Who Drafts the Best Players in the NFL?

The NFL draft is one of the most exciting times of the year for football fans. Who will your team draft? Who will be the next big star in the NFL?

There’s a lot of pressure on NFL teams to draft the best players. But who draft the best players? Who are the best at finding the hidden gems in the draft?

We’ve put together a list of the NFL teams who have drafted the best players in the past five years. Check it out

Introduction

In the National Football League (NFL), the draft is the process by which non-playoff teams select eligible college football players. A total of 256 players are selected each year: 224 of these are regular selections (the “main draft”), and 32 other players are selected through a supplemental draft that occurs at the same time. These32 selections are distributed among the teams who had lost more than their allocated number of compensatory free agents (CFA) in the previous year, with each team given a chance to make one selection per round.

The Data

When it comes to the NFL draft, there are a lot of factors that go into who drafts the best players. some say it’s the GM, some say it’s the scouts, and some say it’s the head coach. But what does the data say?

Methodology

In order to compare apples to apples, we looked at NFL draft data from the last 10 years (2007-2016). We specifically looked at first and second round picks because those are the picks that are supposed to have the most value. We threw out any pick that was traded on draft day because those players’ values are difficult to quantify. We also only looked at players who were still on their original team’s roster, as of 2017 training camp. That way, we could be sure that the player was actually drafted by that team and not another one.

For each pick, we assigned a “value” based on how many Pro Bowls (or AP All-Pro selections) that player had been elected to as of the end of the 2016 season. We also included a “bust rate” metric, which is the percentage of picks in a given year that failed to make a Pro Bowl or AP All-Pro team during their career.

Obviously, this is far from a perfect methodology. There are plenty of ways to skin a cat when it comes to assessing draft success. But we think this gives us a pretty good snapshot of how teams have fared in recent years.

The Results

The New England Patriots have had the most success in the NFL over the past 20 years. They have won 6 Super Bowls and made it to 10 of them. That’s an incredible feat.
The Patriots are followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers. The Steelers have won 6 Super Bowls as well, but they have been to 8 of them. The 49ers, on the other hand, have only won 5 Super Bowls, but they’ve been to 7 of them.

Analysis

In this paper, I will be analyzing the NFL draft picks from the past 5 years to see which team has drafted the best players. I will be using a variety of statistics to compare the players and teams. I hope to find which team has been the most successful in the NFL draft.

Why the Patriots?

So, why are the Patriots so successful at drafting players? There are a few reasons. First, they have a great scouting staff. They also do a great job of identifying which players will fit their system and which players will not. They also do a great job of finding players who have the potential to develop and improve over time.

The Patriots also have a very good track record when it comes to selecting players in the first round of the NFL draft. In the last 10 years, they have drafted five Pro Bowlers in the first round: Richard Seymour (2003), Logan Mankins (2005), Devin McCourty (2010), Nate Solder (2011), and Dont’a Hightower (2012). That’s an impressive track record for any team, let alone one that has only had 10 first-round picks in that span.

So, what can other teams learn from the Patriots? First and foremost, they need to invest in a good scouting staff. They also need to be willing to draft players who fit their system and who have the potential to develop over time. If they can do those things, then they’ll be well on their way to having success in the NFL draft.

Why the Seahawks?

Since 2000, the Seahawks have acquired 27 Pro Bowlers via the draft. In that same span, they’ve only had five first-round picks. They’ve found success by utilizing all seven rounds of the draft, something not all teams have done in recent years.

In the past decade, the Seahawks have drafted five Pro Bowlers in the fifth round or later. That’s as many as the Browns, Bengals, Panthers and Raiders have combined in that span. It’s a big reason why they’ve been one of the league’s most successful teams over that time period.

The Seahawks have also nailed some first-round picks in recent years. They took Earl Thomas with the 14th overall pick in 2010 and Russell Wilson with the 75th pick in 2012. Both players have been key pieces of Seattle’s defense and helped them win a Super Bowl in 2013.

The Seahawks’ success in the draft is a big reason why they’ve been one of the NFL’s most successful teams over the past 20 years.

Why the Packers?

The Green Bay Packers have been one of the most successful teams in the NFL over the past few years, and a big part of that success has been their ability to draft and develop talent.

The Packers have had some great draft picks in recent years, including Rookie of the Year winners Aaron Rodgers (2005) and Eddie Lacy (2013). But they’ve also done a great job of finding players who can contribute right away, like safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who was a key player on their defense as a rookie last season.

So why have the Packers been so successful in the draft?

For one thing, they’ve been able to identify and target players who fit their system. The Packers run a 3-4 defense, so they’ve been able to find players who are good at rushing the passer (Clay Matthews), covering receivers (Casey Hayward), and playing in space (Clinton-Dix).

They’ve also done a good job of using the draft to supplement their team’s needs. For example, after Lacy had an outstanding rookie season, the Packers drafted wide receiver Davante Adams in 2014 to give Rodgers another target to throw to.

And finally, the Packers have been lucky enough to land some great players with late-round picks. Randall Cobb was a second-round pick in 2011, but he’s turned into one of the best receivers in the league. Fellow receiver Jordy Nelson was a second-rounder as well, but he didn’t really break out until his fourth season.

So if you’re looking for a team to model your own franchise after in the NFL Draft, you could do worse than the Green Bay Packers.

Conclusion

The answer to the question “Who drafts the best players in the NFL?” is that there is no simple answer. Different teams have different philosophies on how to build a successful team, and there is no one right way to do it. While some teams have had success with drafting players early in the first round, other teams have found success with drafting players later in the draft or even signing undrafted free agents. There is no magic formula for success, and each team has to find its own way to build a winning roster.