Philadelphia Inquirer Grades the '06 draft...

[dadmg]

...and we're #1. Chart is near the end of an article (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20080421_Eagles_don_t_take_Day_2_of_draft_for_gran ted.html) about the Eagles recent 2nd day picks.


Each player in the 2006 NFL draft was given a point total for his production with the team that selected him. The player was not given points for what he did with other teams. He received four points for making the Pro Bowl, three points for each season he started all 16 games, two points for each season he started at least half his team's games, and one point for playing in at least half his team's games

Grading the Overall Class of 2006
Top Five
Houston Texans 7 picks, 27 points

Green Bay Packers 12 picks, 25 points

Baltimore Ravens 12 picks, 25 points

New York Jets 10 picks, 24 points

Indianapolis Colts 7 picks, 21 points

Bottom Five
Miami Dolphins 6 picks, 7 points

Pittsburgh Steelers 9 picks, 10 points

Dallas Cowboys 8 picks, 10 points

Detroit Lions 7 picks, 10 points

Atlanta Falcons 5 picks, 10 points


I'm not quite sure how they came up with 27 by their formula. I either come up with 26 or 29, depending on how Demeco Ryans Pro Bowl is counted (does he get 4 pts for Pro Bowl + 3 pts for 16 Games started, or just the 4?). Maybe they gave Mario a pt for being a Pro Bowl alternate?

Demeco Ryans - 7 pts (4 pts for Pro Bowl in '07. 3 pts for starting all 16 games in '06)
Mario Williams - 6 pts (3 pts each for starting all 16 games in '06 and '07)
Owen Daniels - 5 pts (3 pts for starting all 16 games in '07 & 2 pts for starting more than half the games (12) in '06)
Eric Winston - 4 pts (3 pts for starting all 16 games in '07 & 1 pt for playing in more than half the teams games (12) in 06. Missed an extra pt by one start (had 7 starts in '06))
Wali Lundy - 2 pts (started 8 games in '06)
David Anderson - 2 pts (played in half his team's games in '06 (9) and '07 (8)).
Charles Spencer - 0 pts (started first two games of his career, but that doesn't give him anything)

[Mike]

Breaks my heart thinking about Charles Spencer. What a draft class even if you exclude him.

[cadams]

Breaks my heart thinking about Charles Spencer. What a draft class even if you exclude him.

we can thank dayne for that. nothing like a 250lb running back that likes to plow straight into the backs of his o-line.

[dadmg]

After posting this link, I was very curious how our other (lesser) drafts would do. My hypothesis was that even several more years to accumulate points they wouldn't outdistance '06 by much and they wouldn't come close on pts per year removed. Here's how it turned out:

2002
Points - 69
Points Per Year Removed - 69/6 = 11.5
Points in First Two Years - 28
Number of Picks - 13 (including 1 supplemental)

Chester Pitts - 18 pts (3 pts each for starting 16 games in every season of his career)
David Carr - 14 pts (3 pts each for starting all 16 games in '02, '04-06; 2 pts for starting more than half of games in '03)
Jabar Gaffney - 8 pts (2 pts each for starting more than half of games '02-'05)
Demarcus Faggins - 8 pts (2 pts each for starting at least half the team's games in '05-'07; 1 pt each for appearing in more than half the team's games in '03 & '04)
Fred Weary - 7 pts (2 pts each for starting more than half the team's games in '02, '06 and '07; 1 pt for playing in more than half the team's games in '03)
Jonathan Wells - 5 pts (2 pts for starting more than half the team's games in '02 and 1 pt each for playing more than half the team's games in '03-'05)
Jarrod Baxter - 3 pts (2 pts for starting more than half the team's games in '02 and 1 pt for playing in more than half the team's games in '03)
Ramon Walker - 3 pts (1 pt each for playing in half the team's game in '02, '03, and & '05)
Milford Brown - 2 pts (2 pts for starting more than half the team's games in '06)
Charles Hill - 1 pt (for playing in more than half the team's games in '02)
0 pts for Howard Green, Greg White and Ahmad Miller because none accumulated pts for the Texans (Green did start 12 games for the '06 saints and White played, but did not start, in every game for the Bucs last year)

Verdict:
Given that this was an expansion team, players were going to rack up points for starts and playing time early. Several of these picks did just that and are now out of the league (Baxter, Walker, Wells, Hill). Carr was also pretty much guaranteed to rack up some points if he could stay healthy due to the commitment to a #1 pick. Still, we actually didn't do that horrible for how awful the '02 draft class was. Pitts has started every game in franchise history and has generally been solid. The much-maligned Faggins was still a hell of a pickup in the 6th round and Weary would eventually outgrow his bust label to become at least a replacement level starter. Yes, Casserly had great volume to work with and should have come up with much better, but this draft wasn't as bad as I remembered it.

2003
Points - 33
Points Per Year Removed - 33/5 = 6.6
Points in First Two Years - 18
Number of Picks - 11 (including 1 supplemental)

Andre Johnson - 15 (4 pts each for Pro Bowls in '04 & '06; 3 pts for starting all 16 games in '03; 2 pts each for starting more than half the team's games in '05 and '07)
Antwan Peek - 6 (3 pts for starting all 16 games in '05; 1 pt each for playing in more than half the team's games in '03, '04 & '06)
Domanick Davis - 6 (2 pts each for starting more than half of games in '03-'05; never completed a 16 game season)
Seth Wand - 5 (3 pts for starting all 16 games in '04, 1 pt each for playing in more than half the team's games in '03 and '05)
Tony Hollings - 1 (played more than half the games in his rookie year of '03)
Bennie Joppru - 0 (I really loved this pick at the time, so its doubly painful that he only played 1 game in a Houston uniform. Finally played 13 games for Seattle last year but all were special teams. 0 NFL catches)
Dave Ragone - 0 (Started in 2 games in rookie year - only 2 nfl games of his career)
Drew Henson - 0 (still can't fault Casserly for one of his few smart decisions)
Keith Wright, Curry Burns and Chance Pearce also were 0's.

Verdict:
Andre Johnson was a smart choice and Domanick Davis was good value while he lasted. Still this draft has the stink of Casserly, with 7 of the 11 players combining for 1 pt (6 of 10 if you discount Henson).

2004
Points - 25
Points Per Year Removed - 25/4 = 6.25
Points in First Two Years - 15
Number of Picks - 9

Dunta Robinson - 11 (3 pts each for starting all 16 games in '04-'06; 2 pts for starting more than half the games in '07)
Jason Babin - 5 (3 pts for starting all 16 games in '04; 1 pt each for playing in more than half the team's games in '05 & '06)
Glenn Earl - 5 (2 pts each for starting more than half the team's games in '04 & '06 and 1 pt for playing in more than half the team's games in '05)
Charlie Anderson - 4 (1 pt each for playing in more than half the team's games '04-'07)
0's for Vontez Duff, Jammal Lord, Raheem Orr, Sloan Thomas, & BJ Symons

Verdict
Yay for Dunta. And Charlie was a nice special teams pickup. The rest is laughable. And yes, I was also the world's biggest fan of the Babin trade *slams head into wall over and over*

2005
Points - 18
Points Per Year Removed - 18/3 = 6
Points in First Two Years - 13
Number of Picks - 6

C.C. Brown - 7 (3 pts for starting all 16 games in '07, 2 pts each for starting more than half the team's games in '05 and '06)
Travis Johnson - 5 (2 pts each for starting half the team's games in '06 & '07, 1 pt for playing in more than half in '05)
Jerome Mathis - 4 (4 pts for his '04 Pro Bowl; hasn't played more than 3 games in a season since)
Vernand Morency - 1 (for playing in more than half the team's games in '05)
Drew Hodgdon - 1 (for playing in more than half the team's games in '06)
Kenneth Pettway - 0

Verdict:
Hey, only one zero - of course there's also half the picks accounting for a combined two points. 6th rounder C.C. Brown's existence on a roster bereft of safety talent propelled him to top honors.

2006
Points - 26
Points Per Year Removed - 26/2 = 13
Points in First Two Years - 26
Number of Picks - 7

Broken down in previous post

2007
Points - 6
Points Per Year Removed - 6
Points in First Two Years - Incomplete
Number of Picks - 7

Amobi Okoye - 2 (starting at least half the team's games)
Fred Bennett - 2 (starting at least half the team's games)
Jacoby Jones - 1 (playing in more than half the team's games)
Zac Diles - 1 (playing in more than half the team's games)
0's for Brandon Harrison, Brandon Frye, Kasey Studdard

Verdict:
Incomplete