How will George Paton influence the Broncos draft process?

Ten years is a lifetime in the NFL. With John Elway’s reign coming to an end, the Denver Broncos are going wherever George Paton takes them. It marks the beginning of a new era. There is no doubt that this change will be felt in the Broncos NFL Draft process, while Paton brings his vision of the cast to life.

It is impossible to isolate who made which decisions in an NFL front office without leaks or admissions. While Paton’s long tenure and influential role near the Vikings should provide some hints, we probably won’t know what choices were “his” unless he admitted it. Rick Spielman certainly won’t:

“I will leave all these decisions internally here. I will not go that way. We do enough and work hard enough to put everyone on the same page. There will be differences of personnel. A coach may not like a player, but a scout likes a player, or a scout hates a player and the coach loves the player. There is a way to do the things that eventually reach the end result where everyone is on the same page. This is part of the process and, for me, it is the most important part of the process. Where do you start – especially in your drafting process – do you start putting everyone’s opinion together, and where there are differences, what is your method for putting everyone on the same page, so when you select or not a player that everyone is on agree on that? This is the unique part of this business, however difficult it may be. I think it’s also the people you work with because, in the end, you’re not Rick Spielman’s or George Paton’s player, you’re the Minnesota Vikings’ player. We go through our processes with as much time and difficulty as possible to reach this final result. Once we choose that player, he will be a Minnesota Vikings player. “

With that in mind, I still believe that the Vikings’ draft process is worth exploring. One of the goals of each NFL team is to find the best athletes available. That’s why test numbers have become such a big part of the process, much to the chagrin of old school tape sharpeners. Nobody I know does a better job of decomposing and contextualizing these numbers than Kent Lee Platte.

If you didn’t already know Platte, he created Relative Athletic Scores, a metric and analytics system that takes pleasure measurements and puts them on an easy to understand scale from zero to 10 compared to your position group. A final Score is then produced, which is also at zero to 10 Score, to show general athletics from a design perspective.

I trust him every year to fully understand where each potential customer tests against their peers and historically. Honestly, if you plan to delve into the NFL’s 2021 Draft, I recommend bookmarking his website, and if you still don’t follow Math Bomb on Twitter? You need.

Platte is also a longtime Lions fan, who accompanied George Paton while searching for Detroit’s own general manager.

1st and 10th

I was on pins and needles watching the Lions process until Paton arrived in Denver. In addition to the implications of the project, what do you think of the Broncos’ new general manager?

Platte: Since each front office is different from the other and confidential about its organization and strategies, it remains for us to gather as much information as possible about new hires based on the trends of their previous stops. Paton was not my first choice, nor was it my second for GM, and it has largely dealt with the Vikings’ draft strategies over the past few seasons. This is not to put a dagger and claim that he was terrible; there were several decisions that were top notch at the time, but are only being praised now that successful choices have been shown.

The easiest example of this is the selection of Justin Jefferson in the first round in 2020. Jefferson was considered an initial choice, but there were only a few calling him the type of talent of the first round. His athletic profile suggested incredible value, however, current Vikings personnel and QB trends pointed to an early adjustment in the NFL. This kind of marriage between test, schema and staff is a very strong signal from a GM who is smart enough to listen to everyone involved in the decision being made and the aggressiveness to pull the trigger, even if he faces a potential reaction to the perceived value.

2nd and 7th

Are there any noticeable trends you notice when looking at the history of recruiting Vikings since George Paton came on board in 2007?

Platte: During Paton’s time with the Vikings, at least in recent years, they focused on acquiring elite athletes in their offensive line. I’ve talked about differences in approach in the OL before and, ultimately, whether or not a team focuses on elite athletes at the expense of technical skill is less important than how rigorously it is applied and just being right about who is chosen. . Paton bet on athletics in his OL and got it right most of the time. Its only major smell was in Pat Elflein, who really tested it terribly (going against how Paton normally selected OL).

Despite this, the Vikings also bet on players with a poor athletic profile and their results have not been good. Dalvin Cook is clearly a success, despite struggling from the start with injuries and other problems, but the Vikings overreacted on players like Jaleel Johnson, Laquon Treadwell, Willie Beavers and a few others that you could argue were taken too early to know where they were tested and how they played. Although they may just be natural ups and downs in the recruiting story, Vikings seem to have improved in recent seasons in this respect, but the small sample size always makes me think.

3rd and 3rd

Many teams seem to have different strategies for the early part of the draft against Day 3 and beyond. One thing I noticed is that the Vikings strongly chased cornerbacks in the beginning. Is there anything that stands out for you?

Platte: The Vikings going so intensely in the corner was partly due to the emptying of their list cabinets. They let almost everyone walk or they go themselves, leaving them a little confused. They still have to make up for the staff confusion, despite making several selections, but as is often the case, we are in the ‘jury still out’ phase of those choices, as it is too early. The types of athletes they chose for that position are spread across the map, so it is difficult to draw many conclusions there as well.

4th and 2nd

The Broncos’ quarterback situation is so open that I feel that fans need to consider any and all potential options. What are the chances of Matt Stafford becoming available? How much do you think it would cost in terms of drawing capital if it were, and would you exchange it?

Platte: Although he is popular due to the general dysfunction of Lions and Stafford facing his potentially fifth new offense, it is highly unlikely that he will be tried in 2021. In previous years, it would have been ridiculously impossible, so I think it is highly unlikely that it will be an improvement, but we ‘ we’re still talking about a low digit in terms of the percentage chance of occurring in 2021. This will remain true even if Lions spend their first choice on a quarterback, so even if that happens, it’s probably not worth squeezing too much hurt over the possibility, if that happens.

Now, 2022 is interesting. Lions are facing a breach of Stafford’s contract, their list is in tatters and they are facing a potentially long reconstruction. Acquiring draft capital to rebuild a squad is big business, and it is at about 50/50 at the moment and can jump as high as a certainty if Lions make a move in the 2021 NFL draft.

As for capital, you’re still talking about a top-notch QB playing extremely well, which would be relatively friendly to the team that negotiates for it. Although I don’t exclude several first ones (these types of deals never happen for a reason), it is most likely at or near a first round choice along with a day two choice, regardless of whether we are talking about the 2021 or 2022 seasons. Looking backwards, for the types of QBs traded for similar capital, it is simply a chimera to imagine less than that.

When it comes to replacing it, the answer is “no” in 2021. Even in a complete reconstruction, even if Lions take a QB, there is simply more damage than value replacing it until its limit reaches 2022 Afterwards addition, it is just a matter of which direction Lions are taking. Matthew Stafford is the greatest passer of all time in all categories for Lions by a wide margin, and he is the best QB they have ever had. Watching him go would be a huge culture shock for even the most tired fans. Just … it might be time.