How are the NFL GMs performing in the draft?

Last updated on January 8th, 2026 at 06:04 pm

The NFL draft is the future of an NFL team. The ability of a General Manager (GM) to build a team through smart drafting is a key element to NFL success.

To analyze the NFL GMs performance related to draft picks, I utilized the Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value (AV) data. This data point has been praised for its ability to analyze groups of players over time such as a draft class. Their AV assigns a single, seasonal number to a player’s performance, regardless of their position. It allows for rough historical and cross-positional comparisons of player value. It incorporates both individual and team performance. An overall AV for the team is calculated based on team performance metrics compared to the league average. The AV points are then distributed to different positions based on modeling. A player’s share of their position’s AV is based on their individual statistics, such as yardage, interceptions, sacks, and honors like All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections.

Using the Stathead tool from that site I queried the database for combined seasons of the players selected in a draft year getting their career AV. Next I summed the AVs for each team and assigned an AV rank for each team ranking the team that had the highest AV sum as 1. This method uses the selected player’s career AV whether they stayed on their draft team or moved to another team. The thought behind that is that the value of that pick was determined by how well they performed in their whole career.

The next part of the calculation was to obtain the draft order for that year’s draft. The order used was the NFL assigned order based on the team record. Not any updated order based on trades. Since we are looking at all the players drafted changes in a round  were not considered. Another reason this is a good approach is if the team drafted more players because of trades keeping the original order accounts for that value. I then subtracted the team’s AV rank from their draft position. This gives a positive or negative difference with a positive showing that their AV rank for players selected was higher than where they drafted. That is a good thing. The negative would show the opposite. This was done to base the analysis not solely on did they get good players but rather were the players they got of greater value than their draft position. That is a better indication of how good a GM is. It does not reward GMs just because they drafted high. Since the AV rank is compared to the other teams it also takes into account how their draft compared to the other teams for that year.

The difference was sorted and the following table is a rank of each team from 1 (the best) to 32 (the worst) for each draft year. I went back to 2012 and forward to 2024. I stopped at 2024 since AV is not available yet for the 2025 draft class. Going back to 2012 was more arbitrary. But just a bit of information is that from the 2012 draft class there are only nine players that are still active. So if you have suffered through that explanation here is the table. I also supply a link so you can download the table. I find it easy to then search for all of a team and it highlights them all.

Draft Ranks from 2012

Draft Ranks from 2012 to 2025 (this added 2025 to the sheet without color)

Based on analyzing the table these are my classifications of each team with regard to the draft. SHown are the team, the current general manager and the year he started in that position. For some of the very recent new managers the classification is more likely based on his predecessor. Keep in mind this analysis is based on drafting taking into account their draft position, all players selected in that draft, and how it compares to the otrher teams. So from a player perspective a team may have gotten a great pick but could be ranked low in this analysis. As a sanity check the teams showing high in the table for recent years are the teams that have been having success on the field.

The classification table is my interpretation of the data and I realize there can be many interpretations. However the color coded table is based solely on the data as derived from the method described.  Also worth noting is that the table rankings are more accurate as you go back in time. Since we know how the older classes did in their careers. Recent years can change as players develop or regress.

The human race has enjoyed sporting events from way back including in 776 B.C. when the Greeks participated and viewed the Olympic Games. However prehistoric cave drawings depict sprinting dating back 15000 years and wrestling back to 7000 B.C.  In ancient Eygpt monuments depict sporting events of wrestling, weightlifting, long jump, swimming, rowing, archery, fishing and athletics, as well as various kinds of ball games, dating back to 2000 B.C.

There is something of the three transcendentals – truth, goodness and beauty – in sports. The beautiful gift of the human body and its ability to grow stronger, graceful, faster and heal itself speaks of the glory of God. The gift of our intellect to strategize, motivate, commit to a goal. The commraderie and bonds formed by teammates and fans in enthusiasm, celebration or commiserating. The feeling of being a part of a group and the closeness that can generate. All are small glimmers of the the glory of God and the communion of saints. To be aware of that and give thanks to God is a true blessing.

In June of 2017 the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame became the first American sports organization to have an audience with the Pope. This from the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

Led by seven Gold Jackets — Curtis Martin, Chris Doleman, Franco Harris, Jim Taylor, Ronnie Lott, Floyd Little and 2017 Enshrinee Jerry Jones along with Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees Chairman Randy Hunt, and trip organizers Hall of Fame Board Member Stephen Schott and Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl A Anderson, Pope Francis greeted and addressed this historic occasion.

“I am pleased to greet you, the members and directors of the American Pro Football Hall of Fame and welcome you to the Vatican. Teamwork, fair play and the pursuit of personal excellence are the values — in the religious sense, we can say virtues that have guided your commitment, on and off the field” said the Pope, the first ever Pontiff from South America and the first ever Jesuit Pontiff. “These values meet the needs of our brothers and sisters and combat the exaggerated individualism, indifference and injustice that hold us back from living as one human family”.

The greeting letter from Supreme Knight Carl Anderson had some inspirational quotes on the American experience:

“… Vince Lombardi, one of America’s greatest coaches and a Knight of Columbus, best captured this spirit when he said of one of his championship teams, “They didn’t do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.” He went on to say, “After all the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty… and after you are back in the quiet of your room… the enduring thing that is left is the dedication to doing with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.”