You always play to win the game... NEVER for draft position.  This is the NFL.  It's PROFESSIONAL football.  Being a professional means doing your job to the best of your ability.  That's why coaches/players work as hard as they do to win the next game... no matter what.  It's what they get paid to do.

My guess is that the people that think the team should play for draft position either a) play too much fantasy football or b) play too much Madden or similar games.

Look at the top 10 picks in the last 3 year's drafts.  There aren't many on the list that are absolute game-changers or stars.  The ones that I would list are as follows.

2015 DRAFT CLASS

Maybe Todd Gurley drafted at #10
Reaching Amari Cooper drafted at #4

2016 DRAFT CLASS

This draft class produced some very good players in the top 5.  After the top 5 it drops off.

Jared Goff drafted #1
Carson Wentz drafted at #2
Joey Bosa drafted at #3
Ezekiel Elliott drafted at #4
Jalen Ramsey drafted at #5

2017 DRAFT CLASS

Only two stick out in my mind making a huge difference for their respective teams.

Leonard Fournette drafted at #4 - He makes a difference in our offense when he is playing.
Patrick Mahomes drafted at #10 - He has been playing lights out and is well worth his draft position.

My point is that getting a high draft pick doesn't always equal success.  There are MANY players drafted near the top that turn into huge busts.  We have one on the team now that was let go by his former team (Ereck Flowers drafted #9 in 2015) that is only on an NFL team due to injuries.

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