Detroit Lions vs. Autodraft - 2011

Ever wondered what would happen if your favorite team just went into the draft without doing any independent research, without studying hours of tape, or even listening to team scouts? Well, after many years of watching NFL teams making numerous questionable ‘reaches' in the draft, and totally ignoring the prevailing wisdom - we decided to re-examine all the team's drafts over the last ten years.

We've taken an average of the pre-draft player rankings from ESPN - Scout's Inc, NFL.com, and CBS Sports and re-run the draft - but this time, picking the ‘Best Available' and comparing that pick to the team's actual pick. Just for good measure, we've also shown the ‘Best Available' player at the drafted player's position, as team's rarely really draft the best available regardless of position.

Admittedly, comparing two players is very subjective, and so in this case we've just combined NFL snap-count and Pro Bowl selections and then picked a winner (which is helpfully indicated by our NFLdraftBuzz star) - it's down to you to do some deeper comparisons.
The results are (sometimes) interesting and highlight some really bonehead decisions by NFL team's GMs, as well as some excellent ones - but what it really does show, is that on the whole - NFL teams don't know any more than the scouts at ESPN or NFL.com.