What the 2014 NFL Draft Taught Us About the State of the NFL

Teams are Playing Chicken With Each Other

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

As the running backs continued to slide on draft day it became apparent that everyone was waiting for someone to break the ice and grab a back. NFL teams were in essence playing chicken with each other and straddling the line between grabbing their player and finding value. Once the Titans selected Bishop Sankey, the urgency to draft a running back skyrocketed with two of the next three picks being running backs including the San Francisco 49ers trading up to grab Carlos Hyde.

It happened again later in the draft with the three SEC quarterbacks – McCarron, Murray and Mettenberg— who were all on the board somewhat later than expected as the 5th round came to a close. Then the Chiefs blinked grabbing Murray as their developmental quarterback which led the Bengals to pull the trigger on AJ McCarron on the very next pick. The Titans completed the run of SEC quarterbacks 14 picks later with the selection of Mettenberg.

While this all might be a coincidence it certainly felt like teams were waiting for someone to start a run of players from a certain position. If it is true that teams were more or less playing chicken, it is an interesting insight into how teams balance picking the player they want and finding value with their draft picks.