know how much NFL scouts get paid and what their contracts look like. Why not go around collecting the best scouts around the league, even if it has to be one at a time. I'm sure many scouts salaries put together doesn't equal a 1st rounder's salary. Especially find the ones that turn walk ons into pro bowlers. They don't exactly go on the cap.
charles hill, a 3rd rounder in '02 - he couldn't stick with an expansion team. that is inarguably one of the 5 worst picks in the entire history of the NFL draft.
