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Stafford wins the prize for best quarterback drafted by the Lions since 2000

Stafford wins the prize for best quarterback drafted by the Lions since 2000

There are some teams — the Lions, Jaguars, and Raiders come to mind — that have spent most of the last 15 years looking for their next quarterback of the future. And others that seem to ignore the position in the draft, either because they found a Tom Brady or Tony Romo in a haystack (to go along with some Drew Bledsoe) or organizational indifference to drafting quarterbacks (Chiefs, Saints).

Today, I want to quantify those numbers. At the top of every page at Football Perspective is a link to the Draft Pick Value Calculator, based on the values derived here and shown here. If we assign each draft pick its proper value, and then sum the values used to select quarterbacks by each team over the last 15 years, we can see which teams have devoted the most draft capital on quarterbacks.

Here’s how to read the chart below. Detroit leads the way in draft capital spent. The Lions have only selected five quarterbacks, but spent 78.4 points of Draft Value on passers. That averages out to 15.68 points of draft value spent on each quarterback, the second highest (to Jacksonville) among the 32 teams. The far right column displays each quarterback selected in the draft since 2000.

RkTmQBsDV SpentAvg DVAvg RkQBs
1DET578.415.682Matthew Stafford; Drew Stanton; Dan Orlovsky; Joey Harrington; Mike McMahon
2JAX474.518.631Blake Bortles; Blaine Gabbert; Byron Leftwich; David Garrard
3OAK674.112.354Derek Carr; Tyler Wilson; Terrelle Pryor; JaMarcus Russell; Andrew Walter; Marques Tuiasosopo
4ATL670.711.785Sean Renfree; Matt Ryan; D.J. Shockley; Matt Schaub; Kurt Kittner; Michael Vick
5WAS969.47.7115Robert Griffin; Kirk Cousins; Colt Brennan; Jordan Palmer; Jason Campbell; Gibran Hamdan; Patrick Ramsey; Sage Rosenfels; Todd Husak
6NYJ865.88.2313Tajh Boyd; Geno Smith; Greg McElroy; Mark Sanchez; Erik Ainge; Kellen Clemens; Brooks Bollinger; Chad Pennington
7CLE765.19.39Johnny Manziel; Brandon Weeden; Colt McCoy; Brady Quinn; Charlie Frye; Luke McCown; Spergon Wynn
8SFO959.36.5919B.J. Daniels; Colin Kaepernick; Nate Davis; Alex Smith; Cody Pickett; Ken Dorsey; Brandon Doman; Giovanni Carmazzi; Tim Rattay
9CAR657.59.587Cam Newton; Jimmy Clausen; Tony Pike; Stefan Lefors; Randy Fasani; Chris Weinke
10SDG7578.1414Brad Sorensen; Jonathan Crompton; Charlie Whitehurst; Eli Manning; Seth Burford; Drew Brees; JaJuan Seider
11MIA553.510.76Ryan Tannehill; Pat White; Chad Henne; John Beck; Josh Heupel
12CIN652.88.811A.J. McCarron; Andy Dalton; Jeff Rowe; Reggie McNeal; Casey Bramlet; Carson Palmer
13TEN452.313.083Zach Mettenberger; Jake Locker; Rusty Smith; Vince Young
14HOU7486.8618Tom Savage; T.J. Yates; Alex Brink; B.J. Symons; Dave Ragone; Drew Henson; David Carr
15BAL945.25.0226Keith Wenning; Tyrod Taylor; Joe Flacco; Troy Smith; Derek Anderson; Josh Harris; Kyle Boller; Wes Pate; Chris Redman
16DEN844.45.5522Zac Dysert; Brock Osweiler; Tim Tebow; Tom Brandstater; Jay Cutler; Bradlee Van Pelt; Matt Mauck; Jarious Jackson
17MIN5438.612Teddy Bridgewater; Christian Ponder; John David Booty; Tyler Thigpen; Tarvaris Jackson
18BUF438.29.558EJ Manuel; Levi Brown; Trent Edwards; J.P. Losman
19NYG5387.616Ryan Nassib; Rhett Bomar; Andre Woodson; Philip Rivers; Jesse Palmer
20STL637.56.2520Garrett Gilbert; Sam Bradford; Keith Null; Ryan Fitzpatrick; Jeff Smoker; Steve Bellisari
21IND436.59.1310Andrew Luck; Chandler Harnish; Curtis Painter; Jim Sorgi
22ARI635.35.8821Logan Thomas; Ryan Lindley; John Skelton; Matt Leinart; John Navarre; Josh McCown
23TAM632.85.4723Mike Glennon; Josh Freeman; Josh Johnson; Bruce Gradkowski; Chris Simms; Joe Hamilton
24PIT632.65.4324Landry Jones; Dennis Dixon; Omar Jacobs; Ben Roethlisberger; Brian St. Pierre; Tee Martin
25PHI631.25.225Matt Barkley; Nick Foles; Mike Kafka; Kevin Kolb; Andy Hall; A.J. Feeley
26GNB628.94.8227B.J. Coleman; Brian Brohm; Matt Flynn; Ingle Martin; Aaron Rodgers; Craig Nall
27CHI627.84.6328David Fales; Nathan Enderle; Dan LeFevour; Kyle Orton; Craig Krenzel; Rex Grossman
28NWE827.23.430Jimmy Garoppolo; Ryan Mallett; Zac Robinson; Kevin O'Connell; Matt Cassel; Kliff Kingsbury; Rohan Davey; Tom Brady
29SEA621.53.5829Russell Wilson; Mike Teel; David Greene; Seneca Wallace; Jeff Kelly; Josh Booty
30DAL214.57.2517Stephen McGee; Quincy Carter
31KAN411.92.9831Aaron Murray; Ricky Stanzi; Brodie Croyle; James Kilian
32NOR45.91.4832Sean Canfield; Adrian McPherson; J.T. O'Sullivan; Marc Bulger

Some thoughts:

  • Detroit spent top-three picks on Stafford and Harrington, along with a mid-second round pick on Stanton. The Lions have experienced many years of horrible quarterback play, which makes Stafford’s pretty good/sometimes great/sometimes terrible quarterbacking look downright fantastic.
  • As Mike Tanier noted, the Jaguars go big or go home at quarterback: since 2003, the Jaguars have used just three draft picks on quarterbacks, but each one was a top ten selection.
  • On the other end of the spectrum you have the Saints and the Chiefs. Since 2000, Drew Brees (acquired via free agency) or Aaron Brooks (traded for an ’01 third round pick, which turned out to be Heath Evans) has led the team in passing yards every season. The last time New Orleans used a top-150 pick on a quarterback was Danny Wuerffel (#99) in ’97; the only other top-150 pick used since 1981 on a quarterback was the 116th pick on Doug Nussmeier in 1994. In ’81, New Orleans used a first round pick in the supplemental draft on Dave Wilson, which brings us to the following startling conclusion. In the 48-year history of the organization, New Orleans has used just one top-98 pick in the regular draft on a quarterback: the 2nd overall pick on Archie Manning in 1971.
  • Since 1988, the Saints have just two wins by quarterbacks drafted by the team; on the other hand, the Chiefs are still stuck on zero! Kansas City has spent almost no draft capital in recent years on a quarterback, other than a third round pick on Croyle in ’06. The former Alabama quarterback started 10 games for the Chiefs, but lost them all. Kansas City seems to enjoy cycling through other team’s quarterbacks (Trent Green, Matt Cassel, Alex Smith), so who knows when that streak will end.
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