Quantifying draft's quality

April 19, 2009|By Bob Brookover, Inquirer Staff Writer

Since 1999, the Eagles have made eight first-round picks. And, after trading the 28th overall selection Friday for offensive tackle Jason Peters, they still have the 21st overall selecton in Saturday's first round of the NFL draft.

The Inquirer examined how the Eagles have fared with their first-round selections during coach Andy Reid's 10 seasons in Philadelphia.

Only Houston, Tampa Bay (seven each) and Miami (six) have made fewer picks. The New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers each have made 13 first-round picks, the most among NFL teams.

Story continues below.

What follows are two charts. Each first-round selection in the last 10 years was assigned a point total based on a system that awarded three points for a Pro Bowl season, two points for starting at least half his team's games in a season, and one point for a season in which he played in at least half his team's games.

For example, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, a 10-year veteran, received:

15 points - three points each for the five seasons he made the Pro Bowl

1 point for his rookie season when he started six games, but played in 12

8 points - two points for his four seasons in the league

Total equals 24 points.

Teams did not get credit for points from players once they had left their team.

Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, the ninth overall pick in 2000, is the only player with the same point total as McNabb. Urlacher, a six-time Pro Bowler, also has 24 points.

The chart below shows the number of picks each team has made followed by the number of players that remain with the team.

PBs stands for Pro Bowls, with the first number representing the number of first-round picks that have been to the Pro Bowl and the second revealing the total number of Pro Bowls. The Eagles are among nine teams with four or more first-round picks making Pro Bowl appearances and among six teams that have been represented 10 times in the Pro Bowl.

The remaining categories show how many times a team has picked in the top 10 or top 15, the total points for each team and the number of playoff appearances and playoff record for each team in the last decade.

The Eagles (10-7), Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) and New England Patriots (14-3) are the only teams with double-digit playoff wins. The Indianapolis Colts are the only team that has been to the playoffs more than the Eagles. The Colts have gone nine times to the Eagles' seven. Of course, the Steelers, Patriots and Colts all have something the Eagles don't: Super Bowl titles.

 

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