There are three positions that are traditionally undervalued in the NFL and consequently less pursued on draft day. There may be good reasons why their stock has either gone down, or never been very high to begin with but, teams — and more specifically, general managers — are fully aware of these relative values.
Those three positions are punters and kickers, backup quarterbacks, and running backs.
Punters and Kickers
For the Kansas City Chiefs, they know full well how important a good — perhaps the “best” — punter is to the team. In John Dorsey’s first year, he made Dustin Colquitt the highest paid punter in the NFL and perhaps have overvalued their punter. Now, fans are so accustomed to Colquitt’s kicks landing inside the ten-yard line that they can’t see the possibility of allowing him to walk away as a free agent. 2017 is Dustin Colquitt’s last contract season so the Chiefs will need to be thinking about either extending him — at the age of 36 — or replacing him via the draft or signing an undrafted free agent, two places many are found. After all, free agency is where the Chiefs found their current kicker, Cairo Santos, in 2014. Colquitt was drafted in 2005 and is the oldest Chief on the roster.
If the Chiefs take a punter like Austin Rehkow in the 4th round, it will once again signal the high value they place on a player who is on the field for 34.5% of the special team’s snaps.
If the Chiefs take a punter lower than that… or wait to attain one via other channels… it will be because they have likely overvalued Dave Toub’s abilities to turn players who stink into special teams pooh-pooh-ree.
In a piece written by Bucky Brooks called, “Ranking Each Position, From Quarterback to Returner” he ranks the Kicker and Punter as the 23rd and 24th most important positions on a team… out of 25. So… yes… I’d say the punters and kickers are poorly valued. The question is, are they UNDERvalued? Well, not in the case of Dustin Colquitt.
Backup Quarterbacks
Admittedly, teams don’t set out to draft backup quarterbacks — unless you’re Washington, and look how that’s turned out for them… pretty darn good — but nothing ventured nothing gained. Washington drafted two starting caliber QBs in the 2012 draft, including a first round QB (2nd overall)… but most Chiefs fans would be filled with glee if John Dorsey took a just one QB in the first this year… no matter who was available (although in 2013, there literally were no QBs to choose from in the first round evidenced by E.J. Manuel going 16th overall… so many that’s overstating things a bit).
With ten picks in this draft — and as far as I’m concerned, there aren’t enough places to put all those picks on this roster — I wouldn’t be at all unhappy to see the Chiefs duplicate the 2012 Washinton QB-doppelganger. Personally, I love the idea of having a QBOTF… AND… a QBOTF-Backup coming out of the same draft.
To the subject of backup QBs and their diminished value, just take a look at the efforts of one Bill Belichick over the years. He keeps drafting what would seemingly be the next QB in line behind living legend Tom Brady but, they haven’t needed those guys. Thus, teams like the Cleveland Browns are thinking about granting the “needy” Patriots with a King’s ransom of draft picks in order to acquire their backup QB, who is also an unknown quantity, that being Jimmy Garoppolo.
Teams like the Patriots can undervalue the backup position because of who they have as their starter. Most other teams need to spend the bulk of their cap on other starters so backup QB is often the odd man out… until the moment a team needs that backup to step up and be the man. Just ask Jack Del Rio about that one.
“The most undervalued and underappreciated position in the NFL has become the backup quarterback.”
Since Chase Daniel has landed in New Orleans, it looks like even if the Chiefs take a QB high in this draft, they’ll need to go out and sign an experienced vet to sit behind Alex Smith until their rookie can step up.
Of course for that to happen, an itty-bitty-teeny-weeny-widdle-tiny-bit of cap space… will need to be cleared.
Running Backs
One word: passing game… hey, wait… that was two words. Teams are trending towards a high-powered passing game and have made the running back position undervalued for years now. How many years, you ask? Well, exactly six years. However, the overall decline has been taking place since about 1992. Here are the number of RBs drafted in the first round each year since 1970. A review of each decade follows.
In the 1970s, running backs were taken at an average of 4.4 per year in the first round.
In the 1980s, running backs were taken at an average of 4.9 per year in the first round.
In the 1990s, running backs were taken at an average of 3.2 per year in the first round.
In the 2000s, running backs were taken at an average of 3.2 per year in the first round (including the year 2000).
From 2011 to 2016, running backs were taken at an average of 1.0 per year in the first round.
The hallmark year for RBs since 2000 was in 2005 when three running backs were taken in the top five of the draft.
The asterisks represent the instances when a Fullback was taken in the first round. No Fullback has been taken in the first round since 1994. Prior to that, Fullbacks were taken rarely but FB John Riggins was the first running back selected in 1971.
Some have said that the selection of RB Ezekiel Elliott as the 4th overall in 2016 may be the start of a trend of RBs being highly valued again but the reality is that Elliott went to a team with a great OL. Yes, Elliott is a good back, but until their line breaks down, we’ll not know just how good a back he really is.
For now, the Kansas City Chiefs need a good running back but I don’t know that they’ll be taking one in the first round… and not because they undervalue RBs. People are claiming that this is a good draft for running backs but I just don’t know how many truly excellent backs are actually out there. One, maybe two?