Jacksonville Jaguars: 7th best drafters in the league?

by River City Rage on May 1, 2008 5:10 PM EDT in News Comment 2 comments

The Chicago Tribune and Dan Pompei recently embarked on a study to determine who the "best drafters" in the NFL were. While their methodology is a little muddled, they find some surprising results.

Like who would have thought the Arizona Cardinals and Rod Graves would be the best overall?

The Tribune bases their rankings on the number of picks taken that become starters. It's a "batting average", as they put it.

This metric puts the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Jack Del Rio/Gene Smith/James Harris trifecta in seventh place.

They Say:

7. Shack Harris/Jack Del Rio, Jaguars

Average: .386 (17-for-44)

Percentage of Pro Bowlers: 2.2

Their batting average is impressive, but not all of the players who became starters are considered great picks. As a result, college scouting director Gene Smith was recently given more juice in the draft room

38 percent of players drafted become starters, that's not too shabby. Though were these rankings sorted by percentage of Pro Bowlers, it might be a lot different. The Jaguars have an uncanny knack for hitting home runs in the second-seventh rounds, but some of their first round picks leave something to be desired.

Then again, Pro Bowl voting is stupid to begin with, and should not mean a thing about the quality of draft picks.

Anyhow, here's the top 10

Arizona Cardinals: Rod Graves
New York Jets: Mike Tannenbaum/Eric Mangini
Indianapolis Colts: Bill Polian
Buffalo Bills: Marv Levy/Dick Jauron
Baltimore Ravens: Ozzie Newsome
San Diego Chargers: AJ Smith
Jacksonville Jaguars: James Harris/Jack Del Rio/Gene Smith
Seattle Seahawks: Tim Ruskell
San Fransisco 49ers: Mike Nolan/Scot McCloughan
Chicago Bears: Jerry Angelo

Some of these guys are just lucky to be there, especially Jerry Angelo. Another methodological problem is the amount of time each GM has spent running the show. Mangini and Tannenbaum are babies compared to Polian, Smith, and Del Rio/Harris/Smith.

Al Davis/Lane Kiffen are the "worst", though they've only had one full year. Mike Reinfeldt of the Titans is second to last, but with only one draft

Who do you think is the best "drafter" in the NFL?

0 recs | Comment 2 comments

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Comments

seems faulty

just because you drafted someone who was a starter for the team doesn’t mean that he was a good player. if you are a crappy team, you may draft a player who isn’t so great, but he becomes a starter anyway. for example, jason david was drafted by the colts, and started for them, but he isn’t a good corner!

by abeaugh on May 1, 2008 10:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like the statistic

Sure, all metrics have drawbacks but cracking the starting lineup is still an achievement. Look at the odds, almost one in three people drafted make it as a starter and that is a good performance in drafting. Drafting is about probabilities. You take players that have a high probability of making it, none are a sure thing. This stat says that Jack and Shack makes choices that are high probability selections. It takes a starter to become a star. Perfect indicator? No, decent indicator? Yes.

by Tkopa on May 1, 2008 11:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs