As suggested by Chris, I took a look at the last pick of each draft since 2001. Our record here is all over the place. A few gems, a few total whiffs, but mostly just end-of-the-bench guys likely didn’t make it all the way through the season on their initial roster.
The ranking is figured as follows – rather than going just off the adjusted point totals, which would automatically put the QBs at the top, I based it off positional rank vs. expected roster-worthy players (on average) that we roster from year to year.
Here’s my approximation of that;
QB – 18 (Currently 18 of Top 25 rostered)
WR – 55 (Currently 52 of Top 60 rostered)
RB – 50 (Currently 48 of Top 60 rostered)
TE – 15 (Currently 14 of Top 25 rostered)
K – 12 (Currently 11 of Top 25 rostered)
DB – 30 (Currently 28 of Top 36 rostered)
DL – 15 (Currently 16 of Top 32 rostered)
LB – 50 (Currently 50 of Top 100 rostered)
So as not everyone rosters multiple QBs, I went with the Top 20 as ‘roster-worthy’ – for example, this season we have 20 of the top 33 quarterbacks rostered. On the flip side of that, Linebacker – of which we are able to roster up to 4 per week, I set the number at 55. This week, we have 50 of the top 81 LBs rostered. In years past this number might have been higher, so 55 seemed a reasonable amount. Again, these are estimations. The basic idea is the lower the POSITIONAL VALUE number, the better the pick. Anything under 1.00 is great.
Furthermore, for Kickers, the 2022 POINT totals are estimated, as I do not have exact FG yardage numbers.
| MR. IRRELEVANT | YEAR | COACH | POS. | NFL TEAM | ORIGINAL POINTS | 2022 POINTS | DIFFER. | POS. RANK | POS. VALUE |
| Cody Barton | 2022 | Kronner | LB | SEA | 1155 | 1155 | 0 | 27 | 0.540 |
| Terry Allen | 2001 | Chris | RB | BAL | 788 | 936 | 148 | 34 | 0.756 |
| Marcus Trufant* | 2003 | Chris | DB | SEA | 1210 | 2025 | 815 | 27 | 0.900 |
| Dan Carpenter | 2011 | Mark | K | MIA | 2105 | 2045 | -60 | 11 | 0.917 |
| Kevin Walter | 2010 | Mark | WR | HOU | 1471 | 1126 | -345 | 53 | 0.964 |
| Baker Mayfield | 2020 | Steve | QB | CLE | 4154 | 4154 | 0 | 19 | 1.056 |
| Jay Cutler | 2015 | Jason | QB | CHI | 4025 | 4075 | 50 | 20 | 1.111 |
| Brandon Myers | 2013 | Toepel | TE | NYG | 1232 | 957 | -275 | 17 | 1.133 |
| Jonathan Wells | 2002 | Chris | RB | HOU | 717 | 737 | 20 | 55 | 1.222 |
| Joe Flacco | 2017 | Steve | QB | BAL | 3360 | 3325 | -35 | 23 | 1.278 |
| Greg Olsen | 2007 | Kronner | TE | CHI | 731 | 721 | -10 | 21 | 1.400 |
| Tony Jefferson II | 2018 | John | DB | BAL | 1670 | 1410 | -260 | 52 | 1.733 |
| Jason Hanson | 2008 | Ryan | K | DET | 1210 | 1775 | 565 | 25 | 2.083 |
| Josh Scobee | 2014 | Trigger | K | JAX | 1555 | 1575 | 20 | 26 | 2.167 |
| David Kircus | 2004 | Chris | WR | DET | 133 | 133 | 0 | 147 | 2.673 |
| Donte’ Stallworth | 2009 | Chris | WR | SUSP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 184 | 3.345 |
| Brian Orakpo | 2012 | Mark | LB | WSH | 275 | 445 | 170 | 190 | 3.800 |
| James Jones | 2016 | Dave | WR | RETIRED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 209 | 3.800 |
| Nick Scott | 2021 | Trigger | DB | LAR | 950 | 775 | -175 | 134 | 4.467 |
| Morgan Burnett | 2019 | Jones | DB | CLE | 910 | 795 | -115 | 158 | 5.267 |
| Erron Kinney | 2006 | Matt | TE | RETIRED | 0 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 7.400 |
| Drew Wahlroos | 2005 | Hicks | LB | STL | 175 | 170 | -5 | 416 | 8.320 |
Cody Barton was drafted this year, so his season is incomplete. Also, Marcus Trufant’s positional ranking is estimated. The individual stats from that season are gone, so I got his stats from Football Reference, and based on those numbers he would have finished as DB27 in 2021, so that’s how I came up with his PV number.
So as of now, Cody Barton, the Seahawk linebacker who I traded to Kaiser earlier this year, has proven to be the most valuable “Mr. Irrelevant” thus far. Since he’s only 10 games in however, I’d say the best value pick has to be Ravens Running Back Terry Allen, drafted by Tan back in 2001. One of only two Running Backs ever taken in the spot (the other, Jonathan Wells, was also drafted by Chris the next year) he proved an overall value at the spot, though he wasn’t winning the league for anyone. But still, the 34th-ranked RB (which this year is Swift) with the last pick in the draft isn’t too shabby.
Other Notable Hits
- If we had complete stats for 2003, Trufant might have finished in first place here, but based on the estimated value, his .900 score is still starter level.
- The only other players to finish sub-1.00 both belong to Kaiser. Kicker Dan Carpenter in 2011 finished the season as K11, which isn’t great, but it is starter-level (again, our bar is pretty low) and WE Kevin Walter, who finished as WR53 – which this year would slot him somewhere between Branin Cooks and Romeo Doubs…
- Statistically NOT a hit, as he finishd the year as K25, but shout out to Jason Hanson on the 2008 Lions, who missed only one FG (and no PATs) that year, including 8/8 from beyond 50. Unfortunately, they just didn’t get him enough changes to kick.
Most Notable Misses
- While Chris has hit on a few, he’s also got some big misses – like Donte’ Stallworth who got drunk and killed someone with his car…and was only suspended for a year.
- Nick Scott and Morgan Burnett were both DBs who didn’t work out in the least, but at least they didn’t retire.
- We’ve had not one, but two guys drafted who either then chose to reitre, or the NFL chose for them, because they never played again, both taken by Alleys. Dave snagged WE James Jones in 2016, and he responded “Nacho this time” and Matt signed TE Erron Kinney back in 2006.
THE WORST.
Drew Wahlroos. Leave it to Hicks to leave this kind of legacy behind. The St. Louis LB out of Colorado finished with a PV score of 8.23, which somehow finished behind a drunk driver who was suspended for the whole year, and two guys who retired. He played for the Rams from 2004-2005. The year Hicks took him, he appeared in 15 games and totaled 12 tackles. But it’s what came later that really puts the exclamation point on this one.
At age 37, Wahlroos shot himself, probably because of something Hicks did. (What an unfortunate screenshot here)
SC League Forever 