Average Team NFL Draft Scores from 1997-2007
I had a request to post the performance of all the teams thru the 1997-2007 draft period I looked at yesterday so here is a table with the teams average score, median score, and best player picked using the points criteria detailed in the original article. 14 of the teams scored between a 280 and 320, which pretty much states that most of the league is pretty average at drafting. Dallas, Indianapolis, and Baltimore were the 3 teams to score over a 360 which is fueled by a number or really high scoring picks. The Jets rank 5 but the median is only 115, which likeley indicates some really good picks and a good deal of really bad ones. The Steelers are even worse with a median of just 84 on the 356 average score. The worst team in the league was the Lions with a 186 average the only team below a 200. Their median of 91 was 8th worst in the NFL. The Redskins with a median of 69 are getting little out of the draft.
| Team | Average | Median | Top Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | 397 | 137 | DeMarcus Ware (3516) |
| Colts | 395 | 158 | Peyton Manning (3738) |
| Ravens | 362 | 124 | Ed Reed (4092) |
| Steelers | 356 | 84 | Alan Faneca (3211) |
| Jets | 349 | 115 | Darrelle Revis (2780) |
| Giants | 346 | 181 | Jeremy Shockey (2629) |
| Cardinals | 339 | 152 | Larry Fitzgerald (2853) |
| Chargers | 337 | 152 | Shawne Merriman (2094) |
| Panthers | 331 | 160 | Julius Peppers (3625) |
| 49'ers | 322 | 187 | Patrick Willis (3506) |
| Vikings | 321 | 115 | Adrian Peterson (3499) |
| Redskins | 316 | 69 | Champ Bailey (4638) |
| Seahawks | 313 | 148 | Walter Jones (3325) |
| Bears | 312 | 124 | Brian Urlacher (3380) |
| Packers | 312 | 118 | Nick Collins (2267) |
| Eagles | 307 | 158 | Donovan McNabb (2999) |
| Texans | 303 | 146 | Andre Johnson (2332) |
| Patriots | 300 | 78 | Tom Brady (2945) |
| Saints | 287 | 130 | Jahri Evans (1708) |
| Raiders | 286 | 158 | Shane Lechler (3032) |
| Broncos | 286 | 118 | Al Wilson (2427) |
| Falcons | 286 | 75 | Roddy White (2302) |
| Bengals | 281 | 140 | Chad Johnson (2181) |
| Rams | 274 | 126 | Torry Holt (3386) |
| Titans | 261 | 107 | Jevon Kearse (1685) |
| Chiefs | 258 | 83 | Tony Gonzalez (4063) |
| Bills | 249 | 129 | Antoine Winfield (1879) |
| Jaguars | 248 | 76 | John Henderson (1584) |
| Browns | 243 | 116 | Joe Thomas (3516) |
| Dolphins | 231 | 78 | Jason Taylor (2559) |
| Buccaneers | 211 | 98 | Ronde Barber (2349) |
| Lions | 186 | 91 | Shaun Rogers (1348) |
What do the numbers next to the players mean?
Tom Brady (2945)
Donovan McNabb (2999)
Does this mean that by this metric, McNabb is better than Brady?
As for teh Colts - I wonder how much of that is due to Peyton Manning? Not just his score, but how much he makes the receivers better. He turns a B- player into a B+. If he does that for multiple players, and puts in an AAA performance himself, that can make it look like the Colts did a great job in drafting. But maybe they did an average job, aside from Manning.
Just speculating.
Id probably agree on the Colts. Some of their high scorers (James, Wayne, Addai, Glenn) all benefited from Manning. Freeney and Mathis are probably independent of Manning, but without Manning some of those other never would have been such excellent players.