Team-by-Team High Round (1/2) Selections on the Fronts - Note: We're Not Good.

[KDawg]

 

It's not that you have to draft your entire line with early draft selections. It's simply that you have to retool your line from time to time with early round selections to bolster depth and starting rotation. You can draft a second rounder, have him sit behind a vet for a year or two and pop him in the lineup when the vet's contract expires. Smooth transitions. We have failed to address the lines in large part since 2000, with Williams being the lone exception. 

 

 

And it’s NOT just the offensive line. But it’s the offensive/defensive front in its entirety that is an issue for us. Specifically interior DL, ILB and OL positions.

 

 

That's blatant.

 

 

Here is a breakdown of teams and their early round (1/2) OL draft history over the last eleven years (For clarification, I went 11 years because the 2014 season hasn’t played out yet. I looked at the drafts from 2004-2014)… Although my point is to emphasis the lack of focus on the OL, I also point out the defensive front selections from other teams in italics below.

 

 

Arizona Cardinals

 

Jonathan Cooper, Round 1, Pick 7 (2013)

 

Levi Brown, Round 1, Pick 5 (2007)

 

Deuce Lutui, Round 2, Pick 41 (2006)

 

 

Not a heavy investment by any means, but they also invested on their defensive front: Dansby, Branch, Campbell, Washington, Williams and Minter.

 

 

Atlanta Falcons

 

Jake Matthews, Round 1, Pick 6 (2014)

 

Peter Konz, Round 2, Pick 55 (2012)

 

Sam Baker, Round 1, Pick 21 (2008)

 

Justin Blalock, Round 2, Pick 39 (2007)

 

 

Good investment. Plus they managed to draft their defensive front: Babineaux, Anderson, Lofton, Jerry, Weatherspoon, Hageman. That's a worthwhile investment. Plus their franchise QB.

 

 

Baltimore Ravens

 

Kelechi Osemele, Round 2, Pick 60 (2012)

 

Michael Oher, Round 1, Pick 23 (2009)

 

Ben Grubbs, Round 1, Pick 29 (2007)

 

Chris Chester, Round 2, Pick 56 (2006)

 

Adam Terry, Round 2, Pick 79 (2005)

 

 

In addition: They drafted their franchise QB + Edwards, Dan Cody, Ngata, Kruger, Terrance Cody, Kindle, Upshaw, Brown, Mosley, Jernigan AND hit on Marshall Yanda in the 3rd round. What an investment to the fronts! Good lord.

 

 

Buffalo Bills

 

Cyrus Kouandjio, Round 2, Pick 44 (2014)

 

Cordy Glenn, Round 2, Pick 41 (2012)

 

Eric Wood, Round 1, Pick 28 (2009)

 

Andy Levitre, Round 2, Pick 51 (2009)

 

 

They drafted Kiko Alonso, Dareus, Troup, Maybin, Posluzney, McCargo. Not a great investment towards their fronts and it shows in their record. Although since 2009, they’ve invested more heavily in both fronts, and they look to be a much improved football team but the jury is out. They certainly look much better than they have in the past.

 

Carolina Panthers

 

Amini Silatolu, Round 2, Pick 40 (2014)

 

Jeff Otah, Round 1, Pick 19 (2008)

 

Ryan Kalil, Round 2, Pick 59 (2007)

 

 

Also drafted: Thomas Davis, Jon Beason, Everette Brown, Luke Kuechly, Star Lotuleli, Kawann Short. Not a stellar grouping of frontage talent. They have had up and down years.

 

 

Chicago Bears

 

Kyle Long, Round 1, Pick 20 (2013)

 

Gabe Carimi, Round 1, Pick 29 (2011)

 

Chris Williams, Round 1, Pick 14 (2008)

 

 

Also drafted: Ego Ferguson, Jonathan Bostic, Shea McClellin, Stephen Paea, Bazuin, Tommy Harris, Tank Johnson. Those are just across the front. That’s a good grouping of talent they’ve picked up in the last decade.

 

 

Cincinnati Bengals

 

Kevin Zeitler, Round 1, Pick 27 (2012)

 

Andre Smith, Round 1, Pick 6 (2009)

 

Andrew Whitworth, Round 2, Pick 55 (2006)

 

 

Also added: Odell Thurman, David Pollack, Rey Maualuga, Carlos Dunlap, Devin Still, Margus Hunt, . Not a great investment, but not a bad investment. It reflects a middling record.

 

 

Cleveland Browns

 

Joel Bitonio, Round 2, Pick 35 (2014)

 

Mitchell Schwartz, Round 2, Pick 37 (2012)

 

Alex Mack, Round 1, Pick 21 (2009)

 

Joe Thomas, Round 1, Pick 3 (2007)

 

 

Defensive front additions: Wimbley, Veikune, Taylor, Sheard, Mingo. Not a great investment in defense up until recent years.. Sheard, Taylor were 2011, Mingo last year. Their OL hasn’t been much of an issue for them. Very telling was 2008 when their first draft choice was in the 4^th round.

 

 

Dallas Cowboys

 

Zack Martin, Round 1, Pick 16 (2014)

 

Travis Frederick, Round 1, Pick 31 (2013)

 

Tyron Smith, Round 1, Pick 9 (2011)

 

Jacob Rogers, Round 2, Pick 52 (2004)

 

 

Also added: DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Bobby Carpenter, Anthony Spencer, Bruce Carter, Sean Lee, DeMarcus Lawrence. That’s a good contribution to their fronts (aside from interior tackle) in the early rounds. They really started investing offensively in 2011, and it’s paying off huge right now.

 

 

Denver Broncos

 

Orlando Franklin, Round 2, Pick 46 (2011)

 

Zane Beadles, Round 2, Pick 45 (2010)

 

Ryan Clady, Round 1, Pick 12 (2008)

 

 

Also added: Jarvis Moss, Tim Crowder, Robert Ayers, Von Miller, Derek Wolfe, Sylvester Williams. That’s a decent contribution. They managed to hit on a few of their later picks as well which makes life a lot easier.

 

 

Detroit Lions

 

Riley Reiff, Round 1, Pick 23 (2012)

 

Gosder Cherilus, Round 1, Pick 17 (2008)

 

 

Also added: Shaun Cody, Ernie Sims, Alama-Francis, Dizon, Suh, Fairley, Ansah, Van Noy. They started adding defense in 2010. Otherwise, the Lions have had a very poor defensive and offensive front drafting strategy. Their record reflects that. It also reflects their shift to drafting fronts fron 08-present in their improved team. They did add their franchise quarterback, too.

 

 

Green Bay Packers

 

Derek Sherrod, Round 1, Pick 32 (2011)

 

Bryan Bulaga, Round 1, Pick 23 (2010)

 

Daryn Colledge, Round 2, Pick 47 (2006)

 

 

Also added: AJ Hawk, Harrell, Raji, Matthews, Mike Neal, Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy, Datone Jones, . They had a good contribution draft pick wise to both fronts, and they hit on some big ones. Always eases the burden. Plus, Aaron Rodgers.

 

 

Houston Texans

 

Xavier Su’a-Filo, Round 2, Pick 33 (2014)

 

Duane Brown, Round 1, Pick 26 (2008)

 

 

Also added: Jason Babin, Travis Johnson, Mario Williams, Demeco Ryans, Amobi Okoye, Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin, JJ Watt, Brooks Reed, Whitney Mercilus, Jadeveon Clowney. They’ve chosen to pay more attention to their defensive frontage, but still managed to add a couple guys to the OL.

 

 

Indianapolis Colts

 

Jack Mewhort, Round 2, Pick 59 (2014)

 

Anthony Castonzo, Round 1, Pick 22 (2011)

 

Ben Ijalana, Round 2, Pick 49 (2011)

 

Mike Pollak, Round 2, Pick 59 (2008)

 

Tony Ugoh, Round 2, Pick 42 (2007)

 

 

Also added: Fili Moala, Pat Angerer, Jerry Hughes, Bjoern Warner, and a franchise QB. They’ve missed on a lot of these selections, but the fact that they had one hall of fame, maybe the GOAT transition to another elite franchise level QB helped them significantly. And they didn’t waste picks in the transition either. There’s a little luck (pun intended) involved there.

 

 

Jacksonville Jaguars

 

Luke Joeckel, Round 1, Pick 2 (2013)

 

Eugene Monroe, Round 1, Pick 8 (2009)

 

Eben Britton, Round 2, Pick 39 (2009)

 

Khalif Barnes, Round 2, Pick 59 (2005)

 

 

Also added: Daryl Smith, Justin Durant, Derrick Harvey, Quentin Groves, Tyson Alualu, Andre Branch. Not a significant contribution as far as defensive fronts go. They had a decent OL contribution. Mediocre record wise.

 

 

Kansas City Chiefs

 

Eric Fisher, Round 1, Pick 1 (2013)

 

Jeff Allen, Round 2, Pick 44 (2012)

 

Rodney Hudson, Round 2, Pick 55 (2011)

 

Branden Albert, Round 1, Pick 15 (2008)

 

 

Also added: Junior Siavii, Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali, Turk McBride, Glenn Dorsey, Tyson Jackson, Dontari Poe. I’m not entirely sure what happened with KC over the years… They missed on a couple of their early OL picks, and seem to be coming around now. I wouldn’t say they had a huge contribution, but there are picks to both fronts.

 

 

 

Miami Dolphins

 

Ja’Wuan James, Round 1, Pick 19 (2014)

 

Jonathan Martin, Round 2, Pick 42 (2012)

 

Mike Pouncey, Round 1, Pick 15 (2011)

 

Jake Long, Round 1, Pick 1 (2008)

 

Samson Satele, Round 2, Pick 60 (2007)

 

Vernon Carey, Round 1, Pick 19 (2004)

 

 

Also drafted: Matt Roth, Phillip Merling, Jared Odrick, Koa Misi, Dion Jordan. They’ve swung and missed wildly on defense, but they failed to address the defensive front pretty much entirely within this decade. They more than adequately addressed the offensive line. But, even though this OP is focused mainly on OL, I do state that I think the O and D fronts both need to be addressed. Miami didn’t address both very adequately. Though not listed, Cameron Wake was a big addition to that team.

 

 

Minnesota Vikings

 

Matt Kalil, Round 1, Pick 4 (2012)

 

Phil Loadholt, Round 2, Pick 54 (2009)

 

 

Also added: Dontarrious Thomas, Kenechi Udeze, Erasmus James, Chad Greenway, Sharrif Floyd, Anthony Barr. They didn’t add much to their defensive front over the years, and didn’t do a great job addressing ILB. Also didn’t commit a ton of resources to the OL. Still a middling team.

 

 

New England Patriots

 

Nate Solder, Pick 1, Pick 17 (2011

 

Sebastian Vollmer, Round 2, Pick 58 (2009)

 

Logan Mankins, Round 1, Pick 32 (2005)

 

 

Also added: Dominique Easley, Jamie Collins, Chandler Jones, Don’t’a Hightower, Jermaine Cunningham, Brandon Spikes, Ron Brace, Jerod Mayo, Vince Wilfork, Marquise Hill. Wow. Added a ton of guys to the fronts in the last decade’s worth of draft choices.

 

 

New Orleans Saints

 

Charles Brown, Round 2, Pick 64 (2010)

 

Jamaal Brown, Pick 1, Pick 13 (2005)

 

 

Also added: Will Smith, Courtney Watson, Sedric Ellis, Cameron Jordan, Akiem Nicks. They hit on Jahri Evans in the fourth round. Damn. What a good pick up and something for the scouts to be proud of. Otherwise, though, they haven’t really done a whole lot to address either front.

 

 

New York Giants

 

Weston Richburg, Round 2, Pick 43 (2014)

 

Justin Pugh, Round 1, Pick 19 (2013)

 

Will Beatty, Round 2, Pick 60 (2010)

 

Chris Snee, Round 2, Pick 34 (2004)

 

 

Also added: Philip Rivers (which got them Eli Manning), Mathias Kiwanuka, Clint Sintim, Jason Pierre-Paul, Linval Joseph, Marvin Austin, Johnathan Hankins. They didn’t really address linebacker, which has been a weakness of theirs. But overall, they spent pretty good resources on the O/D fronts.

 

 

New York Jets

 

Vlad Ducasse, Round 2, Pick 61 (2010)

 

D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Round 1, Pick 4 (2006)

 

Nick Mangold, Round 1, Pick 29 (2006)

 

 

Also added: Jonathan Vilma, David Harris, Vernon Gholston, Muhammad Wilkerson, Quiton Coples, Sheldon Richardson. Decent contribution to both fronts.

 

 

Oakland Raiders

 

Menelik Watson, Round 2, Pick 42 (2013)

 

Stefen Wisniewski, Round 2, Pick 48 (2011)

 

Robert Gallery, Round 1, Pick 2 (2004)

 

Jake Grove, Round 2, Pick 45 (2004)

 

 

Also added: Thomas Howard, Lamarr Houston, Rolando McClain, Khalil Mack. They haven’t added much to their defensive front at all through the draft.

 

 

Philadelphia Eagles

 

Lane Johnson, Round 1, Pick 4 (2013)

 

Danny Watkins, Round 1, Pick 23 (2011)

 

Winston Justice, Round 2, Pick 39 (2006)

 

Shawn Andrews, Round 1, Pick 16 (2004)

 

 

Also added: Mike Patterson, Matt McCoy, Brodrick Bunkley, Victor Abiamiri, Trevor Laws, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry. They have a weakness at LB and they haven’t drafted many LBs in the first two rounds.

 

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

 

David DeCastro, Round 1, Pick 24 (2012)

 

Mike Adams, Round 2, Pick 56 (2012)

 

Marcus Gilbert, Round 2, Pick 63 (2011)

 

Maurkice Pouncey, Round 1, Pick 18 (2010)

 

 

Also added: Ben Roethlisberger, Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley, Evander Hood, Jason Worilds, Cameron Heyward, Jarvis Jones, Ryan Shazier, Stephon Tuitt. Good balance here for Pittsburgh.

 

 

San Diego Chargers

 

DJ Fluker, Round 1, Pick 11 (2013)

 

Marcus McNeill, Round 2, Pick 50 (2006)

 

 

Also added: Eli Manning (Philip Rivers), Igor Olshansky, Shawne Merriman, Luis Castillo, Larry English, Jonas Mouton, Corey Liuget, Melvin Ingram, Kendall Reyes, Manti Te’o, Jeremiah Attaochu. I think they went a little light on OL, but they’ve gone heavy on DL/LB.

 

 

San Francisco 49ers

 

Anthony Davis, Round 1, Pick 11 (2010)

 

Mike Iupati, Round 1, Pick 17 (2010)

 

Chilo Rachal, Round 2, Pick 39 (2008)

 

Joe Staley, Round 1, Pick 28 (2007)

 

David Baas, Round 2, Pick 33 (2005)

 

Justin Smiley, Round 2, Pick 46 (2004)

 

 

Also added: Manny Lawson, Patrick Willis, Kentwan Balmer, Aldon Smith, Tank Carradine. They’ve gone light on defensive front compared to offensive front. But all in all not a bad group.

 

 

Seattle Seahawks

 

Justin Britt, Round 2, Pick 64 (2014)

 

James Carpenter, Round 1, Pick 25 (2011)

 

Russell Okung, Round 1, Pick 6 (2010)

 

Max Unger, Round 2, Pick 49 (2009)

 

Chris Spencer, Round 1, Pick 26 (2005)

 

 

Also added: Marcus Tubbs, Lofa Tatupu, Darryl Tapp, Lawrence Jackson, Aaron Curry, Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner. Not a whole lot for the DL, but they’ve spent a ton of resources on the front in the early rounds for sure.

 

 

St. Louis Rams

 

Greg Robinson, Round 1, Pick 2 (2014)

 

Rodger Saffold, Round 2, Pick 33 (2010)

 

Jason Smith, Round 1, Pick 2 (2009)

 

Alex Barron, Round 1, Pick 19 (2005)

 

 

Also added: Adam Carriker, Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers, Alec Oggletree, Aaron Donald. Nice group of picks on their fronts. But man, did they swing and whiff on a lot of those OL.

 

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

 

Aaron Sears, Round 2, Pick 35 (2007)

 

Davin Joseph, Round 1, Pick 23 (2006)

 

Jeremy Trueblood, Round 2, Pick 59 (2006)

 

 

Also added: Barrett Ruud, Gaines Adams, Sabby Piscitelli, Gerald McCoy, Brian Price, Adrian Clayborn, Da’Quan Bowers. They sure did miss on a lot of picks, but they definitely put the resources in.

 

 

Tennessee Titans

 

Taylor Lewan, Round 1, Pick 11 (2014)

 

Chance Warmack, Round 1, Pick 10 (2013)

 

Michael Roos, Round 2, Pick 41 (2005)

 

 

Also added: Antwan Odom, Travis LaBoy, Jason Jones, Sen’Derrick Marks, Derrick Morgan, Akeem Ayers, Zach Brown

 

 

Washington Redskins

 

Trent Williams, Round 1, Pick 4 (2010)

 

 

Also added: Rocky McIntosh, Brian Orakpo, Ryan Kerrigan, Jarvis Jenkins, Trent Murphy.  The least resources drafted in the fronts. Also, no interior LBs in the early rounds and only ONE interior DL. 

 

 

 

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO NOTE: IN THIS 11 YEAR SPAN, WE ARE THE ONLY TEAM TO ONLY SPEND ONE 1/2 DRAFT CHOICE ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE. AND OUR DEFENSIVE FRONT WASN'T ADDRESSED ALL THAT WELL, EITHER.

[PortisBetts]

Wow. Awesome research, and thoroughly disappointing, while at the same time, completely unsurprising. 

[KDawg]

Wow. Awesome research, and thoroughly disappointing, while at the same time, completely unsurprising. 

 

Took awhile to put this together. A few weeks... Not a ton of time to do it. But I felt pretty frustrated when I was done. Especially because I purposely saved the 'Skins for last.

[MattFancy]

The sad thing is that I'm not the least bit surprised by this. You have to wonder why we aren't drafting linemen. Over this stretch, we've had what Spurrier, Gibbs, Zorn, Shanny and Gruden as HCs and Vinny and Allen as GMs. So coaching strategies have changed a bunch since then, but the draft seems to be the same. You just have to hope with more than likely a top 10 or so pick this year, we address both lines early and often.

[KDawg]

The sad thing is that I'm not the least bit surprised by this. You have to wonder why we aren't drafting linemen. Over this stretch, we've had what Spurrier, Gibbs, Zorn, Shanny and Gruden as HCs and Vinny and Allen as GMs. So coaching strategies have changed a bunch since then, but the draft seems to be the same. You just have to hope with more than likely a top 10 or so pick this year, we address both lines early and often.

 

It's not necessarily something you can fix in a year.

 

It takes years to fix this problem.

[Riggo-toni]

The Bengals landed the star of their DL in the 4th - Geno Atkins.

I didn't realize Suh was not a high pick.

[LadySkinsFan]

I hope the FO sees this.  They obviously need to get a clue.  Thanks for the hard work compiling this information.  No wonder we lose.

[KDawg]

The Bengals landed the star of their DL in the 4th - Geno Atkins.

I didn't realize Suh was not a high pick.

 

Suh's on the list.

 

And the point isn't that you can't hit on players (See Saints: Jahri Evans - 4th round). The point is, even these teams who hit on late rounders are spending early rounders on the fronts.

[MattFancy]

It's not necessarily something you can fix in a year.

 

It takes years to fix this problem.

 

Oh agreed. I'm just hoping in the 2015 draft, we start to break the trend.

[KDawg]

Oh agreed. I'm just hoping in the 2015 draft, we start to break the trend.

 

The Catch-22 is that you don't want to just draft guys to draft them. When you reach, you miss a good percentage of the time. We've missed a lot of opportunities to address the fronts in previous drafts in the early rounds and it's hurting us now. 

[ComManDersFan57]

Thank you for taking the time to do this research. I'm not surprised.

 

I was lucky enough to be invited to Redskins Park last spring and Bruce spoke to us. He asked what we thought our biggest need was and I think it was Pez who said the O Line.  Bruce said something about addressing the line as one of the priorities, but look what we've ended up with. These stats are disgusting.

[nfl guru]

Jarvis Jenkins has no impact.  Amerson gets beat every other drive.  Murphy looks like he cant rush from the outside.  How I wish we could've spent those 2nd rounders on olinemen.

 

The murphy pick still puzzles me, why draft a position with entrenched starters when there is oline talent that fits a need for us smh

[Destino]

Don't worry we'll draft more DBs early next draft, and everyone will agree with it because it's need.

The cycle will continue.

[MattFancy]

The Catch-22 is that you don't want to just draft guys to draft them. When you reach, you miss a good percentage of the time. We've missed a lot of opportunities to address the fronts in previous drafts in the early rounds and it's hurting us now. 

 

Agree again. We need to look for guys that fit what we're trying to do offensively/defensively. This team has done a tremendous job of trying to cram square pegs into round holes for year, with ZERO success. Guess this could come back to our lack of scouting department.

Jarvis Jenkins has no impact.  Amerson gets beat every other drive.  Murphy looks like he cant rush from the outside.  How I wish we could've spent those 2nd rounders on olinemen.

 

The murphy pick still puzzles me, why draft a position with entrenched starters when there is oline talent that fits a need for us smh

 

The Murphy picks looks worse and worse. I guess I understand they wanted to have someone there for when Orakpo leaves, but worry about that next year.

[KDawg]

In looking at it through the long-term... The Murphy pick isn't even all that bad. At least it's a front pick.

 

The Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas picks were the ones that were unreal. Even with Davis being a minor hit for us, drafting three pass catchers in that draft was baffling.

[StephenDavis]

In looking at it through the long-term... The Murphy pick isn't even all that bad. At least it's a front pick.

 

The Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas picks were the ones that were unreal. Even with Davis being a minor hit for us, drafting three pass catchers in that draft was baffling.

I just threw up in my mouth a little. Man those were bad picks.

[Riggo-toni]

And the point isn't that you can't hit on players (See Saints: Jahri Evans - 4th round). The point is, even these teams who hit on late rounders are spending early rounders on the fronts.

I realize that, and I wasn't by any measure discounting nor disputing your OP, which was terrifically well researched and cogent. I was just mentioning Atkins as an aside to further depress all of us with the realization that even a team we used to mock can pick a better DL in the 4th round than our FO has ever drafted in the post-Beathard era.

[DC9]

KD,

 

IMO, Kansas City has drafted pretty welll, they suffered early with Todd Haley.  Haley is a goober, as Pittsburgh is discovering.

[Riggo-toni]

The Fred Davis, Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas picks were the ones that were unreal. Even with Davis being a minor hit for us, drafting three pass catchers in that draft was baffling.

But I'll bet Matt Millen thought it was genius!

[carex]

I just threw up in my mouth a little. Man those were bad picks.

 

we were trying to get a tall WR.  We only had Moss at the time

[KDawg]

I realize that, and I wasn't by any measure discounting nor disputing your OP, which was terrifically well researched and cogent. I was just mentioning Atkins as an aside to further depress all of us with the realization that even a team we used to mock can pick a better DL in the 4th round than our FO has ever drafted in the post-Beathard era.

 

it worked.

[carex]

this overlooks the lack of picks the Redskins have had in those rounds. 

 

One of the people the Redskins could have drafted over Murphy couldn't even beat out a seventh rounder

[KDawg]

this overlooks the lack of picks the Redskins have had in those rounds. 

 

One of the people the Redskins could have drafted over Murphy couldn't even beat out a seventh rounder

 

No it doesn't. We HAD those picks. We traded them. 

 

And I hope your "getting taller" comment was tongue in cheek, by the way.

[carex]

No it doesn't. We HAD those picks. We traded them. 

 

And I hope your "getting taller" comment was tongue in cheek, by the way.

 

 

everyone who followed the Skins at the time was saying we needed a larger receiver to compliment Moss.   Desean Jackson was not Desean Jackson at that point even if people knew he was going to be damn good, at that point he was a Santana Moss type player, for all the people who talk about what we missed out on. 

[KDawg]

everyone who followed the Skins at the time was saying we needed a larger receiver to compliment Moss.   Desean Jackson was not Desean Jackson at that point even if people knew he was going to be damn good, at that point he was a Santana Moss type player, for all the people who talk about what we missed out on. 

 

I... can't believe you were serious.