NFL

Re-Drafting the 2005 NFL Draft Using Advanced Analytics

Brett Oswalt  —  @bRo14thekid Jan 11th, 2017
Over 10 years later, would Alex Smith still come out on top?

In NFL circles, we often find people comparing one quarterback to another from the same draft class. From Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III in 2012 to Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota in 2015, it happens a lot.

That being said, there are certain drafts where that doesn't happen for one reason or another. The 2005 draft is one of them.

It all boils down to the disparity in the career timelines of Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers, the first two quarterbacks selected 12 years ago. For that reason, among others, the two are never compared to one another.

But, knowing what we know about Rodgers and Smith today, in the case of a re-draft wouldn't the roles be reversed? How else would the top 10 change?

In using Pro Football Reference's career approximate value (CarAV) metric -- a single number put on a player's career to compare across years and positions, that at the same weights peak seasons more than "compiler"-type seasons -- the following will help to answer those questions. (To read more on CarAv and how it is computed, visit the glossary page.)

Without further ado, let's see how the re-draft would shake out after 10-plus seasons.

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