I saw this tweet come by from Dan Rubenstein. It’s a small sample size but an interesting look at what the best teams have done in the draft in the past few years:
Five best NFL teams since '14 (NE, DEN, GB, KC, PIT) used 86% of 1R picks on defense since 2012.
— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) February 14, 2017
Five worst (SF, CLE, CHI, TEN,
JAX): 41%
The reason most of those good teams went defense is probably because they already had their quarterback, save the Chiefs in 2012. The quarterback makes up for a whole lot. Maybe you can justify another tackle in the first round (pre-Mitch Schwartz) but outside of that they hit on most of their big offensive positions outside of the first round (Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Chris Conley), in free agency (Jeremy Maclin) or they were already on the roster (Jamaal Charles).
I’m not sure what that stat means but it’s interesting. Is this the first time in four years the Chiefs go offense in the first round?
2012: Defense (Dontari Poe)
2013: Offense (Eric Fisher)
2014: Defense (Dee Ford)
2015: Defense (Marcus Peters)
2016: No first round pick