Quote:First off, it is extremely rare that a team has taken QBs in back to back first rounds.  The Colts did it in 1982 and 1983- Art Schlichter and John Elway, and they wound up trading away Elway.  Dallas wound up doing it in 1989, taking Aikman first overall, then later that summer using a supplemental pick (costing them their first round pick in 1990) on Steve Walsh.  Those are the only two instances in the last 35 years that has happened.  Again, the Roethlisberger example is popular with BAP advocates on a message board, but it simply does not reflect NFL reality.

 

Secondly, need based drafting is just as dependent upon proper evaluation as BAP.  It wasn't because MJ was a need pick that the team missed.  Had Shack rated Roddy White above Matt Jones, and for that matter, Lee Evans above Reggie Williams, the whole analysis changes.  Conversely, had Shack made a BAP QB pick of Craig Krenzel instead of Roethlisberger, the BAP analysis differs.

 

Furthemore, the BAP argument presumes a comparative pre draft grade equates to comparative post draft productivity.  You can have a slightly lesser graded player equally productive to the higher graded player on a given board.  It's not an either or proposition.  Without question, there were CBs that carried higher grades than Richard Sherman.  Without question, Sherman is now among the very best CBs in the league.  A given draft board can have two good back to back players.