We're going to examine how everyone's drafts turned out- not in absolute value (in terms of points) but in terms of perceived value; How 'rosterable' each team turned out.
Players marked in green finished the season with the same team they started with.
These are the 'most valuable' players to their managers.
Players marked in yellow were traded from their original team for value.
This is the second best result a drafted player could net, because it brought their manager something else of value.
Players marked in orange were dropped from their team, but ended up on other rosters.
Maybe due to injury, ineffectiveness, bye weeks, or depth, they ended up recycled.
Resurfacing on another team meant they retained value, even if the owner did not maximize it.
Players marked in red were dropped, and finished the year on the wire.
While there may be some contextual exceptions, most of these players can be labeled 'busts.'
Players marked in blue were substantially injured, hindering our ability to gauge their value.
5 VALUABLE; 2 TRADED; 6 RECYCLED; 8 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
The VH suffered from a veritable bust in the second round (CJ Anderson) as any player in your top six picks needs to contribute, so dropping one of them is a real bad sign. Losing Kelvin Benjamin to injury before week one put this team behind the 8 ball, forcing them to trade their other top WRs to restock the cupboard. A couple of wasted picks in the mid rounds (notbaly RG3, Jacquian Williams, and Ray Rice) really cost this team the depth they would need, and ASJ's huge week one followed by a long injury stole a roster spot the team could have used. Most of the other IDP picks were fine- rolling over anything but the highest tier of talent is preferable.
7 VALUABLE; 1 TRADED; 5 RECYCLED; 5 BUSTS; 5 INJURED
The biggest takeaway looking at this draft is sorta obvious: don't draft a QB in the third round and then drop him for nothing. Wilson took off in the back half of the year- when he was playing for Pawnee and leading them all the way to the Larkspur Bowl. Doug Baldwin as a mid round pick ended up doing the same thing- less predictably, but still a blow. There were two studs picked in the back half of this draft: Khalil Mack (who the Farmers let escape for nothing) and Andy Dalton, who got injured late in the year.
7 VALUABLE; 2 TRADED; 2 RECYCLED; 10 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
Nine great picks to start the draft- Hilton and Maclin were moved for Demaryius and Watkins (upgrades!) and Jamaal was a stud before going down injured (unavoidable!) and while the Alfred Morris pick hamstrung this team, it was one of those (unpredictable!) disappointments. It's in the back end of this draft where the failings happened, and a lot of it comes down to perceived value; The McFlys could have traded many of those red players, but held on to them too long. One player they didn't hold onto long enough was Dev Freeman, who became an MVP caliber player soon after leaving Hill Valley.
11 VALUABLE; 0 TRADED; 6 RECYCLED; 5 BUSTS; 1 INJURED
The Islanders were the only team to keep double digit players- twelve of them, including Marshawn Lynch. Every one of those players approached or exceeded expectations, and the back end of this draft had several picks that contributed later in the year; "Can't keep everybody." If the team could have kept Michael Floyd and Jordan Reed, they'd have been better off, and while Mario Williams ended up a huge bust for being the third DL off the board, but that was one of 2015's surprises. The team could have benefited from trading their excess depth to address needs. Sometimes you move a player for only a marginal upgrade, rather than losing them for nothing.
3 VALUABLE; 4 TRADED; 8 RECYCLED; 6 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
This draft just didn't work out. Only three players survived the season for HT- and one of them (Moncrief) they dropped and had to trade to get back. Only Agholder and Spiller rate as true busts; Liberal sifted through sleepers and found a lot of guys that would be valuable eventually, as almost everyone drafted here ended up having value- most just ended up doing more for other teams. It is about knowing when to hold em, knowing when to fold em, and knowing when to leave a sleeper on the wire and fight the anxiety to pluck them prematurely.
9 VALUABLE; 1 TRADED; 5 RECYCLED; 6 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
LTP had three absolute steals in this draft- Capitalizing on Tom Brady's uncertain status in the seventh round (and then moving Brees) Tyrann Mathieu in the twelfth (one of two elite safeties in 2015) and Danny Woodhead in the 19th. The Woodhead pick might have been the reason this team was a playoff team at all. Randle flamed out quickly and Forsett went down with an injury. Two years in a row Toronto has gone against the grain and eschewed the urge to amass RB depth, instead using his bench to work an optimal lineup week to week. Wallace is technically listed as 'valuable' but was barely flex worthy most of the season.
9 VALUABLE; 1 TRADED; 3 RECYCLED; 6 BUSTS; 4 INJURED
Andre Johnson was not supposed to die like this, but he did. Besides a few weeks with touchdowns, the third round pick was a total bust. The rest of the Crew's first thirteen picks were pretty good- Jennings wasn't getting opportunities mid-season, thus the cut. Bowe was an unmitigated bust, and none of the other backend picks were stellar, but having a fungible back end is usually better than having it be rigid but mediocre.
9 VALUABLE; 4 TRADED; 3 RECYCLED; 2 BUSTS; 5 INJURED
The Finest put together an incredibly productive WR group on the cheap, and had one of the most consistent RB and LB platoons in the game, thus their 12-1 record. Actually, the only player on this list that could truly be considered a disappointment at their draft slot was Reggie Bush. Or maybe Aaron Rodgers? As the ninth most productive QB this year (behind luminary free agent Kirk Cousins!) he did not have the season anticipated from a first round selection. But that's mostly nitpicking.
9 VALUABLE; 1 TRADED; 3 RECYCLED; 7 BUSTS; 3 INJURED
Well, injuries took a major toll here- Their season effectively ended when Bell got hurt, and Peyton Manning never really looked like Peyton Manning. Gio Bernard was a reach in the third, who ended up a pleasant surprise. If he had been taken in the fifth or later, it would have been an even better selection. Trading Julian Edelman at the right time was about the only good break Oakwood got- Roddy White's skills, already suspected of being gone, proved eroded. There's a lot of green in the middle of their draft, but very few difference makers- just a lot of safe, average guys, stability for the sake of it, limiting upside. The back end of this roster is a mess, though Nate Washington had a pretty good season elsewhere in the league.
7 VALUABLE; 6 TRADED; 2 RECYCLED; 6 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
Those first five picks were perfection, and the next five fetched a good amount of value on the market- the Pride really maximized their potential on the trade market in general this year. The backend of this draft wasn't anything special- mostly IDPs that the Pride was smart to grind through. It's a good thing to not get too nostalgic with your defensive players- only difference makers should be owed any allegiance.
6 VALUABLE; 7 TRADED; 1 RECYCLED; 7 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
At the backend of the draft, taking advantage of positional inefficiencies can mask a dearth of top end point getters- Gronk was 30th in overall points, while Watt was 64th, but each was tops at their position. Lots of trades color the team from start to finish- not all of them worked out fortuitously, but none hurt the team either. Reshad Jones and Telvin Smith were two great IDP picks that also lent positional dominance. Charles Johnson, Bishop Sankey, and Tevin Coleman were all misses, while Alfred Blue and Denagelo Williams went on to value elsewhere, but riding the carousel was as productive as ever for Phoenix who ended up with two top six RBs in Dev Freeman and Lamar Miller.
9 VALUABLE; 0 TRADED; 5 RECYCLED; 6 BUSTS; 3 INJURED
This was a very solid draft, with twelve good picks in a row to start things off. Torrey Smith and Malcom Floyd profile better at flex rather than WR2 and WR3, but Antonio Brown can mask that, and Allen Hurns in the 15th made up some ground as well. No other real hits in the backend of the draft- Heath Miller was constantly the top option off the wire this season. If anything, this draft just might have been too safe in its late game, opting for veterans with limited ceilings over the boom/bust nature of unknowns.
4 VALUABLE; 7 TRADED; 6 RECYCLED; 4 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
Very unfortunate draft that highlights the crippling nature of missing on early IDP picks. DeAndre Levy and Curtis Lofton were both failures in the 5 and 6 slot, leaving the roster bereft of the safer talents available in those early rounds. Luck and Dez both getting hurt left the team's cupboard bare, while Kuechly's concussion struggle early forced the team to sell him low. All but two of the team's top ten picks ended up missing significant time with pains- DeAndre Hokpins a glowing exception in his breakout year. Shane Vereen would have been an okay plug and play third option, but was miscast in a feature role. The backend of the draft was decent, but a lot of that value got flushed by the team's injuries, as they needed to reach into the discard pile time and time again.
9 VALUABLE; 1 TRADED; 3 RECYCLED; 8 BUSTS; 2 INJURED
The champs had a very good draft- the best pick was probably their last, Aaron Donald, who was nearly JJ Watt, except 303 picks later. It's pretty impressive that the team picked three RBs in the first five rounds, and all of them disappointed pretty thoroughly. Jeremy Hill really struggled midseason and never really made good on his first round pedigree. Andre Ellington and Ameer Abdullah both bottomed out and were dropped outright. 14th round selection Duke Johnson was a nice contributor, though he could hardly be mistaken for elite. The Cows had a great WR corps, cashed in on waiting for a QB, made a shrewd grab at TE, cultivated a defense, and just got by at RB, on their way to winning the trophy. Might be the blueprint for 2016!
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