(11-25-2022, 01:29 PM)TheDuke007 Wrote:

(11-25-2022, 09:20 AM)flgatorsandjags Wrote: All these teams also built their defense the same time while building their offense.  These teams haven't ignored their D.  They continue to build on both sides of the ball.  That's how you build a team.  Draft really good players regardless of which side of the ball and your team will continue to improve.  You just have to draft good or great players.  You you just draft offense to draft offense and pass up great players on defense while taking the lesser or average players on offense we will continue to spin our wheels

I agree that proper draft evaluation is the key.  Taking the best player is more important than taking offense versus defense.  That's definitely true and is the key to the draft.

That being said, if deciding among players with roughly equal projected talent, I look for the player that will represent the biggest improvement to the team.  Let's say a player's talent is rated on a scale from 1 to 100 with 100 being the best.  Let's also hypothetically say that we have the opportunity to draft an 80 at a specific offensive position or an 80 at a specific defensive position.  If the offensive pick plays at a position where you already have a 70, that's only 10 points of improvement.  If the defensive pick plays at a position where you currently have a 30, that's 50 points of improvement.  I want the most improvement for the team.  I want 50 points of improvement versus only 10.  That's why I go position by position and not "offense vs defense."  It's a pretty basic concept and some would even say it is common sense, but it is amazing how many people argue against common sense.

Your way of thinking was fine in the 1990s, but in the modern NFL offensive players of comparable talent to defensive players are worth twice as much. That's just the way they've made the game work now, spending high draft and free agent capital on defenders should come right after you got your running back; ie the last piece of the puzzle.

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