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ShareThisTeam first round summaries
Posted by Doug on April 11, 2007
Random facts about the NFL draft since 1978:
- The Rams have taken nine running backs in the first round; no other team has taken more than six. How many of those Ram runners can you name off the top of your head in under 30 seconds?
- Two teams have drafted three tight ends in the first round: the Jets (Anthony Becht, Kyle Brady, and Johnny Mitchell) and Steelers (Heath Miller, Mark Breuner, and Eric Green). Twelve teams have never (since 1978) drafted a first-round tight end.
- The Redskins have been allergic to the draft for far longer than Dan Snyder has been calling the shots. They have had the fewest first round picks (18) among all teams that have been in existence for the entire period. Denver (22) has the next fewest. The Bengals (36) have the most.
- The Colts have drafted four first round quarterbacks. The first three were Art Schlichter, John Elway, and Jeff George. Ryan Leaf would have fit in well with this group.
- Only two teams have never (since 1978) taken a first round quarterback. They are the Rams and Saints.
- The team who has spent the greatest percentage of its first rounders on offense has been the Lions. The most historically defense oriented team in the first round has been the Cowboys, who have drafted more defensive linemen in the first round than offensive players combined.
- It's interesting that the Steelers, a team generally known for good defenses, have spent far more of their first round picks on offense, while the 49ers have spent the majority of their picks on defense.
Here's the data:
QB RB WR TE OL OFF DL LB DB DEF TOT
====+=======================+=================+========
cin | 4 3 4 0 6 17 | 10 6 3 19 | 36
nwe | 2 6 3 2 8 21 | 7 2 5 14 | 35
ram | 0 9 3 0 6 18 | 7 3 5 15 | 33
clt | 4 5 4 2 2 17 | 5 7 3 15 | 32
gnb | 2 3 3 1 6 15 | 4 6 7 17 | 32
crd | 2 3 4 0 5 14 | 7 5 4 16 | 31
det | 3 4 6 1 6 20 | 3 4 4 11 | 31
chi | 4 5 4 0 4 17 | 8 3 3 14 | 31
rai | 2 2 2 1 6 13 | 6 2 9 17 | 31
nyj | 2 3 4 3 5 17 | 6 6 2 14 | 31
buf | 2 6 4 1 5 18 | 3 2 8 13 | 31
pit | 2 3 5 3 6 19 | 5 1 5 11 | 30
sfo | 2 4 3 2 2 13 | 7 5 5 17 | 30
sea | 2 3 2 1 7 15 | 7 2 6 15 | 30
atl | 2 4 4 1 4 15 | 5 3 6 14 | 29
kan | 2 5 2 2 6 17 | 6 3 2 11 | 28
nyg | 2 6 3 2 5 18 | 4 2 4 10 | 28
min | 1 5 2 0 4 12 | 12 2 2 16 | 28
phi | 1 2 3 1 7 14 | 9 1 3 13 | 27
nor | 0 6 3 1 6 16 | 7 2 1 10 | 27
dal | 1 1 3 1 2 8 | 11 3 4 18 | 26
sdg | 2 4 2 1 2 11 | 4 3 7 14 | 25
tam | 3 3 2 0 6 14 | 6 4 1 11 | 25
mia | 1 5 3 0 5 14 | 5 1 5 11 | 25
oti | 3 4 2 0 5 14 | 4 3 3 10 | 24
cle | 1 4 3 2 2 12 | 2 6 4 12 | 24
den | 2 2 3 0 3 10 | 4 4 4 12 | 22
was | 3 0 4 0 3 10 | 2 1 5 8 | 18
jax | 1 2 3 1 1 8 | 3 1 2 6 | 14
car | 1 2 1 0 2 6 | 2 1 4 7 | 13
rav | 1 1 2 1 1 6 | 3 1 3 7 | 13
htx | 1 0 1 0 0 2 | 3 0 1 4 | 6
QB RB WR TE
==========+============+============+=========
clt 4 | ram 9 | det 6 | nyj 3
cin 4 | nor 6 | pit 5 | pit 3
chi 4 | nyg 6 | nyj 4 | sfo 2
oti 3 | buf 6 | was 4 | kan 2
det 3 | nwe 6 | crd 4 | nyg 2
tam 3 | clt 5 | cin 4 | cle 2
was 3 | chi 5 | chi 4 | clt 2
sdg 2 | mia 5 | buf 4 | nwe 2
nyg 2 | min 5 | clt 4 | atl 1
atl 2 | kan 5 | atl 4 | rai 1
crd 2 | oti 4 | nwe 3 | buf 1
nwe 2 | det 4 | nor 3 | phi 1
sea 2 | cle 4 | gnb 3 | sdg 1
sfo 2 | atl 4 | dal 3 | gnb 1
kan 2 | sdg 4 | ram 3 | det 1
gnb 2 | sfo 4 | phi 3 | nor 1
buf 2 | crd 3 | cle 3 | dal 1
den 2 | tam 3 | sfo 3 | jax 1
pit 2 | nyj 3 | jax 3 | sea 1
rai 2 | sea 3 | nyg 3 | rav 1
nyj 2 | gnb 3 | mia 3 | oti 0
htx 1 | cin 3 | den 3 | crd 0
cle 1 | pit 3 | sea 2 | htx 0
dal 1 | phi 2 | min 2 | ram 0
phi 1 | jax 2 | sdg 2 | tam 0
car 1 | rai 2 | rai 2 | chi 0
jax 1 | car 2 | tam 2 | min 0
min 1 | den 2 | kan 2 | mia 0
rav 1 | rav 1 | rav 2 | car 0
mia 1 | dal 1 | oti 2 | den 0
ram 0 | htx 0 | htx 1 | was 0
nor 0 | was 0 | car 1 | cin 0
OL DL LB DB
==========+============+============+=========
nwe 8 | min 12 | clt 7 | rai 9
phi 7 | dal 11 | nyj 6 | buf 8
sea 7 | cin 10 | cin 6 | sdg 7
nor 6 | phi 9 | cle 6 | gnb 7
tam 6 | chi 8 | gnb 6 | atl 6
cin 6 | crd 7 | crd 5 | sea 6
det 6 | nwe 7 | sfo 5 | was 5
gnb 6 | ram 7 | tam 4 | ram 5
ram 6 | sea 7 | det 4 | pit 5
rai 6 | nor 7 | den 4 | mia 5
kan 6 | sfo 7 | sdg 3 | sfo 5
pit 6 | kan 6 | atl 3 | nwe 5
oti 5 | tam 6 | kan 3 | det 4
nyj 5 | nyj 6 | chi 3 | cle 4
crd 5 | rai 6 | ram 3 | crd 4
buf 5 | clt 5 | oti 3 | dal 4
nyg 5 | atl 5 | dal 3 | nyg 4
mia 5 | mia 5 | nyg 2 | den 4
atl 4 | pit 5 | buf 2 | car 4
chi 4 | gnb 4 | sea 2 | chi 3
min 4 | oti 4 | nwe 2 | rav 3
den 3 | sdg 4 | nor 2 | oti 3
was 3 | nyg 4 | min 2 | cin 3
sdg 2 | den 4 | rai 2 | clt 3
cle 2 | rav 3 | jax 1 | phi 3
car 2 | jax 3 | was 1 | nyj 2
clt 2 | htx 3 | car 1 | min 2
sfo 2 | det 3 | mia 1 | kan 2
dal 2 | buf 3 | pit 1 | jax 2
jax 1 | cle 2 | phi 1 | htx 1
rav 1 | car 2 | rav 1 | nor 1
htx 0 | was 2 | htx 0 | tam 1
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 3:58 am and is filed under History, NFL Draft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Eric Dickerson
Clevland Gary
Gaston Green
Jerome Bettis
Lawrence Phillips
Trung Canidate
Steven Jackson
?
The Saints drafted Archie Manning in 1971, which means the Rams have the longest streak (1964) of not drafting a QB in the first round.
Interesting that the Rams have made so many first round RB picks; they are also the only team with 8 RBs to have two 1,000 yard rushing seasons for them. Jackson, Faulk, Bettis, Dickerson, McCutcheon, Bell, Tyler, Bass.
You should take into account the Supplemental Draft since it actually has an impact in the NFL Draft. Case in point, the Giants used a first round pick to obtain the rights to Dave Brown in the 1992 Supplemental Draft. The Giants were without a first round pick in the 1993 draft, although picking Strahan with their first pick (2.40) against Mel Kiper's advice turned out pretty sweet. I would consider the NYG to have spent 3 picks in the first round for a QB.
PS. Let's not forget the Raiders for drafting a K in the first round either. My heart goes out to all Raider fans.
"The Colts have drafted four first round quarterbacks. The first three were Art Schlichter, John Elway, and Jeff George."
Who was the fourth?
Peyton Manning. Was that a honest question?
"The Colts have drafted four first round quarterbacks. The first three were Art Schlichter, John Elway, and Jeff George. Ryan Leaf would have fit in well with this group."
Ryan Leaf would fit in well with this group? Half of them are either in, or obviously headed for, the HOF. Given the well-known vicissitudes of sports drafts, that looks like an extraordinarily strong track-record to me.
Was this a joke that I didn't get?
Not really. The first three were disasters for the Colts. Ryan Leaf, who I'm taking the liberty of assuming would have also been a disaster for the Colts, would have fit right in.
"Peyton Manning. Was that a honest question?"
No.