Wow, there's some really thought-provoking stuff in there. What really stood out to me was:
WRs deriving most of their value from experience with catching passes from NFL starting QBs. WRs tending to develop longer because the most valuable repetition they can receive is a pass from their team's top QB and they will receive these specific reps less often. This, they grow their position's most important skill more slowly than other positions will grow their key skill. When we pay a WR, we're truly paying them more for that experience than height, speed, or w/e else seems to be in vogue.
CBs deriving most of their value from physical ability as they need to be able to cover every type of WR with a certain degree of effectiveness. Also, the repetitions required to emulate game situations and grow the skills associated with coverage are easier to come by. This helps explain why we're so effective at finding/producing excellent defensive backs. Our approach puts a greater deal of emphasis on excellent practice and this position is suggested to benefit more than others from that very approach.
TEs being valued less because the versatility of the position allows more players to be effective overall as TEs.
Teams have tended to draft more OL/DT in the 3rd round, DE/DB in the 5th round, and LB/WR/RB/TE in the 2nd and 4th rounds.
And...
Basically saying the baseline for prioritizing what positions to pay based on how hard they are to acquire/train should go QB > C & OT > DE, DT & WR > CB & 4-3 OLB > Everything else except FB, K & P > FB, K & P.
There's even a few possible applications toward our Hawks too. Given the mild contracts we've been giving out to retain our numerous defensive players, we seem to be taking advantage of an otherwise league-wide perception that slightly undervalues defenders who aren't among the perceived top few at their position. We're also going against the implied suggestion of using FA instead of the draft to acquire new WRs. Perhaps because even despite the high value of experienced WRs, other FOs are still actually overvaluing them. That and/or we simply don't value experience that comes from practice and games occurring outside of our offense as much as other teams do.
Thanks for sharing this, Jville.
