First Round Picks in the Salary Cap Era (1 Viewer)

[David Yudkin]

So, you ask, which position has historically been the best to draft in the first round and/or least likely to bust in recent years? Here are how each position has done in 1994-2009 in terms of first round picks based on the position they played and how they fared in terms of All Pro and Pro Bowl selections. All this based on info from the PFR draft database. I explained what the percentages mean in the first listing. (Organized by % of total All Pro selections per number of players at that position) [i realize this does not really consider who were really full bore busts.]

CENTERS

# of players drafted: 5 [There were 5 centers picked in the 1st round since 1994.]

# of players who were first team All Pro: 2 (40%) [2 of the 5 centers were 1st team All Pro = 40%.]

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 3 (60%) [3 of the 5 centers were Pro Bowlers = 60%.]

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 2 (40%) [There were 2 total 1st team All Pro selections/5 players = 40%.]

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 5 (100%) [There were 5 total Pro Bowl selections/5 players = 100%.]

LINE BACKERS

# of players drafted: 53

# of players who were first team All Pro: 15 (28%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 24 (45%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 31 (58%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 79 (149%)

GUARDS

# of players drafted: 15

# of players who were first team All Pro: 3 (20%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 7 (47%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 12 (80%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 31 (207%)

RUNNING BACKS

# of players drafted: 50

# of players who were first team All Pro: 10 (20%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 21 (42%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 15 (30%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 47 (94%)

TACKLES

# of players drafted: 56

# of players who were first team All Pro: 10 (18%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 18 (32%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 22 (39%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 65 (116%)

DEFENSIVE BACKS:

# of players drafted: 82

# of players who were first team All Pro: 12 (15%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 24 (29%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 20 (24%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 64 (78%)

TIGHT ENDS

# of players drafted: 20

# of players who were first team All Pro: 3 (15%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 7 (35%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 7 (35%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 22 (110%)

DEFENSIVE TACKLES

# of players drafted: 43

# of players who were first team All Pro: 6 (14%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 14 (33%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 14 (33%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 41 (95%)

DEFENSIVE ENDS

# of players drafted: 66

# of players who were first team All Pro: 9 (14%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 15 (23%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 14 (21%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 40 (61%)

WIDE RECEIVERS

# of players drafted: 65

# of players who were first team All Pro: 6 (9%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 17 (26%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 12 (18%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 49 (75%)

QUARTERBACKS

# of players drafted: 38

# of players who were first team All Pro: 1 (3% - Peyton Manning and NO ONE ELSE)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 14 (37%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 5 (13%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 36 (95%)

FULLBACKS

# of players drafted: 1

# of players who were first team All Pro: 0 (0%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 0 (0%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 0 (0%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 0 (0%)

PLACEKICKERS

# of players drafted: 1

# of players who were first team All Pro: 0 (0%)

# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 0 (0%)

Total number of first team All Pro selections: 0 (0%)

Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 0 (0%)

 

[Couch Potato]

Need to look this over more later. Interesting.

 

[dgreen]

PLACEKICKERS# of players drafted: 1# of players who were first team All Pro: 0 (0%)# of players who were named to the Pro Bowl: 0 (0%)Total number of first team All Pro selections: 0 (0%)Total number of Pro Bowl selections: 0 (0%)

GB Al Davis.

 

[JKL]

A couple of thoughts:

including recent years probably doesn't tell us anything, and could bias against positions that have had an uptick in first round picks. No first rounder from the 2009 draft was selected first team all pro as a rookie, only 2 from 2008 so far (Chris Johnson and Clady) and 5 from 2007. There will most definitely be more from those classes. The 1990's draft classes averaged 5.5 first team all-pros from the first round.

first team all pros are going to be more prevalent for positions that get more of them awarded. There is one all-pro quarterback. There are four all-pro defensive backs and four all-pro linebackers each year. Those multiple first team award positions should have a higher percentage.