Yesterday, I looked at the number of players drafted at each position in the 2016 Draft, the draft capital spent at each position, and also the draft capital spent at each position on a per-snap basis.
Those numbers are fun, but are more meaningful with some context. So let’s look at the chart I find most useful — the per-snap data — and compare it to the drafts from 2013 to 2015. In the chart below, you can see that in the 2016 Draft (in green), there was 118 points of draft value spent on QBs (of course, only 1 QB per snap), compared to an average of 78 from 2013-2015 (in orange). This means the 2016 Draft was heavy on quarterbacks, which makes sense: after all, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz were the first two picks, and Paxton Lynch also went in the first round. In the three prior years, there was an average of just one QB in the top 3 (Blake Bortles, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota) and one later in the first round (EJ Manuel, Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater).
In fact, 40.6 more points of draft value were spent on QBs this year than in the prior three years; that’s the biggest increase of any position (again, all numbers are on a per-snap basis). That was closely followed by the defensive tackle position. Again, this draft was super heavy on defensive linemen: 43.6% more draft capital was spent on DTs than in prior years, and 12.4% more on defensive ends.
For ease of reference, I have also included that data in table form:
| Pos | 2016 | 2013-2015 | Diff | Perc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | 118.1 | 77.5 | 40.6 | 152.4% |
| RB | 79.6 | 92.2 | -12.7 | 86.3% |
| FB | 18.0 | 22.8 | -4.8 | 78.8% |
| WR | 58.5 | 78.9 | -20.4 | 74.1% |
| TE | 28.3 | 50.4 | -22.1 | 56.2% |
| OT | 63.2 | 89.0 | -25.8 | 71% |
| OG | 42.6 | 37.8 | 4.8 | 112.6% |
| C | 32.2 | 25.7 | 6.5 | 125.3% |
| DE | 94.1 | 83.7 | 10.4 | 112.4% |
| DT | 115.1 | 80.1 | 35.0 | 143.6% |
| OLB | 64.8 | 60.7 | 4.2 | 106.9% |
| ILB | 29.9 | 49.3 | -19.4 | 60.7% |
| CB | 82.7 | 70.0 | 12.7 | 118.1% |
| S | 42.6 | 44.4 | -1.8 | 96% |
| ST | 36.0 | 15.0 | 21.0 | 240% |
As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments. The positions that had the worst time this year? Offensive tackle, tight end, wide receiver, and inside linebacker. This was considered a down year for WRs, and that was borne out in the draft. As for OT, TE, and ILB, do you think that’s a function of teams devaluing those positions? It’s certainly easy to make the claim that ILB is being devalued as the league gets more pass-happy every year. It may have just been a down year for TEs and OTs, too, or maybe it’s a signal of something deeper about how teams value those positions.