Jeff Ireland has held the title of assistant general manager for the New Orleans Saints for a couple years now, but his biggest contributions have come as their college scouting director. So when the Chicago Bears requested and were granted an interview with him for their vacant general manager job (a post he’s held before, with the Miami Dolphins) debate immediately launched among fans as to how big a loss Ireland could be.
It’s not an easy answer to come up with. Let’s start by discussing what defines a good pick. Is the player an annual All-Pro? A Pro Bowler? Do they get a second contract (either with the team that drafted them or somewhere else)? Are they just better than their peers from the same draft class, or those picked in the same round? Do the same standards apply to a first round choice and a seventh round flyer? Everyone has their own opinion on what the expectations should be.
But a quick and easy barometer is just looking at how often players are, well, playing. The average NFL career lasts only 3.3 years, or about 53 games, so we’ll use that as our standard for this exercise. Let’s run through the list of draft picks the Saints have made since hiring Ireland back in 2015, distinguishing between an overall hit rate and the success of players drafted in the top 100 (where there’s typically a talent cliff between the rest of the class), and see how many of those selections have passed the test:
