Study Ranks Steelers Drafts High in Skill

Good morning (chat today at 1:30), 

There’s a new study out that should silence some critics of Kevin Colbert’s drafting ability.

NumberFire.com analyzed the offensive skill positions of each team’s draft since the year 2000, which coincidentally is the year Colbert joined the Steelers as director of football operations and now general manager.

Joe Redemann of NumberFire explains how the study was done and who came out on top and on the bottom. New England and Green Bay were 1-2. The Steelers ranked third. Not surprisingly, among the worst was Cleveland; the Browns finished third from the bottom.

Here are the top five in each category with comments from NumberFire:

BEST

Team Drafted Draft Value Rank Total NEP Rank Draft Score

NE 37 28th 4th 24

GB 42 25th 2nd 23

PIT 41 24th 3rd 21

DAL 28 32nd 13th 19

PHI 37 27th 9th 18

The most surprising team on this list is the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones is consistently knocked for his draft picks. Maybe we should rethink Jerry Jones as a GM. Other surprises are the New York Jets being in the top-5 at drafting WRs and RBs, the Washington Redskins being in the top-5 at drafting RBs, and the Jacksonville Jaguars being the best RB drafting team.

WORST

Team Drafted Draft Value Rank Total NEP Rank Draft Score

JAX 36 4th 21st -17

BUF 39 7th 28th -21

CLE 39 2nd 25th -23

DET 35 1st 26th -25

STL 41 5th 30th -25

The most surprising team on this list is the Detroit Lions. Even with Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford, the team has been horrible at drafting skill position players (hello Joey Harrington). Other surprises are the Bears being one of the worst team's at drafting RBs (hello Cedric Benson), despite having one of the most productive RBs of the last decade in Matt Forte. Additionally, I was surprised to see the Giants on the list of teams that are worst at drafting WRs despite having Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham, Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard.

For more details on the teams who drafted best and the process and what all those numbers mean, click here.

For more details on the teams that drafted the worst, click here.