You're the GM of an expansion team! . . .

[Orton's Arm]

You're the GM of an expansion team, and you're picking first overall in the draft. Your team has few if any starting caliber players, so just about everything is a need. After evaluating the players in the draft, you're convinced that the best available QB, LT, and RDE are each destined for the Hall of Fame. Which player do you pick? Or do you trade down?

[CarolinaBill]

You're the GM of an expansion team, and you're picking first overall in the draft. Your team has few if any starting caliber players, so just about everything is a need. After evaluating the players in the draft, you're convinced that the best available QB, LT, and RDE are each destined for the Hall of Fame. Which player do you pick? Or do you trade down?

in a qb driven league, if a HOF QB is available you gotta go for the QB.

[Steely Dan]

I'd go with the next Bruce. A strong defense will help a rookie QB that the team should probably take in the next draft. By keeping the games low scoring with a great D it keeps the pressure off a rookie QB. This is also a question that requires information on what positions are deepest in the draft.

[thewildrabbit]

Of course most will say Payton Manning...

 

But then look at the reality of the situation of the 1998 draft, most every single scout and GM had Ryan Leaf right up there with Payton Manning. That year there was a hot debate as to who the best QB was, Manning or Leaf...honestly!

 

The Chargers took Ryan Leaf with the #2 pick overall right behind Manning. Mind you this was before John Butler and AJ Smith got there. What some don't know is that the Chargers traded up a spot to get one of the top two QB's in the draft, so not only did they completely blow it on Leaf, they gave up their #1 and #2 to get him.

 

Look at the bonus money paid to Ryan Leaf, not to mention the #2 draft pick and the shame the entire franchise suffered for such a huge blunder.

 

How could so many scouts and GM's get that pick so wrong... if they knew before hand how he would pan out, he wouldn't have even been drafted. So, even when you think you know...you never know!

 

So who really knows if Clausen, Bradford or any of the multitudes at QB this year will be great, if only the Bills could ask Bill Polian

[Offside Number 76]

Of course most will say Payton Manning...

 

But then look at the reality of the situation of the 1998 draft, most every single scout and GM had Ryan Leaf right up there with Payton Manning. That year there was a hot debate as to who the best QB was, Manning or Leaf...honestly!

 

The Chargers took Ryan Leaf with the #2 pick overall right behind Manning. Mind you this was before John Butler and AJ Smith got there. What some don't know is that the Chargers traded up a spot to get one of the top two QB's in the draft, so not only did they completely blow it on Leaf, they gave up their #1 and #2 to get him.

 

Look at the bonus money paid to Ryan Leaf, not to mention the #2 draft pick and the shame the entire franchise suffered for such a huge blunder.

 

How could so many scouts and GM's get that pick so wrong... if they knew before hand how he would pan out, he wouldn't have even been drafted. So, even when you think you know...you never know!

 

So who really knows if Clausen, Bradford or any of the multitudes at QB this year will be great, if only the Bills could ask Bill Polian

 

I think the question presumes foresight; i.e, you're really drafting the next Peyton Manning, not taking a chance on someone.

[thewildrabbit]

I think the question presumes foresight; i.e, you're really drafting the next Peyton Manning, not taking a chance on someone.

Jeez, really?

 

And I didn't even try and make the point that Ryan Leaf went to a really bad team, bad scheme, bad coaches, bad O line, bad players. they went 5-11 with 2 different bad head coaches in Kevin Gilbride and June Jones... and then the next year went 1-15 and got worse under new head coach ... Mike Riley? who?

[K-9]

So far this poll has helped restore some of my faith in the collective football IQ around here.

 

According to Polian (at least when he said so in the mid-nineties) the first position you want to secure is the most important one of all, QB. Then he said you should get your HOF DE to pressure the other teams' most important position and then you get your HOF LT to protect yours. I'm not sure if he hasn't shifted his line of thinking about the DE or LT since then as the league has evolved into much more of a passing league (let's not make the mistake of confusing a passer with a QB).

 

It's all a crapshoot though. Manning wasn't Manning before he was Manning. Bruce wasn't Bruce before he was Bruce, etc. But if you as a GM feel there is a QB with that kind of potential then you take him every time. You have to secure the most important position first and foremost if you have the opportunity. Great QBs are a scarce commodity to say the least.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Disclaimer: Any similarities between this post and others that have upset PDaDdy's sense of real-world relevance as to what the Bills will do in this year's draft if purely coincidental.

[mrags]

This one is very tough. Im one of the 2 people so far that have opted for a game changing defensive lineman. Defense wins championships more often then offense IMO. Part of the reason why the Steelers have won 2 in the last few years, part of the reason why the Giants beat the Pats after an undefeated dream season of which their offense put up records, and part of the reason Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson have Super Bowl rings as starting quarterbacks. I do think that a HOF QB might be more important then a HOF DLmen, however if you have a QB you need to have at least a decent defense to stay in it. If you have a lights out defense you can win games even with a scrub at your QB. Hard decision, but either way, your probobly looking pretty good at a HOF DL, or QB.

[KD in CA]

If each guy is a sure thing, than Manning is the obvious choice. If you have the QB, an above average line is fine. Manning and Brady have not had spectacular OL talent over the past decade and it hasn't hurt them a bit.

 

In the real world, QBs are usually such a crap shoot the LT might be a safer pick.

[Orton's Arm]

I think the question presumes foresight; i.e, you're really drafting the next Peyton Manning, not taking a chance on someone.

Correct. The QB will be the next Peyton Manning, not the next Ryan Leaf. The LT will be the next Orlando Pace, not the next Mike Williams. And the DE will be the next Bruce Smith, not the next Walt Patulski.

[NoSaint]

well i voted trade back to 3 -- the difference in money and an extra second + third adds up to filling a lot of holes. Obviously a qb is the most valuable single pick, but say you pick up that HOF LT at 3, a potential all pro Center with the extra second, and a perennial starter at LG in the 3rd..... Youve turned that one pick into more then half of a high quality line.

 

honestly, similar situations can be built for any of the picks available at 3

 

Not to mention you still have your own pick to start off the second and third rounds.... if you KNOW that you can get a cornerstone player at all three, if you believe in the depth of the draft, i say take the extra players if you are lacking talent.

[Orton's Arm]

well i voted trade back to 3 -- the difference in money and an extra second + third adds up to filling a lot of holes. Obviously a qb is the most valuable single pick, but say you pick up that HOF LT at 3, a potential all pro Center with the extra second, and a perennial starter at LG in the 3rd..... Youve turned that one pick into more then half of a high quality line.

 

honestly, similar situations can be built for any of the picks available at 3

 

Not to mention you still have your own pick to start off the second and third rounds.... if you KNOW that you can get a cornerstone player at all three, if you believe in the depth of the draft, i say take the extra players if you are lacking talent.

To be honest, I'm surprised more people didn't pick the option you chose. Someone who views a Hall of Fame LT, DE, and QB as having roughly the same value could trade down to #3 overall and add some extra picks. I personally went with the QB option at #1 overall--if you don't have a franchise QB, and if there's one available, you take him. But not everyone here agrees with me on that; and I would have thought that a few of the people who don't would have chosen the same option you did.

[K-9]

To be honest, I'm surprised more people didn't pick the option you chose. Someone who views a Hall of Fame LT, DE, and QB as having roughly the same value could trade down to #3 overall and add some extra picks. I personally went with the QB option at #1 overall--if you don't have a franchise QB, and if there's one available, you take him. But not everyone here agrees with me on that; and I would have thought that a few of the people who don't would have chosen the same option you did.

 

All things being equal nobody in their right mind views an HOF LT, DE, and QB as having the same value in the absence of the HOF QB on their team. QB far outweighs any other position on the team. That simple.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[bkc]

You're the GM of an expansion team, and you're picking first overall in the draft. Your team has few if any starting caliber players, so just about everything is a need. After evaluating the players in the draft, you're convinced that the best available QB, LT, and RDE are each destined for the Hall of Fame. Which player do you pick? Or do you trade down?

If you can get a hof qb , you grab him and run

[NoSaint]

If you can get a hof qb , you grab him and run

 

 

The thing with a hof qb -- it assumes a certain quality of player around them. If you put Payton manning in Archie mannings old saints teams, would he be the qb we see today? If you put an Orlando pace on a bad line, he can still dominate the man across from him. A QB having a hall of fame career speaks not just to his ability but those around him. By taking a promised hall of fame qb, you are assuming he will have multiple probowls and in most cases a superbowl MVP (ie superbowl ring). If that's true, clearly you take him. If we are only talking about a player with the ability to be a hof qb, that could be different. Sheer ability doesn't equate to success at qb like it does in other positions.

 

If you can get a hof lineman (either side) and have 5 of the top 67 picks it would be tempting to go that route to build a team from scratch. Plus, who's to say a team like the lions, with a big investment in a young qb isn't behind you. Maybe you get your QB aaand the picks ala the bucs leapfrogging the lions to get there dt and the rams still getting Bradford.

[Orton's Arm]

All things being equal nobody in their right mind views an HOF LT, DE, and QB as having the same value in the absence of the HOF QB on their team. QB far outweighs any other position on the team. That simple.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Believe me, I understand that logic and agree with it! Which is why I chose the Hall of Fame QB at #1 overall. But I also tried to look at things from the perspective of someone who'd rather have a lineman than a QB. Odds are that if you trade down to #3 overall, there will still be a lineman there (offensive or defensive). I mean, sure, there's always the chance that you wanted an offensive lineman and you're getting a defensive lineman instead (or vice versa). And maybe the two teams ahead of you didn't need QBs, so you'll end up getting one at #3. But (again from the perspective of someone who'd prefer a lineman over a QB) is getting a Hall of Fame QB at #3 overall, plus extra picks, really that much worse than getting a Hall of Fame lineman at #1 overall? I'm just trying to understand why more people chose the LT and DE at #1 overall options than chose the trade down to #2 or #3 overall option.

[R. Rich]

Hmm....I don't have anything, and I'm building from scratch? I'd go @ it this way:

 

 

1. Offensive Line

2. Defense

3. The rest of the team

 

This is kinda what the Baltimore Ravens did when Ozzie Newsome and company began to contsruct their squad, using their initial pick on future Hall of Fame OT Jonathan Ogden and their next pick on future Hall of Fame LB Ray Lewis. Considering this is an expansion team, I'm pretty sure we're going to be up near the top of the draft the following season and perhaps even the season afterward, so I'll look to find my QB then, AFTER I've used my initial draft and free agency period to put together an offensive line that won't get the guy I'm going to be spending a huge bonus on (especially if my expansion team finishes dead last and ends up w/ the #1 overall pick again) murdered.

[SoulMan]

Hmm....I don't have anything, and I'm building from scratch? I'd go @ it this way:

 

 

1. Offensive Line

2. Defense

3. The rest of the team

 

This is kinda what the Baltimore Ravens did when Ozzie Newsome and company began to contsruct their squad, using their initial pick on future Hall of Fame OT Jonathan Ogden and their next pick on future Hall of Fame LB Ray Lewis. Considering this is an expansion team, I'm pretty sure we're going to be up near the top of the draft the following season and perhaps even the season afterward, so I'll look to find my QB then, AFTER I've used my initial draft and free agency period to put together an offensive line that won't get the guy I'm going to be spending a huge bonus on (especially if my expansion team finishes dead last and ends up w/ the #1 overall pick again) murdered.

 

This fellow gets it.

[LongLiveRalph]

in a qb driven league, if a HOF QB is available you gotta go for the QB.

 

The expansion Houston Texans went with future Hall of Famer David Carr.

[DrDawkinstein]

given the premise set forth in the OP with regards to KNOWING these players will be successful...

 

I take the QB, without question.