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NFL Expansion Draft Blowout Scenario (1 Viewer)

What position(s) would you pay attention to first?

  • The Skill positions (QBs, RBs, WRs/TEs)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Offensive Line

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Linebacking Corps

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Defensive Line

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Linebacking Corps

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Secondary (CBs, FS', SS')

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Best Available

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kickers and Punters (Weirdo...)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Coaching (Head coach, OC, DC, ST)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

JGalligan

Footballguy
First off, a quick shout out to ThatGuy, since his franchise QB post spawned the idea for this scenario. Hopefully it doesn't come off as trying to steal from the spotlight.

Okay, let's play pretend here.

For whatever reason, every single NFL team has to forfeit their entire roster into a massive pool. The draft is serpentine and their will be a massive, days long draft bonanza for the ages. Regardless of what kind of pick you get, who your team is, and that you would take a couple elite superstars skill position players should they fall to you early -- which part(s) of your team would you spend the majority of attention on FIRST?

Oh yeah -- coaches are their own position as well.

EG: Would you continue trying to snag high quality wide receivers and QBs to create a high-powered offense to the detriment of the overall skill of your offensive line? Etc. Etc.

Feel free to further detail your main strategy here.

I for one would focus on my offensive line first, then shore up the defensive line, snag myself a high quality head coach, get two solid RBs (one speedster/slasher, and one powerful short yardage/goal line) to committee the running attack. Then I'd snag a game managing QB before I focused on WRs, LBs, secondary, and assistant coaches. I would draft the kickers and punters last, unless a great one fell pretty far and I had already filled the majority of my most-wanted positions.

I would also like to thank Madden 09's fantasy draft option in franchise mode for spawning my idea for this post. If this is intriguing to you, and you have Madden, it's a pretty cool option especially if you create your own team. That way you can see if your strategy was good long-term or if your an idiot. Good times!

Let the debating commence!

 
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This is a simple answer to me. DL. If you can't stop the run and can't pressure the QB...you can't win football games.

 
O-Line. If you don't, you risk your skill players getting injured due to no protection up front. If you build your offense first you can play an exciting high powered game that will put spectators in the seats and garner fan support more easily. That will make subsequent years easier to build upon because you have more fan support.

:confused:

 
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The correct answer is "whatever other teams are likely to focus on". Also, folks on this board of all people should know that the overall importance of a position is a secondary concern. Your primary concern is on the difference in talent between the best, average, and worst players at the position.

I don't really feel qualified to say:

1. What other teams will focus on

2. What positions are most important

3. What the discrepancy in talent is at each position.

But, any post that gives an answer without addressing those 3 issues is of little value.

 
You win in the trenches. Either OL or DL. I voted OL because, well, I've watched the Browns since the mid 80s and I need to see more quality offensive play besides just 2007.

 
Good offensive lines help average skill players perform better. I don't feel the converse is true.
Watch the Pittsburgh offense sometime. Their offensive line is TERRIBLE in pass protection- probably in the bottom 10 in the league- but Holmes, Ward, and most especially Roethlisberger do a tremendous job of masking that. If you looked at Pitt's passing stats last year, you'd never know how terrible their line really was.Likewise, remember how Tomlinson made San Diego's offensive line look great at the beginning of the decade, or how Sanders thrived despite a sub-par line? If you got Roethlisberger and Sanders in the backfield, and had some solid WRs on the outside, it really wouldn't matter WHO you were lining up on the offensive line.I feel like offensive line is such a trendy answer because the media keeps going on and on about building from the trenches, etc... but anyone who voted anything other than "Best Available" should be ashamed. We got 32 people together to start a draft, and 31 of them were going to focus on the line while the 32nd was going BPA. Which team do you think would win the league year after year- the one that was quickly drafting the 20th best guard in the league during round 4, or the one that was snagging Adrian Peterson to go with his Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, and Larry Fitzgerald?It's just like in the real NFL draft. The teams that focus on specific positions get hosed. The teams that draft for need get hosed. The teams that go BPA have the best drafts.
 
Good offensive lines help average skill players perform better. I don't feel the converse is true.
Watch the Pittsburgh offense sometime. Their offensive line is TERRIBLE in pass protection- probably in the bottom 10 in the league- but Holmes, Ward, and most especially Roethlisberger do a tremendous job of masking that. If you looked at Pitt's passing stats last year, you'd never know how terrible their line really was.Likewise, remember how Tomlinson made San Diego's offensive line look great at the beginning of the decade, or how Sanders thrived despite a sub-par line? If you got Roethlisberger and Sanders in the backfield, and had some solid WRs on the outside, it really wouldn't matter WHO you were lining up on the offensive line.
so then how would you explain Cincy's struggles or the Rams? Clearly they have some of the best skill position talent in the NFL yet they've stunk. I think Pittsburgh line is not as good as it once was. It was for a long long LONG time one of the best in the NFL. There's a dramatic difference and we might be overstating how bad they are.
 
It's just like in the real NFL draft. The teams that focus on specific positions get hosed. The teams that draft for need get hosed. The teams that go BPA have the best drafts.
If you go for BPA, you'll probably fail because of the time factor. Head coaches in this league get 3 years AT MOST to produce except in RARE cases. Many times they get 2 years. If you can be assured of a job for 15 years, BPA is the best. But if your DL sucks, and the BPA is a WR every year the way the picks fall, you are the Detroit Lions and you'll get fired.
 
Good offensive lines help average skill players perform better. I don't feel the converse is true.
Watch the Pittsburgh offense sometime. Their offensive line is TERRIBLE in pass protection- probably in the bottom 10 in the league- but Holmes, Ward, and most especially Roethlisberger do a tremendous job of masking that. If you looked at Pitt's passing stats last year, you'd never know how terrible their line really was.
If Ben has to take the beating he took in 2007 every season, he's not long for this league, so I wouldn't call what the Steelers did in 2007 a blueprint for success.
 
Good offensive lines help average skill players perform better. I don't feel the converse is true.
Watch the Pittsburgh offense sometime. Their offensive line is TERRIBLE in pass protection- probably in the bottom 10 in the league- but Holmes, Ward, and most especially Roethlisberger do a tremendous job of masking that. If you looked at Pitt's passing stats last year, you'd never know how terrible their line really was.Likewise, remember how Tomlinson made San Diego's offensive line look great at the beginning of the decade, or how Sanders thrived despite a sub-par line? If you got Roethlisberger and Sanders in the backfield, and had some solid WRs on the outside, it really wouldn't matter WHO you were lining up on the offensive line.
so then how would you explain Cincy's struggles or the Rams? Clearly they have some of the best skill position talent in the NFL yet they've stunk. I think Pittsburgh line is not as good as it once was. It was for a long long LONG time one of the best in the NFL. There's a dramatic difference and we might be overstating how bad they are.
I think it takes a certain type of player to succeed despite a poor line. Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith were both phenomenal backs, but Barry Sanders was the TYPE of back that could succeed with a poor line, and Smith was not. Elway and Marino were both phenomenal QBs, but Elway was the type of QB who could succeed with a poor line, and Marino was not. Palmer and Roethlisberger are both great QBs, but Roethlisberger can succeed with a poor line and Palmer can't. McNabb and Manning are both great QBs, but McNabb can succeed without a great line and Manning can't. Also, in Cincy's case, having an NFL-caliber RB might help a bit.I don't think we're overstating how bad Pittsburgh's line is. I mean, they were awful, easily one of the worst in the league in pass protection.
It's just like in the real NFL draft. The teams that focus on specific positions get hosed. The teams that draft for need get hosed. The teams that go BPA have the best drafts.
If you go for BPA, you'll probably fail because of the time factor. Head coaches in this league get 3 years AT MOST to produce except in RARE cases. Many times they get 2 years. If you can be assured of a job for 15 years, BPA is the best. But if your DL sucks, and the BPA is a WR every year the way the picks fall, you are the Detroit Lions and you'll get fired.
Luckily in this hypothetical expansion draft, I'm not a coach, I'm a GM. I think you're overestimating how long it takes for BPA to shine, though- we aren't talking 15 years, we're talking a noticeable difference in just 3 years (the average time it takes for stars to emerge). Look at Denver- they are a pretty clear example. From 2000 or so to 2005, they were drafting almost entirely for need. The only two players still on the roster from those SIX drafts are D.J. Williams and Ben Hamilton. Since then, they've been going more BPA. In 2006, their biggest need was Defensive Line. They've also badly needed a young safety. They didn't need a WR, because they addressed that with the Javon Walker trade. Instead, they traded up to grab a QB when their starter was still relatively young and coming off of a pro bowl year- that's definitely BPA, and that so far was one of the biggest coups of the entire draft. Their second pick was a TE, which was low on the priority list... and it wound up being another great pick. In the 4th they grabbed a WR despite already addressing their need at the position, and we've got another of the biggest steals in the draft in the books. One draft going BPA and we've got the cornerstones of the most explosive offense in the league right now.Situation changes so much and so quickly in the NFL that you're going to wind up needing EVERYTHING eventually. Denver could have easily said that WR was no longer a need now that they had Walker and gone with someone other than Marshall in the 4th... but eventually EVERYTHING becomes a need. And even if it's not a need, if the player works out, you can always get good value in return (see Matt Schaub) or plenty of good miles out at the least (see Michael Turner).
 
Maybe I'd just pick **** Vermiel to run things. He goes to St. Louis, he immediately assembles a stud OL. He goes to Kansas City, he immediately assembles a stud OL. I like how he thinks.

 
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We have done a few drafts over the past couple years with this scenario ...........think they are in the FFA

Checking out how people constructed their teams would give a good idea.

I prefer going OL / DL first ..... others went franchise QB.

 

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