5th round Draft Picks -- how valuable?

[Amnorix]

Although this article is Pats focused to a degree, it includes an NFL-wide survey that I thought you would find interesting no matter what team you root for.

Basically -- its the rare 5th round draft pick that becomes a starters or major impact player.


"Earlier this week, in a note that touched on the impressive progress of fifth-round pick Ryan O'Callaghan, the point was made that the Patriots haven't been especially productive with their fifth-round picks.

Other than center Dan Koppen in 2003, there has been little to show for the Patriots' selections in that round, with names like Jeff Marriott (2000), Hakim Akbar (2001), P.K. Sam (2004) and Ryan Claridge (2005) never emerging. O'Callaghan, however, looks like a keeper.

With a little extra time to conduct research, the goal was to look at all NFL fifth-round picks from 2000-2004 to see how the Patriots stacked up. The results were surprising (to me, at least) when charting what fifth-round picks are still with the team that drafted them, and have emerged as starters/major impact players:

2000:
OLB Clark Haggans -- Pittsburgh
P Shane Lechler -- Oakland
DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila -- Green Bay
WR Dante' Hall -- Kansas City

2001:
none

2002:
LB Andra' Davis -- Cleveland
DL Rocky Bernard -- Seattle*
DE Aaron Kampman -- Green Bay

2003:
DE Robert Mathis -- Indianapolis
P Mike Scifres -- San Diego
OT Jordan Black -- Kansas City
OG David Diehl -- N.Y. Giants
C Dan Koppen -- New England
WR Doug Gabriel -- Oakland*
OT Tony Pashos -- Baltimore*

2004:
K Josh Scobee -- Jacksonville
OL Jacob Bell -- Tennessee
OL Jake Scott -- Indianapolis
DL Chad Lavalais -- Atlanta
FB Mike Karney -- New Orleans

* part-time starter"

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/

[cdcox]

I have planned a very elaborate analysis of the draft over the last 20-25 years. It is going to look at the average value of pick by round, average success of various positions drafted by round, average drafting aptitude of each team, and a whole lot of other stuff. The major road block to this study is the data on starters. The ESPN Footabll Encyclopedia has the data, and I've got two possible ways to get access to that data in electronic form. It's just a matter of time.

[jidar]

What the hell?
How do you pick out something so ridiculous like the success of fifth round picks? The draft is a crap shoot anyway so how can you be critical of success in the fifth round? Might as well be critical of how well they play bingo.

[StcChief]

I have planned a very elaborate analysis of the draft over the last 20-25 years. It is going to look at the average value of pick by round, average success of various positions drafted by round, average drafting aptitude of each team, and a whole lot of other stuff. The major road block to this study is the data on starters. The ESPN Footabll Encyclopedia has the data, and I've got two possible ways to get access to that data in electronic form. It's just a matter of time.
When you get it let's put it in a 'real' relational database

I think the value would be high for future use.

CSV format to import into Oracle wold be great.

[Cormac]

The noticeable thing is how many linemen there are in that list. I think that figures, because rarely are O-linemen chosen early, and D-linemen in the early rounds are high risk (we should know). The big uglies that bring a reputation with them tend to be lazy (Sims etc.), the raw project types are drafted later and sometimes pan out (Szott, Sampson, Black, Jared Allen etc.).

[Hoover]

KC will send a 2007 5th rounder and a 2008 5th rounder for Branch

[King_Chief_Fan]

The Chiefs generally find value with the later picks vs. the earlier picks.
There are a few exceptions