Value of Things: Guide to draft grades

I’m going to do something a little bit different in this space than most of other people. One of the benefits of a classical education (read: liberal arts) is a reading of the classics. In Socrates “Apology”, he asserted that he was the wisest man in Athens because he did not pretend to know that which he did not know. This simple act made him wiser than all of those who did. I’m not sure why that image popped into my head when talking about the NFL draft.

Actually, I’m lying. I know exactly why it popped into my head. This is what most people do when it comes to the NFL draft. Make no mistake, there are some folks that put in the hours of studying these players. They watch the tape. They read the scouting reports. They are familiar with most of the players. Fizzy Joe and Kenneth are our two guys here on site that do an excellent job doing that. I’ll click and read anything they have to offer on the draft because it is more than what I know.

I know that if I were to opine on the individual players and whether they are good picks or not then my opinions would not really be my opinions. They would be regurgitated opinions from someone else. I have multiple sources I like to read to learn more about guys, but if I’m going to take the time to write this for public consumption then it needs to have at least some of my own research sprinkled in.

So, if you want advice number one, it would be to seek out people that have their own informed opinions. Like I said, Fizzy Joe and Kenneth would be the go to people on this site. The rest of us have opinions and we may have even seen some of the players play, but most of our opinions are based upon the opinions of others. Then, it becomes an amplification effect. Suddenly, it turns into the “people are saying” gamut when really it is only one or two experts saying it and a bunch of people repeating it.

This is not just a football thing by the way. I have general opinions on basketball as well. I know a LOT about baseball, but I don’t dive into the weeds in analyzing players I have never seen play. I have never pounded the table for any player I had not personally watched. So, I will not be offering any individual or overall draft grades and I would be suspicious of anyone who does unless they know what they are talking about. Even then, it is just an educated guess.

The second point I would make is that you can properly understand drafts when you start to see patterns in the picks. This is mostly applicable to football and baseball when you have multiple selections. You start to see the same kind of player and that kind of player is a nod to the philosophical feelings of the people selecting them. The Texans took a lot of trench players or players for positions where they already had starters.

The best laid plans of mice and men always derail seasons. No team makes it through a season with the 22 guys that started it. Heck, even without injuries there are going to be guys on the bench that outshine guys in the starting lineup. We saw that on the offensive line last season. We’ve seen rookies gain traction and start playing tons of plays by the end of the season. We also have seen injuries.

Beyond the personality quirks of the players involved, the 2026 draft was clearly about raising the floor. That means they didn’t pick any sparkling players that would necessarily be difference makers that could take them from the divisional round to the Super Bowl. Kayden McDonald might turn out to be a notable exception there, but there are a lot of ifs that need to come true for that to happen. This draft was all about making sure the team had the depth to make it through a long and grueling season. This is a season that would likely include an 18th or even 19th game.

Of course, that brings us to those same personalities. Based on those that know, these players all had a certain SWARM mentality coming in. Most of them were team captains at their respective schools or were huge character guys. Is this ultimately a good thing? What we know is that sometimes you have a high character guy that is also a high end physical talent. That is Will Anderson. Will Anderson is not available at number 28 in the first round.

So, from that point on, teams have a choice. There are three prongs here: football character, on field production, and physical traits. You usually can have two out of three once you get outside the top ten to fifteen picks. The Texans didn’t always pick physical traits. In fact, they probably only did that with their last second round selection in Marlin Klein. Most of them were character and production picks. Was that the best way to go?

These are questions best asked and answered later. However, the pattern reflects the mind or minds of those picking the players. I can do the same thing in baseball when looking at drafts. You can start to see what general managers and scouts value. Again, whether their values make sense can only be tested after several seasons. Once their rookie contracts are signed, it doesn’t matter where they were selected. Their performance on the practice field and preseason will determine whether they make the team and have a spot in the regular rotation.