USA today
Those who think the Jets killed the future of their franchise by winning Sunday and giving the Jaguars the lead in the Trevor Lawrence draw may want to see how great teams are built. It is almost never losing enough to win the first overall choice and use that choice in a franchise quarterback.
In fact, of the eight current NFL division leaders, none wrote their quarterback first overall. None of them even climbed their quarterback in the Top 5.
Four current division leaders used a choice in the first round in a quarterback, but none followed the “tank” model to catch him: The Chiefs were a playoff when they switched to Patrick Mahomes’ draft. Bills was a playoff team when they left the draft for Josh Allen. The Packers were a playoff team when they cast Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers were a team of 6 to 10, but they were in the playoffs two years earlier when they called Ben Roethlisberger No. 11 overall.
The other four division leaders did not recruit their starting quarterback in the first round: The Seahawks recruited Russell Wilson in the third round. The Saints hired Drew Brees as a free agent. Washington switched to Alex Smith after the Chiefs decided to stay away from him. The Titans switched to Ryan Tannehill after the Dolphins decided to move away from him.
But while the best NFL teams didn’t put their defenders at the top of the draft, what about the teams that have a Top 5 defender in the draft? Some of them may make it to the playoffs this year, but overall the results are worse than good: the teams that have a defender chosen in the Top 5 in their squad (Browns, Dolphins, Bengals, Jets, Rams, Cardinals, Bears, Lions , Eagles and Hawks) have a combined record of 60-78-2 this season.
Bad franchises are often bad for reasons that no player can change, and sometimes quarterbacks who look like big prospects or define bad teams or prove not to be so good. There is no guarantee that Lawrence can transform a franchise.