Get ready to cover your eyes, it ain’t pretty. It was not what we expected, but the numbers are what they are…
When we started this analysis of all of the players taken in the first round of the draft, the hypothesis was that Defensive Tackle was a poor position to select because so many ended up generating mediocre returns on investment. We graded them out and on a scale of 1 to 7 they had an average score of 4.1. In essence, they averaged being a replaceable starter. We knew right there that that was an unacceptable outcome for your first rounder.
As we kept going through subsequent positions, all had a better average grade than DT. Until now. Defensive End came in with another 4.1, another woof. Another ground out. While I personally admit to being surprised, I am also heartened at the continued objectivity that this analysis is delivering. We do not have an agenda. The numbers are what they are.
| Year | Player | Pick | Starts | Sack | Pro Bowls | Wonder’s Grade |
| 2000 | Courtney Brown | 1 | 63 | 19 | 7 | |
| Shaun Eliis | 6 | 155 | 68 | 2 | 2 | |
| Erik Flowers | 26 | 6 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 2001 | Justin Smith | 4 | 139 | 57 | 4 | |
| Andre Carter | 7 | 128 | 64 | 3 | ||
| Jamal Reynolds | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 2002 | Julius Peppers | 2 | 120 | 81 | 5 | 1 |
| Dwight Freeney | 11 | 98 | 84 | 5 | 1 | |
| Bryan Thomas | 22 | 79 | 25 | 3 | ||
| Charles Grant | 25 | 106 | 47 | 3 | ||
| 2003 | Kevin Williams* | 9 | 110 | 49 | 4 | 1 |
| Ty Warren | 13 | 92 | 21 | 2 | ||
| Michael Haynes | 14 | 4 | 6 | 7 | ||
| Jerome McDougle | 15 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Calvin Pace | 18 | 66 | 29 | 3 | ||
| Tyler Brayton | 32 | 78 | 16 | 4 | ||
| 2004 | Will Smith | 18 | 75 | 50 | 3 | |
| Kenechi Udeze | 20 | 47 | 11 | |||
| 2005 | Erasmus James | 18 | 12 | 5 | 7 | |
| Marcus Spears | 20 | 71 | 8 | 5 | ||
| Luis Castillo | 28 | 62 | 17 | 5 | ||
| 2006 | Mario Williams | 1 | 64 | 40 | 2 | 1 |
| Tamba Hali | 20 | 63 | 27 | 4 | ||
| M Kiwanuka | 32 | 40 | 20 | 4 | ||
| 2007 | Gaines Adams | 4 | 29 | 14 | 7 | |
| J Anderson | 8 | 41 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Jarvis Moss | 17 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 2008 | Chris Long | 2 | 20 | 9 | 4 | |
| Derrick Harvey | 8 | 25 | 6 | 4 | ||
| L Jackson | 28 | 24 | 7 | 5 | ||
| Kentwan Balmer | 29 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 2009 | Tyson Jackson | 3 | 14 | 0 | 4 | |
| Aaron Maybin | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Brian Orakpo | 13 | 16 | 11 | 3 | ||
| Larry English | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 0.5 | 4.1 | |||||
| *Drafted as DE but voted to pro bowl as DT | ||||||
| Balmer is a NT. | ||||||
| Note 2008-9 grades are preliminary. | ||||||
Wonder has been a tough grader for every position, but there is no arguing that so many of these first rounders ended up being no-names who many of you could not even tell me which team they play/ed for, let alone that they are worth more than they were graded at. We did not even grade Udeze because he had cancer. I raised one grade that Wonder gave as a 6 to a 5 just because statistically it was unfair. There are some studs in here who got 1’s, namely Peppers, Freeney, Kevin Williams and Mario Williams. Yet despite all of that, there are just too many trainwrecks. Eight players with 6’s or 7’s. You could give all the 6’s a 7 and it would be justified, considering they were drafted in Round 1. Jerome McDougle, picked up as fringe player… yep, a 6 is being kind. Not a single start in his career.
| Position | PBowls | Rating |
| G/C | 1.6 | 3.0 |
| LB | 0.9 | 3.2 |
| CB | 0.5 | 3.3 |
| RB | 0.9 | 3.4 |
| OT | 0.5 | 3.7 |
| S | 1.4 | 3.8 |
| DT | 0.6 | 4.1 |
| DE | 0.5 | 4.1 |
So what is the conclusion? Stay away from this position in round 1. 35 players have been drafted in 10 years. 3.5 per draft. The NFL teams en masse are drafting too many of these guys in Round 1. They are not paying off. It certainly suits us fine that the grade of 4.1 matches that of DT. And the # of pro bowls per player (0.5) is another ringer for that of DT. Welcome to the basement.
Oh, and one more thing… OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING, what does it say about the Defensive End Class of 2010? Alualu, Pierre-Paul, Morgan… Statistically, one of these three will be a hit (1-3) and two of these three will be a miss (4-7).
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