FanPost

Great NYT graphic on where top NFL talent is taken in the draft

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/25/sports/football/picking-the-best-in-the-nfl-draft.html?_r=0

Here are somea great facts from 2008-2012.

-62% of the 10 top performers every year are taken in round 1. This is why hitting on round 1 picks is so important, it is your best chance to obtain top talent.

-If breaking the draft down by picks 1-11, 12-21, 22-32, we see 15 top 10 performers were taken between 1-11, 8 taken between 12-21, and 5 taken between 22-32. I guess the lesson here is that the drop off between the top picks and the middle picks is significant, and good luck finding top talent at the end of round 1.

-Moving the slider to look at the top 20 players every year, we see 54% of those top performers are taken in round 1. While this number is lower than the 62% above, it does illustrate that the top-tier talent is more likely to be found in round 1 than in ruonds 2-7 combined.

--If breaking the draft down by picks 1-11, 12-21, 22-32, we see 26 top 20 performers were taken between 1-11, 17 taken between 12-21, and 14 taken between 22-32.

I guess if I am left to conclude anything from this graphic it is that missing on a first rounder is very costly, and that top 10 talent is very likely to be found in the top 11 picks. Top 20 talent however can be found outside of the top 11 picks, and the drop-off from picks 12-21 and 22-32 is not very great when looking for a top 20 player.

This Fanpost was written by a Windy City Gridiron member and does not necessarily reflect the ideas or opinions of its staff or community.