The NFL’s transformation into a passing league in the early 2000s has made it imperative for teams to expend top picks on passers with franchise potential. Though the top-10 selections in the NFL Draft are supposed to be reserved for the “elite” prospects in the class, the pressure to find a franchise quarterback in a quarterback-driven league has prompted some team builders to roll the dice on any QB1 prospect with a handful of “blue-chip” traits.
In the early 2000s, those risky decisions could result in expensive headaches if the team missed when drafting a top-10 quarterback. Without a rookie salary cap in the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams would have to pay unproven rookies top-of-the-market money based solely on their draft selection.
Given the importance of the position, quarterbacks selected at the top of the draft would command blockbuster salaries before taking a snap in the league. While Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Eli Manning, and Philip Rivers were well worth the investment as top-10 selections, the failures of JaMarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, and Akili Smith prompted owners to revisit the CBA to create a system that better protected the owners from expensive mistakes.
In 2011, creating a new CBA with a rookie pool significantly lowered the expense for a rookie quarterback, making it easier for teams to gamble on an unproven signal-caller. Though an early-round miss on an overrated quarterback prospect prevents the team from adding a foundational piece with a top pick, the slotted salary prevented teams from destroying their salary cap budgets.
As a result, more teams have been willing to utilize top-10 picks on quarterbacks. Since 2011, 25 quarterbacks have been selected within the first ten selections, compared to just 20 quarterbacks coming off the board in the top 10 from 1998 to 2010. Though the hit rate hovers around 40 percent for each group, there are some interesting trends evaluators can take from the data.
Teams valuing…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/nfl-draft-history-top-10-qb-selections-tell-us-about-the-2024-class
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Publish date : 2024-03-14 18:40:36
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