Visualizing Where the NFL's Top Skill-Position Players Were Drafted
By Josh Baumgard
The 2015 NFL Draft's first round is hours away and many expect the Miami Dolphins to select a running back or receiver to round out the offense heading into Year 4 of the Ryan Tannehill Era. It also would make sense from a business perspective with a renovated stadium in tow on the heels of one of the splashiest offseason in Dolphins history with the signing of premiere free agent Ndamukong Suh.
It's easier to sell a running back like Todd Gurley or receiver like DeVante Parker than a lineman like Brandon Scherff, even if the big fellas up front are integral to a team's success. Miami also seems pretty solid on both the offensive and defensive lines, with three first rounders protecting Tannehill and then arguably the best defensive line in football led by Suh and Cameron Wake.
Let's take a look at the history of today's elite skill-position players and where they were selected, looking at the top 10 quarterbacks (for fun), running backs, and receivers of 2015, per Pro Football Focus.
Quarterbacks
Receivers
Running Backs
- 70% of Top 10 QBs were drafted in Round 1
- 80% were in the first 32 picks, with Tom Brady and Tony Romo being the exceptions.
- 50% of Top 10 WRs were drafted in Round 1
- 90% were selected in the first 92 picks.
- 30% of Top 10 RBs were drafted in Round 1
- 2008: The last year a Top 10 RB of 2015 was drafted in the first round
Clearly history indicates if you want one of the league's best quarterbacks you need to draft him in the first round. The same cannot be said for running backs, with three of the best backs in football last year going undrafted. Receiver is somewhere in the middle.
This wasn't some groundbreaking study, there's plenty of other more intricate ways of looking at it but it was designed to a take a general snapshot of where the most successful QBs, RBs, and WRs came from.
Who do you want the Dolphins to tab in Round 1?
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Don't miss CBS Miami's NFL Draft special Fins On The Clock this Saturday at 7 p.m. on CBS4.
