Texans: best drafting team over the last 3 years

[Yvette]

I just found my favorite sports fan commentator and I'm stoked!


I'm not used to seeing headlines like this, so forgive me for being a bit surprised when this article popped up in my daily reading queue.

Monte Burke of Forbes.com, the Home Page for the World's Business Leaders, says your Houston Texans "top the list" of the best drafting teams in the NFL over the past three seasons.

If you need to take a minute, go ahead, I'll wait.

Okay, so naturally you ask, "define best."

Here is how Texans GM Rick Smith's new best friend Monte defined it:

"To find the NFL's best and worst teams at drafting, we looked at the last three years of drafts for all 32 NFL teams. To judge the success or failure of the drafting teams, we looked at the percentage of players from those three draft classes who were still listed as active members of the team. We gave a little extra weight to players who had made the Associated Press' All-Pro first and second teams..."

http://www.examiner.com/x-778-Houston-Texans-Examiner~y2009m4d8-Forbes-Texans-are-the-best-drafting-team-over-the-past-three-years
After reading his comments and the original article, I'm asking myself why I've put so much stock into the draft? I'm alternately elated and disgusted, and how much does it all really matter when February rolls around?

[bucket]

Yvette,
It's interesting that Rey Hill was drafted in 2005, his best year, and stuck around through last year. If someone like Rey Hill had been drafted by the Texans in 2005, I wonder if he would have survived after their 2006 and 2007 draft choices hit camp? I think not.

Why, in your opinion, might that be.

[Yvette]

Wow you really made me think. Not enough roster space to keep a scrub like him, is about the best I could come up with, even after drafting only one CB in 2007.

[315]

RH and Fisher had a relationship that I will never understand.

[Titanico]

RH and Fisher had a relationship that I will never understand.

Who possibly can?

[GoPats]

The original article has the Texans as the best drafting team in the NFL and the Patriots as the worst.

The bottom five will surprise fans most. The worst drafting team in the past three years, holding on to only a little more than half of its drafted players: the New England Patriots. With three Super Bowl wins since 2001, the Patriots are the team of the decade so far. They boast a 39-9 record in the past three years. How have they maintained that excellence? Though saddled with low draft picks, the Patriots have been the masters of picking up useful veterans via trades to fill holes in their lineup (see: receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker).

That's good stuff... perhaps Forbes should stay away from sports news. I don't know, maybe I'm biased, but...

[Jones31]

No you're not. Forbes is really clueless when it comes to sports. Especially when they have to speculate the books of NHL teams.

[Yvette]

How many of the Pats draft picks remain on the roster after a year or two?

[GoPats]

How many of the Pats draft picks remain on the roster after a year or two?

Possibly less than other teams... I don't know for sure. It seems like they're quicker to cut high picks, which could mean that Forbes has a point... or, it could mean that it's just a lot more difficult for a rookie to make the squad in New England than it is in Texas. (I would say, with all due respect to Houston, that statement has got to have some truth to it.)

Picking up the defensive ROY in Mayo apparently doesn't count though. :lol

What probably contributed to this the most was the '06 season. They drafted Maroney and Chad Jackson #1 and #2 that year. Jackson's long gone, and Maroney is probably on his last chance.

[Yvette]

The whole thing is making me rethink the Titans drafting and FA. They don't want to spend big bucks on FA signings and they seem to stay married to their draft picks, for better or worse. It works for us, in that this team seems to stay competitive with that philosophy. But it doesn't seem to do much towards hoisting the Lombardi.

[GoPats]

The whole thing is making me rethink the Titans drafting and FA. They don't want to spend big bucks on FA signings and they seem to stay married to their draft picks, for better or worse. It works for us, in that this team seems to stay competitive with that philosophy. But it doesn't seem to do much towards hoisting the Lombardi.

Well...

If the Forbes article tells us anything, it's that judging a team's drafting history based on the number of players still on the roster is a bit of a flawed way to rank them. Being the "best drafting team in the NFL" should carry somewhat of a dubious distinction. It doesn't matter who's still on the roster if they're crappy players, right? So the trick is to draft the good ones and keep 'em. I realize I'm just stating the obvious, but...

[Yvette]

But they aren't exactly crappy players:

We gave a little extra weight to players who had made the Associated Press' All-Pro first and second teams--the players deemed as that year's best at their respective positions. Membership in this elite group is difficult to crack for a young player, as many long-tenured veterans make the All-Pro team year after year based only on reputation (take the N.Y. Jets' Alan Faneca).


Being the "best drafting team in the NFL" should carry somewhat of a dubious distinction.
Being labeled the worst drafting team brings an elite distinction, separating you from 31 other teams in February. Celebrate it! Hell, I would. Hopefully I'll get a chance someday.

[GoPats]

But they aren't exactly crappy players:

We gave a little extra weight to players who had made the Associated Press' All-Pro first and second teams--the players deemed as that year's best at their respective positions. Membership in this elite group is difficult to crack for a young player, as many long-tenured veterans make the All-Pro team year after year based only on reputation (take the N.Y. Jets' Alan Faneca).


Being labeled the worst drafting team brings an elite distinction, separating you from 31 other teams in February. Celebrate it! Hell, I would. Hopefully I'll get a chance someday.

Hmm, I wonder if they mean "All-Pro" or "All-Rookie." All-Pro is certainly a much higher distinction than a Pro Bowl. Good catch though. GoPats read bad!

If the Patriots keep drafting in the high 20s or 30s I'll take it. :toast

[TitansGiantsBears]

One thing overlooked is that it's easier to make and hold a roster spot on a team that consistently finishes near the bottom of the league. I think it's equally important whether or not those players are contributing to other teams now. Look at our 2004 draft class. Laboy was contributor to this past year's Super Bowl runner-up. Starks was part of the Dolphins turnaround and Odom is in Cincinnati. Did we really miss on those guys because they're on other teams now? Granted my example goes back a couple of seasons prior to 2006 but the principle still applies.

There are two ways to build a team in the NFL. One is draft-heavy and the other through significant use of free agency. For teams that rely primarily on the draft, you expect them to translate "great" drafts to measurable success on the field. Merely holding onto those players for a few years doesn't make a draft successful. The forumla for draft-heavy teams is simple - great draft equals wins on the field.

[Rolltide14TOMB]

well the fact that we blew 2 top six picks in consecutive years and went 13-3 means we are doing something right...later at least

[Livid13]

Wellll, I could MENTION the Mario Williams pick versus Vinc......uhhhh, never mind. The bottom line IS WINS, but his point IS valid, regarding Kubiak's house cleaning....

[Hookem Horns]

Well, he did say the last 3 years. Considering it takes time for most players to develop it typically takes a few seasons for a team to start seeing the fruitage (in wins or losses) of their drafts (whether good or bad).

So you can't say the Texans recent good drafting isn't resulting in wins (yet). Also teams that are winning now that are also making poor drafts now will have it catch up to them. The Titans blowing that #3 overall pick on VY is pretty huge, especially if you consider who they could have had (Jay Cutler maybe). However that can be said about a ton of clubs that miss on high picks. The Saints are even more guilty for buying into the Reggie Bust hype (I am no talent scout and even I knew that guy would flop in the NFL). The Texans have also paid dearly for a few (David Carr, Travis Johnson come to mind).