Last year, I looked at each team’s “average” draft value, with average being defined as the AV-weighted average of the team’s roster. And yesterday, I did the same thing for every Super Bowl champion. Today, we look at the draft value for each team in 2016.
One thing that’s interesting, if not surprising: there’s not a ton of turnover from year to year in this stat. The top five teams in this metric last year were also the top five teams this year, although the order switched around notably. The Falcons were fifth last season, but were first this year, and would have been in the top 10 among all Super Bowl champions had they won. That’s what happens when Matt Ryan (3rd overall), Julio Jones (6th), Alex Mack (21st), Jake Mathews (6th), and Vic Beasley (8th) were the team leaders in AV.
The table below shows all teams in 2016:
| Rk | Team | Year | Draft Val | Pick Eq |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta Falcons | 2016 | 11.1 | 40 |
| 2 | Kansas City Chiefs | 2016 | 10.5 | 44 |
| 3 | Arizona Cardinals | 2016 | 10.2 | 46 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Rams | 2016 | 9.8 | 49 |
| 5 | Carolina Panthers | 2016 | 9.8 | 49 |
| 6 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2016 | 9.3 | 53 |
| 7 | Oakland Raiders | 2016 | 9.2 | 54 |
| 8 | Philadelphia Eagles | 2016 | 9.2 | 54 |
| 9 | Houston Texans | 2016 | 9.2 | 54 |
| 10 | Detroit Lions | 2016 | 9.1 | 55 |
| 11 | Miami Dolphins | 2016 | 8.8 | 58 |
| 12 | Tennessee Titans | 2016 | 8.8 | 58 |
| 13 | New York Giants | 2016 | 8.7 | 58 |
| 14 | Minnesota Vikings | 2016 | 8.7 | 58 |
| 15 | Dallas Cowboys | 2016 | 8.5 | 60 |
| 16 | Cincinnati Bengals | 2016 | 8.4 | 61 |
| 17 | Denver Broncos | 2016 | 8.3 | 62 |
| 18 | New York Jets | 2016 | 8.3 | 62 |
| 19 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 2016 | 8.2 | 63 |
| 20 | San Diego Chargers | 2016 | 8.2 | 63 |
| 21 | Cleveland Browns | 2016 | 7.8 | 66 |
| 22 | Washington Redskins | 2016 | 7.8 | 67 |
| 23 | Green Bay Packers | 2016 | 7.7 | 68 |
| 24 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2016 | 7.6 | 69 |
| 25 | Indianapolis Colts | 2016 | 7.5 | 71 |
| 26 | New Orleans Saints | 2016 | 7.2 | 74 |
| 27 | Buffalo Bills | 2016 | 7.0 | 76 |
| 28 | Baltimore Ravens | 2016 | 7.0 | 76 |
| 29 | New England Patriots | 2016 | 6.7 | 80 |
| 30 | San Francisco 49ers | 2016 | 6.5 | 83 |
| 31 | Chicago Bears | 2016 | 4.4 | 114 |
| 32 | Seattle Seahawks | 2016 | 4.3 | 116 |
The Seahawks and Bears stand out as being far removed from the rest of the league, although both teams were in the bottom six last year, too (and Seattle was 32nd). In fact, five of the bottom 6 teams in this metric last year ranked in the bottom six this year. The Colts barely jumped out of the bottom six, from 28th to 25th in 2016, while the big mover was the Bills, who dropped from 12th in 2015 to 27th last season. Some of the reasons: no Mario Williams or Manny Lawson in 2016, significantly less-valuable seasons last season from Sammy Watkins, Eric Wood, and Marcell Dareus, while undrafted Lorenzo Alexander was in Oakland in 2015 and tied for third in AV for the Bills in 2016.
What do you think?