NFL Draft 2015 News, Rumors: 2 Picks in the First Round of NFL Draft Can Help or Hurt A Team
The conventional wisdom amongst NFL fans and pundits is a team that has multiple picks in the first round of the NFL draft should use those picks to move up and get one of the highly touted prospects. This usually means a trade into the top 10 and often into the top five.
This year the Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans Saints each have two picks in the first round. The decisions those front offices have to make is if they should package those picks to move up or simply use the picks they have to acquire two premiere players.
Gil Brandt over at NFL.com has a story that looks at the last five drafts and the times teams had more than one first round pick. In those five drafts, teams selected twice in round one 16 times, so this is a fairly common occurrence. Be they extra draft picks from off season dealings or trades made during the draft, teams having more than one first round selection happen often.
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In the case of the Browns, who have twice over the last five drafts taken two players, both decisions led to pretty big draft busts. They picked twice in 2014 and came away with QB Johnny Manziel and CB Justin Gilbert. That doesn't look good right now but it is far too early to call either player a definite bust. In 2012, the Browns selected twice in the first round and came away with QB Brandon Weedon and RB Trent Richardson, and they most certainly whiffed on both picks. Neither player still plays for Cleveland and that makes their 2015 that much more desperate.
In 2010 the Seattle Seahawks picked twice in the first round and those were the first two picks of the Pete Carroll era. They came away with OT Russell Okung and S Earl Thomas. Those two, along with a stellar 2010 draft class, became the foundation of the an eventual Super Bowl Championship team.
The lesson here is picking twice in the first round gives a franchise a chance to add two solid pieces, but good decisions have to be made with both picks and picking two players seems a far better way to go then trading up for one.
