Chiefs Terrific 12 v. Texan Terrific 12

[Mistril48]

Old Posting (new posting below)

In a salary cap regime like the NFL, the value of a player is a function of his performance measured against his cap value. A non-expansion NFL team typically drafts 12 players (the “Terrific 12” if you will) in the first 3 rounds over a 4 year period. These 12 players are particularly valuable to a franchise in a salary cap regime, because they typically have much lower cap values than players signed through free agency. For example, Chester Pitts has a 2004 cap value of $705,000, but Steve McKinney has a 2004 cap value of $3,050,000.

Typically, an impact player becomes a free agent after four accrued years and either leaves, or receives his first big free agency contract. Each year, a franchise typically loses 3 first day drafted players to free agency (unless they re-sign the players) and get three replacements through the draft, thereby maintaining their Terrific 12 (in some cases, of course, a player drafted to be a Terrific 12 player won’t work out and a team may end up with less than 12, or a second day drafted player may excel, like Domanick Davis, thereby creating more than 12). McKinney, Bradford, Wong, Smith and Wade are all examples of four year players who got big raises to come to the Texans for their 5th year.

In the 2002 season, the Texans first year, they only had 5 Terrific 12 (1 first, 2 second and 2 third), while all the other teams had 12. Bummer. Unlike the Panthers and the Jaguars, the Texans weren’t given any extra first round picks. Hard to compete.

The good news is the Texans have now caught up, thanks to expansion picks and Charlie Casserly’s astute trades. They now have 12 players who they drafted on the first day. The Texans now have a Terrific 12 like other NFL teams. Good.

New Posting

How about the Texans next opponent, the Chiefs, How does their Terrific 12 compare with the Texans?

. . .YR . . Texans (only 3 yrs) . . . . . . YR . . . Chiefs (4 yrs)

F
I. . ’02 . QB David Carr . . . . . . . . . . .’02 DT Ryan Sims
R . ’03 . WR Andre Johnson . . . . . . . .‘03 RB Larry Johnson (‘diaper boy’ – Coach V.)
S . ’04 . CB Dunta Robinson
T . ’04 . LB Jason Babin

S
E . ’02 . WR Jabar Gaffney
C . ’02 . OL Chester Pitts . . . . . . . . . ’02 DT Eddie Freeman (released)
O . ’03 . TE Benny Joppru . . . . . . . . . ‘03 LB Kawika Mitchell
N . ’04 . RB Tony Hollings . . . . . . . . . ‘04 DT Junior Siavii
D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '04 TE Kris Wilson

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .’01 DT Eric Downing (released)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'01 WR Marvin Minnis (released)
T . ’02 . OL Fred Weary
H . ’02 . OL Charles Hill (released)
I . ’03. . LB Antwan Peek . . . . . . . . . . ’03 DB Julian Battle
R . ’03 . OL Seth Wand
D . ’03 . QB Dave Ragone
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '04 LB Keyaron Fox

Would you trade our players, above, for their players, above. I don’t think so!

Old Posting

And the news gets better for the Texans. In 2005, the Texans should keep all of their Terrific 12 (none will have four accrued years) and add 4 new members through the 2005 draft (1 first, 1 second and 2 thirds), giving them a total of 16 Terrific 12. Great news!

[texan279]

I believe I would keep ours for sure!

[Fiddy]

Well, right now I'd trade Joppru for Junior Siavii

[J-Man]

Originally Posted by Fiddy

Well, right now I'd trade Joppru for Junior Siavii

I second that emotion, Fiddy!

[infantrycak]

I like your ongoing posts on this subject even if they don't get a lot of replies--JMO. In any event, this is clearly one to take the Texans' drafts as a whole vs. the Chiefs.

[texasguy346]

I'd take Wilson over Joppru, but I don't know if that one counts since theyre in different drafts.

[texasguy346]

Originally Posted by WINTEXANSWIN

I second this Infantry...This is one read I look forward to every week. Thanks Mistril.

I guess that means I third it? I am always impressed about the thought you put into it, and I think it's very interesting to compare the two teams this way. I may not always post on it, but I always check it out to see how the team we're playing this week stacks up.

[HJam72]

Originally Posted by texasguy346

I guess that means I third it? I am always impressed about the thought you put into it, and I think it's very interesting to compare the two teams this way. I may not always post on it, but I always check it out to see how the team we're playing this week stacks up.

Yeah, what he said.

I keep rereading the part about having "16 Terrific 12 in 2005". Payback Time! That's 4 extra big dollar players that we won't have to pay big bucks for next year, meaning all that money is spent on someone else. We should see major improvement next year.