Jan 1, 2017; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel (3) attempts a pass against the New York Jets in the 3rd quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports
The NFL 2013 draft class is making the rounds on the internet. While there are some gems of mid to late-round picks, the first round is one of the worst in recent memory. This leaves people to ask, what happened? This isn’t just one GM that was bad. The entire league missed. The NFL 2013 draft class shows that evaluating talent is incredibly difficult and some things are completely out of a team’s control.
NFL 2013 Draft Class: Who Is Still Playing?
Let’s start with the positive. There were players in the 2013 class that are still playing in the NFL today albeit only four of them. The most notable two are Eagles tackle Lane Johnson and current Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Cordarrelle Patterson joins this group as well as “straight-off-the-couch” player Justin Pugh. That’s it. Hopkins and Johnson are the ones that have been consistently good with Patterson seeing a career resurgence in Atlanta. The rest of the players in the first round are all out of the league.
NFL 2013 Draft Class: The Top 5
Here are the top five picks of the draft. Tackle Eric Fisher was taken first overall by the Chiefs with Luke Joeckel to the Jaguars going second. Miami went defensive and took Dion Jordan. The aforementioned Lane Johnson went fourth and the Lions took Ezekiel Ansah with the fifth overall pick. This wasn’t a horrendous top-five. Both Fisher and Joeckel had solid careers though not what you would expect for top picks. Jordan was another player that didn’t completely bust but didn’t play up to the pick. Ansah was the big miss. His raw talent was never harnessed in Detroit and he was largely a disappointment.
Notable Names
Tavon Austin was taken eighth overall and was touted as a Swiss Army knife that could be a dangerous offensive weapon. He bounced around to a variety of teams and no one could harness his talent. EJ Manuel was the lone quarterback taken by the Buffalo Bills but he never panned out and the Bills were looking for a new quarterback soon after. Travis Frederick was taken by the Cowboys and was one of the best centers in football before he abruptly retired in 2020. Tyler Eifert looked to be the next dominant tight end before injuries derailed his career. Outside of these players, it is all people you likely have heard of but never played at a high level.
Not Bad, Just Not Good
I’ve poured over the stats. While there are the busts, a lot of the players had good careers. They played for seven to eight years, bounced around to a couple of teams, and then were pushed out in favor of younger players with more potential. Take Sheldon Richardson. He was taken 13th overall by the New York Jets. In his career, he had 33.5 sacks and almost 300 tackles. This is a fine career but didn’t warrant a huge second contract or an elongated time in the league.
Complexities In Drafting
It isn’t just about getting the best players or the best talent. Looking at all of these players, it was easy to see the talent. First, there are the things out of anyone’s control. Injuries happen and obviously, teams cannot predict them. Eifert is likely still in the league if he stays healthy. Then there are the off-field issues. It is impossible to predict what a player is going to do in their personal life especially if there is no history of any issues.
Motivation and work ethic in the NFL are also tricky to predict. I’m sure we’ve all done this in our own lives. We go into a job interview and make ourselves sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread and then once we get the job, we don’t always give it 100%. For some NFL players, the goal is to get drafted and get the contract. After that, the motivation goes down. This is almost impossible to predict.
Coaching and situation matter as well. We see this in every draft class. Would Patrick Mahomes be who he is without Andy Reid? Probably not but he landed in the right situation. Some of these players were likely failed by their coaching staff and the situation they were put in. Take Manuel for example. Ryan Fitzpatrick refused a pay cut and was released thrusting the rookie into the starting role. Would the Bills have preferred to have Manuel sit for a year? Seems like it.
We Want It To Be Simple
We want it to be simple. Teams should draft the best players. It goes beyond that. Drafting is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL. The NFL 2013 draft class is an example of that. There will always be misses. There will always be classes from teams that make fans disgusted. It happens. Where concerned happens for teams is when it is three or four straight years of misses. Years like the 2013 NFL draft class will happen and it shows how difficult it is to draft players.
