Patriots’ remaining draft capital is one of the most valuable in the NFL

Entering the second day of the 2019 NFL draft, no team holds more than eleven picks. The one team to own this much capital? That would be the reigning world champions. After drafting N’Keal Harry with the 32nd overall selection yesterday, the New England Patriots still hold a league-high eleven picks — five of which coming up later today: the Patriots own two second-rounders (#56 and #64) and three third-round picks (#73, #97, #101).

Of course, volume and value are not the same when it comes to draft picks. Enter the value chart system which assigns a number to each available draft choice based on its overall worth as an asset. Here at Pats Pulpit, we usually work with the one created and maintained by Rich Hill — but his is not the only one out there used to assess how much capital a team really owns heading into the different draft rounds.

No matter on what basis the remaining six rounds of 2019’s player selection meeting get analyzed, though, one thing stands out: the Patriots and their eleven picks are generally near the top of the list when it comes to total value. A look at the chart comparison compiled by René Bugner shows that New England either comes in as the team with the second or the third most valuable capital left:

Graphic by René Bugner

As can be seen, there are only slight differences between the four charts when it comes to values and rankings — the Baltimore Ravens being one noticeable outlier. One conclusion that can therefore be drawn from the graphic above is that the Patriots are in a prime position to manipulate the board to their liking over the next two days, and especially considering the picks they hold heading into Friday’s event.

What put them in this position was not only some smart trades made last year — the 56th and 73rd selections were picked up via 2018 draft day trades with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, respectively — but also the NFL’s compensatory draft picks formula. As a result of losing some high-priced players in free agency last year, New England was awarded the maximum four additional picks. Two of them come at the end of the third round.

With compensatory selections being tradable since the 2017 draft, the extra selections have received added value. The ever savvy Patriots have been taking advantage of this, and 2019 is no exception. Their two third-rounders are a big reason for the valuable draft picks portfolio they still own at this point, and the flexibility it gives them.