The NFL Draft is a good way to measure how the league values particular positions. Last year, it was all about the defensive line: edge rushers and interior defenders dominated the draft, with over a quarter of all draft capital spent on these players. Two years ago, it seemed as though the running game was back in vogue: after quarterback, running back was perhaps the most highly valued position in the ’18 Draft, and a lot of draft capital was used on non-pass rushing linebackers.

Which positions did NFL teams focus on in the 2020 NFL Draft? We can use the Football Perspective Draft Value Chart to answer that question pretty easily for the first 224 picks (all picks after that have been excluded, since they have a draft value of zero). Prior to the 2020 Draft, we were told that this would be one of the most WR-heavy drafts in NFL history. That turned out to be accurate: a whopping 210.3 points of draft capital were used on wide receivers, the 8th-most of any draft since 1967 (the record is 224.9, set in 2000). There were a record eleven wide receivers were drafted in the first 50 picks, breaking the old mark in the modern era of ten, set in 1994.

For defensive coordinators, they will get an influx of talent in the secondary. The graph below shows the amount of draft value used on each position in the 2020 NFL Draft. I split front seven players into interior defensive lineman (labeled as DI), edge rushers, and linebackers; there is going to be some overlap for certain players (as well as between CB/S, and guards and centers or tackles, and occasionally amongWR/RB/QB) but I did the best I could to pick one label for each player.

While that chart is a helpful starting point, I think it makes more sense to analyze things based on how many players at each position are on the field on a given snap. This involves some estimating, of course, but here are the rough numbers I used: 1.0 QBs, 1.2 RBs, 2.5 WRs, 1.3 TEs, 2.0 OTs, 2.0 Gs, and 1.0 C on offense. For defense, I used 2.0 Edge players, 2.4 DI (Defensive Interior), 1.8 LBs, 2.5 CBs, 2.3 Ss, and 0.3 P/Ks (we need to come up with some value here). You can quibble with the ratios, but here are the per snap results using those numbers. Here is where we can see some real trends emerge:

Quarterback: You won’t be surprised that teams value quarterback more than any other position, at least on a per snap basis. It helps when Joe Burrow goes first overall, two more top-6 picks (Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert) are used on passers, and a fourth QB (Jordan Love) goes in the first round.

Running back: While there were no top-30 picks used on running backs, a whopping 14 teams selected a running back between picks 31 and 150. While many analytics models downplay the role of individual rushers, it’s important to remember that there’s usually just one running back on the field on a given play, compared to say, three interior offensive linemen. Even this model, which assumes 1.2 RBs on the field per play, highlights the fact that NFL GMs still place a premium on the position, at least in the draft. As a result, after QB, the RB position was the second most highly valued in the 2020 Draft, on a per snap basis. Consider that 113.4 points of draft value were used on RBs compared to 210.3 points on wide receivers. This despite there being, on average, more than twice as many WRs on the field than RBs on a given play.

Wide Receiver: As discussed above, this was a very WR-heavy draft. That said, the top talent may have been hurt by the depth of the class. None were drafted in the top ten, and while Henry Ruggs III was a bit of a surprise to the Raiders at 12, Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb — arguably top-10 talents — fell to 15 and 17, respectfully. The Jets took Denzel Mims off the board at 59; he was the 4th-ranked WR on some boards, showing the depth of this class. Mims was the 13th wide receiver off the board, the earliest that rank of player has been drafted in modern history (you might be surprised to learn that the second-earlier came in 1968, when the 13th WR was the 63rd pick). To give some perspective, on average, only 24 of 54 drafts since 1967 have seen 13 wide receivers go in the top 100, much less the top 60.

Tight End: This was an awful draft for tight ends. None went in the top 40, and Notre Dame’s Cole Kmet (Bears) was the only player selected in the first 90 picks. Arguably, things look even worse if you consider that Cincinnati’s Josiah Deguara is apparently going to be used by the Packers in a fullback hybrid role. Perhaps Adam Trautman was one of the true most valuable TEs in the Draft: the Saints traded picks 130, 169, 203 and 244 to the Vikings to move up to #105 to draft him. That valued him more like the 85th pick in the Draft.

Offensive Tackle: A great draft for tackles, as Andrew Thomas, Jedrick Wills Jr., Mekhi Becton, Tristan Wirfs, and Austin Jackson went in the top 20. Four of those five players are going to be protecting top-10 quarterbacks selected in the last three years: Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Tagovailoa; the fifth will be protecting Tom Brady. The Titans also used a late first round pick on Isaiah Wilson. A total of 21 offensive tackles were selected in the first six rounds, making this a premium position in the 2020 Draft: in fact, more draft capital was spent on tackle than on any defensive position, at least on a per snap basis.

Guard: On the other hand, this was an awful draft for guards. Teams waited on this position, with 7 going in the fourth round. Before that, just three were taken: Robert Hunt to Miami at 39, Damien Lewis to Seattle at 69, and Jonah Jackson to the Lions at 75. There was more than twice as much draft capital spent on tackles as there were on guards, which presumably reflects that this was a weak year at the position. Most years, more capital is used on tackles than guards, but the ratio this year was crazy: 159.5 points of draft value to just 66.9.

Center: A similar story can be told at center, as only 36.0 points of draft value was used. This means teams spent 50% more draft capital on tackles than on interior offensive linemen, despite there were being 50% more interior offensive linemen than tackles on every play! The Saints used a first round pick on center Cesar Ruiz, no players at the position were drafted in the second, and then only two more were drafted in the top 140. Consider that the 14th running back went off the board before the 4th center.

Edge Rusher: Chase Young was such an elite prospect that his presence overshadowed the fact that this was a weak class on the defensive line. Only one other edge rusher went in the first round — LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson — and just two more (Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos and Tennessee’s Darrell Taylor) went in the top 50! Long considered the most valuable position on defense, edge rusher had a weak year outside of Young. But it was still considerably stronger than…

Defensive Interior: The interior defender position typically has a lot of early draft picks. And while Derrick Brown and Javon Kinlaw went in the top 10, there wasn’t a third interior defender selected until Ross Blacklock at 40! If you combine defensive ends, edge rushers, and defensive tackles into one group of defensive linemen, consider that the 5th went off the board at 38! That’s the latest that’s happened since 1983. The 10th defensive linemen (DE/EDGE/DI) went off the board at 56, about 10 picks later than on average. Or you can just use this comparison: last year, the 10th defensive linemen went off the board at 19!

Linebacker: Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons was the star of this draft, going at #8 to Arizona. But non-pass rushing linebackers had their usual run in the 3rd and 4th rounds, where nine such players were selected. More draft capital was used on non-edge rushing linebackers than on interior defensive linemen, which feels pretty unusual, and probably speaks more about the weakness of the latter set of players compared to a normal year. Still, given how underutilized this position has become, there was a lot of draft capital used here in 2020.

Cornerback: It helps the draft capital totals when Jeff Okudah goes 3rd overall, but C.J. Henderson, AJ Terrell, and Damon Arnette were also selected in the top 20; two more corners (Noah Igbinoghene and Jeff Gladney) were chosen before the end of the first round. The Vikings selected three cornerbacks themselves, and more draft capital was used on cornerback than any other defensive position. Of course, there are more cornerbacks on the field on a given play than any other position; on a per snap basis, though, the position rated about evenly with edge rushers and linebackers.

Safety: While the position was locked out of the first round — and therefore had the lowest draft capital used of any position on defense — four safeties went in a 10-pick span early in the second round: Xavier McKinney to the Giants, Kyle Dugger to the Patriots, Grant Delpit to the Browns, and Antoine Winfield Jr. to the Bucs. Another six players went before the end of the third round, giving this position a strong amount of draft capital given the goose egg in round one.

Specials (Punter, Kicker, Longsnapper): As always, not much draft capital was used on special teams. There were 6 such players drafted: the Patriots broke the seal with placekicker Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round, and the rest of the AFC East soon followed: Miami took longsnapper Blake Ferguson in the 6th, Buffalo drafted kicker Tyler Bass three picks later, and the Jets took the first punter off the board (Braden Mann) three picks after that. The Falcons and Rams took a kicker (Sterling Hofrichter) and punter (Sam Sloman) in the 7th round as well.

Overall, offense was responsible for 52.4% of all draft capital, followed by 47.1% for defense and 0.4% for special teams. Finally, here is the raw data for you to use in any way you like!